This shabbat we read a very interesting parsha (Torah portion), which includes, among other things, the return of the ten utterances. Let’s start, however, at the beginning.
The parsha begins with Moshe (Moses) beseeching haShem (god) to allow him to enter the promised land. This entreating of god is where the name of our parsha comes from. In Hebrew, the verb is heetchanan and our parsha is called vaetchanan, which means, “And I beseeched.”
God’s answer to Moshe is to tell him to shut up about it; the best Moshe is allowed to do is to climb a mountain and gaze at the land, and to command Y’hoshua (Joshua) and strengthen him because Y’hoshua is the one that will cause the nation to inherit the land.
Moshe continues his monologue by telling the people to follow the rules that he is teaching them in order to live and enter and settle the land. He also tells them not to add or subtract from these teachings. The following of these teachings, Moshe tells them, is what will lead the other nations to realize how wise a people they (we) are, and how close haShem is to them (us). He continues saying that these teachings should be imparted to the children and the grandchildren.
Moshe then summarizes the experience of the people hearing haShem speak from Mount Sinai. He reminds them that they saw no image when haShem spoke to them, so they should not make any image to worship, nor worship any object including the sun, moon, and stars. Moshe tells the people that he will not be entering the land and then warns the people, with heaven and earth as witnesses, that if the people become corrupt and make idols and do bad in haShem’s eyes, they will be lost from on the land, and their days will not be long on the land; the nation will be scattered among the nations. However, at the end of days, Moshe tells the people that they will return to haShem and that haShem will not forget the brit (covenant) of their forefathers.
Moshe then asks the people if at any other time since the world was formed, had a nation heard the voice of haShem and lived, or had one nation been taken out from another nation. Moshe explains that this was done so they would know that there is only haShem, and that he loved their/our forefathers enough to take their offspring out of Egypt and to give them a land as an inheritance.
Moshe tells the people that they should observe the mitzvot (commands) so that life goes well for the people and their offspring and their time in the land will be long.
Moshe then designates the three cities east of the Yardayn (Jordan) river which are to be cities of shelter. Moshe then reminds the people that haShem made a brit with them when he spoke from the mountain to them. Moshe then tells them his version of the ten utterances, as well as how the people responded to hearing haShem speak.
We then read as Moshe says, “Listen Yisrael, haShem is our god/powers, haSem is one,” followed by him telling the people to love haShem and to put these words on their hearts and to repeat them to their children and always talk about them and to wear them and put them on their gates.
Moshe then warns them that when god gives them this land of cities already built and pits already dug and vineyards already planted, to beware not to forget haShem and to not follow after other gods because this will make god angry. Moshe again implores the people to follow the laws and it will be good for the them. Moshe also tells the people that when their children ask why they are doing all this, they should answer because haShem took them out of Egypt in order to give them the land god swore to their forefathers.
Moshe tells the people that god will remove the seven nations in the land so they can take possession of it, and then he warns them not to make a brit with those nations or to show them mercy because if they intermarry with them, it will cause them to stray from haShem and worship other gods and god won’t like that.
This is because, Moshe reminds the people, they are a holy nation to haShem and that haShem chose them to be the most treasured of nations. The reason they are so chosen is because haShem loves them and because of the oath he swore to their ancestors, god took them out of Egypt, from slavery. The parsha ends with Moshe telling us how god is to those who follow the mitzvot, and to those who hate god to god’s face.
Wow. So much here. Moshe can be a bit long winded at times. But I guess that is true of anyone who feels they have a really important message that they want their listeners to really understand and get. And there are so many messages here to get. One of the messages that I received this time through the parsha comes from a couple of different sources. Let’s see how well I can weave them together.
To begin I have to go back to our previous parsha. In that parsha Moshe is telling the story of the spies. One of the things I found interesting about that story is that haShem doesn’t get mad at the people for what they are saying; haShem becomes angry when he hears the VOICE of the words (1:34 of D’varim/Deuteronomy).
Now, we jump into our current parsha and we see this not once, but twice more. The first time is in verse 4:12 where Moshe is retelling the events at Mount Sinai. In the verse, Moshe doesn’t say that the people heard words, but a voice of words or a voice of things (the Hebrew word d’varim can be translated as words or things). The second time is in verse 5:24 where Moshe says that haShem heard the voice of your words when you-all spoke to me. As if that is not enough, the verse continues by saying that haShem even told Moshe that she heard the voice of the words of the nation.
What is going on with all this voice business? Aren’t the words the important thing?
The answer to this second question is no, the words are not important. What is important is what is in our hearts. We learn this in verse 4:29 where Moshe tells us that we will find haShem only when we demand with all our heart and all our soul.
In other words, saying the words, “I want to find god,” is not enough. You have to really go searching with you heart and soul. The other three verses I quoted are now examples of this principle.
HaShem isn’t concerned that the people are complaining. We complain all the time. What is important is how we complain. Are we complaining even though we accept what we are complaining about, or are is our complaining also a rejection? Hashem is not listening to our words, but our intention behind the words. It wasn’t our words that made haShem so angry that we wandered in the wilderness for 40 years. HaShem wasn’t paying any attention to the words. What haShem was paying attention to was how we spoke, for how we speak reveals what is in our hearts.
Listen to how people speak. Some people are often sarcastic. Others have a very gentle and loving way of speaking. They could be saying the very same words, yet I imagine you would rather be around the gentle, loving speaker and not the sarcastic speaker.
In verse 5:24, haShem tells Moshe that what the people spoke is good. Yet the verse says that god was listening to the voice of the words and not the words. Why? Because it was the voice of the people that indicated what was in their hearts: the fear of hearing haShem’s voice. HaShem heard that fear, and so agreed that it would be too much for them to hear more of his voice. Again, it wasn’t the words.
So, what is the message here? The message is that if you really want to know somebody, listen to HOW they speak and not so much to their words. Likewise, if you want to know who you are, listen to how you speak. Is your voice gentle or angry? Sincere or sarcastic?
Your voice is the voice of your heart and your soul. Is it set in stone? I don’t think so. I think a person, by paying attention to how they speak, can change the way the speak, and in doing that they can change their very nature. I think this is the lesson that haShem showed me in the parsha.
May we all see the day that everybody talks gently and lovingly with everybody and everything in the world.
If you want 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.