Shabbat Chazon: Moses’ Lessons As We Head into Tishah B’Av
(delivered by Rabbi Sacks on Friday, August 5, 2022)
The Torah has a sense of humor. Tomorrow we read from Deuteronomy, the fifth and final book of the Torah. It begins,[1]
אֵ֣לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּעֵ֖בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן
These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan.
The Hebrew name for Deuteronomy, D’varim, literally means “words,” and this framing sets the entire book apart from the remainder of the Torah.
In the previous three books, everything we have seen and heard about Moses had been in the third person, but here Moses ostensibly speaks for himself. The humor comes from what we know about Moses: In his encounter with G!d at the Burning Bush,[2] the reluctant prophet needed serious convincing that he was the right man for the job. He pleaded with the Eternal One:
לֹא֩ אִ֨ישׁ דְּבָרִ֜ים אָנֹ֗כִי גַּ֤ם מִתְּמוֹל֙ גַּ֣ם מִשִּׁלְשֹׁ֔ם
גַּ֛ם מֵאָ֥ז דַּבֶּרְךָ֖ אֶל־עַבְדֶּ֑ךָ כִּ֧י כְבַד־פֶּ֛ה וּכְבַ֥ד לָשׁ֖וֹן אָנֹֽכִי
I have never been a man of words, either in times past or now that You
have spoken to Your servant; I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.[3]
Now here Moses stands, 40 years later, ready to speak an entire book called D’varim, “Words,” including its first potion, which is also called D’varim. Apparently, after 40 years in the desert, Moses has found his voice.
Of course, those familiar with biblical scholarship justifiably understand Moses here, in Professor William Hallo’s words, as “no more than a literary device for supporting the thread of injunction and narrative.”[4] The rest of Deuteronomy contains legal material mixed with impassioned sermons, all carefully crafted to reinforce the importance of maintaining the Sinai covenant between G!d and the people of Israel. So, framing the book as Moses’ words certainly would have been a smart choice of the author (or redactor) if their goal was to imbue those laws and sermons with prophetic authority.
Yet, even if it is a mere literary device, we can still learn from the conceit of the humble prophet who was “never good with words” standing on his soapbox, speaking directly to the people of Israel, who stand ready to move forward.
The first lesson relates to personal growth. Moses’ literary role as speaker reminds us that people change and grow. Forty years in the desert leading an unruly, cranky bunch of Israelites would take a toll on anybody. Yet even given the challenges of leadership, Moses manages to cultivate and deepen his skills. Even through the personal difficulties of mourning his siblings, Miriam and Aaron, he found a well of resilience within himself, and he turns his weakness with words into a profound way with them.
A second lesson in this portion reminds us that in order to move forward, sometimes we must start by reviewing where we have been. The heart of this portion offers a succinct retelling of the Israelites’ journey through the wilderness. Starting at Horeb,[5] Moses reminds the people of his own challenges of leadership, and of his own need to delegate and maintain order.[6] He recounts the deep uncertainty and fear the Israelites expressed, leading to the episode with the spies[7] and eventually to G!d’s decree that the people would remain in the wilderness for an entire generation.[8] Finally, Moses turns his attention to review the recent military history of the Israelites’ wanderings. He recounts for the people both the defeats and the victories in their encounters with the various tribes and people over the course of their trek through the desert.[9]
In all of this retelling, though, Moses never fails to lose sight of what comes next: crossing the Jordan and entering the Promised Land. He carefully reminds the people that “HaShem your G!d has been with you these past 40 years.”[10] The way he crafts the story offers constant reminders that their defeats coincided with their lack of trust in G!d and their victories were delivered with G!d’s help.
times I struggle with these accounts of military battles in our sacred text. I try not to dismiss my own discomfort, but I also try to find the wisdom in Torah and remember that it may have something to offer us today. I’m struck this time not by the particulars of each military engagement, but by the way Moses retells the story to the people as they prepare for the march forward. Their trust in themselves, like the trust in G!d, grows as Moses reprises for them all that they have already experienced. He accomplishes his goal of girding the Israelites spiritually for the challenges to come by reminding them of all that they have already endured and survived.
This, too, can be a powerful lesson for us. While we hopefully do not find ourselves fighting literal battles, each of us faces struggles and challenges in our lives. Each of us will encounter self-doubt or despair, or feel vulnerable to attack; you may even be feeling that now.
Yet, like our Israelite ancestors, we need not fear. Instead, we can try to follow Moses’ lead. As we head into Tishah B’Av tomorrow evening and then begin the slow process of readying ourselves for the catharsis of the High Holy Day period, let us take in the lessons Moses bequeathed us.
As Moses grew to overcome his fear of words, we, too, can remember and identify the ways in which we have grown, and the weaknesses that we have turned into strengths. Like Moses, we, too, can look back and consider our journey before we advance. Like Moses, we too would do well to keep our eye on what lies ahead and what our vision allows us to see. We, too, can choose to retell our story in ways that remind us that we are not alone, and that we, too, have the power to move forward from strength to strength.
Kein y’hi ratzon. So may it be.
Shabbat shalom.
[1] Deuteronomy 1:1.
[2] Exodus 3:1-4:17.
[3] Exodus 4:10.
[4] William W. Hallo in The Torah: A Modern Commentary, rev. ed., p. 1,149.
[5] Deuteronomy 1:6.
[6] Deuteronomy 1:9-18.
[7] Deuteronomy 1:22-24.
[8] Deuteronomy 1:34-38.
[9] Deuteronomy 1:46-3:22.
[10] Deuteronomy 2:7.