V'eschanan

 בס״ד

V’eschanan

What was Moshe’s lamentation,

As he gazed upon the nation,

With misty eyes, in all directions,

What did he see, upon reflection?

I wonder what were his regrets,

What sadnesses did he possess,

Did he dwell upon the past,

His eyes upon his sorrows cast?

No plaint made he on what had been,

Not golden calf, nor meraglim’s sin,

Shepherd of Israel forty years,

Ripe with miracles, moist with tears.

Moshe pled for what comes next,

To with his people, this land to bless,

He yearned to see that bayis ne’eman,

That good mountain, and the Levanon.

God answered him and said, “Rav Lach”,

Like Moshe himself had told Korach,

You ask too much, now be content,

So Moshe stayed, and Yehoshuah went.

Devarim

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Devarim

You had no allies as you crossed the sea,

The only One you had was Me,

Remember what your eyes have seen,

For I am now, as I have been.

Your enemies, their end is near,

Do not be broken, do not fear,

Relying not on fickle friends,

Pursuing their own selfish ends.

You’ve seen it all, and heard the same,

I pronounced for you my Holy Name,

Do now what you have to do,

And I am here to fight with you.

As a nation you must stand alone,

Your Torah, like your weapons, honed,

With both together, you will see,

What happens when they mess with Me.

Maatos-Maaseh

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Maatos-Maaseh

Drive them out, destroy their altars,

Let their memory disappear,

Even that generation had not the heart,

Though the message was very clear.

Was it out of kindness, or neglect,

Or attachment to their gods,

Did exile seem unreal to us,

Did we think we’d beat the odds?

We are who we are today,

For what we did, and what we didn’t,

Our living past informs us “now”…

About what’s true, and what just isn’t.

Pinchas

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Pinchas

Moshe ascends Ha’Avarim (העברים),

Which is “m’aiver” (מעבר) HaYardain,

The mount we know as Har Nevo,

Okay, so "what’s in a name?”.

The Kli Yakar has one answer,

Due to the “averah” (עבירה) Moshe does,

He was never “ovair” (עובר) to his children,

A share of who he was.

Aaron did a nicer job,

At least from what we read,

He taught his sons their holy tasks,

His mantle he bequeathed.

Is it preferred to scale that mountain,

And your people’s future delve,

Or to gift who you are to your loved ones,

Who must, like Pinchas, make themselves?

Balak

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Balak

Are brachos based on what we see,

Or what we hope one day will be?

Are we different after being blessed,

Do we advance from good to best?

Does Bilaam see just who we are,

When he tries to curse us from afar?

Or was a vision sent to him,

Of a future when we’re freed from sin?

Do brachos bestow capabilities,

Providing for new possibilities?

Thus in directing Bilaam so,

A base was built, on which to grow?

But klalos, on the other hand,

Construct foundations made of sand,

Nothing placed thereon will last,

Like Bilaam, all those plans will crash.

Chukas

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Chukas

Give the man a break, HaShem,

So he gave the rock a whack,

All humans have their limits,

Even stone is known to crack.

And when it did, the floodgates opened,

A surge cascading like a river,

Contention, washed away for now,

By the waters of Meriva.

Korach

 בס״ד

Korach

The sweet almond sprouts and matures,

Leaving bitterness behind,

The dusty brown staff, green once more,

New sap rising from shoresh to crown.

A cloud, not of mist,

But of snow-white blossoms,

Arises before the mishkan,

A spray of flowers.

Scented of milk, and honey,

The petals, falling like the munn,

Form an alabaster carpet,

Such that, though the rod be removed,

The fragrance lingers on.