This week's Torah portion, D'varim, is the opening verses of the book by the same name -- Deuteronomy (in Hebrew, D'varim, or things). We read this parasha on the last Shabbat before Tisha B'av, and so it's now that we start anticipating that intensive day of mourning for the destruction of the Temple and other tragedies that have befallen the Jewish People. And it's in this parasha that the defeatist and pessimistic attitude of the Israelites, upon their first glimpse of their home-to-be, leads God to proclaim that "not one of these men, even this evil generation, shall see the good land, which I swore to give unto your fathers."
Jewish history is rife with denials of impending danger as well as with failures to appreciate and grasp opportunity. Let's hope that we can learn from the lessons of the past that we'll be reflecting upon this coming week.
Shabbat Shalom.
