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We have spent much time analyzing the pshat (simple textual level) of several verses of the Torah, using the Lubavitcher Rebbes sichot, or lessons on the Torah text. We often found that the simple meaning of the text is not simple at all, but is really very deep. The first verse of this weeks portion (Devarim) is one of those verses that get a lot of attention from the commentaries, especially from those who comment on the pshat. Rashi (the first and foremost of all commentators who explain the pshat) writes that our verse (Deut. 1:1) means the following (commentary in brackets): These are the words [of rebuke] which Moshe spoke to all of the Jewish people in [the plains of Moab, on the East] bank of the Jordan. [Moshe mentioned the places where the Jews rebelled against God] Ӆin the wilderness of Arava, in the plain[s of Moab], at the Reed Sea, [in the wilderness] of Paran, between Tofel and Lavan, at Chatzeirot and at Di-Zahav. That is, Rashi emphasizes that our verse is essentially a rebuke of the Jewish people and their conduct during the past forty years, as they journeyed through desert. According to Rashi, Moshes purpose was to provide a review of the past and a warning regarding the future, as the Jews were about to enter the land of Israel.
Rashi wrote his commentary during the 10-hundreds, nearly a thousand years ago. Needless to say, we Jews have undergone much history, trials and tribulations in the intervening time. Our history eventually led us to the advent of the Chasidic movement during the seventeen hundreds. This movement revitalized European Jewry, and added vitality to the way in which we understand the words of the Torah. The Chassidic masters of course learned and absorbed the words of Rashi on the Torah. However, they added their own interpretations, based upon the dynamic interplay between man and God. They generally explained the verses of the Torah as instructions in how to deal with the changes that we go through as we seek divine presence and guidance in our lives. For example, the Ilana deChaya (authored by R Menachem Mendel of Rimanov ztzl) has this to say about our verse
It is a general principle that the holy Torah is eternal and applies to all seasons, all times and all people. That is why our verse says, These are the wordsŔ These words that Moshe the faithful shepherd said - constitute advice and positive guidance for all Jews .
The Ilana deChaya continues, Ӆ[on the East] bank of the Jordan the word for Jordan (yarden) calls to mind the word yerida, meaning descent. Moshes words to the Jews impart the ability to withstand any spiritual descent that may befall them. Ӆin the Arava (wilderness)Ŕ Here, he comments, Ӆif the Jews downplay their physical needs, and reject the temptations of the physical world, and involve themselves only in Torah day and night, placing all of their physical needs in Hashems hands, then they will be enveloped in spiritual sweetness (from the word Arav, meaning sweet)Ŕ
Ӆat the Reed SeaŔ The word for Reed is suf, which recalls the word sof, meaning end, as in without end. With the divine service described above, the Jews find themselves face to face with the infinite One, who is ain sof, without endԅ And this approach is associated with Paran, from the word peer, or pride, as he who uplifts his heart in the ways of God.
Ӆbetween Tofel - meat without salt is called tofel (as if something secondary), and one who eats meat in this fashion is said to be unimportant in his own eyes [he does not see himself as important enough to savor what he is eating rather he prefers to consume it without enjoying it]. Such a person is fitting to pray to the One above [Who prefers the prayers of the humble to those of the haughty]. Ӆand LavanŔ the kind of person described above will achieve a state of cleansing, or whitening (livun) of his sins. He will fulfill the verse, If your sins are red like scarlet, He will whiten them like snow.
As for the explanation of the final two stations, Chatzairot and Di Zahav, the Ilana deChaya quotes his uncle, the Hornesteipler Rav, ztzl, Chatzairot represents one who walks in the courtyards (chatzairot) of God while swimming in the upper worlds. And those who have achieved Di Zahav (gold) are recognizable by their acts of charity, similar to the statement of the sages, that mans nature is recognizable in three different parameters; his kis (pocket), meaning his willingness to be generous with his own money, his cos (cup), meaning his need to drink as well as what he drinks and when, and his caas (anger), which is his ability to hold his temper in check.
Thus, for the Chassidic Rebbe (R Menachem Mendel of Rimanov), our verse (the first verse of Deuteronomy) is an opportunity to encapsulate the divine service of a Jew. For Rashi, whose goal is to explain the pshat (simple level of the text), all the names mentioned in the verse are physical places where the Jews rebelled, in some way shape or form, against the One above. But, according to Chassidut, while they remain physical places, they are also stages in our divine service of the One above, leading us from the lowest to the highest levels of spirituality.