See, I have imparted to you, laws and rules, as י-ה-ו-ה אלוקי — G-d my Lord, has commanded me, for you to abide by in the land that you are about to enter and occupy.
Observe them faithfully, for that will be proof of your wisdom and discernment to other peoples, who on hearing of all these laws will say, “Surely, that great nation is a wise and discerning people.”
Is the reason we should be compelled to observe the commandments because others will admire our wisdom and character?
For what great nation is there that has a god so close at hand as is י-ה-ו-ה אלוקינו – G-d our Lord, whenever we call?
Is this verse implying that we get all our prayers answered whenever we call out to Him? Is that true?
Or what great nation has laws and rules as righteous as all this Teaching that I set before you this day? (דברים ד ה-ח)
After having initially encouraged the nation to observe the laws faithfully, it detours to discuss the efficacy of our prayers, and only then refers to the 'perfect' teachings Moshe set out for them. Shouldn't it have first reiterated the value of the laws they were just incentivized to follow, and then go on to extol the relationship we have with G-d who answers our prayers?
Over a half a century ago HaRav Mordechai Gifter, Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe, expressed his view regarding world events in the aftermath of the Yom Kippur War.
The Prophet Yeshayahu conveyed in the Name of God, "For the sake of Zion I will not hold my peace, and for the sake of Jerusalem, I will not be still."
The Targum interpretation enlightens the verse by stating that G-d pledges that until Zion and Jerusalem are peaceful and secure, He will allow no rest to the nations of the earth. The situation of the Jewish people cannot be viewed in a vacuum, separate and apart from the world…
Eretz Yisroel is not simply one problem in isolation of myriad world problems; it is a major source of world problems. Nations will falter and suffer loss of face…
When we agonize over Eretz Yisroel, we are contemplating not only Eretz Yisroel, but the entire universe, just as a heart surgeon knows that his area of specialization controls life itself.
The earlier verse describing the nations admiration of our wisdom and character is not intended to be the reason why we should follow the Torah. It is rather evidence of the unique role we have — considering our special relationship with G-d, revealing to us the reality that when we live up to that expectation it will inherently 'right the world' bringing security and peace to it.
The next verse describing our 'closeness' to G-d like no other nation, follows appropriately, indicating His assistance in overcoming the hurdles we face as we strive to fulfill this noblest of objectives.
The Targum Unkelos teaches it is much more than just G-d's responsiveness being extolled here.
For whom is a great nation that has god close to it to receive its prayers in time of עקתיה — tribulation as G-d, our Lord, whenever we call to pray before Him?
The emphasis here is on times of עקתיה —'distress and misfortune'.
The use in the verse of both Names of G-d, that of compassion — י-ה-ו-ה, and the G-d of judgment — אלוקינו, indicates that the times of suffering are there to compel us to wake up and sense G-d's closeness, Who orchestrates events to awaken us to His unconditional love for us.
The great Gaon and Rabbinic leader, Rav Chaim Kreiswirth, was asked by his brother-in-law, the famed Mashgiach, Rav Shlomo Wolbe, to write a letter after the war to a young woman who had lost her entire family in the Holocaust and was inconsolable. Among the many warm sentiments he conveyed he added the following transformative notion:
I want to share in your sorrow and suffering. I understand this, since all my relatives were offered upon the altar of kiddush Hashem. Of my entire family, only one remains. I, myself, didn't have the privilege of suffering together with them; I wasn’t privileged to have my soul also refined in the furnace of suffering that Divine Providence imposed on us. We can become acquainted with Divine Providence from suffering better than we can from a life of tranquility.
The young woman to whom this letter was written later shared in an interview, that during this lonely period of her life while she was in the care of wonderful rebbetzins who tended lovingly to her group of over a hundred girl survivors in Lindigo, Sweden, she nearly drowned. A boat managed to rescue her. When reaching shore one of the rebbetzins slapped her for her evident carelessness that nearly cost her life.
She commented, "I suddenly realized that if the rebbetzin was slapping me — that there was someone in the world who was concerned about me." (Dew of Revival: First Letters From Jews of Faith After the Holocaust-Rebbetzin Esther Farbstein.)
Our verse never speaks about G-d answering the prayers and only accents His 'closeness' in times of stress, because ultimately that is the greatest gift and 'privilege'.
After awakening to our unique sense of mission in the world, and G-d's intimate involvement in bringing us closer to Him, the Torah can now bring home the reality of how fortunate we are to be that 'great nation' that 'has laws and rules as righteous as all this Teaching!
There is only one formula for success in our mission — to live a life enthused with the teachings we received at Sinai that will right the world in perfection.
Yelena Trufanov was abducted with her mother, son, and his fiancé, on October 7th. The women were released nearly two months later, but her wounded son remained in captivity for 498 days before being released.
This remarkable woman penned an article sharing her thoughts on the tortuous journey she traversed. Here are two poignant excerpts:
I am Yelena Turfonov. A Russian Israeli woman. I never knew what it meant to believe in Hashem. I never lit Shabbat candles. Never recited a brachah. Never whispered a verse of Tehillim. I passed by the beit knesset without knowing that one could walk inside. I passed by life.
And yet in the blackened silence of Gaza's tunnels, I heard something ancient and clear. A voice without sound. Not of this world, and yet it belonged to me.
A bat kol.
A whisper that stirred my soul.
"Yelena", it said, in a voice that did not come from outside but from deep within, "you are not alone. You will be delivered. You will live. You will live…. As a Jew.
For what great nation is there that has a god so close at hand as is י-ה-ו-ה אלוקינו – G-d our Lord, whenever we call?
I was released after 54 days in captivity. Among the first. Together with my mother. Some said it was a political gesture — a gift to President Putin.
But I knew better. This was not a favor. This was a summons.
Hashem placed words into the mouth of my captors: "How can you live as a Jew without Torah?", they berated me daily.
I had been pulled from the darkness not to return to my old life but to step into something entirely new. I crossed the border as a woman without a country, without Torah, without anything to hold on to — except one unbearable ache:
Sasha. My only son. Still missing. Still captive.
But what power did I have?
What strength could I possibly summon to reach the heavens.
I didn’t grow up with mitzvot. I didn’t even know how to daven. How could I stand before the Melech Malchei Hamelachim without knowing how to daven?
How could I ask for nissim with lips that had never spoken His Name with reverence?
But I knew this: I had to begin again. I had to start with alef.
Rabbi Raanan brought me a book — Just Curious: Judaism at Your Own Pace — a guide that made the great mountain of Torah feel climbable. And I began to walk. It was all there: how to live a life of Torah and mitzvot, how to walk the path of a Jew with both feet and a whole heart. Nothing lofty, just true. And so, I began. Slowly. Clumsily. Like a child. The more I learned, the stronger I became.
Or what great nation has laws and rules as righteous as all this Teaching that I set before you this day?
It is so simple, so elementary. But we must climb. We must respond to the bat kol that speaks to each of us in our struggles, summoning us to the privilege of becoming refined.
On this Shabbos Nachamu, a Shabbos of Comfort, may we discover that warmth and closeness that Yelena spoke of, that awaits each of us the moment we are ready to climb!
באהבה,
צבי יהודה טייכמאן
