In this week's sedra Moshe and the elders charge the people with a curious task upon entering the land of Israel.  In a parsha that runs eight verses (כז:א-ח, 27:1-8) the people preparing to enter and settle the land of Israel (as emphasized in our sedra's first verse) are tasked with setting up large stones covered in plaster; and they are to write the Torah on these stones.  This is stated twice in this parsha.  In addition, they are to set up an altar, where they will make sacrifices and celebrate before God.  What is the meaning and purpose of this curious pair of tasks?

It is worthwhile to note that immediately with our entrance into the land of Israel, we are to establish monuments to the two pillars of our culture:  Torah and worship.  Add to this the event at Mt. Eival emphasizing our loyalty to God and His law, and we have a unique beginning to our presence in the land of Israel.  Before anything else, we are required to make our first efforts at a national statement of our commitment to God and His Torah.  Moreso, the Torah was written on the stones באר היטב; well explained.  Our sages in the g'mara in Sota explain this to mean that the Torah was to be written on this monument in the 70 languages common throughout the world.  So a statement was being made for ourselves; but also for the world about who we are and what we are doing in the land of Israel.  Our law and ethics, the Torah; and our worship, the altar are both the foundations and aspirations of our national existence in the land of Israel.  And the face we present to the world is the Torah, presented by us as our constitution and mission.  This is how we are to know us, and this is how the world is to know us.

כבוד האדם הוא כבוד שמים

Thoughts for שופטים-Shoftim

All of the Torah is holy.  Every bit of it.  Every letter of every word.  Lists of names and the Ten Commandments are equally holy.  Yet, it is inevitable that certain portions of the Torah speak to us more than others.  It may be the content.  It may be the circumstances or timing when it was read.  It may be other things.  This week's sedra has a פסוק/verse that I think is especially well timed for this time of year.  And I think that at any time it could be a fair motto for guiding our attitudes and choices as Jews.