{"id":49505,"date":"2019-02-15T07:08:25","date_gmt":"2019-02-15T05:08:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=49505"},"modified":"2022-09-08T17:26:12","modified_gmt":"2022-09-08T14:26:12","slug":"vaetchanan-moses-beginnings-and-endings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/vaetchanan-moses-beginnings-and-endings\/","title":{"rendered":"Vaetchanan: Moses – Beginnings and Endings"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Parasha Vaetchanan <\/span><\/i>reiterates two very important principles of faith \u2013 the \u201cTen Commandments\u201d and the first section of \u201c<\/span>Shema Israel<\/span><\/i>\u201d \u2013 but the name alludes to Moses\u2019 plea to God to allow him to enter the Promised Land. Here, Moses is approaching God not as the leader of the people but as his own person, his prayer revealing his special relationship with God and his sense of an injustice. \u201cI pleaded (<\/span>va-ethanan<\/span><\/i>) with the Lord at that time, saying: O Lord God, You Who let Your servant see the first works of Your greatness and Your mighty hand.\u2026 Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan, that good hill country and the Lebanon\u201d (Deut. 3:23\u201325). <\/span><\/p>\n

Why is Moses\u2019 prayer so important that it became the title and the essence of this entire <\/span>parasha<\/span><\/i>?<\/span><\/p>\n

By juxtaposing two crucial points in Moses\u2019 life, Avner Moriah suggests the significance of this prayer. The painting is divided into two scenes. On the right we see Moses as an old man with a long white beard, standing against barren hills, wearing a garment with three wide red stripes that seem to resemble prison bars. His outsized arms are raised up toward the Heavens, a visual expression of the word <\/span>vaetchanan<\/span><\/i>,<\/span> a solemn imploration to change the present reality<\/span>. <\/span><\/i>It is obvious that he is trying desperately to reach God in the hope that He will be compassionate and listen to his plea. <\/span><\/p>\n

Above the hills, in a hieroglyphic-style drawing, Moses is pointing to a spiral image of God\u2019s spirit as he and Aaron lead the Israelites toward the Lord. The artist parallels this image with Moses\u2019 first encounter with God at the burning bush. In the picture to the left Moses is a young man, with dark hair and beard, standing next to the bush, shown here as a green-leafed tree. He is holding a small white kid in keeping with the legend about the lost kid that he chased and found and carried in his arms, thus proving himself to be the ultimate shepherd, fit to lead God\u2019s people.<\/span><\/p>\n

God chose Moses as His first human servant and messenger: \u201cCome therefore, I will send you to Pharaoh and you shall free My people, the Israelites, from Egypt\u201d (Exod. 3:10). Above the scene on the left, we see Moses with the spiral image of God\u2019s spirit standing before Pharaoh. The two scenes, one representing the beginning of Moses\u2019 leadership and the other the bitter end of his career stand in stark contrast, one suggesting hope and optimism and the other hopelessness and despair. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Artwork by: Avner Moriah, by courtesy of the artist<\/span><\/p>\n

Text by: Dr. Shulamit Laderman, PhD in Art History, publications on Jewish and Christian influences on biblical interpretive illustration.<\/span><\/p>\n

For the entire weekly portion series, please visit:<\/span> https:\/\/avnermoriahprints.com\/collections\/parasha<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":49506,"id":49506,"title":"45 Vaetchanan","filename":"45-Vaetchanan.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/45-Vaetchanan.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/vaetchanan-moses-beginnings-and-endings\/45-vaetchanan\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"45-vaetchanan","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":49505,"date":"2019-02-15 05:08:03","modified":"2019-02-15 05:08:21","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2500,"height":1598,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/45-Vaetchanan-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/45-Vaetchanan-300x192.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":192,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/45-Vaetchanan-768x491.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":491,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/45-Vaetchanan-1024x655.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":655,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/45-Vaetchanan.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":982,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/45-Vaetchanan.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1309,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/45-Vaetchanan-1200x767.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":767,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/45-Vaetchanan-657x420.jpg","home_baner-width":657,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Vaetchanan: Moses - 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