26 | SEPTEMBER 24 • 2020 

I

srael signed peace trea-
ties with the United Arab 
Emirates and Bahrain at 
the White House Sept. 15, with 
President Donald Trump calling 
the moment the “dawn of a new 
Middle East.
”

Details about the treaties have 
yet to be disclosed, but they 
broadly normalize relations 
between the two Arab countries 
and Israel, including the open-
ing of embassies in each of the 
nations for the first time.

The UAE and Bahrain join 
Egypt and Jordan as the only 
Arab countries to have peace 
treaties with Israel.
Trump signed the agreements 
along with Prime Minister 
Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel 
and the foreign ministers of the 
two Arab nations, Abdullah bin 
Zayed Al Nahyan of the UAE 
and Abdullatif Al Zayani of 
Bahrain.
Netanyahu said at the South 
Lawn ceremony that the 
agreements “will eventually 
expand to include other Arab 
states, and ultimately it can 
end the Arab-Israeli conflict 
once and for all,
” though he did 
not specifically mention the 
Palestinians.

Under the UAE agreement, 
Israel has agreed to pause West 
Bank annexation efforts until at 
least 2024. The UAE wants to 
purchase F-35 advanced fighter 
jets from the United States, 
which has a legal obligation to 
maintain Israel’
s qualitative mil-
itary edge. Israel has ordered 50 
of the planes.
Netanyahu has denied that 
he agreed to the sale in order 
to achieve the agreement, and 
leading Democratic lawmakers 
have come out against the plan.
“Today, we are already wit-
nessing a change at the heart 
of the Middle East, a change 
that will send hope around the 
world,
” the UAE’
s foreign min-
ister said.
As he spoke, rockets were 
fired from Gaza at southern 
Israel. Palestinian leaders have 
expressed outrage at the Arab 
countries for abandoning the 
Palestinians’
 fight for an inde-
pendent state. 

Progress in Peace

Israel offi
 cially signs peace treaties 
with UAE and Bahrain in White House 
ceremony.

MARCY OSTER JTA

Eretz

SAUL LOEB/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

TOP: From left, Bahrain Foreign 
Minister Abdullatif Al Zayani, Israeli 
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 
President Donald Trump and UAE 
Foreign Minister Abdullah bin Zayed 
Al Nahyan at the signing of the 
Abraham Accords at the White House, 
Sept. 15, 2020.

A

nd you shall write for 
yourselves this song” 
(Devarim 31:19). 
The subject of this 
verse is unclear and 
debated amongst com-
mentators. 
Some interpret this to 
mean write the entire 
Book of Deuteronomy. 
Another approach is 
that the “song” refers 
to this week’
s parshah, 
Haazinu, which, of 
course, appears like 
a song with its lyrical 
style and editorial lay-
out.
A third position, however, 
is that the “song” refers to the 
entire Torah. The command-
ment, therefore, is to arrange 
for a Torah scroll to be writ-

ten so that it is readily avail-
able for us to study from.
Nowadays, of course, we 
study from books (and 
the web), we fulfill this 
directive by purchasing 
and studying religious 
literature. Indeed, it has 
been quite a while since 
anyone opened a Torah 
scroll and started teach-
ing a group of students.
Websites such as 
Aish.com have terrific 
content to satisfy every 
Jew’
s curiosity. There 
are also programs such 
as PartnersInTorah.org 
that foster deep connections 
between individuals from all 
over the world, of all levels 
and backgrounds, studying all 
sorts of Torah together. 

By utilizing these tools that 
can fit into our busy lifestyles, 
we can introduce a world 
of inspiration into our lives. 
We are taught that we are 
all individual “letters in the 
Torah” 
— there is a portion 
of Torah that can speak to all 
of our individual intellectual 
and emotional persuasions. 
Which portion will be ours? 
“May my teaching drip like 
rain” (32:2). Rashi explains 
that just as the precipitation 
cycle is integral to the contin-
uance of the world, so, too, 
are the Torah and its teach-
ings. How wonderful can the 
waters of the Torah taste to 
our parched souls!
“When writing the story 
of your own life, don’
t let 
someone else hold the pen.” 
— Jack Kerouac.
As the year 5781 begins, 

let’
s write our own song, 
the story of our own lives, 
imbibing the eternal Jewish 
teachings that can forever be 
a part of us.
Let’
s experience the intel-
lectual satisfaction in a piece 
of Talmud or an uplifting 
insight from Maimonides in 
his Guide to the Perplexed. 
Let’
s find our own calling and 
portion in the Torah. 

Rabbi Yaacov Lasson serves Jewish 

Senior Life of Michigan.
Parshat 

Haazinu: 

Deuteronomy

32:1-52; I 

Samuel

22:1-51.

Rabbi Yaacov 
Lasson

CONVERSATIONS
As we write our own songs, will 
they contain love and justice 
or envy and hatred? Will we 
work to develop quality and not 
quantity in our daily lives? Can 
we, in a larger vision, note the 
little things that really matter?

Spirit
torah portion
Writing Our Own Song

