~ One Hundred Words on the Parsha – Va’eschanan

"ושמרתם ועשיתם כי היא חכמתכם ובינתכם לעיני העמים ... ואמרו רק עם חכם ונבון הגוי הגדול הזה"

“Keep the תורה because it is your wisdom in the eyes of the nations”

רבינו בחיי explains that all תורה wisdom, such as רפואות (medicine) is included in the תורה and can be derived from the תורה. Similarly, we learn in פרקי אבות "הפך בה והפך בה דכולה בה"

“Turn over” the תורה to find everything in it.

On the other hand, through the advancement of science, we can understand תורה, because תורה includes those truths. Science can enlighten us to truths about the תורה that we didn’t previously perceive. In the Talmudic expression “אי לאו דדלאי לך חספא מי משכחת מרגניתא תותא”. “If I hadn’t lifted the earthenware, would you have found the precious stone underneath it?!”

Only B’Simcha Parshas Vaeschanon

"ועד הר שיאן הוא חרמון"

הר חרמון is a special mountain in ארץ ישראל. It has four names given to it by different nations. It has a uniqueness in ארץ ישראל that is has snow. Nowadays, the mountain even has skiing, contrary to the rest of ארץ ישראל which actually includes a lot of desert land.

The הר הבית, the mountain of the בית המקדש, also has many names, including הר ציון and הר המוריה. אברהם called it הר, prior to the עקידה. Afterwards, he called it יראה, the place which will be seen and the place where people will be seen. יצחק called it שדה and יעקב called it בית. In this week’s Parsha, משה רבינו called it ההר הטוב.

In the times of the בית שלישי, it says “ונראהו עין בעין”, we will see ה' “eye to eye” on the הר הבית.