Parshas Devarim
The Pathway to Consolation and Redemption
Moshe’s long and beautiful valedictory address begins in this week’s
parsha. It is perhaps the most personal part of our holy Torah, for it
lays bare the humanity and emotions of Moshe himself. His frustrations
with a people who are destined and charged with holiness and seemingly
always shy away from that destiny are clearly evident in his words. His
cry of “eichah” – how can it be? – is the forerunner, in the words of the
Midrash of the ultimate “eichah” which causes us to weep and mourn on
Tisha B’Av.
It is not only the stress of leadership that pains Moshe, though that is
certainly part of his burden. It is the relentless carping and
unappreciative attitude of Israel towards its blessings and its relation
of uniqueness with God that gives him a sense of brooding sadness and
impending troubles. Moshe will state in the Book of Dvarim: “I know that
after my death, in the future, you will stray from the path of Torah and
worship strange gods. Terrible things will then befall you until the day
of final redemption arrives.”
It is the anguish of a parent who fully knows what an error the child is
making in pursuing a matter and is absolutely incapable of stopping the
personal disaster from happening. The valedictory address of Moshe is
therefore not a purely past event but rather a reminder of our weaknesses
throughout our history and in current times as well. “Eichah” – how can
this be? – is a word that aptly fits the Jewish world of today.
Moshe zeroes in on the two main faults of personality that lie at the root
of Jewish weakness and disaffection. These are ingratitude and lack of
self-worth. The matter of ingratitude is addressed many times in the
Torah. The complaints about the manna, the water, the Land of Israel, even
the Exodus from Egyptian bondage are quite numerous in the Torah. The
entire forty year miraculous sojourn in the desert of Sinai is one long
litany of complaint and ingratitude.
The rabbis defined wealth as being satisfied. There are therefore
relatively few truly wealthy people in our world. Ingratitude affects
family relations, business ventures, and the general psychological well-
being of individuals and a society. Lack of self-worth is also very
prevalent in Jewish society. In a world where other faiths have hundreds
of millions of adherents, Judaism is the smallest of all faiths, number
wise.
Moshe told us in the Book of Dvarim that this would be the case – “for you
are the smallest in numbers of all nations.” But the inner strength of the
Jew always lay in the deeply held conviction of being holy and special, of
being chosen by God for an eternal mission in this world. In recent times
this belief in ourselves and our mission has been eroded by
secularization, ignorance of Judaism by Jews and the pernicious influences
of a hedonistic and loose environment.
Moshe’s words therefore stand as a rallying cry to combat these twin evils
that weaken us and endanger our survival and progress. This season of the
year presses us to heed Moshe’s words and message ever more diligently. It
is the pathway to ultimate consolation and redemption.
Shabat shalom.
Rabbi Berel Wein
Rabbi Berel Wein- Jewish historian, author and international lecturer offers a complete selection of CDs, audio tapes, video tapes, DVDs, and books on Jewish history at www.rabbiwein.com
Text Copyright © 2007 by Rabbi Berel Wein and Torah.org
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