Friday, September 7, 2007

Torah Spark


Deuteronomy Chapter 30:

1. And it will be, when all these things come upon you the blessing and the curse which I have set before you that you will consider in your heart, among all the nations where the Lord your God has banished you, 2. and you will return to the Lord, your God, with all your heart and with all your soul, and you will listen to His voice according to all that I am commanding you this day you and your children,
3. then, the Lord, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where the Lord, your God, had dispersed you. 4. Even if your exiles are at the end of the heavens, the Lord, your God, will gather you from there, and He will take you from there. 5. And the Lord, your God, will bring you to the land which your forefathers possessed, and you [too] will take possession of it, and He will do good to you, and He will make you more numerous than your forefathers. 6. And the Lord, your God, will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, [so that you may] love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, for the sake of your life.


Rashi, Rabbi Shlomo ben Yitzahk, comments on the 3rd verse: The day on which Israel’s exiles will be gathered is so monumental and [this ingathering] will be such a difficult [procedure, as it were], that it is as though God Himself must literally take each individual Jew with His very hands, [taking him] out of his place [in exile].

Is that what you are waiting for?

5 comments:

Yankee Doodle said...

" God Himself must literally take each individual Jew with His very hands, [taking him] out of his place [in exile]."

I think that's exactly what people are waiting for.

Except for those people, Muslim, Christian and Jew alike, who think they already are close to God -- they seem to menace those around them.

I'm no expert on this, but it sure seems like the comparison with sheep who wander off and need to be gone after and recovered is a very apt one.

Interesting post.

Yehudi said...

BK, I always appreciate your Torah posts. If we lose sight of Torah, then we just simply become angry and hateful without a cause. If we remail "grounded" and guided by Torah, then we're justified in our anger because it's a righteous anger...the same that G-d feels as He watches terrorists fire Qassam rockets at 5 yr-olds in school. Come over to my sight and watch a great tribute to the IDF.

Goat said...

Powerful excerts Bar, I can only agree.

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