1.How can we apply the beginning of Deut 21:10 (“When you go out to war against your enemies) to our lives? When do we go out to war?
When do we go out to war?
Every day.
When we get out of bed we go out to war.
This battle takes place within us.
It is a battle between spirit and flesh
Our goal in this war is to call on the spirit to assist us.
G-d allows us to encounter situations that offer us opportunities
Opportunities to grow in our faith, or suffer spiritual set-backs.
Our spirit must lead us in this battle.
What we know must stand against how we feel.
And if we do not know G-d’s word how can we be victorious in battle?
In Exodus tells all the marvelous things G-d did for the Israelites
but as soon as they were thirsty they were grumbling
Forgetting what G-d had done in Exodus 17:7 they said, “Is G-d among us or not.”
They majored on their thirst instead of who G-d is and what He had done for them.
Majoring on how we feel instead of what we know can lead us in the wrong direction.
Doubt entered the minds of the Israelites.
They were no longer sure G-d was with them.
Their doubt was not based on fact.
It was irrational.
Doubt made them weak and open to attack.
So the next thing we read in Exodus 17:8 is that they were attacked by Amalek.
Then in today’s portion Moses told the people to remember what Amalek did to them on the road.
The verb for what Amalek did to them on the road,
In Deut. 25:18, “How he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear G-d.”
the verb (met) is the same word meaning cold or ice (kar).
Amalek did not fear G-d and he cooled down their passion for G-d.
Amalek caught them when they were tired and weary with stragglers in the rear.
When we are spiritually or even physically tired and weary we are more easily attacked.
Our battle against the cooling off of Amalek goes on every day when we go out to war.
Our mind must rule over our heart.
As long as we are tossed about by doubt we are open to losing the war.
Remembering is our weapon against unfounded doubt.
Our faith must be able to stand up to whatever comes.
If not, doubt will rule us.
When doubt rules we forget about everything else.
We are consumed by our own fears and are not able to be the light we were created to be. So, let us not doubt the Father’s love and provision.
Let us recount daily all the wonderful things He has done for us.
And then we can be of use in our Father’s kingdom.
2.The Israelites had two enemies in the days of Moses: the Egyptians and the Amalekites. The Egyptians enslaved the Israelites. Yet Moses commands they not despise the Egyptians. Moses commanded the Israelites to “remember” blot out the name” of the Amalekites. Why the difference? Why did Moses tell the Israelites, in effect, to forgive the Egyptians but not the Amalekites?
What is the difference in rational hate and irrational hate?
We have two examples in this Torah portion
There was a difference between the Amalekites and the Egyptians.
Both groups hated or feared Israel.
Egyptians’ hatred and fear of the Israelites was not irrational.
Pharaoh said to his people in Exodus 1:9-10: “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us.10 Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
Rational hate
It is based on some fear or disapproval that – justified or not
It has some logic to it,
It is possible to reason with this kind of hate and bring it to an end.
The Egyptians were afraid of the Israelites because were increasing in strength and number.
Irrational Hate
But unconditional, irrational hatred cannot be reasoned with.
There is nothing one can do to address it and end it. It persists.
Irrational hatred is directed toward who or what someone is. It is not because of what they’ve done. With irrational hate it is impossible to reason. It has no cause, no logic.
Therefore it may never go away.
The Amalekites had irrational hate toward Israel
They attacked the Israelites when they were “weary and weak”.
They focused their assault on those who were “lagging behind.”
Those who are weak and lagging behind pose no danger.
This was irrational, groundless hate.
The hatred symbolized by Amalek lasts “for all generations.”
All one can do is to remember and not forget, to be constantly vigilant, and to fight it whenever and wherever it appears.
Do we see irrational hatred in our day today?
Why are Jewish people hated?
A majority of the time Jewish people are hated just because of who they are.
It is a spiritual issue.
Amalekites irrational hatred of Jewish people never dies.
Exodus 17:16, “He said, “Because hands were lifted up against the throne of the L-rd, the L-rd will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.”
This verse tells us this spiritual battle with Amalek will not end until the Messiah returns.
3.Deut. 22:4 says, ““You shall not see your brother’s donkey or his ox fall down along the road, and hide yourself from them; you shall surely help him lift them up again.” Why will this verse be important after they cross over the Jordan?
Also, In Exodus 23:5 it says, “ If you see the donkey of someone who hates you fallen down under its load, do not leave it there; be sure you help them with it.” If you look at these two verse and had to choose which person to help, a friend or an enemy which should you choose and why?
On the face of it, Deut. 22:4 seems like one tiny detail in a parsha full of commands.
But its importance lies in telling us what a covenant society should look like.
It is a place where people are good neighbors,
People are willing to help even a stranger in distress.
When they see someone in need of help, they don’t walk on by.
So after reading the two verses in Deut. and Exodus, if you had to choose between helping a friend or helping an enemy in distress which would you choose?
The Sages say, if all other things are equal, if there is a choice between helping an enemy and helping a friend, helping an enemy takes precedence.
Why would this be true?
Have you ever reached out to help someone that was angry with you or even hated you? What was the result? In some cases it helps end the animosity or anger and can turn an enemy into a friend.
A covenant society is a place where everyone living there knows they are surrounded by people who have their welfare at heart.
Their neighbors would return lost property,
Neighbors would take action if someone is breaking into your house or car
Everyone would contribute to making it a better place to live.
This is the society Moses was encouraging the Israelites to build.
Is this the society we live in?
During this month of Elul, as we are searching our hearts for any area that needs cleansing check to see if there is anyone who might be angry with you and possibly struggling in their life or has “fallen down”. Ask G-d to show you how to make a difference in their life. How can we each live out a covenant society where we are?
4.Our Haftarah passage this week is Isaiah 54:1-10. The first verse of this passage is repeated in Galatians 4:27. “Because it stands written “Rejoice O barren one who does not give birth. Break forth and shout, you who are not in pain of childbirth, because the children of the desolate one are many more than the children of her that is married.” We have been discussing what both passages mean. I would like you to put some time into these two passages and bring your thoughts to the meeting on Shabbat. Be sure to read Galatians 4:21 to the end to get the full meaning. What do you think Paul is saying here? What is the message in Isaiah 54:1-10?
Our Haftarah, Isaiah 54:1-10 is the fifth of a series of seven “Haftarot of Consolation.”
They began on the Shabbat following Tisha b’Av and continue until Rosh Hashanah.
In Isaiah, Jerusalem is compared to a barren woman devoid of children. She is living in exile in shame for her sins. In the first verse G‑d tells her to rejoice. The time will soon come when the Jewish nation will return and repopulate Israel’s once desolate cities. The prophet assures the Jewish people that G-d has not forsaken them. Although He has momentarily hid His countenance from them, He will gather them from their exiles with great mercy.
Now, on to Galatians.
What do you think Paul is talking about in Galatians?
First of all most commentaries on Galatians 4:22-24 say the son of the slave woman is Judaism (slave) and the son of the free woman is Christianity(Free).
Paul was talking to non-Jews
He was dealing with a specific issue being debated among believers in the Messiah.
The son of the slave woman refers to some leaders in the congregation in Jerusalem
They were teaching that non-Jewish believers must convert to Judaism in order to be saved. They were perverting the Torah into legalism. Paul did not want the non-Jew to be forced to convert to Judaism. Instead he wanted them to be accepted as G-d fearers.
So the sons of the slave woman would be people trying to live G-d’s Torah in legalism, according to their flesh and the sons of the free woman were people living a life according to the promises of G-d, fulfilling His promises in the way they lived their lives. This did not mean they were to throw away the Torah. To be free did not mean they could go back to their old nature. They were to live Torah through the spirit of G-d not pervert it.
This approach both preserved the identity of the Jewish people and also affirmed non-Jewish believers. He encouraged the new believers, G-d fearers, to rejoice because they would birth many more G-d fearers in the future.
In other words, they should walk in their own calling as G-d fearers who believe in the one true G-d. So Paul, in Galatians 4:27, is reminding the believers to rejoice for the time will come when they will give birth to many more believers.