VAETCHANAN_DEUTRONOMIE III:23-VII:11

These chapters’ names reflect Moshé’s unhappiness when God told him that He would not lead the people of Israel into the Promised Land. Although he was aware that the Divine will not be altered, Moshé prayed because prayer is an acknowledgment by the individual that his destiny depends on God. Even when it is thought that there is no merit for reconsideration, the person must pray because the act of praying in itself, when accompanied by sincerity and repentance, must produce an alteration in the personality of the individual in such a way that, after prayer, because of the change it causes, he could now be deserving of a different sentence.

Another basic aspect of the weekly reading is the text of the Shema Yisrael. When Rabbi Akivá was asked what the great fundamental concept of the Torah was, he opined that the phrase Veahavta lere’acha kamocha, “And you shall love your neighbor as yourself,” was the cardinal teaching. There is no doubt that this expression condenses a fundamental principle of Judaism, a lesson that Hillel used in his alternate version when he responded to the person who wanted to learn the basis of Judaism while standing, leaning on one leg: “Do not do unto your neighbor what is hateful to you.”

However, the phrase Shema Yisrael embodies the essential ideological and theological message of Judaism as opposed to an idolatrous environment. This principle is the existence of one God, an affirmation that includes the existential brotherhood of human beings because it implies that we were created by the same God, the one God.

The Midrash testifies that the sons of the third patriarch, Yaakov, were the first to enunciate this fundamental phrase of Jewish tradition. When Yaakov was about to die, he could not rest because he feared that his sons would later forget his teachings. Therefore, he questioned them about their beliefs, and to that question, they answered: Shema Yisrael (alternate name of the patriarch), HaShem is our God, HaShem is one, unique. After hearing this unequivocal affirmation of faith, Yaacov bid farewell to this world to be reunited with his father and grandfather: the patriarchs Avraham and Isaac.

In this sense, Rambam makes an important reflection. At the same time, material things can be divided because there is always something that is smaller, a fact that was demonstrated with the division of the atom, composed of parts or particles increasingly smaller and difficult to measure. Instead, Rambam points out the phrase HaShem echad, which asserts that God is one or unique, implies that He is indivisible. God is a whole that cannot be divided or split. If we consider that the uniqueness of the human being lies in the fact that God breathed his spirit into him, this being the spiritual ingredient that separates him from the other creatures that were created by God, it can be assumed that this spirit or soul is indivisible. That both the evil inclination and the tendency to do good are part of a whole, they are an integral element of the soul. Perhaps the difference between good and evil – a manifestation of the same source, the soul having a Divine origin – is part of a singular spiritual energy that manifests itself positively or negatively only by its use due to the chosen ethical or immoral conduct.

This is what the Hasidic rabbi said when asked what the distance was between Mizrach and Ma’arav, East and West, the rabbi replied: none. It is enough to make a 180-degree turn in the same place to diametrically change the direction of the individual’s gaze.

In the end, the choice between moral conduct that conforms to the norms indispensable for coexistence in society and behavior that is indifferent to the set of laws contained in the Torah, the Mitsvot, depends on the individual. The approach of an era in which humanity will recognize the existence of the one God is a consequence of the will of each individual that is translated into moral and ethical conduct, in which love for one’s neighbor prevails, according to Rabbi Akivá.

MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 8 POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 4 PROHIBITIONS

1. Deuteronomy 5:18 Do not desire what belongs to another Jew.
2. Deuteronomy 6:4 Believe in the unity of God.
3. Deuteronomy 6:5 Love God.
4. Deuteronomy 6:7 Study the Torah.
5. Deuteronomy 6:7 Recite Shema Israel every morning and night.
6. Deuteronomy 6:8 Bind the Tefillin on the arm.
7. Deuteronomy 6:8 Place the Tefillin on the head.
8. Deuteronomy 6:9 Set a Mezuzah on the jamb of our homes.
9. Deuteronomy 6:16 Do not unreasonably test an authentic prophet.
10. Deuteronomy 7:2 Eliminate the seven nations that occupied the Land of Israel.
11. Deuteronomy 7:2 Do not have positive feelings for idolaters.
12. Deuteronomy 7:3 Do not marry idolaters.