This shabbat we will read the fifth book of the Torah. It is called D’varim (Deuteronomy) which can either mean, “Things,” or “Speakings.” Our parsha (weekly Torah portion), is also called D’varim and begins by stating that, “These are the things/speakings that Moshe (Moses) spoke to all of Yisrael at the crossing of the Yardayn (Jordan) …”
So, what did he say? We don’t know yet, because the Torah goes on describing the location and telling us that we are now in the 11 month of the 40th year. The Torah then tells us that Moshe spoke to the children of Yisrael just like haShem (god) wanted him to. We then continue on with time frame details before we finally are told that they are across the Yardayn in the land of Moav and, at last, Moshe begins to explain this Torah, and we start to read exactly what Moshe said.
Moshe starts by telling them that god said it was time to leave mount Chorev and how to get to the promised land. Moshe continues by explaining how he told them he could not lift up the people on his own anymore because haShem had made them too numerous. He says he told them to get wise people from their tribes to be the heads of the tribes. Moshe informs them that they thought this was a good idea. These heads became the officers of 1000s, 100s, 50s, and 10s, as well as policemen amongst the tribes. When Moshe appointed these leaders, he says he told them to be impartial and if there was an issue they could not deal with, they should bring it too Moshe.
Moshe then tells them of their travels from Chorev to the mountain of the Emorites that haShem is giving to the people. Moshe told the people not to be afraid. Never-the-less, the people asked Moshe to send the spies into the land, and Moshe agreed to this idea and he sent the 12 spies into the land. When they return, Moshe tells the people that the spies returned saying the land was good, however the people did not want to go up and so they rebelled against god’s wishes, and they complained that god hated them. Moshe told them how he tried to encourage them by reminding them how god had helped them.
God heard the voice of the people’s words and became angry and swore that no man from the current generation would see the land, except for Caleb because he follows god. Moshe also pointed out that not even he was going to go into the land.
Moshe then tells them that Y’hoshua (Joshua) would lead the next generation in and that the people should strengthen him. Moshe then tells the people how they acknowledged their sin, and started to climb the mountain to attack, and how they were defeated because haShem was not with them.
After their defeat at the mountain of the Emorites, Moshe relates to them more of their journeys. As he tells them about passing through the land of Esav, he reminds them that he told them not to provoke their brothers because that land god gave to them. Moshe then tells the nation a similar story about their travels through the land of the Moabites. At this point, Moshe provides the people with a history lesson about the current and previous occupiers of these lands. Moshe then tells the people that god told him not to bother the Amonites for god gave them their land as well, and we also get another history lesson.
Moshe continues recounting what haShem told him by telling the people how god told him it was time to cross the Arnon river and to provoke Sichon, the Emorite king of Cheshbon because god was giving them the land. God also was going to begin to put fear and dread in the other nations so they would be scared of the children of Yisrael. Moshe then told how he sent messengers to Sichon asking permission to cross his land and how Sichon attacked them instead and were defeated.
Moshe continues by telling the people how the same thing happened with Ohg, king of Bashon. After talking about the results of the war, Moshe tells them the borders of the two conquered Emorite kings, and which portions went to the tribes of Reuvan, Gad, and Menasha, however the warriors of those tribes still have to come and fight with their bretheren. And our parsha ends with Moshe relating how he told Y’hoshua that just as haShem did to these two Emorite kings, so too haShem will do to all the other kingdoms they will pass through and that he should not fear for haShem fights on their behalf.
There are a lot of strange things one can explore in this parsha. Why, for example, does it twice say that Moshe spoke to the people and then continue with a detailed description of the place and time we are talking about? Why does Moshe start by telling the people different versions of the creation of officers of 1000s, 100s, etc. and of the spies? Just before Moshe starts speaking, why do we read that Moshe is beginning to clarify this Torah? Why does our parsha interrupt the flow of events to provide us with history lessons, or to suddenly tell us who Ohg is and how big he is? Why does Moshe tell the history as if it happened to the current generation when it really happened to the previous generation? Why does Moshe start at Chorev and not from Egypt or the yam Suf (sea of reeds)? Why does haShem get angry not at the words of the people’s complaints, but at the voice of the words?
I am sure there are a few more curiosities about our parsha that I am forgetting, and I am sure you get the idea that there must be a lot going on underneath the surface. When I wrote last year, for example, I addressed the question of why Moshe is talking as if the current generation did these acts.
This year I want to look at one or two of the other questions. I am not going to cover them all because a) I want something else to talk about in the future, b) I don’t want to write a whole book in one blog entry – the blog as a whole is the book, and c) I figure I’d give you-all something to think about. Who knows, maybe one of you will comment below with an answer or two.
So, what I want to look at a little bit closer is why does Moshe rewrite history? Earlier in the Torah for example, we read how haShem told Moshe he can send spies if he wanted to, and the spies returned with a negative report. Now, our parsha says that the people requested the spies, Moshe thought it was a good idea, spies returned with a good report, and that the people ignored it.
Likewise in our parsha, Moshe claims he went to the people complaining that he couldn’t handle the burden of holding up so many people, and that he wanted to create a hierarchy of officers, and the people agreed that this was a good idea. If we review the Torah, we find that this seems to be a mixing of two different events. In one event, Moshe complains to haShem that the burden of the people is too great for him, and God answers Moshe by giving prophecy to 72 other people for a short time. The Second event is when Yitro (Jethro) comes to visit the camp and sees Moshe’s workload and suggests to Moshe to create the hierarchy of officers, and Moshe decides to follow Yitro’s advice.
It is painfully obvious that what Moshe is telling the people is not the way the Torah describes the events that took place 38-40 years previously. The question is why does the Torah do this? To put the question a little differently, what is the Torah trying to teach us?
To understand what I am about to say, please accept the assumption that the first four books are a word for word dictation from haShem to Moshe. Given that Hashem is beyond time, I can only assume that whatever is written in those first four books would be an accurate and objective view of events.
The fifth book, however, is mostly the words of Moshe himself, speaking to the people. So, if Moshe, in the fifth book (which we just started), is retelling the same events, events that took place 35+ years earlier, in a way that doesn’t match up to what we read in the earlier books, then it must mean that he does not remember the events correctly.
So, what I think the Torah is trying to tell us is that if someone who has reached as high a spiritual place as Moshe, incorrectly remembers events, then we also must consider then fact that we might not remember things so perfectly either.
Now, why would the Torah want to teach us this?
How many times have we been so sure of something that we would argue with a loved one until bad feelings arose? How many times have we really been right? How many times have we recalled a situation incorrectly with the result being that we hurt another person, emotionally, financially, or just time-wise?
I think the reason the Torah is giving us this lesson is to remind us that the next time we feel so sure that we are right and that the other person is wrong, maybe we should stop and remember that if Moshe, the most spiritual person in our tradition, can have a faulty memory, then maybe we can too. If we can recall this teaching, then perhaps we can be willing to give the other person the benefit of the doubt. Maybe we will be willing and able to listen to what the other person is saying and to consider that there might be some truth to what they are saying.
The second thing that I wanted to touch on from our parsha has to do how the people dealt with haShem during the episode of the spies. Before I get into it, I want to digress for just a moment.
A number of years ago, I recall listening to a report some sociologists did concerning story telling and oral traditions. I believe they went to a pub in Ireland and recorded a storyteller telling a story. Six months later, they asked the same storyteller to come back to the same pub and tell the same story. They then played back the same story that they recorded six months earlier. The two stories were essentially the same, but there were some significant differences in what was emphasized and what was included and what was left out. To the sociologists, they were essentially two different stories. The audience however, even immediately hearing the two versions back to back, swore that they heard exactly the same story.
Why do I mention this? Because even if Moshe is telling the story differently, he might, like the storyteller above, know he can get away with changing the story to make a point. The question now is, what point might Moshe be trying to make?
To answer that question, lets look in detail at what Moshe says about the episode with the spies.
It begins with the nation coming to the mountain of the Emorites. Moshe tells the people to go and attack, for god is giving them the land. The people request spies get sent. Moshe agrees. The spies come back with a good report. The people did not wish to go up and so rebelled against haShem. HaShem vows that no-one from that generation will see the land. The people respond by saying that they had sinned before haShem and now they will go up the mountain as god commanded them. God tells Moshe to tell them not to go for god won’t be with the people. Moshe tells the people and they ignore him and go up anyway and get chased off the mountain.
The point the Torah is trying to make with this little story is to show how easily people delude or lie to themselves and others with no awareness of what they are doing. The people rebelled against god. They say that the realized that they sinned – that they went against god. You would think that their realization of their sin would lead them to start to following haShem. Instead, on their very next opportunity to follow haShem, they again ignore haShem’s wishes and rebel against god.
By telling us this story, the Torah is trying to wake us up to the fact that we need to do more than just realize when we make a mistake; we also need to change our ways. Otherwise we have accomplished nothing except maybe to show the world that we don’t understand what we are saying. If the generation really got that they had sinned by not paying attention to what haShem wanted from them, then when haShem said to them not to go up the mountain, they should have acquiesced to god’s wishes and not gone up the mountain. Perhaps if they had done that, god would have seen that they were serious with their tshuvah (repentance) and changed his mind and let them enter the land.
Well, those are some of my thoughts on this week’s parsha. I hope you enjoyed them.
If you care to read what I wrote about this parsha last year, click here.
About the Author
Shmuel Shalom Cohen spent 10 years studying Torah in Jerusalem. Six years ago, he started Conscious Torah to help Jews connect to their tradition in ways they didn’t think possible. Shmuel also started, and is the executive directory of Jewish Events Willamette-valley, a non-profit whose mission is to build Jewish community, pride, and learning. In his free time, Shmuel likes walks in nature, playing music, writing poetry, and time with good friends.