Parshat VaEtchanan

Friends: 

The opening of today’s Parsha marks the last time that Moshe requests entry into the Promised Land. Rashi explains that Moshe’s request now is as a result of the conquest of the lands of Sichon and Og. These lands were now given to two and a half tribes of Israel, which means that the land upon which Moshe is walking right now is part of Eretz Yisrael. Moshe 
could therefore surmise that God has cancelled the harsh decree. Hashem tells Moshe it is not going to happen. 
  
Rashi comments later that not only will Moshe be denied entry into 
the Promised Land but also be denied burial in Eretz Yisrael. Not only were the children of Israel carrying the bones of Yosef, but according to Midrash they were also carrying the remains of all of Yosef’s brothers. All the tribal brothers were being buried in Eretz Yisrael. Moshe was denied this. The Midrash says this was because when Moshe arrived in Midian and saved the daughters of Yitro at the well, the daughters told their father that an 
“Egyptian man” saved them. Moshe never corrected the daughters to say that he was a Hebrew and not Egyptian. According to the Midrash, Moshe was being punished by not even being permitted to be buried in Eretz Yisrael. 
  
The question should be directed to us: Is this a model for us? Are we permitted to deny our Jewish identity in a circumstance where it does not seem to be a perilous situation for us to be identified as Jewish? 
  
The Ten Commandments are repeated in this week’s reading. One of the distinctions between the previous reading and today’s is the headline for the mitzvah of Shabbat.  The difference between Zachor and Shamor, between Remembering Shabbat and Guarding Shabbat, is the distinction between the positive and negative commandments relating to Shabbat. 
  
The great challenge of Shabbat is not only observing the prohibitions, but also finding ways to create the spiritual, positive energy that Shabbat is supposed to engender.   Visiting friends, attending shul, communing with nature, having a lovely meal—these are all examples of ways we might enhance the day and achieve a feeling of Shabbat. 
  
The influence of Torah is readily seen among the nations of the world. When John Adams was asked to compose the curriculum for the school system in the Boston area of Massachusetts in the Colonial period, 
he felt that Hebrew should be a required subject since the entire western civilization owes a tremendous  debt to the Jewish people for the Jewish literature  that  has given great knowledge and wisdom to the peoples of the world.
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Shabbat Shalom שבת שלום
Rabbi David Grossman