Marcia Berneger

An important part of this parashah are rules to follow when you find something that belongs to someone else. If you find an animal that has wandered away from its home, the Torah says you must return it. If you don’t know to whom it belongs, you can keep it until the owner claims it and then you must give it back. The Torah says “…and so too shall you do with anything your fellow loses and you find.” [Marcia Berneger]

This week’s Parsahah, Shoftim, is all about how to judge people and situations fairly. It is about choosing people to help make those judgements and what is needed to punish the people accused of crimes. The beginning of this section tells us, “Justice, justice shall you pursue.” Judges must judge fairly. There must be at least two witnesses to a crime and if the crime is serious enough, those witnesses are the first ones to punish the guilty person. But what if a witness lies? Once the lie is discovered, that witness will be punished instead. [Marcia Berneger]

Moses goes on to describe how to help those in need. Every third year, part of a farms harvest is to be left in the field for the poor, so that “the Lord your God may bless you in all” you do. If there is a “needy person among you…open your hand and lend him” enough “for whatever he needs…and…God will bless. You in all your efforts and in all your undertakings.” [Marcia Berneger]

If everything is good, it is easy to take it for granted that the good will always continue no matter what one does. Moses warns the people to continue following God’s laws. If they stray, if they decide they don’t have to do what the Torah tells them to do, then God will grow angry. Moses reminds them to be thankful and never forget:  what God has given them, God can also take away. [Marcia Berneger]

There is a very famous, very holy wall in Jerusalem called the Kotel, the Western Wall. It is all that remains of the two great Jewish temples built over 2000 years ago. It is the destruction of those two temples that we remember when we observe the holiday called Tisha B’Av. (Marcia Berneger)

This week’s Torah portion in Deuteronomy (Parshah Vaetchanan) continues Moses’ plea with the Jewish people to obey God’s laws. Like parents encouraging their children to grow up to be the best they can be, Moses is trying to insure the same future for God’s children. [Marcia Berneger]

This week’s Torah portion takes readers into the fifth book of Torah, Deuteronomy. The Jewish people have wandered for forty years and are again standing right outside Israel. They are ready to cross into the Promised Land. Before they can, however, Moses speaks to them. This last Torah book is all about what he tells them. [Marcia Berneger]