Parshat Devarim Va Et Chanan Video Deuteronomy 3.23 - 7.11 A Taste Of Torah 5 By Dr. Akiva Gamliel Belk Dean of Jewish Studies Bnai Noach Torah Institute, LLC Why Do We Return? Devarim 3.23 וָאֶתְחַנַּן אֶל־יְהוָֹה בָּעֵת הַהִוא לֵאמֹר: כד Deuteronomy 3.23 And I pleaded with the Lord at that time, saying, This Parshat is called וָאֶתְחַנַּן VaEtChanan meaning And I sought favor for you The root Word is חַנּוּן Chah Noon, means an undeserved gift. It means to be gracious, to be merciful to be compassionate. חָנַן Chaw Nahn means to favor, give amnesty, pity, to be gracious, to bestow, to grant to endow... Moshe is Saying, I sought favor for you I sought compassion for you. I sought undeserved favor for you. Our Sages Teach that these Words share the same root Word as חִנָּם Chee Nawm meaning for nothing. Moshe was requesting The Lord to do something for them for nothing. Moshe did not request, Please Oh Lord do this for them in the merit of Avraham, of Yitzchok, of Yaakov your servants... Moshe did not request Please Oh Lord do this for them because of my merit. וָאֶתְחַנַּן VaEtChanan is to seek favor for one who perhaps does not deserve favor. VaEtChanan is to seek favor for nothing! It is to assist to help who may not have any merit. In the English we say pleaded because this helps us to understand there is a great deal of work and emotion surrounding the plea for undeserved favor. In addition this plea came from a very righteous man, Moshe our Teacher. Great tzaddikim make pleas for those of us who are unworthy... for nothing... Over five decades ago a circus rolled into our town. The circus came by train. There were elephants tigers and lions bears horses and all kinds of Animals and entertainers. During this time a transient was hired by the circus. He helped to feed and care for animals. Children are attracted to all the animals. During the circus stayIn 10-year-old boy was attracted to the animals. Later he turned up missing and unfortunately dead. Eventually the Police narrowed down the homicide to this transient man. He was arrested. Over the course of time he was convicted of murder. He was sentenced to die. For whatever reason, my Father, A congregational leader took an interest in this transient man. Daddy went to the county jail to visit him. And later to the Colorado State Penitentiary. He prayed with the man. They studied the Bible together. Daddy spoke with his attorney. Daddy lead an appeal before the governor to spare this mans life. Daddy wrote letters seeking a stay of execution. Eventually the day of execution came and this man paid for the life you taken. Over a period of years Daddy visited this man a number of times. He was there for him right up until the day of his execution. This was not easy Daddy would have to travel over 100 miles one way to visit to encourage and to be there for this man who was undeserving. Dear Ones this is וָאֶתְחַנַּן Va Et Chanan to seek favor for one who perhaps does not deserve favor. The Gematria of וָאֶתְחַנַּן Va Et Chanan is 515. The Word נִסְּתָה Nee Sih Taw, meaning to Test to Prove is also the Gematria of 515. We Try each other. We test each other. We test our Leadership. We prove our wife and children. Yet, Moshe pleaded for us. Dear Ones we can give a very great gift to another individual. We can give them our time. We can give them our prayers. We can plead for them. We can spend time in prayer for their needs.. וָאֶתְחַנַּן Va Et Chanan / I sought favor for you ו6 א1 ת400 ח8 נ50 ן50 = 515 נִסְּתָה Nee Sih Taw, To Prove To Test נ50 ס60 ת400 ה5 = 515
Posted on: Fri, 08 Aug 2014 21:32:58 +0000
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