רפואה מן התורה
Healing from the Torah
Parashat Devarim
Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22
By Rabbi Adam Ruditsky
By Rabbi Adam Ruditsky
Handle with Care
Deuteronomy is a book about Moses’s own final words to Israel before they entered the land. It differs from Numbers because of its instructions for Israel’s success instead of primarily recounting their flawed humanity. In the very beginning we read “These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel” who spoke “according to all that the LORD had given him to command them” (Dt. 1:1-3). In the Aramaic Midrash, Targum Yonatan, it reads, “these are the words of admonition (אוכחותא),” or words of “reproof, a word that is not in the original Hebrew Torah. Rashbam (grandson of Rashi) taught that the words of Moses were an elaboration of what had gone before, with Ibn Ezra teaching that the words of Moses reflected the correct understanding of the commandments. But I think Moses should be understood as speaking words like a parent attempting to instruct a child. Moses just spent 40 years in the wilderness, watching what seemed bad more than good, such as with betrayal, rebellion, murder, death, revenge, deceit, unfaithfulness, and slander, not to mention watching their fear, broken trust, panic, impatience, aimlessness, and dissatisfaction. It wasn’t all bad of course, that would be unfair, but it was like Moses said, “Listen (shema), I have seen what people can be like so you need to hear my words so that you’ll have success in the land!” Is says in Sefer Mishlei (Book of Proverbs) that there is wisdom and safety in listening to others; well you know, people have always struggled to do that. Anyway, when I hear “these are the words of admonition,” I hear words to succeed as opposed to words of punishment for past wrongs, although past wrongs have consequences.
In the parsha itself you would think the words of Moses would reflect on the Exodus, the defeat of Pharaoh, the manna that fed the people while in the wilderness, or the cloud by day and the fire by night that led them, not to mention that incident of the Golden Calf. Instead Moses begins by speaking about their immediate battles and a reminder to Israel that God promised their ancestors the land which they were to enter. Moses painfully reminds them about the complaining and quarrels he experienced with the generation that died in the wilderness and ultimately brings up the appointed leaders, and in particular, the failure of the spies who went into the land. If you want to reread that account just look in Numbers 13 and 14, but here he simply says, “So I spoke to you, and you did not listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of the LORD, and were presumptuous …” (Dt. 1:43). The word presumptuous in Hebrew is va’ta’zidu (ותזדו), which can also be translated as “willful,” although the Aramaic translation of the Torah called Onkelos uses the word va’ar’sha’toon (וארשעחון) that carries a like meaning but also has a root that means evil or sin (rasha, רשע). So while the Hebrew further says v’lo sh’ma’tem, “they did not listen,” we read in the Aramaic, v’la ka’bel’toon, “they did not receive,” meaning that it was not just merely hearing words but receiving them. In the Aramaic, the result of just hearing potentially could be evil if the hearer does not truly listen.
Every day we say and listen to a prayer that is a meditation on words called the “Baruch Shemar,” the opening of the P’sukei D’zimrah in Jewish morning prayers. The prayer speaks of God who spoke the world into being, creating the world and its occupants with a mere word simply at the command to do so. The mystical nature of this prayer aside, it’s about the power of words and therefore the power of our words, both received and spoken. In this prayer we also read, Baruch gozayr oom’kai’yaym, “Blessed is God whose decree endures,” a decree of course is a word. Commentary on this prayer found in My Peoples Prayer Book suggests that this enduring decree is more so for the worshiper as opposed to just an instruction by God. Referring to Rabbi Abraham Jacob Freidman, the decree is to endure for a person’s stay in the world rather than to evoke fear because its purpose is punitive. Rav Cook refers to the words chai, “lives,” and kayyam, “exists,” also from the Baruch Shemar, something that can teach us about the relationship between a decree and its benefit. The word “exists” (kayyam) is the same root-word as “endures” (kai’yaym) although a different verb form. In this case Rav Cook says “one who exists rather than lives, has been stripped of their humanity, to which I will add, to live means to endure. Per those words I will further add, one who hears but does not listen fails to grasp the power of words, and therefore struggles to endure. Going back to the spies, the power of their words lead the people to endure wrongly with an unfortunate result. Next week is Tisha B’Av, a fast day where we remember many Jewish disasters, most notably the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem, but also the crusades, Jewish massacres, and the Holocaust. But the first such tragedy of Tisha B’Av is the misfortune of Israel’s wandering through the wilderness for an additional 38 years, which resulted from the people hearing the inflammatory words of the spies, instead of listening to the words of instruction from Moses. In this case Israel chose to hear and act upon words that did not benefit them.
It is said that the Torah is made up of black fire and white fire, the black fire being the words on the page and the white fire being the space between the words, or how people interact with its teachings and stories. Often the problem comes with the white fire since it is the place of interpretation. In general all words are like black fire, they are merely words, but the white fire is how they are interpreted, communicated, and heard, but also how they are explained and listened to. Words that are only heard (and spoken without thoughtfulness) can lead to immediate actions that are not always the best, whereas when listened to or thought out, there is a better opportunity to weigh meanings and therefore actions. Think about the words of the spies and what it cost the people who heard them. Words that are not thoughtful and balanced can be harmful, thus we read in Perkei Avot “be careful with your words, lest from them they learn to lie,” ultimately reminding us how the power of words can lead others (and ourselves) wrongly. After walking with Israel for 40 years in the wilderness Moses wanted his words to simultaneously warn and better them. Words are powerful, they can destroy and give life, therefore given the amount of words we hear daily and the need to process them ... handle with care.
Every day we say and listen to a prayer that is a meditation on words called the “Baruch Shemar,” the opening of the P’sukei D’zimrah in Jewish morning prayers. The prayer speaks of God who spoke the world into being, creating the world and its occupants with a mere word simply at the command to do so. The mystical nature of this prayer aside, it’s about the power of words and therefore the power of our words, both received and spoken. In this prayer we also read, Baruch gozayr oom’kai’yaym, “Blessed is God whose decree endures,” a decree of course is a word. Commentary on this prayer found in My Peoples Prayer Book suggests that this enduring decree is more so for the worshiper as opposed to just an instruction by God. Referring to Rabbi Abraham Jacob Freidman, the decree is to endure for a person’s stay in the world rather than to evoke fear because its purpose is punitive. Rav Cook refers to the words chai, “lives,” and kayyam, “exists,” also from the Baruch Shemar, something that can teach us about the relationship between a decree and its benefit. The word “exists” (kayyam) is the same root-word as “endures” (kai’yaym) although a different verb form. In this case Rav Cook says “one who exists rather than lives, has been stripped of their humanity, to which I will add, to live means to endure. Per those words I will further add, one who hears but does not listen fails to grasp the power of words, and therefore struggles to endure. Going back to the spies, the power of their words lead the people to endure wrongly with an unfortunate result. Next week is Tisha B’Av, a fast day where we remember many Jewish disasters, most notably the destruction of both Temples in Jerusalem, but also the crusades, Jewish massacres, and the Holocaust. But the first such tragedy of Tisha B’Av is the misfortune of Israel’s wandering through the wilderness for an additional 38 years, which resulted from the people hearing the inflammatory words of the spies, instead of listening to the words of instruction from Moses. In this case Israel chose to hear and act upon words that did not benefit them.
It is said that the Torah is made up of black fire and white fire, the black fire being the words on the page and the white fire being the space between the words, or how people interact with its teachings and stories. Often the problem comes with the white fire since it is the place of interpretation. In general all words are like black fire, they are merely words, but the white fire is how they are interpreted, communicated, and heard, but also how they are explained and listened to. Words that are only heard (and spoken without thoughtfulness) can lead to immediate actions that are not always the best, whereas when listened to or thought out, there is a better opportunity to weigh meanings and therefore actions. Think about the words of the spies and what it cost the people who heard them. Words that are not thoughtful and balanced can be harmful, thus we read in Perkei Avot “be careful with your words, lest from them they learn to lie,” ultimately reminding us how the power of words can lead others (and ourselves) wrongly. After walking with Israel for 40 years in the wilderness Moses wanted his words to simultaneously warn and better them. Words are powerful, they can destroy and give life, therefore given the amount of words we hear daily and the need to process them ... handle with care.
Shabbat Shalom
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