Page 1 - Announcements Aug. 17

Parshat Va’etchanan/Shabbat Nachamu August 17, 2019 16 Av, 5779
Rabbi Sacks on Parshat Va’etchanan
TORAH
ARTSCROLL 958 Over the past few down. But the real freedom dignity and the sanctity of
HERTZ 755 months I’ve been having worth having, in his view, is human life. And it is built
conversations with
freedom-to, meaning the around an act of mutual
HAFTORAH leading thinkers, ability to do something that’s commitment, by God to a
intellectuals, innovators
difficult and requires effort and people and by the people to
ARTSCROLL 1196 and philanthropists for a expertise. So, for example, if God.
HERTZ 776 BBC series on moral you want to have the freedom
challenges of the 21st to play the piano, you have to The commitment itself is an
century. Among those I chain yourself to it and practice act of love. At the heart of it
Times spoke to was David every day. are the famous words from
Brooks, one of the most the Shema in this week’s
insightful moralists of our Freedom in this sense does not parsha: “You shall love the
Mincha 7:00 pm time. His conversation is mean the absence of restraint, Lord your God with all your
always scintillating, but but rather, choosing the right heart, with all your soul,
Candle Lighting 7:33 pm one remark of his was restraint. That involves and with all your
particularly beautiful. It is commitment, which involves a might” (Deut. 6:5). The
Hashkama 8:00 am a key that helps us choice to forego certain Torah is the foundational
unlock the entire project choices. Then he said: “My narrative of the fraught,
Parsha Shiur 8:30 am outlined by Moses in favorite definition of sometimes tempestuous,
Sefer Devarim, the fifth commitment is falling in love marriage between God and
Main 9:00 am and final book of the with something and then an often obstinate people. It
building a structure of behavior is a story of love. We can
Torah. We had been
Beit Midrash 9:15 am talking about covenants around it for the moment when see how central love is to
love falters.” That struck me as the book of Deuteronomy
and commitments. I a beautiful way into one of the by noting how often the
Gemara Shiur 6:25 pm suggested that many fundamental features of Sefer root a-h-v, “to love,”
people in the West today Devarim specifically, and appears in each of the five
Mincha 7:25 pm are commitment-averse, Judaism generally. The book of books of the Torah. It
reluctant to bind Deuteronomy is more than occurs 15 times in Genesis,
Shabbat Ends 8:40 pm themselves simply Moses’ speeches in the but none of these is about
unconditionally and open- last months of his life, his the relationship between
Sun. Aug. 18 7:30/8:30 am endedly to something or tzava’ah or ethical will to the God and a human being.
someone. The market
mindset that future generations. It is more, They are about the feelings
Mon. & Thurs. 6:35/7:45 am also, than Mishneh Torah, a of husbands for wives or
predominates today
Tues., Wed. & Fri. 6:45/7:45 am encourages us to try this, recapitulation of the rest of the parents for children. This is
Mincha 7:30 pm sample that, experiment Torah, a restatement of the how often the verb appears
laws and history of the people
in the other 4 books:
Latest Times for and keep our options since their time in Egypt. It is a Exodus – 2; Leviticus – 2;
Shema/Shemoneh Esrei open for the latest fundamental theological Numbers – 0; Deuteronomy
version or the better
deal. Pledges of loyalty statement of what Judaism is – 23. Again and again we
Aug. 17 9:32/10:41 am are few and far between. about. It is an attempt to hear of love, in both
Brooks agreed and noted integrate law and narrative into directions, from the
Aug. 24 9:35/10:42 am that nowadays freedom is a single coherent vision of Israelites to God and from
usually understood as what it would be like to create God to the Israelites. It is
freedom-from, meaning
Next Shabbat a society of law-governed the latter that are
Ekev the absence of restraint. liberty under the sovereignty of particularly striking. Here
We don’t like to be tied God: a society of justice, are some examples: The
compassion, respect for human Lord did not set His
Mincha 7:00 pm
Kiddush is provided by
Candle Lighting 7:23 pm
Great Neck Synagogue