The second paragraph of the Shema is found in our parasha. It states: And I will give grass in your field to your beast, and you shall eat and be satiated. Rashi interprets the second part of the verse, and you shall eat and be satiated as an independent clause. He explains this is a
Not because you are more than all the peoples did the LORD long for (hashak) you and choose you... R. Joseph Albo points out that the Bible describes God longing for (hashak), and then choosing the Jewish people. The first time the word hashak appears in the Bible is Genesis 34:8: And Hamor spoke with them,
To the judges he appointed, Moses said: And the matter that will be too hard for you, you shall bring forward to me and I shall hear it.' R. Moshe Sternbuch points out that some situations have no practical solution. In those cases, the mere act of an important person listening silently is a soothing
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This period is known as the three weeks, or in Hebrew beyn ha-metzorim, which means "in the straits." The phrase comes from Jeremiah's Lamentations Judah is exiled...all her pursuers overtake her in the straits" (1:3). Bookmarked by two fast days, this sad period culminates on Tisha b'Av, a twenty-five hour fast marking the destruction of
