(Deuteronomy 7:12-11:25)

(Haftara: Isaiah 49:14-51:3)

(Pirkay Avot Chapter 5)

1. [10:16] “Circumcise your heart and you will no longer be stubborn”. In one of the Jewish mystical texts, it talks about the “circumcision of the tongue”. What do these two terms mean –the circumcision of the heart and the tongue?

2. [11:23] “Every place that your feet walk will be yours.” In spiritual-psychological terms this seems to mean that you will be totally comfortable, wherever you are. It tells us in the previous pasuk, that this blessing comes from loving God and keeping His laws. How does ” loving God and keeping His laws” make a person totally comfortable everywhere?

3. [Haftara: Isaiah 50:4] “God has given me the tongue of the learned in order to   encourage the weary…”   One would think that being sensitive would encourage the weary. How does being learned encourage the weary?

4. [Pirkay Avot 5:21] “According to the pain [effort], is the reward.” Some people are born with intelligence, charm, money, good-looks etc. How will they get the reward?

5. [Pirkay Avot 5:21] “According to the pain [effort], is the reward.” Is this always true in the world of Torah. If a person tried very hard to give charity, but did not succeed, would his or her reward be greater than someone who succeeded but didn’t have to try?

Commentary

Torah causes expansion of mind and inner joy, even without clinging to God…however, learning Torah in order to cling to God—there is nothing to compare it to—it is beyond all the riches of this world.

–R. Avraham Y. H. Kuk, 1865-1935, Lithuania and Israel.

This study page is dedicated to the memory of Gad Eliahu ben David and Kochava

—Eli Zucker

And this study page is dedicated to the memory of Sarah Bella bat Yitzchak Kummer, Chaim Yosef Yechiel ben Eliyahu Kummer and Eliyahu and Margaret Kummer