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The Blessing After Torah Click this to hear the blessing canted by Cantor Kenneth B. Cohen of Temple Sholom, Greenwich, CT
Ba-rookh ah-tah Adonai, eh-lo-hay-noo meh-lech hah-oh­lahm, ah-sher nah-tahn la-noo toe-raht eh-met, v’cha-yaye oh-lahm nah-tah b’toe-chay-noo. Ba-rookh ah-tah Adonai, no-tain ha-to-rah.   Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has given us a Torah of truth, and has planted eternal life in our midst. Blessed are You, O Lord, Giver of the Torah.

 
Now that you've read Parsha Va’etchanan, listen to
Rabbi Greg Hershberg teach from the text

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Haftarah

The Blessing of the Haftarah (Weekly Portion from the Prophets) Click this to hear the blessing canted by an unknown cantor from Temple Mount Sinai in El Paso, TX.

Ba-rookh, ah-tah Adonai, eh-lo-hay-noo, meh-lekh hah-oh­lahm, ah-sher ba-khar been-vee-eem toe-veem, v’rah-tzah b’deev­ray-hem, ha-neh-eh-ma-reem, beh-eh-meht.   Ba-rookh ah-tah, Adonai, ha-bo-char ba-to-rah, oo-v’Mo-sheh ahv-doe, oo-v'yees­ra-ale ah-mo, oo-veen-vee-aye hah-eh-met, vah-tzeh-dek.   Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who selected good prophets, and was pleased with their words which were spoken truthfully.   Blessed are You, O Lord, Who chooses the Torah, Your servant Moses, Your people Israel, and prophets of truth and righteousness.

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Haftarah Va’etchanan is Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 40:1–26

1 “Comfort, comfort My people,” says your God. 2 “Speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and call out to her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received of ADONAI’s hand double for all her sins.”

3 The voice of one who calls out,

“Prepare the way of ADONAI in the wilderness!

Make a level highway in the desert for our God.

4 Every valley shall be exalted,

and every mountain and hill shall be made low.

The uneven shall be made level,

and the rough places a plain.

5 ADONAI’s glory shall be revealed,

and all flesh shall see it together;

for the mouth of ADONAI has spoken it.”

 

6 The voice of one saying, “Cry out!”

One said, “What shall I cry?”

“All flesh is like grass,

and all its glory is like the flower of the field.

7 The grass withers,

the flower fades,

because ADONAI’s breath blows on it.

Surely the people are like grass.

8 The grass withers,

the flower fades;

but the word of our God stands forever.”

 

9 You who tell good news to Zion, go up on a high mountain.

You who tell good news to Jerusalem, lift up your voice with strength!

Lift it up! Don’t be afraid!

Say to the cities of Judah, “Hinneh, your God!”

10 Hinneh, Adonai ELOHIM will come as a mighty one,

and His arm will rule for Him.

Hinneh, His reward is with Him,

and His recompense before Him.

11 He will feed His flock like a shepherd.

He will gather the lambs in His arm,

and carry them in His bosom.

He will gently lead those who have their young.

 

12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand,

and marked off the sky with His span,

and calculated the dust of the earth in a measuring basket,

and weighed the mountains in scales,

and the hills in a balance?

13 Who has directed ADONAI’s Spirit,

or has taught him as his counselor?

14 Who did He take counsel with,

and who instructed Him,

and taught Him in the path of justice,

and taught Him knowledge,

and showed Him the way of understanding?

15 Hinneh, the nations are like a drop in a bucket,

and are regarded as a speck of dust on a balance.

Hinneh, He lifts up the islands like a very little thing.

16 Lebanon is not sufficient to burn,

nor its animals sufficient for a burnt offering.

17 All the nations are like nothing before Him.

They are regarded by Him as less than nothing, and vanity.

 

18 To whom then will you liken God?

Or what likeness will you compare to Him?

19 A workman has cast an image,

and the goldsmith overlays it with gold,

and casts silver chains for it.

20 He who is too impoverished for such an offering chooses a tree that will not rot.

He seeks a skillful workman to set up a carved image for him that will not be moved.

 

21 Haven’t you known?

Haven’t you heard?

Haven’t you been told from the beginning?

Haven’t you understood from the foundations of the earth?

22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth,

and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers;

Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,

and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in,

23 who brings princes to nothing,

who makes the judges of the earth meaningless.

24 They are planted scarcely.

They are sown scarcely.

Their stock has scarcely taken root in the ground.

He merely blows on them, and they wither,

and the whirlwind takes them away as stubble.

 

25 “To whom then will you liken Me?

Who is my equal?” says the Holy One.

26 Lift up your eyes on high,

and see who has created these,

who brings out their army by number.

He calls them all by name.

by the greatness of His might,

and because He is strong in power,

not one is lacking.

[TO PARSHA TOP]
 

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Ketuvei HaShalichim (Apostolic Writings)

Mattityahu (Matthew) 4:1–11; 22:33–40; Mark 12:28–34; Luke 4:1–13; 10:25–37

4: 1Then the SpiritRuach led Yeshua up into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2After Yeshua had fasted for forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. 3The tempter came and said to Him, “Since you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4But Yeshua answered, “The Tanakh says,

Man does not live on only bread, but on every word that comes from the mouth of ADONAI.’”

5Then the devil took Him to the holy city, set Him on the highest point of the Temple wall, 6and said to Him, “Since you are the Son of God, jump! The Tanakh says,

‘He will order His angels to be responsible for your protection, … they will support with their hands so you don’t even bump your foot against a stone.’”

7Yeshua said to him, But the Tanakh also says,

Do not put ADONAI your God to the test.’”

8Once again the devil took Him to the summit of a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in all their glory, 9and told Him, “I will give you all of this if you will bow down and worship me.”

10Then Yeshua said to him, Go away, satan! For the Tanakh says,

Worship ADONAI your God and serve only Him.’”

11Then the devil left Him, and angels came and tended to Him.

22: 33When the crowds heard this, they were astonished at His teaching.

34But when the PhariseesP'rushim heard that He had silenced the SadduceesTz'dukim, they got together, 35and one of them who was an expert in Torah asked Him a question to trap Him. 36“Rabbi, which of the mitzvotcommandments in the Torah is the most important?”

37Yeshua said to him, ‘You shall love ADONAI your God with all your heart, with all your being, and with all your resources.’ 38This is the greatest and most important mitzvah. 39The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40The whole of the Torah and the Prophets depend on these two mitzvot.”

Mark 12:28–34

28One of the SofrimScribes, Torah teachers came up and heard their discussion. Noticing how well Yeshua had answered them, he asked Him, “Which of all the mitzvotcommandments is the most important?”

29Yeshua answered, “The most important mitzvahcolmmandment is this: ‘Sh’ma Yisra’el, ADONAI Eloheinu, ADONAI echad (Hear, Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one). 30You shall love ADONAI your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the most important mitzvah. 31The second is like this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other mitzvah more important than these.”

32The soferscribe, Torah teacfher said to Him, “You are right, Rabbi. You have correctly said that He is One, and there is no one except Him. 33And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, and with all the strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself is more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

34When Yeshua saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” No one dared ask him any question after that.

Luke 4:1–13; 10:25–37

4: 1Yeshua, filled with Ruach HaKodeshthe Holy Spirit, returned from the YardenJordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness 2for forty days of testing by the Accuser. During all that time He ate nothing, and afterward He was hungry. 3The Accuser said to Him, “Since you are the Son of God, command this stone to become bread.”

4Yeshua answered him, “The Tanakh says, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.’”

5The Accuser took Him up and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. 6Then the Accuser said to Him, “I will give you all this power and and glory. It has been handed over to me; and I can give it to whomever I choose. 7If you will worship me, it will all be Yours.”

8Yeshua answered him, “The Tahakh says, ‘You shall worship ADONAI your God, and you shall serve only Him.’”

9He led Him to YerushalayimJerusalem, and set Him on the pinnaclehighest point of the Temple, and said to Him, “Since you are the Son of God, jump down from here! 10The Tanakh says,

‘He will put his angels in charge of you, to guard you;’

11and,

‘On their hands they will bear you up,

lest perhaps you dash your foot against a stone.’”

12Yeshua answered him, “It also says, ‘Do not put ADONAI Eoheinuthe LORD your God to the test.’”

13When the Accuser had finished every temptation, he left Him until the appointed time.

10: 25An expert in Torah stood up and tried to trap Him, saying, “Rabbi, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

26He said to him, “What is written in the Torah? How do you read it?”

27He answered, “You shall love ADONAI your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.”

28He said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this, and you will live.”

29But he, desiring to justify himself, asked Yeshua, “Who is my neighbor?”

30Yeshua answered, “There was a man who was going down from YerushalayimJerusalem to YerichoJericho, and he was mugged by robbers who stripped him and beat him, and left, leaving him half dead. 31By coincidence, a cohenpriest was going down that road; but when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32Likewise, a LeviLevite also came to the place and saw him, and passed by on the other side. 33But a man from ShomronSamaria who was traveling that road came upon him; and when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. 34so he came up to him, put oil and wine on his wounds, and bandaged them. He set him on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. 35The next day as he was leaving he took out two denarii and gave them to the host, and said to him, ‘Take care of him. Whatever you spend beyond that, I will repay you when I return.’ 36Now which of these three do you think seemed to be a neighbor to him who fell among the robbers?”

37He said, “The man who showed mercy on him.”

Kepherim (Letters, optional)

Acts 13:13–43; Romans 3:27–31; 1 Timothy 2:4–6; Ya‘akov (James) 2:14–26; and all the readings for Parashah 17

13After Sha'ul and his companions set sail from Paphos, and came to Perga [MAP] in Pamphylia [MAP], where Yochanan left them to return to Yerushalayim.

14From Perga they traveled inland to Pisidian Antioch. On Shabbat they went into the synagogue and sat down. After the reading from the Torah and the Prophets, the synagogue leaders sent word to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, speak it.”

16Sha'ul stood up, beckoned with his hand, and said, “Men of Yisra'el, and you God-fearers[GN], hinneh.[GN] 17The God of the people of Yisrael chose our fathers. He made them into a great people during their stay as aliens in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm, He led them out from it. 18For a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness. 19When He had vanquished seven nations in the land of Canaan, He gave their land to His people as an inheritance — all this took about four hundred fifty years. 20After this He gave them judges until the time of the prophet Sh'mu'elSamuel. 21Then they asked for a king, and God gave to them forty years under Sha'ul Bar-Kish, from the tribe of Benjamin. 22After removing Sha'ul, He raised up David to be their king, about whom He testified, ‘I have found David bar-YishaiDavid the son of Jesse to be a man after My own heart, a man who will do whatever I ask of him.’ 23Just as He had promised, from this man’s descendants  God has brought to Yisra'el a Savior, Yeshua. 24Before the arrival of Yeshua, Yochanan had been preaching to Yisra'el an immersion related to turning away from sin and back to God and His Torah. 25As Yochanan was finishing his work, he said, ‘Who do you suppose I am? I’m not the one we’ve been waiting for. But One is coming after me, the sandals of Whose feet I am not worthy to untie.’ 26Brothers, children of the stock of Avraham, and you God-fearers! The message of this salvation has been sent out to us! 27For the people living in Yerushalayim and their rulers, because they didn’t recognize either Him or the message of the prophets who are read every Shabbat, fulfilled the words of those prophets by condemning Him. 28Even though they could find no legitimate reason for His death, they still asked Pilate to have Him killed. 29When they had fulfilled everything that had been written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb. 30But God raised Him from the dead! 31And He was seen for many days by those who had come up with Him from Galilee to Yerushalayim; they are now His witnesses to the people. 32We are bringing you the Good News that what God promised to the Fathers, 33He has now fulfilled to us, their children, in that he raised up Yeshua! As it is indeed written in the second psalm,

‘You are my Son.

Today I have become Your Father.’

34“Since He has raised Him up from the dead, never to return to decay, He said: ‘I will give you the holy and sure blessings I promised to David.’ 35This He further explains in another psalm, ‘You will not allow Your Holy One see decay.’ 36For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, died, was buried with his fathers, and saw decay. 37But the one whom God raised from the dead saw no decay. 38Therefore, brothers, let it be known to you that through this Man the fogriveness of sins is proclaimed to you! 39Everyone who puts his trust in Him is cleared by God from everything from which you could not be cleared by the Torah of Moshe. 40Watch out, then, so this word spoken in the Prophets does not happen to you:

41‘Look, you mockers, and marvel and die;

because I am doing a work in your time ,

one which you simply will not believe,

even if someone explains it to you.’”

42As they were leaving the synagogue, the prople asked then to continue the message the following Shabbat. 43When the synagogue meeting broke up, many of the Y’hudim and devout proselytes followed Sha'ul and Bar-Nabba, who spoke to them and urged them to continue in the grace of God.

Romans 3:27–31

27Where then is the boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. 28We maintain therefore that a man is justified by faith apart from the works of the law. 29Or is God the God of Jews only? Isn’t He the God of Gentiles also? Yes, of Gentiles also, 30since indeed there is one God who will justify the circumcised[GN] by faith and the uncircumcised[GN] through faith.

31Do we then nullify the Torah through faith? May it never be! No, we establish the Torah.

1 Timothy 2:4–6

3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4 Who desires all people to be saved and come to full knowledge of the truth. 5 For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the man Messiah Yeshua, 6 Who gave Himself as a ransom for all, the testimony at the proper time, 7 to which I was appointed a proclaimer and an emissary — I am telling the truth in Messiah, not lying — a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Ya‘akov (James) 2:14–26

14What good is it, my brothers, if a man says he has faith, but has no works? Can faith save him? 15And if a brother or sister is naked and in lack of daily food, 16and one of you tells them, “Go in peace. Be warmed and filled;” yet you didn’t give them the things the body needs, what good is it? 17Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead in itself. 18Yes, a man will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without works, and I will show you my faith by my works.

19You believe that “God is one”? Good for you! The demons also believe — and shudder with fear. 20But do you want to know, vain man, that faith apart from works is dead? 21Wasn’t Avraham our father justified by works, in that he offered up Yitz'chakIsaac his son on the altar? 22You see that faith worked with his works, and by works faith was perfected. 23So the Scripture was fulfilled which says, “Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness,” and he was called God’s friend. 24You see then that by works a man is justified, and not only by faith. 25In the same way, wasn’t Rahab the prostitute also justified by works when she received the messengers and sent them out another way? 26Just as a body without a spirit is dead, so too faith without action is dead.

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The Blessing After the Ketuvei HaShalichim Click this to hear the blessing canted by Jeremiah Greenberg of Messianic Liturgical Resources. Page numbers refer to his Messianic Shabbat Siddur.
Ba-rookh ah-tah, Adonai Eh-lo-hay-noo, meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm, ah-sher na-tahn la-noo Ha-d'var Ha-eh-met v'cha-yaye oh-lahm na-ta b'toe-chey-noo. Ba-rooch ah-ta Adonai, no-tain Ha-breet Ha-cha-da-sha. Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has given us the Word of Truth and has planted life everlasting in our midst. Blessed are you O Lord, Giver of the New Covenant.

The Blessing of the Messiah Click this to hear the blessing canted by Jeremiah Greenberg of Messianic Liturgical Resources. Page numbers refer to his Messianic Shabbat Siddur.
Ba-rookh ah-tah Adonai Eh-lo-hay-noo, meh-lekh hah-oh-lahm, ah-sher na-tahn la-noo ha-deh-rech l'y'shoo-ah b'ma-she-ahch Yeshua. Ah-mein. Blessed are You, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, Who has given us the way to salvation in Messiah Yeshua. Amen.

Parashah 46: ‘Ekev
“Because” (continued)

(i) 12 Because you listen to these ordinances and keep and do them, ADONAI Elohekem will keep with you the covenant and the loving kindness which He swore to your fathers. 13 He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which He swore to your fathers to give you. 14 You will be blessed above all peoples. There won’t be male or female barren among you, or among your livestock. 15 ADONAI will take away from you all sickness; and He will put none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you. 16 You shall consume all the peoples whom ADONAI Elohekem shall deliver to you. Your eye shall not pity them. You shall not serve their gods; for that would be a snare to you. 17 If you shall say in your heart, “These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?” 18 you shall not be afraid of them. You shall remember well what ADONAI Elohekem did to Pharaoh and to all Egypt: 19 the great trials which your eyes saw, the signs, the wonders, the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which ADONAI Elohekem brought you out. So shall ADONAI Elohekem do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid. 20 Moreover ADONAI Elohekem will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before you. 21 You shall not be scared of them; for ADONAI Elohekem is among you, a great and awesome God. 22 ADONAI Elohekem will cast out those nations before you little by little. You may not consume them at once, lest the animals of the field increase on you. 23 But ADONAI Elohekem will deliver them up before you, and will confuse them with a great confusion, until they are destroyed. 24 He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name perish from under the sky. No one will be able to stand before you until you have destroyed them. 25 You shall burn the engraved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be snared in it; for it is an abomination to ADONAI Elohekem. 26 You shall not bring an abomination into your house and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it. You shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.

Chapter 8

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