Parsha “Vaetchanan” (for “And I pleaded,” Deuteronomy 3:23 – 7:11) is arguably THE portion that contains some of the most important “statutes and commandments” in the Bible. Not only “the Ten,” but also the one known often simply as “The Shema,” for the first word, and the fact that Yahushua called it the Greatest Commandment of all, ‘Hear, O Isreal…YHVH Elohenu, YHVH Echad.” And you shall YHVH with “all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might.”

The Erev Shabbat reading includes that, and more:

During the Sabbath Day midrash, Mark Call of Shabbat Shalom Mesa fellowship suggests that there are several elements in the ‘theme’ of this parsha that are not only central to our understanding, but also must serve as a basis for some of the most important questions – and the tests that will answer them! – that explain what has gone wrong with a nation, and a world, that has not only forgotten Him – but apparently HATES Him.

And they are fundamental to what we must ‘come out of,’ and thus Who we serve.

This portion is, at least in part, about idolatry, and certainly obedience to His “statues, judgments, and commandments.” And He says THREE TIMES, in this parsha alone, that He is the ‘Jealous God,’ literally, “El Kana.” There is an important connection in that theme.

And Mark suggest that He has told us EXACTLY what we need to know in order to “rightly divide the Word,” and discern the difference between the fake and the Real. Both “adding to,” and “subtracting from” His Word, as Written, are flashing red warning signs that there is Major Deception Afoot. And Exile was, and remains, the result.

The combined two-part reading and Sabbath midrash: