V'Zot HaBerachah - Day #1

V'Zot HaBerachah וְזֹאת הַבְּרָכָה -   

And this is the blessing

Torah Portion: 

Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12

Deuteronomy 33:1-7

33:1 This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of Elohim, blessed the children of Israel before his death. 2 He said,

“Hashem came from Sinai,

    and rose from Seir to them.

He shone from Mount Paran.

    He came from the ten thousand holy ones.

    At His right hand was a fiery law for them.

3 Yes, He loves the people.

    All His saints are in Your hand.

    They sat down at Your feet.

    Each receives your words.

4 Moses commanded us a law,

    an inheritance for the assembly of Jacob.

5 He was king in Jeshurun,

    when the heads of the people were gathered,

    all the tribes of Israel together.

6 “Let Reuben live, and not die;

    Nor let his men be few.”

7 This is for Judah. He said,

“Hear, Hashem, the voice of Judah.

    Bring him in to his people.

With his hands, he contended for himself.

    You shall be a help against his adversaries.”

Today’s Meditation:

We assume the “holy ones” in Verse 33:2 are angels. The verse reads, “He shone from Mount Paran. He came from the ten thousands of holy ones.” Can you imagine this? Moses is telling the story of the receiving of the Law, and in quite a passionate way. It would make sense that Hashem would surround Himself with His angels, wherever He goes. We have no concept of what it would have been like on Mt. Sinai, that very special day. Clouds, fire, and a majestic, powerful voice. A time when the Holy Word on how to live our lives and serve the only true Elohim goes forth. What a beautiful experience that would have been. We weren’t there, but we can study and read about it in Torah every year and try to imagine what it was like to be there. And when we do that, we can relive His glory surrounding this event. Pray and ask Hashem for a fresh revelation about all of this. 

Today’s Challenge:

This week’s portion contains a blessing for each tribe as they are about to enter the Holy Land. Some blessings are more intense than others. Each has a different message. It makes me think about which tribe I would belong to. Have you ever thought of that? Perhaps we have a blood lineage to one of these tribes, which is why we have such an intense interest in the Torah and in following it. That’s my challenge to you: to read through these blessings and pray. Ask Hashem if there is a tribe that you are descended from. 

Sukkot - First Day Readings

Sukkot Day 1

Torah: Leviticus 22:26-23:44, Numbers 29:12-16

Haftarah: Zechariah 14:1-21

Leviticus 22:26-23:44

22:26 Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “When a bull, a sheep, or a goat is born, it shall remain seven days with its mother. From the eighth day on, it shall be accepted for the offering of an offering made by fire to Hashem 28 Whether it is a cow or ewe, you shall not kill it and its young both in one day.

29 “When you sacrifice a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Hashem, you shall sacrifice it so that you may be accepted. 30 It shall be eaten on the same day; you shall leave none of it until the morning. I am Hashem.

31 “Therefore, you shall keep My commandments, and do them. I am Hashem. 32 You shall not profane My holy name, but I will be made holy among the children of Israel. I am Hashem, who makes you holy, 33 who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your Elohim. I am Hashem.”

23:1 Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘The set feasts of Hashem, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are My set feasts.

3 “‘Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; you shall do no kind of work. It is a Sabbath to Hashem in all your dwellings.

4 “‘These are the set feasts of Hashem, even holy convocations, which you shall proclaim in their appointed season. 5 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the evening, is Hashem’s Passover. 6 On the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread to Hashem. Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. 8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to Hashem seven days. On the seventh day is a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work.’”

9 Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, 10 “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, ‘When you have come into the land which I give to you, and shall reap its harvest, then you shall bring the sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. 11 He shall wave the sheaf before Hashem, to be accepted for you. On the next day after the Sabbath, the priest shall wave it. 12 On the day when you wave the sheaf, you shall offer a male lamb without defect a year old for a burnt offering to Hashem. 13 The meal offering with it shall be two tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to Hashem for a pleasant aroma; and the drink offering with it shall be of wine, the fourth part of a hin. 14 You must not eat bread, or roasted grain, or fresh grain, until this same day, until you have brought the offering of your Elohim. This is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.

15 “‘You shall count from the next day after the Sabbath, from the day that you brought the sheaf of the wave offering: seven Sabbaths shall be completed. 16 The next day after the seventh Sabbath, you shall count fifty days; and you shall offer a new meal offering to Hashem. 17 You shall bring out of your habitations two loaves of bread for a wave offering made of two tenths of an ephah of fine flour. They shall be baked with yeast, for the first fruits to Hashem. 18 You shall present with the bread seven lambs without defect, a year old, one young bull, and two rams. They shall be a burnt offering to Hashem, with their meal offering and their drink offerings, even an offering made by fire, of a sweet aroma to Hashem. 19 You shall offer one male goat for a sin offering, and two male lambs a year old for a sacrifice of peace offerings. 20 The priest shall wave them with the bread of the first fruits for a wave offering before Hashem, with the two lambs. They shall be holy to Hashem for the priest. 21 You shall make a proclamation on the same day that there shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall do no regular work. This is a statute forever in all your dwellings throughout your generations.

22 “‘When you reap the harvest of your land, you must not wholly reap into the corners of your field. You must not gather the gleanings of your harvest. You must leave them for the poor and for the foreigner. I am Hashem, your Elohim.’”

23 Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, 24 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month, on the first day of the month, there shall be a solemn rest for you, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. 25 You shall do no regular work. You shall offer an offering made by fire to Hashem.”

26 Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, 27 “However, on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement. It shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall afflict yourselves, and you shall offer an offering made by fire to Hashem. 28 You shall do no kind of work on that same day, for it is a day of atonement, to make atonement for you before Hashem your Elohim. 29 For whoever it is who shall not deny himself in that same day shall be cut off from his people. 30 Whoever does any kind of work in that same day, I will destroy that person from among his people. 31 You shall do no kind of work: it is a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings. 32 It shall be a Sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall deny yourselves. In the ninth day of the month at evening, from evening to evening, you shall keep your Sabbath.”

33 Hashem spoke to Moses, saying, 34 “Speak to the children of Israel, and say, ‘On the fifteenth day of this seventh month is the feast of booths for seven days to Hashem. 35 On the first day shall be a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. 36 Seven days you shall offer an offering made by fire to Hashem. On the eighth day shall be a holy convocation to you. You shall offer an offering made by fire to Hashem. It is a solemn assembly; you shall do no regular work.

37 “‘These are the appointed feasts of Hashem which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, to offer an offering made by fire to Hashem, a burnt offering, a meal offering, a sacrifice, and drink offerings, each on its own day— 38 in addition to the Sabbaths of Hashem, and in addition to your gifts, and in addition to all your vows, and in addition to all your free will offerings, which you give to Hashem.

39 “‘So on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the fruits of the land, you shall keep the feast of Hashem seven days. On the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. 40 You shall take on the first day the fruit of majestic trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before Hashem your Elohim seven days. 41 You shall keep it as a feast to Hashem seven days in the year. It is a statute forever throughout your generations. You shall keep it in the seventh month. 42 You shall dwell in temporary shelters for seven days. All who are native-born in Israel shall dwell in temporary shelters, 43 that your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in temporary shelters when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Hashem, your Elohim.’”

44 So Moses declared to the children of Israel the appointed feasts of Hashem.

Numbers 29:12-16

29:12 “‘On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, you shall have a holy convocation. You shall do no regular work. You shall keep a feast to Hashem seven days. 13 You shall offer a burnt offering, an offering made by fire, of a pleasant aroma to Hashem: thirteen young bulls, two rams, fourteen male lambs a year old, all without defect; 14 and their meal offering, fine flour mixed with oil: three tenths for every bull of the thirteen bulls, two tenths for each ram of the two rams, 15 and one tenth for every lamb of the fourteen lambs; 16 and one male goat for a sin offering, in addition to the continual burnt offering, its meal offering, and its drink offering.

Haftarah: Zechariah 14:1-21

14:1 Behold, a day of Hashem comes, when your plunder will be divided within you. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city will be taken, the houses rifled, and the women ravished. Half of the city will go out into captivity, and the rest of the people will not be cut off from the city. 3 Then Hashem will go out and fight against those nations, as when he fought in the day of battle. 4 His feet will stand in that day on the Mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east; and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, making a very great valley. Half of the mountain will move toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 You shall flee by the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azel. Yes, you shall flee, just like you fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah. Hashem my Elohim will come, and all the holy ones with you.

6 It will happen in that day that there will not be light, cold, or frost. 7 It will be a unique day which is known to Hashem, not day, and not night; but it will come to pass that at evening time there will be light.

8 It will happen in that day that living waters will go out from Jerusalem, half of them toward the eastern sea, and half of them toward the western sea. It will be so in summer and in winter. 9 Hashem will be King over all the earth. In that day Hashem will be one, and His name one.

10 All the land will be made like the Arabah, from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem; and she will be lifted up and will dwell in her place, from Benjamin’s gate to the place of the first gate, to the corner gate, and from the tower of Hananel to the king’s wine presses. 11 Men will dwell therein, and there will be no more curse; but Jerusalem will dwell safely.

12 This will be the plague with which Hashem will strike all the peoples who have fought against Jerusalem: their flesh will consume away while they stand on their feet, and their eyes will consume away in their sockets, and their tongue will consume away in their mouth. 13 It will happen in that day that a great panic from Hashem will be among them; and they will each seize the hand of his neighbor, and his hand will rise up against the hand of his neighbor. 14 Judah also will fight at Jerusalem; and the wealth of all the surrounding nations will be gathered together: gold, silver, and clothing, in great abundance.

15 A plague like this will fall on the horse, on the mule, on the camel, on the donkey, and on all the animals that will be in those camps.

16 It will happen that everyone who is left of all the nations that came against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, Hashem of Armies, and to keep the feast of booths. 17 It will be that whoever of all the families of the earth doesn’t go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, Hashem of Armies, on them there will be no rain. 18 If the family of Egypt doesn’t go up and doesn’t come, neither will it rain on them. This will be the plague with which Hashem will strike the nations that don’t go up to keep the feast of booths. 19 This will be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that don’t go up to keep the feast of booths.

20 In that day, there will be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “HOLY TO HASHEM”; and the pots in Hashem’s house will be like the bowls before the altar. 21 Yes, every pot in Jerusalem and in Judah will be holy to Hashem of Armies; and all those who sacrifice will come and take of them, and cook in them. In that day there will no longer be a Canaanite in the house of Hashem of Armies.

Week of Yom Kippur - Psalm Reading for Friday

Psalm 90

A prayer of Moses, man of Hashem.

Hashem, you have been a dwelling place for us
from one generation to the next.

Before mountains were born,
before earth and its people came to exist.

From eternity until eternity, You are holy.

Mortals can turn to You until they are crushed.

You say, “Return, children of Adam.”

Because a thousand years You can hold in your sight
like a yesterday passing into today,
a watchman’s hour of relief at night.

You flood the years; they pass like sleep.
By morning, they vanish like grass.

At dawn a person flowers and is fragrant;
by evening we become withered and dry.

For by Your wrath we are extinguished.
By Your anger we are made to feel afraid.

You have laid out our transgressions before You,
our secrets are illumined by the light of Your face.

All our hours pass by in Your fury.
Our years come to an end as though imagined.

The days of our years are seventy;
if we are strong, maybe eighty.

All our boasts are toil and delusion,
because life passes and rushes and flies away.

Who can bear the force of Your rejection?
Our fear of You seems to us like Your anger.

Make known to us the portion of our days
so that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

Turn back to us, Hashem—-Oh, how long?
Have compassion on those trying to serve Your will.

Fill our morning with acts of Your kindness
and we will sing and rejoice all our days.

Bring us joy in proportion to our days of affliction,
years we saw only strife.

May Your acts be visible to Your servants,
Your splendor to their children’s eyes.

May the sweetness of the Holy One, our Creator,
be constantly before us.

And the work of our hands give us direction.
And the work of our hands–give it direction toward You.

Week of Yom Kippur - Psalm Reading for Thursday

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, Hashem, according to Your loving kindness.

    According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.

2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity.
    Cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions.
    My sin is constantly before me.

4 Against You, and You only, I have sinned,
    and done that which is evil in Your sight,
so You may be proved right when You speak,
    and justified when You judge.

5 Behold, I was born in iniquity.
    My mother conceived me in sin.

6 Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts.
    You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.

7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean.
    Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

8 Let me hear joy and gladness,
    that the bones which You have broken may rejoice.

9 Hide Your face from my sins,
    and blot out all of my iniquities.

10 Create in me a clean heart, O Elohim.
    Renew a right spirit within me.

11 Don’t throw me from Your presence,
    and don’t take Your Holy Spirit from me.

12 Restore to me the joy of Your salvation.
    Uphold me with a willing spirit.

13 Then I will teach transgressors Your ways.
    Sinners will be converted to You.

14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O Elohim, the Elohim of my salvation.
    My tongue will sing aloud of Your righteousness.

15 Lord, open my lips.
    My mouth will declare Your praise.

16 For You don’t delight in sacrifice, or else I would give it.
    You have no pleasure in burnt offerings.

17 The sacrifices of Hashem are a broken spirit.
    O Elohim, You will not despise a broken and contrite heart.

18 Do well in Your good pleasure to Zion.
    Build the walls of Jerusalem.

19 Then You will delight in the sacrifices of righteousness,
    in burnt offerings and in whole burnt offerings.
Then they will offer bulls on Your altar.

Week of Yom Kippur - Psalm Reading for Wednesday

Psalm 32

By David, a psalm of understanding.

Blessed is the one who lifts up his transgressions to Hashem;
his sins will be forgiven.

Blessed is the one for whom the Holy One
need not reckon his faults;
whose spirit is clean of deceit.

When I ploughed the fields in silence,
my bones wasted away;
they groaned all day as I worked.

For day and night your hand weighed heavy against me;
the juice of my breast went dry, like the brittle fruit of summer–Selah.

I made my sin known to You.
My wrongs I no longer attempted to hide.

I said, I will confess my rebellions to the Eternal–
and You forgave my sins and errors–Selah.

For this, let the one who loves You
pray at any time he can find–
do not let the flood of waters overtake him.

You are a hiding place for me,
protecting me from anguish.
You surround me with a loud cry of rescue–Selah.

I will enlighten and illumine for You
the path you should walk.
My eyes will give witness.

Don’t be like a horse,
a mule without understanding
with a bridle and halter put on to restrain it.

In such a way Elohim cannot approach you.

Many are the pains of those who persist in their wrongs,
but those who trust in their Creator are surrounded by love.

Take joy in Hashem and let the righteous rejoice.
Cry out with gladness, all who are steadfast of heart.