|
| Sun, 22 Dec 2024 02:10:06 -0600 — |
|
|
|
D'var: Parashat Devarim 5784 Commentary by Michael Goldstein Friday, August 9, 2024 |
| Devarim Deuteronomy 1:1 — 3:22 |
| Welcome to Deuteronomy.
This week’s Parashah is Devarim. It is always read on the Shabbat prior to Tisha B’Av. Tisha B’Av commemorates the destruction of both ancient Temples in Jerusalem and Jerusalem itself. It is the saddest day in the Hebrew calendar and this year will begin at sundown this Monday. Devarim means “words.” It’s a really good title for the first portion since Deuteronomy is considered to be Moses’s final sermon. It’s interesting that before this, Moses is only mentioned in the third person but, suddenly, in Deuteronomy, Torah uses the first person. What’s more interesting is that Moses changes the narrative. For example, in Exodus, Jethro, Moses’s father-in-law, tells him he will wear himself out if he continues to be the sole arbiter among the Israelites and that he should appoint judges, saving himself only for the really big disputes or for when resolution otherwise fails. Jethro tells him to choose;
men of substance, God fearers, men of truth, who hate monetary gain, and you shall appoint over them leaders over thousands, leaders over hundreds, leaders over fifties, and leaders over tens. [Exodus 18:21]
However, in Devarim, Moses eliminates Jethro from the story. Then he claims credit for the idea. Exodus tells us Moses simply selects the judges, but in Deuteronomy, Moses says he told the Israelites;
Prepare for yourselves wise and understanding men, known among your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.
And you answered me and said, 'The thing you have spoken is good for us to do.' [Deut 1:13-14] Moses then recounts the events that lead to 40 years in the wilderness. In Numbers, we were told;
The Lord spoke to Moses saying,
"Send out for yourself men who will scout the Land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. You shall send one man each for his father's tribe; each one shall be a chieftain in their midst." [Numbers 13:1-2] The 12 return with a report, but ten of them opine that the land is peopled by giants and not conquerable. A crisis ensues, and God punishes the entire generation for not trusting His word (other than the two more optimistic spies, Caleb and Joshua). God sentences the Israelites to 40 years of wandering in the wilderness so the generation of the spies (save Caleb and Joshua) will not live to enter the promised land. In Devarim, however, Moses gives God short-shrift. He says;
And all of you approached me and said, "Let us send men ahead of us so that they will search out the land for us and bring us back word by which route we shall go up, and to which cities we shall come." [Deut 1:22]
When the spies return, they do not give a negative report as they did in Numbers. Here, Moses pins the blame squarely on the people:
And they took some of the fruit of the land in their hand[s] and brought it down to us, brought us back word, and said, "The land the Lord, our God, is giving us is good."
But you did not want to go up, and you rebelled against the commandment of the Lord, your God. [Deut 1:25-26] Moses thus transfers the doubts of the ten to the people, and in so doing, incriminates the entire community. To make it worse, this is after the punitive 40 years, so Moses is talking to the next generation. In other words, he shifts the sin of the ten to all the Israelites, and then to their children. Wow, talk about fake news! These conflicting versions have demanded metaphorical acrobatics from commentators throughout the ages. No matter how we read Scripture — whether as history or allegory – the literal word of God or man-made holy literature — there is no denying that the facts have been changed. Whether you think Moses or some anonymous writer with a political agenda is responsible, the inconsistency asks; when it comes to altering stories, what liberties can we take and still not compromise veracity? Commentary always reflects the world in which it is written. Our vision of the past gets filtered through our anxieties, our biases, and our current experiences. So, what is the message of Devarim? There is no denying the vulnerability of the structures and institutions that we depend upon to determine reality. Mainstream media are under attack. They are subjected to hyper-critical scrutiny and attempts to discredit them. Now add the growth of widely popular, completely unreliable, often intentionally deceptive communication outlets. This is not hyperbole. This is the reality of a globalized, digital world. More people are reading false narratives that claim to be real than at any time in world history. Perhaps in this age of “alternative facts” and “fake news,” it behooves us to read Moses’s story with more analytical eyes. For me, the message of Devarim is to be watchful and to fact check what we read and hear. Michael Goldstein |
|
|
|
Site Last Updated: Copyright © 2015–2024— |
May 31, 2024
by The Jewish Community of the Hill Country |