Ziv: Parashat Devarim 2

Your word is a light for my feet

This week, we begin reading the book of Deuteronomy where Moses sums up all the teachings of the Torah. When he was first chosen for his mission, he answered : “I have never been a man of words”, Ish Devarim (Ex 4:10). After having served the Lord and his people for forty years, he has been transformed to the point that a book of the Torah now begins with “These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel… “ and no longer with “The Lord spoke to Moses, saying…“ The midrash (Dt Rabba 1:6) noted the similar sounding words devarim (words) and d’vorim (bees) and explains that the reproaches of Moses to the people are like the sting of a bee : it can hurt the one that is stung, but it causes the death of the bee. Moses has suffered a lot while criticizing the children of Israel, and he eventually died before entering the land. He had such a love for his people that he suffered even more than them for the criticisms he had to say. This is in sharp contrast with the praises of the false prophet Balaam, who was overcome with hatred. Moses criticizes also his own behavior : he speaks to all Israel, including himself. He recalls his weaknesses: “How can I bear unaided the trouble of you…” (1:12). The people had to stay forty more years in the desert because of their rebellion. They are full of bitterness because of the difficulty of their condition, and do not accept to be lead by Moses. It is clear in the text: they first “refused to go up to the land and flouted the Lord command” (1:26), and when Moses tells them they have to stay in the desert, they once again “flouted the Lord’s command and willfully marched into the hill country”. The two verses offer an ironic contrast. They even pretend that the One who guides them from heaven brought them out of the land of Egypt because He hates them! (1:27). They attribute to the Lord their own feelings about him. Rashi, quoting a midrash, imagines them saying: “If God really loved us, He would have given us the land of Egypt and sent the Egyptians into the wilderness”. They do not know the price of freedom, which is responsibility. Only while wandering in the desert, would they be able to understand this difficult lesson. They have to leave the land of Egypt, where water comes from the Nile, from below, to enter the promised land where it comes “from the rains of heaven” (Dt 11:11).

This Shabbat falls just before the 9 of the month of Av, in Hebrew, Tisha BeAv, the day which commemorates all the difficult events of the history of Israel, like the destruction of the two temples. Therefore, the haftara that is read with this parasha is not linked with the parasha, but rather with the book of Lamentations, which is read that day. It is the same for the seven following shabbats: the haftara are passages of consolation, until the day of Kippur. Shabbat shalom.