Noted Torah commentator Robert Adler observed that the Book of Deuteronomy (D’varim) is “… the most sustained deployment of rhetoric in the Torah.” D’varim (sayings or speeches), by virtue of its root association, sets the tone for a series of speeches, declaratives, sermons and, finally, a eulogy.
The rhetorical style used in D’varim is intended to be persuasive, as if the Israelites needed any more persuasion of the power of the Almighty and the mortal surrogates. As it turns out, D’varim is reminding us that, indeed, the Israelites still needed persuasion, just as we do today, to be kinder, empathetic, understanding, educated and ethical participants in the exercise of civil discourse.
The tone of some of the narratives may appear desperate as Moses is facing his mortality and attempting to wrap up his life as leader. This seems like a natural human progression. Many people today face professional and personal transitions, wondering whether the next phase will be as stimulating, productive and directional as past life phases. Not much, in life, is more unsettling than facing a wilderness of irrelevance.
I suppose the final blessing for Moses may be that he will not be the “Leader Emeritus” for the Israelites and that his legacy would have to rely entirely on a fragile parchment and its 79,077 words. So far, that legacy has been sustained, but for how much longer? I guess future generations will have to decide.
This week’s Parasha is of the same name as the title of the Book (D’varim). As we study Chapter 1:1 through 3:22, we see that the Israelites feel prepared to enter Canaan. Moses begins to recap the events of Israeli’s path from Egypt to the precipice to their Promised Land. Either the Israelites have become a polity too large for him to manage or he has lost a step at his advanced age. Whatever the reason, Moses creates a system of tribal chiefs to function as administrators and judges. Moses would only intervene in the most challenging of scenarios.
Moses instructs the Israelites to charge right in and take the land that was promised them, but the subordinate leaders choose to deploy spies to assess the strategy. Though the incoming report is favorable for a positive outcome, the Israelites continue to hesitate. The Torah reports that the Almighty was not only frustrated with the People, but with Moses, and denied them the opportunity to enter in the land.
Ashamed of this response, the Israelites attempt to make amends for their hesitancy, but it is too late. The die has been cast and they are beaten back by the Amorites. Their fear of defeat won over their love of predestined freedom.
Arthur Brooks, a professor at the Harvard University School of Business says: “The philosophical and psychological opposite of love is not hate or indifference. It’s actually fear.”
When the Israelites were faced with a decision to either advance or abstain, they allowed fear of failure to compete against love for each other to sway their decisions. They showed that faint-heartedness was more a result of their lack of perceived preparedness than of a realization that their resources were statistically superior. The time they took to create the perfect strategy only enhanced their fear of defeat. Their fear was rooted in the distrust of the path that was laid out for them by the Almighty and Moses. In the end, they came to trust their designed destiny and found the courage to love.
Of the many lessons found in Deuteronomy, I hope that we can try harder to love one another more than we fear the other.
Shabbat Shalom.
Cantor-Rabbi Ron Eichaker serves United Hebrew Congregation and is a police chaplain. He is a member of the St. Louis Rabbinical and Cantorial Association, which coordinates the d’var Torah for the Jewish Light.
