Category: Devarim

Hodge-podge. That precise, academic term is the first that used to come to my mind when thinking of the Book of Deuteronomy. And it didn’t bother me that this was so; in fact, it seemed most fitting. After all, this was Moses’s goodbye speech to the people to whom he had been utterly devoted for the last 40 years. Of course, it’s a jumble of reminiscences of their most memorable times, veiled reprimands, concerned cautions not to fall prey to the idol worship of their soon-to-be-neighbors, and insistent reminders to punctiliously observe the divine commandments that he had bequeathed to them — just as a parent’s last goodbye as they drop their child off at college is often a hodge-podge of recollections of fond memories, advice and admonishments about everything ranging from laundry to finances, cautions against the influences of the campus culture, and pleas to maintain committed to the values they’ve imparted the last 20 years, all in no particular order.

However, years ago, a teacher (I wish I could remember who so I could give him or her credit) recommended an awesome exercise: to read through an entire book of the Torah cover-to-cover, in one sitting. I did so with the Book of Deuteronomy and was stunned by what jumped out from the pages. This seeming hodge-podge of a book is actually all about one singular event! And that event doesn’t even seem all that significant in the grand scheme of Jewish history; I would venture to guess it wouldn’t make it on anyone’s Top Ten list of the Jewish People’s Greatest Moments. That event is the covenant of Mounts Gerizim and Ebal that God commands the Jewish people to enact there, upon entry to the Promised Land.

Read the full article on the Times of Israel

This week’s parsha, Parshat Ekev, poses several theologically difficult questions, and in the process of understanding the challenges they pose, we are able to attain a more profound understanding of the relationship between God and humanity.

* * *

Read the full article on the Times of Israel

Why now? That’s the question that bothers us as our parsha begins. Moses begs G-d to allow him to enter Israel — even though he has been punished by decree not to enter. Where does Moses find the “holy chutzpah” to ask G-d in this parasha if the Divine really really still means to prevent him from entering Israel with the people? What compels him to check in? To dare to ask?

The key is timing (like my grandmother, a”h, always used to say) and many commentaries note that even the verse points out that Moses asked “ba’eit ha-hi” — “at that specific moment.” What had just happened in that moment?

The kings Sichon and Og had attacked the Children of Israel, who had ended up vanquishing them and their land — and annexing their land into Israel. So… technically, Moshe is right to be confused since, technically, in the course of those battles, it seems that he has already entered Israel, by default.

Read the full article on the Times of Israel

The end of the Torah is a funny place to start.

A very good place to start would be at the beginning, with the Book of Genesis, which opens with the creation of the world — and the beginning of all things. The Jewish people find their foundation in the Book of Exodus — in the experience of slavery and the redemption from it, God’s Chosen People became a nation. It too seems like a good place to begin an endeavor that you hope will speak to that same nation. Or the Book of Leviticus — a challenging book, to be sure, but its focus on sanctity might encourage piety (and perhaps some Torah learning) in a way that no other book quite does. And what of the Book of Numbers — all those years, the Children of Israel wandered in the wilderness. That was their journey; should we attach ours to theirs?

But no. We begin at the end of the Torah, with the Book of Deuteronomy. It’s a book of profound repetition — the first book of Jewish education, if you will. In it, Moses teaches the “next generation” — the generation that knew not Egypt — of all that had befallen their immediate ancestors. From the Exodus that forged a people to the nitty-gritty details of the laws that create kedushah, holiness, as well as the details of all the encampments of the people along the way — on their journey to this point, standing at the Plains of Moab, on the cusp of taking their peoplehood to the proverbial next level. Those who were never slaves are about to become a free people in their own land, pending territorial conquest, of course. And they need to know about the ethos and heritage that make them who they are.

Read the full article on the Times of Israel