Deuteronomy, 7:12-11:25
This Week’s Torah Portion | July 21-27, 2013 – Av 14-20, 5773

In A Nutshell

In the portion, Ekev (Because), Moses continues his speech to the people of Israel. He reiterates that if Israel keep the laws and the ordinances that the Creator commanded them, they will be awarded happiness, health, and triumphs over their enemies. But if they do not, the Creator will not keep them and they will be lost among the nations.

The portion also describes the virtues of the land of Israel, the seven species. Finally, the people are commanded to teach these things to their children and to carve the Mezuzah^[1] on their doorsteps.

Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman

Moses warns the people to keep the laws of Nature because the Creator is Elokim (God), and in Gematria (numeric values ascribed to Hebrew letters) it is “The Nature.”

The Creator gave us the Torah (Pentateuch), the laws of the world. The Torah is like a physics book, except that the laws in it are absolute, and totally precise. Only Israel received them. If we act according to these laws we will be above everything. We received a promise in advance, and this is truly what is happening. If we keep the laws before us we will receive anything we want—happiness, respect, security, health, eternity, wholeness, this world and the next world.

These laws come down to one: “love your neighbor as yourself; it is a great rule in the Torah.” All we need is to keep that law—love of others. The whole Torah speaks of nothing but that.

The problems begin with keeping that law. We cannot do it alone. It is only possible in an environment that sustains us, along with all the members of that environment. Only through mutual support can we truly keep that law. Baal HaSulam (Rav Yehuda Ashlag) mentioned in that regard a story about two friends sailing in a boat. When one of them began to drill under him, his friend asked, “What are you doing?” the other replied, “It is none of your concern, I am drilling only under me.”

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Glossary of Terms Used in the Ekev Weekly Torah Portion

• Benevolent (the Good Who Does Good)
• Laws and Ordinances, Opposite the One Law
• Enemy and Triumph
• Fear

Benevolent (the Good Who Does Good)

The light comes from the Creator, who is benevolent. However, because of our disparity from the light, we feel it as the opposite. It is like a mother who loves her child, but the child sees her behavior as bad. Inside, her heart is good and open, but on the outside she must behave differently with her child in order to “straighten” it out. It is the same with us. Everything works according to the promise that is written in this portion.

Laws and Ordinances, Opposite the One Law

The “One Law” is the light that stands opposite to all of our desires, which are the 613 desires. If we arrange all of them in bestowal and love, in congruence with the light, we will be in a state of benevolence (the Good who does good).

Enemy and Triumph

The enemy is our ego. Triumph is if we can rise above it, as it is written, “Love covers all transgressions” (Proverbs, 10:12). The ego is under an “umbrella,” in mutual guarantee, and the character of everyone remains inside. It is burning, and this is very good, but we are above it, united.

Fear

Fear is one’s first contact with the ever-growing will to receive. The fear comes from the ego when we still cannot rise above it. There are always such states, but once we rise above the ego, fear no longer exists.

Deuteronomy, 3:23-7:11
This Week’s Torah Portion | July 14-20, 2013 – Av 7-13, 5773

In A Nutshell

The portion, VaEtchanan (And I Besought), repeats the prohibition that Moses was prohibited—to enter the land of Israel—and that Joshua is to succeed him and lead the people to the land of Israel. The portion deals with the commandment to keep the Torah and remember the standing at the foot of Mount Sinai, as well as with the concept of repentance, which appears here for the first time. Here appears the known text of Shema Ysrael (Here, O Israel).

Moses makes another speech, where he repeats the Ten Commandments. He also distinguishes three cities of refuge on the Eastern side of the Jordan River, warns of idol worship in the land of Israel, and instructs the destruction of the statues. He also reminds the people that the Creator is the one who led them into the land of Israel, the good land that they are destined to inherit.

Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman

The portion, VaEtchanan (And I Besought), contains all the conditions for the dwelling of the people of Israel in the land of Israel. The people of Israel began its history with Abraham, who established in Babylon a group. That group distinguished itself from the rest of the Babylonians, who did not wish to unite “as one man with one heart,” meaning to be in the quality of Hesed (mercy), which is Abraham’s quality.

That group of people agreed to live in Arvut (mutual guarantee), and actually began the formation process of the people of Israel. Following the exodus from Egypt, the group took upon itself the commitment to be as one nation despite the problems and the egos of its people.

The formation of a single nation was conditioned upon a successful “passage” of the ordeal at the foot of Mount Sinai, which is a mountain of Sinaa (hate). On Mount Sinai, the people assumed the preparatory stipulation for climbing over that mountain—being “as one man with one heart.” Only by adhering to this condition is it possible to receive the Torah, the upper force that can unite everyone. That condition is met through the point in the heart of each person, a point named Moses, which draws the people onward into the desert and subsequently to the land of Israel. This is the point where everyone must unite.

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