!thv ohnac tkThe Torah is not in the heavens.

It is very close to you, in your mouth

and in your heart,

to observe it.

Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisadesשבת פרשיות נצבים-וילך

Shabbat Parashiot N’tzavim & VayelechSeptember 16, 2017 | Elul 25, 5777

TORAH STUDYNext Week: Shabbat Shuvah Parashat Ha-zinu

D’varim 32.1-52, Pages 1185-1195

FIRST ALIYAH: Ha-azinu is a “song” to be taught to Israel, to be sung from generation to generation. Considering all that has been said until now, what is the point of teaching Israel a song? Are not the curses more than enough?

FIFTH ALIYAH: Read verse 32.36 very carefully. What comes to mind when reading this? What historical events does this verse seem to recall?

The haftarah, Hoshea 14.2-10 & Michah 7.18-20, begins on Page 1234.

This Week: Shabbat Parashiyot N’tzavim & Vayelech D’varim 29.9-31.30, Pages 1165-1179

FIRST ALIYAH: Verse 29.17 talks about “some man or woman, some clan or tribe,” but the punishments here are clearly national in scope. How can this be reconciled?

FIFTH ALIYAH: With the recitation of the blessings and curses, Moshe has finished teaching the people Torah, so what is left about which to “instruct” Y’hoshua, or does God actually have something else in mind?

The seventh and final ‘Haftarah of Consolation,’ Yishayahu 61.10-63.9, begins on Page 1180.

For haftarot, we follow S’fardi custom.

CBIOTP STANDARDS & PRACTICES

1. Men must keep their heads covered in the building and must wear a talit when appropriate. Women may choose to do either or both, but it is not mandatory.2. Anyone accepting a Torah-related honor must wear a talit, regardless of gender.3. Only one person at a time may take an aliyah.4. No one should enter or leave the sanctuary during a K’dushah.One should not leave the sanctuary when the Torah scroll is being carried from or to the ark.5. No conversations may be held in the hallway outside the sanctuary, or while standing in an aisle alongside a pew.

6. The use of recording equipment of any kind is forbidden on sacred days.7. Also forbidden are cell phones, beepers and PDAs, except for physicians on call and emergency aid workers (please use vibrating option).8. No smoking at any time in the building, or on synagogue grounds on Shabbatot and Yom Kippur.9. No non-kosher food allowed in the building at any time.10. No one may remove food or utensils from the shul on Shabbatot. An exception is made for food being brought to someone who is ailing and/or homebound.

CHAPTER 31: A CASE STUDY IN SCHOLARSHIPHa-azinu is a poem. It opens with a call to heaven and earth to pay attention to a valuable lesson and a discourse

onOne of the most important endeavors of biblical scholarship in the past two centuries has been the source criticism of the Torah. Starting from the simple question of how to reconcile inconsistencies in the text, and refusing to accept forced explanations to harmonize them, scholars eventually arrived at the theory that the Torah was composed of selections woven together from several, at times inconsistent, sources dealing with the same and related subjects.

The reasoning followed in this kind of analysis is somewhat similar to that of the talmudic sages and later rabbis, who held that inconsistent clauses and terminology in a single paragraph of the Mishnah must have originated with different sages, and who recognized that Moshe could not have written passages of the Torah that contain information unavailable to him, such as the last chapter of D’varim, which describes his death and its aftermath; such passages, they held, had doubtlessly been written by different authors, such as Y’hoshuah or later prophets.

Today, it is clear that many ancient texts were indeed composed in the manner reconstructed by source critics. Earlier and later versions of certain works are known, and by comparing them we can see that the later versions have incorporated two or more accounts of the same event or theme, sometimes placing the accounts side-by-side and sometimes interweaving them with each other. While we do not have such empirical evidence in the case of the Torah, knowing that it exists for other works makes the kind of analysis employed in the source criticism of the Torah seem very plausible.

Chapter 31 of D’varim provides an opportunity to see how this aspect of biblical scholarship works. More than any other chapter in D’varim, it is characterized by doublets, inconsistencies, interruptions, and variations in vocabulary and concepts that scholars take as evidence of different literary sources. (Article continues on Pages 4 and 5.)

Adapted from the JPS Torah Commentary to Deuteronomy

HAPPY BIRTHDAYToday Ruth DarwishTuesday Lazar KamerDid we miss a birthday, anniversary, or other simchah?

Let us know. We can’t print what we don’t know.

MITZVAH MEMOSend a donation to

The Jewish Federation of Northern New Jersey’s “Hurricane Relief Fund.”

When to bow—and how to bowBowing at Bar’chu, although halachically controversial, is so ingrained an Ashkenazi custom that to eliminate it also is questionable. That being said, the procedure is:

1. At Bar’chu, bow from the waist (not from the knees).

2. Before saying Hashem’s Name, stand erect.

3. At Baruch shem, bow again from the waist.

4. Again, before saying Hashem’s Name, stand erect.

During the Amidah, we bow at various points. Bowing at other times actually may be a violation of halachah. The method is:

1. At the opening of the Avot blessing, at Baruch, and again at the end of Avot (Magen Avraham), bend the knees.

At the second word (Ata), bow from the waist.

At Hashem’s Name, stand erect.

2. At Modim, we have an exception to the bowing procedure. We do not bend our knees. Instead, we simply bow from the waist. At Hashem’s Name, we stand erect.

3. At the end of the Modim blessing (v’al kulam…hatov shimcha), we repeat the full procedure: Bend the knees at Baruch; at the second word (Ata), bow from the waist; at Hashem’s Name, stand erect.

There is, of course, yet another “bowing,” but it is not technically part of the Amidah. As we recite oseh shalom bimromav, we take three steps backward, as if we are taking leave of our King, bowing first to our left (oseh), then to our right (shalom), and then forward, as we take three steps back. The gemara credits the practice to Rava, who said we should bow first to Hashem’s right, which is our left.

THE IMAHOT:Following is the text adopted by the Ritual Committee for use by the Prayer Leader in reciting the Amidah, and those wishing to insert the Matriarchs in their Amidot:

Присоединяйтесь к нам дл освящение и обед

Today’s kiddush and luncheon is sponsored byLILI WEITZEN

in memory of her late father,MAYER CHALOM, ז״ל,

Please join the Chalom family and us.

This week’s Shabbat Booklet is being sponsored by

LILI WEITZEN in memory of her late father,

MAYER CHALOM, ז״ל,and

MARJORIE GOLDSTEIN in memory of her late aunt,

RUTH GLUCKMAN, ז״ל, may their memories be for a blessing.

CHAPTER 31: A CASE STUDY IN SCHOLARSHIP (cont'd)Doublets are superfluous repetitions of what are essentially

the same events or ideas (the wife-sister motif in B’reishit, for example). In Chapter 31, Moshe publicly appoints Y’hoshuah as his successor, as God had instructed him earlier; then, unexpectedly, God Himself appoints Y’hoshuah, without referring to Moshe’s action or explaining why He repeats it. Moshe hands over the Torah twice, once to the priests and elders (verse 9) and later to the priests alone (verses 25-26).

There are two introductions to the poem of chapter 32, one by God to Moshe, and one by Moshe to the people. God tells Moshe the poem will be a witness. Moshe does not mention this in his introduction to the poem, but in giving the Torah to the Levites he tells them the Torah will be a witness. God says He knows the people will sin in the future; later, it is Moshe who knows of their coming sin, and he does not say God told him of it. Finally, verse 30 reports that Moshe recited the poem to the people, which seems to duplicate his teaching it to them in verse 22.

In addition to all this, the order of the events is puzzling. It would have been natural for Moshe to instruct the Levites to keep the Torah by the Ark at the same time that he tells them to read it every seven years, but his instructions about the Torah are interrupted by God. God also interrupts His own actions. After He summons Moshe and Y’hoshuah to the tent for Y’hoshuah’s appointment, He digresses to tell Moshe about Israel’s future sin and punishment and to instruct him about the poem (although this may have been on purpose, as per this week’s second question).

Only after the poem is written down and taught to the people, all of which would take a good deal of time, does God finally appoint sY’hoshuah, who has been in the Tent all this time. Only after this does Moshe tell the Levites where to keep the Torah.

The Sources of the ChapterThe inconsistencies and redundancies suggest that the

chapter incorporates materials from different literary sources. This is indicated by the fact that in each of the doublets, one version displays language and themes typical of D’varim and related literature, while the other displays language and themes characteristic of the passages in B’reishit-B’midbar attributed by critical scholars to the source that they call “JE” (JE is itself a combination of two earlier sources, “J” and “E”; these designations are based on the name of God that each prefers).

For example, the account of Y’hoshuah’s appointment in verses 1-8 is consistent with earlier parts of D’varim. In 3.28, God says, “Appoint Y’hoshuah and say to him, ‘Be strong and resolute,’ for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he shall apportion to them the land” and here Moshe says to Y’hoshuah, “Be strong and resolute, for it is you who shall go with this people into the land…, and it is you who shall apportion it to them” (verse 7; cf. 1.38; 3.21). On the other hand, according to verses 14-15 and 23, the appointment of Y’hoshuah by God takes place in the Tent of Meeting, to which God descends in a pillar of cloud. Neither the tent nor the pillar of cloud is mentioned elsewhere in D’varim, but they appear frequently in Sh’mot-B’midbar. The pillar of cloud is mentioned only in the JE source, and the vocabulary of these verses also includes phrases, such as “children of Israel” (instead of “all Israel” or “this people”), that are common in the JE source, but appear rarely or never in D’varim.

The brief introduction to the poem in verses 28-30 is shown to be rooted in D’varim by such characteristically Deuteronomic phrases as “gather to Me,” “call heaven and earth to witness against them,” and “having done evil in the sight of Adonai and vexed Him.” The longer introduction in verses 16-22 has, instead, phraseology that is characteristic of the other sources of the Torah, such as “go astray” instead of “follow” after other gods, “alien gods” instead of “other gods,” etc.

This analysis suggests that chapter 31 has incorporated two separate accounts of Moshe’s preparations for his departure. One, from the JE source, was an account of how God appointed Y’hoshuah in the Tent of Meeting, informed Moshe that Israel would betray Him and meet disaster, and had Moshe write the poem and teach it to the people (verses 14-23). The other, from the Deuteronomic school, recounted how Moshe, following God’s instructions, appointed Y’hoshuah, told the people that Moshe knew they would sin and incur punishment, and summoned them to hear the poem (verses 1-8, 28-30).

The Deuteronomic source of this chapter included both of the paragraphs in which Moshe gives the Torah to the priests (verses 9-13, 24-27). This is indicated by the thoroughly Deuteronomic phraseology in both and by the fact that their subject, “the Teaching,” appears in the Torah only in D’varim. However, it seems unlikely that these two paragraphs are originally from the same author since they give different impressions of what Moshe did once he finished writing the Torah. One says he gave it to the priests and elders with instructions to read it every seven years; the other, that he gave it to the Levites for storage. While these are not incompatible actions, had both accounts been written by the same author, they probably would have been recounted in a single paragraph in which Moshe finishes writing the Torah, gives it to the priests, tells them to store it in the Ark, and then tells them and the elders to take it out and read it once every seven years.

Furthermore, these paragraphs also assign different functions to the Torah, based on inconsistent premises. The first sees the Torah as a device to encourage loyalty to God and expects it to be effective; the second (like the material from JE) is certain that the people will sin—in other words, that the Torah will fail to bring about loyalty to God. The impression that these paragraphs stem from separate sources is heightened by the fact that each refers to the priests differently: the first calls them “the priests, sons of Levi” while the second calls them “the Levites.”

Hence, although these two paragraphs are both clearly from the Deuteronomic school, it seems that Deuteronomic literature was not a single, monolithic source. Rather, it was a collection of materials that shared certain concepts and stylistic features but also contained variations and, over time, was revised and supplemented.

If that is the case, the question arises as to where verses 28-29 and 32.45-47 originally stood—or what originally stood between them—since they now frame the poem instead of the Torah. This question has been answered with reconstructions of the supposed original text that could be correct but are too speculative to be proven. For present purposes it is sufficient to note that D’varim is not only a creative editorial arrangement of originally disparate materials, but also displays features that imply that these materials may once have appeared in a different order.

The Structure of the ChapterThe commentator Avraham Ibn Ezra notes that the events

recounted in this chapter could not have taken place in the order in which they are related. Invoking the rabbinic principle that “there is no earlier and later in the Torah”—that is, the Torah does not always intend us to assume that events took place in the order in which it presents them—he states that all of Moshe’s actions involving the Torah (verses 9-13 and 24ff.) must have taken place at the same time, and that God had finished appointing Y’hoshuah (verses 14-15 and 23) before He made His statement to Moshe (verses 16-22). This would certainly be a more natural sequence of events, and one wonders why the chapter relates them in so puzzling an order. This is no less a question if parts of the chapter are drawn from separate literary sources, for a compiler, too, could have arranged the material in a more natural sequence.

The Compiler of Chapter 31That the compiler of chapter 31 incorporated conflicting

versions of the same events in his narrative suggests that he did not regard them as inconsistent, but rather as descriptions of different moments in an unfolding sequence of events. He seems to have believed that by arranging the variants in the order in which he presented them, he was restoring the original complexity of the events that his sources had reported incompletely. It seems likely that he had explanations in mind to reconcile some of the inconsistencies, but did not feel free either to add these explanations to the text or to omit inconsistent details in order to create a smoother narrative. This implies that in his mind his sources were already fixed and virtually inviolable.

—Adapted from the JPS Torah Commentary to Deuteronomy

TONIG

HT!

May He who blessed | מי שברךMay He who blessed our ancestors bless and heal all those whose names are listed here, those whose names will be called out,

and those whose names we do not know because either we are unaware of their illness or they are.We pray He mercifully quickly restore them to health and vigor. May He grant physical and spiritual well-being to all who are ill. אמן

Sydelle KleinBonnie Pritzker AppelbaumDeenah bat Sarah LeahRut bat EstherMiriam Zelda bat Gittel D’vorahMiriam Chanah Sarah bat LibaMiriam Rachel bat ChanahHarav Mordechai Volff ben Liba MiryamAdina bat FreidelBaila bat D’vorahChavah bat SarahChayah bat FloraDevora Yocheved bat YehuditEsther bat D’vorahHaRav Ilana Chaya bat Rachel EstherLiba Ruchel bat MichlahMasha bat EtlMasha bat RochelMatel bat FrimahMindel bat D’vorahNinette bat Aziza Pinyuh bat SurahRachel Leah bat Malkah

Rita bat FloraRifkah bat ChanahSarah bat MalkaSarah Rifka bat SarahShimona bat FloraSura Osnat bat Alta ChayahTzipporah bat YaffaYospeh Perel bat MichlahMichelle BlatteisDiane FowlerGoldy HessFay JohnsonKatie KimElaine LaikinMira LevyRobin LevyLani LipisKaren LipsyKathleen McCartyGail SchenkerLinda StateNorma SugermanMary Thompson

Aharon Hakohen ben OodelAvraham Yitzhak ben MashaChaim ben GoldaEzra ben LuliGil Nechemiah ben YisraelaMordechai ben AlmahMoshe ben ShimonHarav R’fael Eliyahu ben Esther MalkahHarav Shimon Shlomo ben Taube v’AvrahamYisrael Yitzhak ben ShayndelYitzchak ben TziviaYonatan ben MalkaYosef ben FloraZalman Avraham ben GoldaZelig Herschel ben KreintzehHarry IkensonShannon JohnsonItzik KhmishmanAdam MessingGabriel NeriMark Alan Tunick

We pray for their safe return...May He who blessed our ancestors bless, preserve, and protect the captive and missing

soldiers of Tzahal—Ron Arad, Zecharia Baumel, Guy Chever, Zvi Feldman, Yekutiel Katz, and Zeev Rotshik—as well as those U.S. and allied soldiers, and the civilians working with them and around them, still missing in Afghanistan and Iraq, and all other areas of conflict, past and present.

And may He bless the men and women of the U.S. Armed Forces and Tzahal, and those who serve the United States and Israel in foreign lands in whatever capacity, official or unofficial, members of our community or related to members, and their colleagues and companions. Guide them in peace and return them speedily to their families alive and unharmed. אמן

HONOR YOUR DEPARTED LOVED ONES WITH A PLAQUE ON OUR

VIRTUAL MEMORIAL BOARD.

CALL THE OFFICE TO ADD THEIR NAMES TO OUR MEMORIAL BOARD.

yahrzeits for today through next FRIDAY!May their memories be for a blessing — זכרונם לברכה

Kaddish listSelim ChamuelYaakov ChamuelFrancine FederDr. Jerry FinklesteinBlanche FriedmanHonora GershmanLawrence GlazerMoshe GlickmanFrieda GutfriendJeanette Shandolow Herman

Rebecca KaplanFred B. KatzHaviva KhedouriPeter KoenigHarold RappoportNorman Harry RiedermanDavid ShandalowPaul SingmanAlan Silverstein

Leon Levy

16 Elsa Rosenberg, mother of Lester Rosenberg Benzion & Rachel Liebman Father of Mildred Gallin Leo Brauer* Fred Goldstein* Louis Eisen* William Horwitz* Gustav Rosenfeld* Tillie Lev*17 Judith Fidel Edelman Sarah Nydick* Merna Bailyn Kaplove* Samuel Gordon*18 Israel Moses Sandow, father of Sue Glick Sidonie Ullmann* Leatrice Strober* Minnie Traster* Tillie Meltzer* Dora Antonoff* Ruth Gluckman*, Marj Goldstein’s aunt19 Selma Kaplan Ed Soleimani*20 Joseph Goldfarb* Meyer Lipkus* Sarah Milch* Esther Schapiro* Murray Siegel*21 Selma Laermer Pearl Goldfischer*, great-grandmother of Dr. Mindy Goldfischer Samuel Heyman* Sarah Levin Shirley Etzin* Mano Messing*22 Morris Bachner, Lou Israel’s father-in-law Harry Megibow* Miriam K. Cohen* Yetta Davis* Mary Davidson*23 Jacob Ades, Angele Krichilsky’s father Joseph Ikenson, Harry Ikenson’s father Morris Kais* Henry Schapiro* Murray Freudman*

* A plaque in this person’s name is on our memorial board.

Are we in your will?Shouldn’t we be?

When people prepare their wills, they usually look to leave a mark beyond the confines of their families. Thus it is that general gifts are left to hospitals, and other charitable organizations.

All too often ignored, however, is the synagogue, even though its role in our lives often begins at birth, and continues even beyond death. We come here on Yom Kippur and other days, after all, to say Yizkor, the prayer in memory of our loved ones.

Our Virtual Memorial Plaques remind everyone of who our loved ones were, and why we recall them. All of us join in saying the Kaddish on their yahrzeits.

Considering this, it is so unfortunate that, in our final act, we ignore the one institution in Jewish life that is so much a part of us.

The synagogue is here for us because those who came before us understood its importance and prepared for its preservation. By remembering it in our wills, we will do our part to assure that the synagogue will be there for future generations, as well.

Think about it. We have always been here for anyone who needed us in the past. Do not those who need us in the future have the same right to our help?

Of course they do. Do not delay! Act today! Help secure the future of your communal home.

Congregation Beth Israel of the Palisadesק״ק בית ישראל של הפליסד207 Edgewater Road, Cliffside Park, NJ 07010-2201

207 Edgewater Road

Cliffside Park, NJ 07010-2201

Office: 201-945-7310;

Fax: 201-945-0863

websiteL www.cbiotp.org

general e-mail: shul@cbiotp.org

Shabbat ends tonight with havdalah at 7:47 p.m. DST

Attention All Vets!If you’re not yet a member of

JWV Post 76,YOU SHOULD BE!

For more information, call 201-869-6218

Have you reserved your seats yet?

Have you responded to our High Holy Days appeal?

If you answered no to either question, time is running out.

Shammai Engelmayer, Rabbi rabbi@cbiotp.orgNadia Massuda, Co-President nadia@cbiotp.orgCraig H. Bassett, Co-President craigbassett@cbiotp.orgJudy Golub, Vice-President judygolub@cbiotp.orgErrol Kaget, Secretary membership@cbiotp.orgAl Glick, Co-Treasurer alglick@cbiotp.orgGarrison D. Miller, Co-Treasurer garymiller@cbiotp.org

Rosh Hashanah arrives in just 4 days!