V-3 Ekev HEDGING EXTREMES
V-3 Ekev Therefore
Torah: Dt 7:12-11:25 JPS
http://learn.jtsa.edu/topics/parashah/jp...
Haftorah: Is 49:14-51:3 JPS
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Aliyot:
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1. Dt 7:12-8:10
2. Dt 8:11-9:3
3. Dt 9:4-29
4. Dt 10:1-11
5. Dt 10:12-11:9
6. Dt 11:10-21
7. Dt 11:22-25
OVERVIEW:
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Moses emphasizes the dependency of the Israelites on God. He repeats his warnings to follow after the commandments and decrees given to them at Mount Sinai, harshly reminding them of their hasty retreat to idolatry with the fabrication of the Golden Calf and the breaking of the Tablets and his pleas with God on their behalf. Moses reminds them again regarding their failure to enter the Promised Land and the debacle of the spies returning with rumors of giants and a land that devours men. He presents two extremes of self-image and faith: man as a puny insect-- vulnerable to easy destruction or man as god-- comptroller of the universe. Between utter self-degradation and self-conceit there is a plateau on which man should live recognizing God as the ultimate source of all things and all life. Although we work and struggle throughout our daily lives, we depend on God for the reward, not our own puny abilities. Many people work, but for all their efforts and toils, hardships and good intents they have little in return. We should not be haughty or conceited regarding the goods received, for in all honesty we are but stewards who should be faithful to fulfill the commandments and decrees and we have the responsibility to care for those others in dire neeed: the orphan, widow, stranger, the slave.
IN FOCUS
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"Do not stand in dread of them, for the Lord your God is in the midst, a great and awesome God."
Dt 7:21
"For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from plain and hill; a land of wheat and barley,of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a land of olive trees and honey; a land where you may eat food without stint, where you will lack nothing...When you have eaten your fill, give thanks to the Lord your God for the good land which He has given you."
Dt 8:7-10
"Know, then, that it is not any virtue of yours that the Lord your God is giving you this good land to possess..."
Dt 9:6
"and we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves, and so we must have looked to them."
Nr 13:13
HEDGING EXTREMES
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"The old man had been told by his grandfather that many king's sons had sought to pass the thorn-hedge, but had been caught and pierced by the thorns, and had died a miserable death." **
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