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Devarim (2026)

Shabbat Devarim

Dvar Torah

This week we begin the Book of Deuteronomy, which opens with Moses delivering his final address to the people on the banks of the Jordan. Before they cross into the Promised Land, he reviews with them the whole of their journey and the Torah given until that point, preparing a new generation for the life ahead.

At the start of this address is an extensive treatment on our legal system where we are taught "Ki hamishpat leilokim hu" - for justice belongs to G-d. The classic commentator Rashi, quoting the Midrash, explains that when we distort justice, we do more than wrong one another; we do God a disservice, for He must then intervene to correct the corruption and restore what was lost to its rightful owner. Justice is literally his and He is its guarantor.

The Psalms teach that "the heavens are G-d's heavens, and the earth has been given to mankind." The world is ours to shape. When we uphold truth, we honor that trust; when we betray it, we break the foundations of that gift and force G-d to intervene in the society that he wants us to run.

Yet the other side of the coin should inspire us. G-d trusts us with dispensing justice. His intervention is a last resort when we fail, but ab initio we are sent into this world with a mandate to do justice and the confidence that we will be successful in upholding it. It’s up to us to do our very best to live up to that wherever we’re put to the test, whether in the courtroom or the boardroom.

Shabbat in/out times
Yerushalayim 19:05/20:26
Tel-Aviv 19:25/20:28
Zurich 20:59/22:14
London 20:51/22:16
NYC 20:07/21:12

Shabbat Shalom!

 


 

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