This short week has a short Torah reading, Ha-azinu. In the traditional count of the 613 commandments, we reached the final mitzvah last week, in Parshat Vayelekh. The most famous Bar-Mitzvah gift in Jewish history, Sefer HaHinukh, which lists all 613, has no entry for this portion, seeing it as a poetic recap of Israelite history from Sinai, and a prophecy for their future.
But the Ramban, Rabbi Moshe ben Nahman, disagreed, and believed that one verse in Ha-azinu is in fact the source for a law. The verse is Deuteronomy 32:3. “For the name of the LORD I declare; give glory to our God!” What commandment do you think Ramban says flows from this verse? You’ll have a few choices, since other rabbinic texts quote this as the source of some familiar Jewish practices. We’ll explore them on Shabbat morning.
Wishing you a Shabbat Shalom,
