In a little town in Russia, a man comes home from shul and excitedly greets his wife: “Darling! This evening our holy rabbi told us that Mashiach is coming in forty days! He said Mashiach will take us all to the Land of Israel and build the Third Temple!” “Oy vey!” cried his wife, “All we have is this little cottage, a cow, and a chicken. If we leave them behind, we’ll have nothing.” “No problem,” said the man, “we’ll sell them and buy another cow and chicken in Israel.” His wife began to plead, “But they’re like family! Would you sell your own son?” The man saw that she wasn’t catching the messianic fervor yet, so he tried another approach, “My darling, when Mashiach comes and takes us to Israel, the Cossacks won’t be able to bother us anymore.” “Oy vavoy,” said his wife, “why doesn’t this Mashiach just take all the Cossacks to Israel.”

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Devarim: Comforting Our Father

There are three verses in the Torah where a new paragraph begins in the middle of the verse.[1] One of them is found in this week’s Torah portion:

So we passed from our brothers, the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, from the way of the Aravah, from Elath and from Etzion-Gaver… …and we turned and passed on the way of the Moavite.[2]

In the above verse, the Torah leaves a large blank space after the word “Etzion-Gaver.” What is the meaning of this unusual break?

In general, each Torah portion has one theme with many concepts. Each paragraph has one concept with many details. Each pasuk (verse) has one detail with many nuances. The fact that there is a break in one pasuk should imply that, though we are dealing with one detail, it has two diametrically opposite nuances. What are those nuances?

SIMPLE DISTINCTIONS
Before the paragraph break, Seir is mentioned. After the break, Moav is mentioned. There was a difference in how Israel had to deal politically with Seir and with Moav. Regarding Seir, G-d said, ‘Do not provoke them at all.’ Regarding Moav, G-d said, ‘You may provoke them in general, but not to war.’[3] Perhaps this difference merits the paragraph break.

HOMILETIC DISTINCTIONS
Let’s understand the difference between Seir-meaning Eisav-and Moav. Eisav was a descendant of Yitschak, and he was famous with regards to the great mitzvah of kibud av, respecting his father. The Baal Haturim explains that the words yerusha l’Eisav, “the inheritance of Eisav”, has the same gematria of bishvil mitzvas kibud, “because of the mitzvah of honoring (his father)”.

Moav, on the other hand, was the son of Lot’s oldest daughter, who did not honor her father. Even though her intention was to save humankind, she had a child with her father, and then named the child Moav, “from my father”, bringing him shame. Perhaps this is why there is a break in the verse-to make a symbolic separation between the children of Eisav and the children of Moav. A Torah verse generally represents only one detail, but Eisav and Moav were diametrically opposed.

DEEPER DISTINCTIONS
The children of Eisav dwelled in Seir. Seir literally means ‘hair’. According to Chassidus, hair represents the outer remnants of intellect.[4] The external level of intellect in the brain contracts itself, so that it may pierce through the skull and appear as visible strands of hair. Hair therefore represents Torah-the twenty-four books of the Torah, Prophets and Writings-which are the external parts of G-d’s infinite wisdom contracted into ‘strands’ of Torah wisdom.

On the other hand, Moav means, “From my father”. Av, father, alludes to the faculty of chochma, intellect. Moav, however, refers to the klipah, the ‘shell’-the superficial and unholy derivative of intellect.[5] This is the light of intellect that has become trapped in the shadows of the egocentric business world.

Although business is kosher, and in fact required by Torah-as it says, “Six days a week shall you work,”-business is still not in itself kadosh, holy. Business can be a vehicle for earning one’s sustenance, giving charity to the poor, sending children to school, and supporting yeshivas and synagogues. However, if one is overindulgent in business and lacks trust in G-d’s divine providence, thinking that it is his intellect and innovation that brings him success, he is then emulating the ways of Moav.[6]

In this verse, the distinction between Seir and Moav is a sign that we must not confuse Torah with business, or business with Torah.

COMFORTING THE FATHER
Parshas D’vorim is always read before Tisha B’av, the Ninth day of the month of Av. This is a day of fasting, the culminating day of the Three Weeks of mourning for the destruction of the Holy Temple. Another name for this month is Menachem Av, ‘Comforting the Father’. In the first nine days of this month we work intensively to console our Divine Father, for in this period His precious dwelling place on earth was destroyed.

On the Shabbos of Parshas D’vorim, the reading from the Prophets [7] says, “Zion will be redeemed through mishpat.” Mishpat means Torah study.[8] Therefore, by increasing in Torah study in this month, we will console the Av, the Divine intellect, which may have been channeled into klipah, unholy, meaningless, or even destructive purposes, G-d forbid.

A STORY
Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berdichev taught the following parable.

There once was a child whose father bought him a beautiful formal suit. The boy loved the suit, so he put it on and ran outside to play. Soon he came back inside crying, for he had fallen and torn the suit. His father lovingly bought him another one. Once again, the child tore the suit while playing outside. With great patience, the father bought him another suit, however, this time he showed it to his son and said to him, ‘I’m hanging this up in the closet. When you’re mature enough to take care of it, then you can have it.’ Every once in a while, the father would take out the suit, to remind his son, that it would be available whenever his son was really ready to wear it.

Rabbi Levi Yitzchak continued: ‘Similarly, when our Divine Father gave us the First Temple, we were reckless with the Torah, and with our intellect, and the Temple was destroyed. G-d gave us the Second Temple, but again we didn’t care for it properly, and it was destroyed. Now, our Father has told us that the Third Temple is ready-it is waiting in Heaven, in a fiery, spiritual form. G-d is merely waiting for the right moment to make it manifest on earth.’

The Shabbos preceding the Ninth of Av is called Shabbos Chazon, the Shabbos of Vision, based on the opening phrase from this day’s haftorah.[9] On this Shabbos every Jew has, in some way, a Heavenly vision of the Third Holy Temple. G-d gives us glimpses of it, in order to encourage us to merit it. When we do, it will immediately descend from Heaven.

It is our hope and prayer that this year, Mashiach-who is ‘conceived on the Ninth of Av’ [10]-will console us with the rebuilding of the Third Holy Temple. Then instead of being day of mourning and fasting, the Ninth of Av will be the most joyous holy day. The Three Weeks will become a time of feasting and celebration.

ACTION: Study some of the Torah, in particular, the laws of Beis Hab’chirah, G-d’s Chosen Temple, in the magnum opus of Maimonides, The Mishna Torah. Also, study chapters Eleven and Twelve of Hilchos Melachim, the Laws of Kings. Then close your eyes and imagine how the Holy Temple will look when Mashiach comes.

FOOTNOTES
[1] The other two are Genesis 35.22 and Numbers 26.1. There also twenty-five such verses in the books of the Prophets. Traditionally called Piska b’emtza pasuk
[2] Deuteronomy, 2.8
[3] See Rashi on verses 5 and 9.
[4] Likutei Torah, Beracha, p. 94b
[5] Likutei Torah, Chukas, p. 66c
[6] The fact that business pursuits also bring a person to submerge his intellect in worldliness shows a descent from the pure wisdom of Torah.
[7] Isaiah, 1:27
[8] Rav Hamnuna says, ‘Jerusalem was destroyed only because the young students ceased studying Torah.’ (Shabbos, 119b.)
[9] Chazon Yeshayahu, “The vision of Isaiah…” Isaiah, 1.1 [10] Jerusalem Talmud, Berachos, Chapter 2, Halacha 2