The Weekly Sedra – Parshas Devarim

The Rebbe says:

1. With this week’s Torah portion we will read and study a new Book in the “Chumas” (the five books of Moses). So far this year we have experienced the Book of Bereishis (Genesis), the Book of Shemos (Exodus), the Book of Vayikra (Leviticus) and the Book of Bamidbar (Numbers). This Shabbos we begin the Fifth Book- the Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy).

2. This Shabbos (Sabbath) is called “Shabbos Chazon – The Shabbos of the (prophetic) vision”. This is because the Haftorah1 this week begins “This is the (prophetic) vision of Yeshayahu son of Amotz…”2.

3. The Rebbe brings an additional reason for the name of this week’s Shabbos:

Rebbe Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev3 writes that the name of this week’s Shabbos (“Shabbos Chazon – The Shabbos of the (prophetic) vision”) has a deeper meaning as well: It is called “Shabbos Chazon – The Shabbos of the (prophetic) vision” because this Shabbos is the last Shabbos before the Ninth of Av4 and therefore a vision of the third and final Beis Hamikdash (Holy Temple) is shown to the Soul of every single Jew5.

4. The Rebbe begins to “connect the dots”:

Every year, the last Shabbos before the Ninth of Av, which we consequently call “Shabbos Chazon”, falls out on the Shabbos in which we read the Torah portion of Devarim6.

Now we know that everything that happens in this world, and especially circumstances concerning the Torah, are orchestrated by the hand of G-d. Therefore there must be a connection between the Torah portion of Devarim and “Shabbos Chazon” (the Shabbos before the Ninth of Av).

Let us try and understand the reason for “Shabbos Chazon” and the Torah portion of Devarim always being joined together:

5. In order for us to understand the connection between “Shabbos Chazon” and the Torah portion of Devarim we must first understand the significance of each one. The Rebbe first explains the significance of the Torah portion of Devarim:

As we said earlier, the Torah portion of Devarim begins a new Book, the Fifth Book of the Torah. Now even though all five Books are a part of one Torah, there are differences between the first four Books and the Fifth Book7. One of the differences is that the Fifth Book was said to the generation (of Jewish people) that was about to enter Eretz Yisroel (the Land of Israel) and therefore there needed to be new directives from Hashem (G-d) on how to live in accordance with His will.

Question: What was different about the generation entering the land of Eretz Yisroel that caused the need for new directives?

Answer: As we said many times, the time spent in the desert was a time separated from worldly concerns and entering Eretz Yisroel began an era where the Jewish people had to bother themselves with every day matters. In the desert the Jewish people could sit and learn Torah all day and perform Mitzvos (commandments) without any worry on their heads or any obstacles in their way because Hashem took care of everything for them; they had water flowing from a rock (the Rock of Miriam8), they had Clouds that protected them from anything harmful, made mountains low and valleys high, and washed their clothes, and they had the Manna that dropped from Heaven hot and steaming ready to be eaten! However now, in Eretz Yisroel, they didn’t have these necessities taken care of for them, they had to do it themselves; they had to work the land and bother themselves with all the intricacies of making good produce, they had to dig wells for water, and they had to erect fortresses for protection.

Therefore, as our Sages tell us9, the generation which lived in the desert was able to see G-dliness, however the generation which entered Eretz Yisroel and was involved in physicality was not on this level and they only able to hear about G-dliness.

Of course there is a strong difference between seeing something and hearing about something. When someone sees something with their own eyes the validity of that thing is unquestionable, however when someone only hears about something they can be persuaded to change their mind.

And this is why the generation which was entering Eretz Yisroel needed new directives from Hashem. They needed to hear about “Mesiras Nefesh – nullifying ones self to Hashem beyond any reason or logic” because they did not see G-dliness like the other generation did and therefore logic could one day come and try to convince them that there is no G-d (Heaven Forbid) and there is no reason to follow His commandments (Heaven Forbid).

Now even though going into Eretz Yisroel and being tied down by the every day necessities of life was a descent, there was also a great advantage to it which the generation in the desert did not have: Hashem told the Jewish people that they could only bring obligatory sacrifices once they had reached Shiloh and Jerusalem (two cities in Eretz Yisroel)10. This obviously shows us that there was something special about Eretz Yisroel which the desert did not have.

Question: What was special about Eretz Yisroel which the desert did not have?

Answer: Our Sages have told us11 that “Hashem had a desire to create the world to clothe Himself in physicality and have a dwelling place”. Now “a dwelling place” is a place where one would totally be comfortable in and feel at home. This is the same for Hashem; He wants to dwell in every part of His world (His home), even (and specifically) in the mundane activities of life. The greatest pleasure for Hashem is to be a part of every aspect of life, from plowing a field or digging a well to selling diamonds or working the stock market, Hashem wants to be felt. And this was not possible in the desert where they were withdrawn from the “nitty-gritty” parts of everyday life, only in Eretz Yisroel was this an option.

So, the bottom line is that the Torah portion of Devarim has in it two opposites, on one hand there is a great descent for the Jewish people (going into Eretz Yisroel), but on the other hand, only through this descent were they able to reach the greatest heights.

6. The Rebbe now discusses “Shabbos Chazon” and how it connects to the Torah portion of Devarim:

When analyzing “Shabbos Chazon” one will find two opposite components: On one hand it is a Shabbos which takes place during “The Nine Days”12, and even more so, it is the Shabbos right before the Ninth of Av, but on the other hand it has something so special in it- we are shown a vision of the third and final Beis Hamikdash.

These two opposite elements of “Shabbos Chazon” signify the same two adverse ingredients in entering Eretz Yisroel: On one hand there is this great descent because our two Holy Temples were destroyed, but on the other hand we have an amazing ascent because we are connecting with the third and everlasting Beis Hamikdash which will be built speedily in our days through Moshiach13 our righteous one.

Translated and adapted by Rabbi Shalom Goldberg. Taken from Likutei Sichos Volume 2, 1st Sicha.