Parshat Devarim 4 Menachem Av 5763, 2 August 2003

Efrat, Israel - The Book of Devarim is Moses’ lengthy farewell address to his people, replete with a historical overview of the desert experience. From his perspective, it is a repetition of the major laws and commandments, rebukes and chastisements, and a stirring sweeping prophesy, including the entry of the next generation into Israel, further backsliding, exile, persecution, and eventual return to the land in a period of redemption. It may very well be the lengthiest speech in history – perhaps because Moses really did not wish to retire – but the literary style is elegantly exalting, rising to a lofty crescendo in the poetry of Ha’azinu and the final blessings the aged leader bestows upon each of the tribes.

However, this very first portion of Devarim seems, almost at the beginning of the speech, to include a passage which does not appear to be correctly placed. Moses begins his account by reminding the nation of how the Almighty had already told them forty years before, when they had received the Torah, that they “had spent long enough time on that mountain… Behold, I place before you the land. Come, inherit the land which the Lord has sworn to your fathers… to give to them and to their seed after them” (Deuteronomy 1:6-8).

This is a perfect introduction to the request of the Israelites to send out scouts, the sin of the Israelites in their refusal to conquer the land, and the subsequent wanderings and military battles in the desert. And indeed the Bible does pick up precisely on this theme: “Behold, the Lord your G-d placed the land before you; go up and inherit it as the Lord, the G-d of your fathers, has told you to do. Do not be afraid and do not be frightened. But you all drew near to me and said, ‘Send men before us to investigate the land and bring us back a report…’” (Deuteronomy 1:21,22).

But there are thirteen interceding verses between Moses’ initial charge of “Come and inherit the land” (Deuteronomy 1:8) and its natural follow up, “but you all drew near to me and said “Send men… to investigate” (Deuteronomy 1:22). And these intermittent verses seem totally out of place. Apropos of nothing, immediately following Moses’ restatement of G-d’s oath to the patriarchs to give their progeny the Land of Israel, Moses suddenly switches gear, crying out, “And I said to you at that juncture, ‘I cannot by myself bear the burden (of you), The Lord your G-d has increased you, and you are this day as abundant as the stars of the heavens… Wherefore (Eicha, the same word with which the Book of Lamentation, which we read on Tisha B’Av, opens) can I bear you by myself, your bothersomeness , your burdens, your arguments?… I shall take … wise and understanding men, and I shall make them leaders over you… And I shall command you judges: … And you shall judge righteously between a person and his sibling and his lodger’….”.(Deuteronomy 1:9-17) And only after this “detour,” does the text return to the earlier theme of “Go up, conquer… And they drew near to me…” What causes Moses to suddenly break away from his theme of the conquest of the Land of Israel, cry out at the difficulty of his bearing the burden alone of a fractured and fractious nation, extol the population explosion of the Israelites, review his appointment of deputy judges, and then return to the conquest of Israel? On the surface, this intrusion does not belong in this place!

I would suggest that in the final analysis Moses understands only too well that the major task of a leader is to unite his people behind a great ideal – in this case, the conquest and settlement of the Land of Israel. Moreover, since the “Torah (of peace and justice) must come forth from Zion” to the entire world, mere conquest and settlement are not sufficient; Israel must become a model state, a shining example of freedom, equality and compassion. Moses succeeded in inspiring and influencing the generations, our generation, eternal humanity, - but he understands that he failed to adequately inspire his generation, the desert generation, the liberated Egyptian slaves.

Why not? Moses initially demurred from accepting leadership because he recognized that he was a kvad peh, heavy of speech, too spiritual – intellectual and G-d enthused to become people involved, to “psyche out” the mind-set of the masses in order to convince them to conquer Israel. Here Moses raises another and equally important reason. He couldn’t do it alone! There were hordes of Israelites, as numerous as the stars of the heavens. And just as each star needs its own spotlight, just as each star revolves in its own orbit, every Jew sees himself as his own leader and his own ultimate authority. (As Prime Minister David Ben Gurion replied to President Harry Truman’s query as to the population of Israel, “I am Prime Minister of 600,000 Prime Ministers”). Moses exclaims that he could not unite the Israelites by himself.

Indeed, he tried; he appointed judges, mini-leaders of more manageable numbers. But they too could not overcome the petty disagreements among the Israelites, the internal squabbles, strifes which made unification behind a single visionary ideal a virtually impossible task. In the poetic words of the Seforno: “Moses tells this incident (of appointment of Judges) to remind (the Israelites) of their sin; even though he announced to them their entry into Israel, they did not stop their personal arguments and their petty disagreements.”

No wonder the Torah reader cantillates the verse which begins with “wherefore” (Eicha, Deuteronomy 1:12) to the haunting melody of the Book of Lamentations. This book also begins with “wherefore” (Eicha) and we read it on Tisha B’Av, the fast memorial over the destruction of the Holy Temples which always falls out on the week of this Torah portion.

We must tragically remember that even while the Temple was being razed to the ground, the Judeans were busy arguing with and fighting each other, and in the midst of the Bar Kochba rebellion against Rome, the students of Rabbi Akiba, (The principal army of the Judeans) were internally squabbling and denigrating each other (B.T. Yevamot 62b, Iggeret D’Rabbenu Shrira Gaon).

Is our situation today any different?

Shabbat Shalom.  

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