A little review

Well hello again, it has certainly been a while since we've caught up. Reading the sixth aliyah of this week's parashah, Eikev (Deut. 7:12-11:25), I was finally compelled to start posting again. In the sixth aliyah, which is found in Deut. 11:10-21, we find the second paragraph of the Shema, a three paragraph prayer said twice daily by Jews worldwide. Had I been more diligent, I would've talked about the first, most famous paragraph (Deut. 6:4-9) last week when it is read as the sixth aliyah of parshas Va'eschanan, but so it goes.

The Shema prayer declares HASHEM's unity and sovereignty over the universe. The first paragraph then commands each individual Jew to devote his entire heart, soul and resources to loving HASHEM. The second paragraph then switches tense and addresses the Jewish community as a whole in the plural and again commands the community to love HASHEM through performance of His commandments.

Let's take a step back for a second. We are currently three parshiyos into the book of Devarim (meaning "words"). Christians and other English speakers might know it better as Deuteronomy, which is from the Greek for "second law" (deutero- + nomos). In many ways this is true. Moshe is standing above the eastern bank of the Jordan River giving his final spiel to the people Israel. There is a second recitation of the Ten Sayings (or Ten Commandments, as you may know them). The entire story of the wanderings in the desert are retold. This is Moshe's time to review and make sure everyone is on the same page with the mitzvos before entering the Land.

The Hebrew wording of the first line of the second paragraph of the Shema (v. 13) is a bit curious: אִם-שָׁמֹעַ תִּשְׁמְעוּ

Literally, "if hearken you will hearken" (notice the repeated shoresh ש-מ-ע, meaning "to hear" or "to listen"). While a little repetition is good every once in a while, like say the bulk of Devarim, this back to back repetition clearly strikes us as a bit odd since the Torah will sometimes not even address significant characters by name.

So what gives? Rashi indicates that the double form of the verb implies the maxim "If you forsake me [i.e.,Torah study] for one day, I will forsake you for two days." That is, if you neglect your studies, you'll forget what you learned earlier in addition to not adding more knowledge. Conversely, if [you] hearken [to the things you've already learned by reviewing them, then] you will hearken [to new insights as you study them anew]. A little review is essential to complete understanding.

I wish you all a wonderful, safe, happy, meaningful Shabbos. I'll drop some parshas Re'eh knowledge on you next week.