Parshat Va-et’hanan/Shabbat Nahamu

In this week’s parashah, Va-et’hanan, Moshe commands the children of Israel: “You shall love YHWH your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you this day shall be upon your heart.”

Why “upon your heart,” and not “in your heart”? Rabbi Menahem Mendel of Kotzk interpreted the word “upon” as a concession to reality. We may not always feel the power of Torah in our hearts, no matter how meaningful and compelling its words might be. That is because our hearts are closed much of the times, and words of Torah just cannot break through. So Moshe taught us to place these words upon our hearts, to keep them close by even when we do not fully feel them. Then, at those precious moments when our hearts do open, those words will be right there, ready to enter.

Shabbat is a day with a unique power to open the human heart. May this Shabbat, and every Shabbat help words that are upon our hearts to find their way inside.