Parsahs Hazinu, derush 1, “The testimony of heaven and earth”

Parshas Nitzovim, Survivable curses, Derush 1.

The Beit Hamikdash, or Holy Temple, was a beautiful and impressive structure that served as a central place of worship for the Jewish people. The Temple Mount in Jerusalem is the holiest site in Judaism and is where two Beit Hamikdash structures once stood.

The Priestly Blessing, also known as Birkat Kohanim in Hebrew, is a sacred Jewish prayer that is recited in synagogues. It is a central passage in the Bible, appearing in Numbers 6:23–27. The blessing is made up of three verses, with three words in the first verse, five in the second, and seven in the third.

Rav Shimshon Chaim Nachmani lived more than 250 years ago. A respected rav and talmid chacham in Italy, he studied under the father-in- law of the Ramchal and was referred to by the Chida as a “chasida kadisha,” a holy chassid.

Rav Nachmani was blessed with one son, who passed away in his father’s lifetime. Realizing that he would not be leaving a child to inherit him, Rav Nachmani left, instead, a legacy of Torah thoughts – Sefer Zera Shimshon on the Torah.

And he left a paragraph in the sefer’s Introduction which would be changing lives centuries later.

“Please study my sefer,” he writes, entreating those reading his words. “Reward is great for those who do kindness graciously, and you shall have much peace from Heaven. Your eyes shall see children and children’s children, like olive shoots around your table. Your homes will be full of all the good. Wealth and honor will not cease from your descendants…”

Our parashah discusses the laws of a ben soreir u'moreh, a "rebellious and

wayward son," who is punished for his errant behavior (Devarim 21:18-21). In this derush, Zera Shimshon focuses on Avshalom, the rebellious son of David HaMelech, to whom the Sages point as a classic example ben soreir u'moreh (see Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Seitzei ).

Zera

Shimshon offers another

two

approaches to resolve his original difficulty, both of which suggest that a yefas to'ar is not permitted during the conquest of Eretz Visrael because of technicalities. The first approach is based on a halachic technicality that underscores the words of the verse, and you will see among its captivity a woman who is beautiful of form (v. 11):

כִּֽי־תֵצֵ֥א לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה עַל־אֹיְבֶ֑יךָ וּנְתָנ֞וֹ יְהֹוָ֧ה אֱלֹהֶ֛יךָ בְּיָדֶ֖ךָ וְשָׁבִ֥יתָ שִׁבְיֽוֹ׃

When you [an Israelite warrior] take the field against your enemies, and your God יהוה delivers them into your power and you take some of them captive,

וְרָאִ֙יתָ֙ בַּשִּׁבְיָ֔ה אֵ֖שֶׁת יְפַת־תֹּ֑אַר וְחָשַׁקְתָּ֣ בָ֔הּ וְלָקַחְתָּ֥ לְךָ֖ לְאִשָּֽׁה׃