Bar’chu et
YHVH ha-m’vorach, Baruch YHVH ha-m’vorach l’O’lam va-ed! Baruch ata YHVH Elohim
melech ha-olam asher bachar banu m’kol ha-amim, v’na-tan lanu eht Torah-to.
Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Bless YHVH the blessed One; Blessed is YHVH, the blessed
One for all eternity. Blessed are you, YHVH, our Elohim, King of the Universe,
you have selected us from among all the peoples,and have given us Your Torah.
Blessed are YHVH our Elohim – Giver of the Torah – Amein.’)
Midrash on Haftarah.
This Torah portion instructs us on how we are to prepare
ourselves to enter the land.
Deu 26:1 “And it shall be, when you come(ki
tavo) into the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you as an
inheritance, and you possess it and dwell in it,
Deu 26:2 that you shall take some of the first of
all the fruits of the soil which you bring from your land that יהוה your Elohim is giving
you, and shall put it in a basket and go to the place where יהוה your Elohim chooses
to make His Name dwell there – (Yerushalayim)
Deu 26:3 “And you shall come to the one who is
priest in those days, and say to him, ‘I shall declare today to יהוה your Elohim that I
have come to the land which יהוה swore to our fathers to give us.’
Deu 26:4 “And the priest shall take the basket from
your hand and place it before the slaughter-place of יהוה your Elohim.
Deu 26:5 “And you shall answer and say before יהוה
your Elohim, ‘My father was a perishing Aramean, and he went down to Mitsrayim
and sojourned there with few men. And there he became a nation, great, mighty,
and numerous.
Deu 26:6 But the Mitsrites did evil to us, and
afflicted us, and imposed hard labour on us.
Deu 26:7 Then we cried out to יהוה Elohim of our
fathers, and יהוה heard our voice and saw our affliction and our toil and our
oppression.
Deu 26:8 And יהוה brought us out of Mitsrayim with a strong
hand and with an outstretched arm, with great fear and with signs and wonders. Deu
26:9 And He brought us to this place and has given us this land, “a land
flowing with milk and honey.”
Deu 26:10 And now, see, I have brought the
first-fruits of the land which You, O יהוה, have given me.’ Then you shall place it
before יהוה
your Elohim, and bow down before יהוה your Elohim,
Deu 26:11 and shall rejoice in all the good which יהוה
your Elohim has given to you and your house, you and the Lěwite and the
stranger who is among you.
Deu 26:12 “When you have completed tithing all the
tithe of your increase in the third year, which is the year of tithing, and
have given it to the Lěwite, to the stranger, to the fatherless, and to the
widow, and they have eaten within your gates and have been satisfied, (Dev
14:28)
Deu 26:13 then you shall say before יהוה your Elohim, ‘I have
put away the set-apart portion from my house, and also have given it to
the Lěwite, and to the stranger, and to the fatherless, and to the widow,
according to all Your command which You have commanded me. I have not
transgressed Your commands, nor have I forgotten.
Deu 26:14 I have not eaten any of it when in
mourning, nor have I removed any of it for any unclean use, nor given any of it
for the dead. I have obeyed the voice of יהוה my Elohim, I have done according to all
that You have commanded me.
Deu 26:15 Look from Your set-apart dwelling place,
from the heavens, and bless Your people Yisra’ěl and the land which You have
given us, as You swore to our fathers, “a land flowing with milk and honey.”
’
Deu 26:16 “Today יהוה your Elohim is commanding you to do these
laws and right-rulings. And you shall guard and do them with all your heart and
with all your being.
Deu 26:17 “You have today caused יהוה to proclaim to be
your Elohim, and to walk in His ways and guard His laws, and His commands, and
His right-rulings, and to obey His voice.
Deu 26:18 “And יהוה has caused you to proclaim today to be His
people, a treasured possession, as He has spoken to you, and to guard all His
commands,
Deu 26:19 so as to set you high above all nations
which He has made, for a praise, and for a name, and for esteem, and for you to
be a set-apart people to יהוה your Elohim, as He has spoken.”
1Pe
2:9 But you are a chosen race,b Deu_10:15 a royal
priesthood,c Isa_61:6 a set-apart nation,d Exo_19:6 a people
for a possession,e Isa_43:2 that you should proclaim the praises of
Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light, Footnotes: bAlso
see Isa_43:20. cAlso see Isa_66:21. dAlso see Deu_7:6.
eAlso see Exo_19:5, Tit_2:14.
Deu 27:1 And Mosheh, with the elders of
Yisra’ěl, commanded the people, saying, “Guard all the commands which I am
commanding you today.
Deu 27:2 “And it shall be, on the day when you pass
over the Yarděn to the land which יהוה your Elohim is giving you, that you shall
set up for yourselves large stones, and plaster them with plaster,
Deu 27:3 and write on them all the Words of this
Torah, when you have passed over, so that you go into the land which יהוה
your Elohim is giving you, ’a land flowing with milk and honey,’ as יהוה
Elohim of your fathers has spoken to you.
Deu 27:4 “And it shall be, when you have passed
over the Yarděn, that on Mount Ěyḇal you set up these stones, which I command
you today, and you shall plaster them with plaster,
Deu 27:5 and build a slaughter-place to יהוה
your Elohim there, a slaughter-place of stones – do not use an iron tool
on them.
Deu 27:6 “Build the slaughter-place of יהוה
your Elohim with complete stones, and you shall offer ascending offerings on it
to יהוה
your Elohim,
Deu 27:7 and shall slaughter peace offerings,
and eat there, and rejoice before יהוה your Elohim.
Deu 27:8 “And you shall write all the Words of this
Torah on the stones – plainly and well.”
Curses from Mount Ebal
Deu 27:9 And Mosheh and the priests, the Lěwites,
spoke to all Yisra’ěl, saying, “Be silent and hear, O Yisra’ěl: This day you
have become the people of יהוה your Elohim,
Deu 27:10 and you shall obey the voice of יהוה
your Elohim, and do His commands and His laws which I command you today.”
Deu 27:11 And Mosheh commanded the people on that
day, saying,
Deu 27:12 “These are to stand on Mount Gerizim to
bless the people, when you have passed over the Yarděn: Shim‛on, and Lěwi, and
Yehuḏah, and Yissasḵar, and Yosěph, and Binyamin.
Deu 27:13 “And these are to stand on Mount Ěyḇal to
curse: Re’uḇěn, Gaḏ, and Ashěr, and Zeḇulun, Dan, and Naphtali.
Deu 27:14 “And the Lěwites shall speak with a loud
voice and say to all the men of Yisra’ěl:
Deu 27:15 Cursed is the man who makes a carved or
moulded image, an abomination to יהוה, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and sets it up in
secret.’ And all the people shall answer and say, ‘Aměn!’
Deu 27:16 Cursed is he who makes light of his
father or his mother.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Aměn!’
Deu 27:17 Cursed is he who moves his neighbour’s
boundary.’ And all the people shall say, ’Aměn!’
Deu 27:18 Cursed is he who misleads the blind in
the way.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Aměn!’
Deu 27:19 Cursed is he who twists the right-ruling
of the stranger, the fatherless, and widow.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Aměn!’
Deu 27:20 Cursed is he who lies with his father’s
wife, because he has uncovered his father’s bed.’ And all the people shall say,
‘Aměn!’
Deu 27:21 Cursed is he who lies with any beast.’
And all the people shall say, ‘Aměn!’
Deu 27:22 Cursed is he who lies with his sister,
the daughter of his father or the daughter of his mother.’ And all the people
shall say, ‘Aměn!’
Deu 27:23 Cursed is he who lies with his
mother-in-law.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Aměn!’
Deu 27:24 Cursed is he who strikes his neighbour
secretly.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Aměn!’
Deu 27:25 Cursed is he who takes a bribe to strike
an innocent being.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Aměn!’
Deu 27:26 Cursed is he who does not establish the
Words of this Torah.’ And all the people shall say, ‘Aměn!’
Gen
45:7 “And Elohim sent me before you to preserve for you a remnant in the
earth, and to give life to you by a great escape. (Ez 6:8, Zep 2:3)Jer
30:24 The burning displeasure of יהוה shall not turn back until He has done and
established the purposes of His heart. In the latter days you shall understand
it.b Footnote: bSee Jer_23:20.
Baruch atah YHVH, Eloheynu, Melech ha-‘Olam, asher natan
lanu Toraht-emet, v’chay-yeh o’lam nata-b’tochenu. Baruch atah YHVH, noteyn
ha-Torah. Ameyn.”
(Blessed are you Yahweh, our
Elohim, King of the Universe, you have given us your Torah of truth, and have
planted everlasting life within our midst. Blessed are you, YHVH giver of the
Torah – Ameyn.)