Parshat Devarim  8 Av 5761, 28 July 2001

By Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel - The fifth book of the Torah, Devarim, is Midrashically called Mishneh Torah, or the Second (Repeated) Torah; the fifteenth century Spanish Sage Rabbi Isaac Abarbanel describes it as Moses' own commentary on the Divine words which comprise the other four Books. And undoubtedly there is a great deal to learn from Moses' "take" or "spin" on the laws and events which have been previously recorded, especially since he brings his subjective perspective at the end of his life and during the fortieth year after the Exodus - the critical juncture between the desert experience and the entry of the Israelites into the Promised Land.

Moses begins with an overview of the boundaries of the Land of Israel and the Divine command that the Hebrews possess it. He then goes on to the sin of scouts, culminating with: "And the Lord was also angry at me because of you saying, 'You will also not come there, Joshua the son of Nun. he will bring Israel to its inheritance'" (Deuteronomy 1:37,38). There are two major problems with this re-statement of the tragic episodes we have already seen in the Book of Numbers. First of all, the initial desert sin was the worship of the Golden Calf, which Moses doesn't even mention. And secondly, the Bible itself has already given as the reason for Moses' being barred from leading his people into the Promised Land, the fact that he struck rather than addressed the rock in order to extract water (Numbers 20:12). Why does Moses lay the blame for his "retirement" on the people who followed the ten scouts? He seems to be revising history!

I believe that Moses is here providing us with a most profound insight - one which will also help us understand why the Israelites chose to remain in the desert rather than conquer Israel. Pay careful attention to Moses' description of the genesis of the reconnaissance mission: "And you all came near unto me, and you said, 'Let us send men before us, and let them search out for us the land. the road through which we can go up to it and the cities which we come to.'" (Deuteronomy 1:22).

Moses stresses the fact that it was the people who suggested the field trip of the scouts, and specifically in order to chart out the proper roads of access and which cities were most vulnerable and ought to be tackled first. What is most remarkable about their request is that the Israelites had been traveling throughout the desert for the past forty years, conquering and temporarily settling various and sundry cities, - and during this entire period the various access roads and order of settlement was determined by the specific intervention of the Almighty, Who directed their travels by means of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night. So why do they now require a reconnaissance mission? Why not rely on the very same Divinely sent cloud and fire, for their foray into Israel?

Apparently, the Israelites understood that the movement from desert to Israel would necessitate fundamental change in the rules of the game: as long as the Israelites were in their stage of infancy in the desert, the Almighty would "personally" (as it were) protect them physically through the clouds of glory and sustain them nutritionally through the manna; the moment they would enter the Promised Land, they would be expected to direct their own destiny and provide for their own physical needs. Indeed, a crucial double challenge faced them as soon as they "came on aliyah;" not only would they have to begin to accept responsibility for their lives and history, not only would they have to "eat their bread by the sweat of their brows," but they would also have to continue to show fealty to the Almighty even when He is no longer playing center stage; they would be expected to follow G-d's directives even when He was no longer frontally directing their lives. It is not such a great accomplishment to thank the Almighty for sending from heaven the miraculous manna each day; it is a far greater challenge to "eat, be satisfied and bless the Lord your G-d for the bread you eat as result of your own energetic and back - breaking plowing, seeding, threshing, reaping and baking. It is one thing to express love for a Divine Being who miraculously guides us through a desert land unsown; it is quite another to continue to serve a G-d while living in a land we must sow by our own indefatigable efforts - and understand that it is nevertheless by the grace of the Almighty that we accomplish whatever we accomplish.

Is it any wonder that the Israelites wished to remain in the womb-like, Divinely protected atmosphere of the desert - and were reluctant to face the challenges of the human responsibility they would have to assume in Israel? And Moses sees that the Hebrews failed the first test, that the scouts were too easily frightened by the giant-like visages of the indigenous seven nations inhabiting Canaan, that they took the responsibility of sending out the mission but lacked the faith which could have enabled them to attempt the difficult conquest, secure in the knowledge that behind-the scenes G-d would bring about the victory. And when the Israelite -disciple-congregants failed, Moses the Rabbi-leader-King failed as well. He understood that he may have been able to direct them to G-d through the miracles of the exodus and the desert, but did not feel equipped to direct them to G-d during the more natural and normative experience of the Land of Israel. And so, in the wake of the sin of scouts, Moses hands over the scepter of leadership - together with a measure of his radiant ways of the Divine, - to his faithful and beloved disciple Joshua.

Shabbat Shalom.

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