{"id":3958,"date":"2018-07-27T07:20:20","date_gmt":"2018-07-27T07:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/batkol.info\/?p=3958"},"modified":"2018-07-27T07:20:20","modified_gmt":"2018-07-27T07:20:20","slug":"parashat-vaetchanan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/2018\/07\/27\/parashat-vaetchanan\/","title":{"rendered":"Parashat Va\u2019etchanan"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Shabbat Table Talk<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Parashat Va\u2019etchanan <\/em><\/strong>\u2013 Erev Shabbat 27th<\/sup> July 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

Week of 22-28 January 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

Torah portion<\/em><\/strong>: Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11 \u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Haftarah<\/em><\/strong>: Isaiah 40:1-26<\/em><\/p>\n

Theme<\/em><\/strong>: \u2018Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.\u2019 (Dt. 6:6)<\/em><\/p>\n

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\"\"I<\/em><\/strong>n this week\u2019s parashah \u2018words\u2019 are again in focus. The quality of how words are heard is significant, even a matter of life and death. (6:34) God uses words to dynamically engage in people\u2019s lives and, in turn, the people\u2019s own narrative is shaped by their response, as can be seen in the covenantal theme of all that God has done for the people and what they must do in response. (6:20-25)<\/p>\n

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Hearing is a physiological process allowing words to be taken in by the person hearing them. We are invited to hear the words, \u2018Hear, O Israel: The\u00a0Lord\u00a0is our God, the\u00a0Lord\u00a0alone. You shall love the\u00a0Lord\u00a0your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might\u2019 and our parashah suggests allowing \u2018these words\u2019 to reach our \u2018heart\u2019, we are commanded to \u2018keep\u2019 these words in our \u2018heart\u2019. (Dt. 6:4-6) \u2018Keep\u2019 is used in the NRSV to translate the verb \u05d4\u05d9\u05d4, to be or become, so this verse can be translated, \u2018These words, which I command you today, will be\/become upon your heart.\u2019 Let\u2019s consider one possible understanding; that there is a movement between being and becoming as we hold these words in our heart. I suggest this invites a quality of presence that facilitates an \u2018active listening\u2019 to the words we hear. Listening engages other senses besides hearing, such as sight and touch. For example, we see body language and it informs what we understand by a person\u2019s words or we touch nature, a tree, and its textures \u2018speak\u2019 to us. In Deuteronomy 4:12 God speaks \u2018out of the fire\u2019, echoing Exodus 3:3-4 when Moses turned aside to \u2018see\u2019 and he \u2018heard\u2019 God\u2019s call to him.<\/p>\n

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Our capacity to hear God\u2019s word more deeply, to experience its influence on our lives, increases according to how we listen. Wilber says that hearing involves \u2018not only hearing out the person and letting them finish. It also means giving ourselves and the speaker time to heed the words that have already been spoken \u2013 to let them<\/em> speak to us and reverberate within us.\u2019 (p27) In the Talmud regarding 6:6, Rabbi Meir says that \u2018the significance of the words follows the intention of the heart.\u2019 (Megillah 20a:2) The Talmud also notes that \u2018from here you derive that the entire portion requires intent.\u2019 (Berakhot 13b:1) The intention of the heart, to \u2018love the Lord your God\u2019 establishes the parameters wherein our endeavour to hear God\u2019s word finds meaning in our lives. The words and the intention of our heart mutually influence each other so that our choices and outward behaviours reflect our inner quality of listening to God\u2019s word. Our Haftarah offers some pertinent questions in this regard that we may wish to reflect upon: \u2018Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth?\u2019 (Isaiah 40:21)<\/p>\n

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For Reflection and Discussion<\/em><\/strong>: \u00a0[1] <\/strong>How do I receive and listen to God\u2019s word? [2] <\/strong>How do my choices and actions reflect the quality of my listening to God\u2019s word?<\/p>\n

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Bibliography<\/em><\/strong>: Babylonian Talmud<\/em> in safaria.org; Plaut, The Torah: A Modern Commentary<\/em>, (New York, 1981); Wilberg, The Therapist as listener: Martin Heidegger and the missing dimension of counselling and psychotherapy training<\/em>, newgnosis.co.uk, 2004.<\/p>\n

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This week\u2019s teaching commentary is by<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Th<\/strong>\u00e9r\u00e8se Fitzgerald nds<\/strong>, Ireland, Bat Kol alum 2015 and 2018
\nEmail address:<\/strong>theresefitzgerald7@gmail.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0[Copyright \u00a9 2018]<\/strong><\/p>\n

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PLEASE NOTE<\/em><\/strong>: The weekly Parashah commentaries represent the research and creative thought of their authors, and are meant to stimulate deeper thinking about the meaning of the Scriptures. While they draw upon the study methods and sources employed by the Bat Kol Institute, the views and conclusions expressed in these commentaries are solely those of their authors, and do not necessarily represent the views of Bat Kol.\u00a0\u00a0 The commentaries, along with all materials published on the Bat Kol website, are copyrighted by the writers, and are made available for personal and group study, and local church purposes. Permission needed for other purposes.\u00a0 Questions, comments and feedback are always welcome.<\/em><\/p>\n

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B<\/em><\/strong>at <\/em><\/strong>K<\/em><\/strong>ol <\/em><\/strong>I<\/em><\/strong>nstitute for Jewish Studies, <\/em><\/strong>J<\/em><\/strong>erusalem<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

~~<\/em><\/strong>1983<\/em><\/strong>–2018<\/strong><\/em>~~<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cChristians Studying the Bible within its Jewish milieu, using Jewish Sources.<\/em>\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n

Website:<\/em><\/strong> www.batkol.info<\/strong>;<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0Parashat Admin: <\/em><\/strong>gill@batkol.info<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Shabbat Table Talk Parashat Va\u2019etchanan \u2013 Erev Shabbat 27th July 2018 Week of 22-28 January 2018 Torah portion: Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11 \u00a0\u00a0Haftarah: Isaiah 40:1-26 Theme: \u2018Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart.\u2019 (Dt. 6:6)   Download   In this week\u2019s parashah \u2018words\u2019 are again in focus. The quality of how words…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":3959,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ghostkit_customizer_options":"","ghostkit_custom_css":"","ghostkit_custom_js_head":"","ghostkit_custom_js_foot":"","ghostkit_typography":"","_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3958"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/46"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3958"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3958\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3959"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3958"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3958"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ratisbonne.org.il\/bk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3958"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}