Parshas Va’eschanan: 5785

Sandwiched between Moshe’s rebuke at the beginning of the parshah, and his reference to Maamad Har Sinai, Shema, and other mitzvos in perek five, comes this piece about arei miklat that Moshe separated in Ever L’Yarden. Why is this topic recorded here?  (Rabbi Zvi Belovski, based on Shem MiShmuel)

Last week I lost it. Broke down completely. I’m a very sensitive person in general, so I keep a tight lid on the messy business of my emotions. But last Thursday, I hit what felt like rock bottom.

While Moshe felt it necessary to rebuke the people before his death, he was aware that it was potentially hazardous. A terrible feeling of hopelessness might set in to the people, from which they might never recover.  The generation who stood at the border of Eretz Yisrael knew they’d have to work the land and live a life without Divine revelations. They felt that if their ancestors had been unable to resist temptation, how could they possibly manage to maintain an appropriate relationship with Hashem?

You’d think it was the million-and-one major stresses there are in This World: Sickness, death, child-rearing, finances, and, oh, the million-and-one things you’ll meet and greet in everyday life.

But it wasn’t the fact that I’ve been fighting insurance for a year and half to cover Avi’s root canal that precipitated this massive drop. And it wasn’t the fact that my car insurance emailed one random Monday canceling my coverage, even though I’d paid until the end of the year. Nor was it the three weeks I couldn’t drive until that was straightened out.