PARSHAS KI SAVO 5773
Rabbi Doniel Staum, LMSW
Rabbi, Kehillat New Hempstead
Social Worker, Yeshiva Bais Hachinuch/Ashar
STAM TORAH
PARSHAS KI SAVO
“HOW AND WHERE”
Russel concluded: “If you have no idea where you’re going, how are you going to get there? How can you head toward a destination in life, if you haven’t decided where it is that you’re heading?”
Haskays ush’ma Yisroel4”
“be attentive and listen?”
haskays” connotes a deeper meaning than simple attentiveness. It entails mental imagining, to picture in one’s mind what is being expressed.
8. They utilized that time to contemplate what they wanted to accomplish via their prayers and what they wanted to pray for.
Shem MiShmuel concludes that this concept also forms the basis of why the month of Elul precedes the awesome Days of Judgment. The purpose of the thirty days of Elul is to grant one ample time to contemplate what he wants to accomplish through the mediums of Tishrei, i.e. what he wants to achieve through the mitzvos of shofar, penitence, prayer, tashlich, succah, four species etc. All of these mitzvos are mediums for greater personal growth and are not merely ends unto themselves.
Atah harysah lada’as – You have been shown in order to know that Hashem, He is the G-d! There is none beside Him!” on the eve of Simchas Torah
“Sh’ma Yisroel”. Contemplate and reflect upon the true joy of Simchas Torah, especially in achieving a level of truth faith in G-d, and then embark on the road of Elul and Tishrei that will lead you there.
11, we are begging G-d not to allow us to begin the winter without a deeper emotional connection with Him. We are praying He guide us during this elite time period to develop within our souls an appreciation of the love He has for us, and the merit we have to develop a genuine connection with Him.
“Be attentive and hear… This day you have become a people”
“There is none beside Him!”
1 Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski, Addictive Thinking, Hazelden, 1997
2 An acknowledged therapist from Lakewood, N.J.
3 Habit 2
4 27:9
5 29:3
6 Ki Savo 5672
7 ‘chassidim harishonim’
8 Berachos 30b
9 Sichos, Yomim Noraim
10 just prior to the commencement of hakafos
11 “אבינו מלכנו נא אל תשיבנו ריקם מלפניך“