Opening With Keys to Succes

by R. Gidon Rothstein

Parshat Devarim

Two Essential Devarim Points, For R. David Tzvi Hoffmann

In his introductory remarks to the parsha (and the book), R. David Tzvi Hoffmann [whom we have seen rarely this year] claims Moshe’s introductory speech sought to drive home two points, Jews must obey mitzvot without alteration (the explicit 4;1-2, not to add or take away, summarizes what came before, he says).

The next verses at the end of the speech, 4;3-4, encapsulate the second point that had come before, Jews are not to worship any other power, to cleave to Hashem alone. Those verses point out that anyone who strayed after Ba’al Pe’or was decimated from the camp, those who stuck with God are alive today.

The reminder of Sinai that comes next in chapter four was to remind us we had a clear experience of the Divine, in a way that should preclude any belief in any other god. It is the reason Moshe stresses the obligation never to forget that day, when Hashem told us the Aseret HaDibberot, when we saw nothing physical. Ideally, it would help us never worship any physical being or representation.

Sadly, Moshe prophesied the more likely outcome, the Jews would turn to idolatry, therefore would be exiled among other nations, where they would then also take up those nations’ idolatries.

There is comfort in the further prophecy of our eventual return, when Hashem will accept our repentance, have compassion on us, restore us to our Land and good graces (4;29-31), because of Hashem’s relationship with the Patriarchs, 4;37-38 tells us.

Moshe was trying—although likely doomed to failure—to show us we did not have to go through all that, could have been in Israel uninterruptedly, had we kept just two “small” principles, to recognize and adhere only to Hashem, and to keep all and only the mitzvot, not add or subtract.

It can sound complicated, this Judaism thing, but R. David Tzvi Hoffmann thinks Moshe Rabbenu boiled it down to its very essence, here, in the beginning of Devarim. Sadly, even the boiled down version isn’t easy.

The Hidden Tragedy of Moshe’s Exclusion

Or HaChayim wonders at Moshe’s claim “God was also angry with me because of you,” 1;37, while retelling the story of the spies. The Torah has never before linked Moshe’s exclusion to this incident, and Moshe seems to break the flow of the story to mention his own unrelated fate.

Or HaChayim finds his answer in Ta’anit 29a’s idea of bechiyah le-dorot, Hashem’s reacting to the Jews’ crying at the spies’ report (on 9 Av, tradition has it). They cried unnecessarily, Hashem would give them reason, for all generations, to cry on this day, with the most prominent examples the destruction of two Temples.

He needs two more pieces to make his point. First, Sotah 9a says a Temple built by Moshe would have been indestructible, then Midrash Tehillim 79, which understands that Psalm to tell us the Churban, the destruction of the Temple, saved the nation from harsher punishment. Hashem vented His righteous wrath, as it were, on wood and stones rather than people.

Had Moshe built an impervious Temple, the anger would have had no alternate place to go. If so, the spies really did doom Moshe, because the “crying for generations” meant the Temple would need to be destroyed. Were Moshe allowed into Israel, Or HaChayim says, the bechiyah would be displaced from the building to the people.

Still, he knows his claim contradicts the Torah’s explicit repeated insistence only Mei Merivah lost Moshe entry. He therefore argues the rock was an opportunity to atone/reverse the sin of the spies. Had he sanctified God’s name by bringing forth water with his words, it would restored the faith in God the Jews showed they had lost when they heard the spies’ report. The people would have recovered their pre-sin state, and Moshe could have entered and built an eternal Temple.

For Or HaChayim, the spies’ incident meant Moshe’s entry was dangerous for the people. He then missed his chance to fix it, at Mei Merivah.

Teshuvah Always Helps

Verses later, 1;41, Moshe records the day after that crying, when a group insisted they could atone by going to Israel right away, demonstrating their faith in God and love of the land. God warned them not to, informed them they would fail. Nevertheless, they persisted, and were destroyed.

Verse forty-five says va-tashuvu, you returned, and cried. Malbim picks up Ramban’s idea, tashuvu here means they repented (did teshuvah), having seen they were wrong, and pushes it a clever step further. In verse forty, Hashem told the people to turn towards the desert, by way of Yam Suf, the Red Sea. Malbim says the original decree would have been for them to wander all throughout the thirty-eight years, a new place every year. Our verse forty-six points out they stayed in Kadesh for nineteen years, then moved a place a year (twenty moves in nineteen years).

Repentance did not annul the decree, but it cut the wandering in half. Because repentance always helps. Doesn’t always solve, but helps.

Ostentation and Anti-Semitism

In Moshe Rabbenu’s retelling of the Jews’ years in the desert, Devarim 2;3, he refers to Hashem having told them to stop circling Mount Seir, to head north (tzafona). Kli Yakar says “many say” the verse is supposed to resonate in future generations, other times when Jews will circle, not getting closer to their goal, lacking power. In all these situations, the advice is to turn tzafona, which Devarim Rabbah 1;19 took in the sense of tzafun, hidden. In the time of Esav, Jews should hide.

Making It Contemporary, With a Vengeance

Kli Yakar’s spin on “hiding”addresses a concern he had about the Jews of his time (but would fit in our as well, it seems to me). Should a Jew find success in exile, he says, s/he should hide it (tzafun, like on Pesach) from Esav (Christians, where Arabs were called Yishma’el), because Esav as a nation is persistently jealous of us, sure that any success we have stems from Ya’akov’s “theft” of Yitzhak’s blessings.

His generation has lost the ethic of hiding/downplaying success. Jews buy beautiful clothing, magnificent homes, beyond what their wealth warrants. Point one, where he could have stopped, it is wrong/ misguided/ overly materialistic to spend more than what your income deserves.

It Engenders Antisemitism

But he moves to antisemitism, says Jewish ostentation attracts negative attention from non-Jews, violates the command in our verse, turn to hiding. The refusal to heed the Torah’s advice leads to the troubles the Jews have seen (in his words; I’m not sure which troubles he means).

He closes “ha-maskilim yavinu likach mussar,” insightful ones will understand, to take counsel.” Instead of giving non-Jews a reason to resent rich, fat-cat Jews, if we live modestly (or perhaps appropriately for our income), the exile will go better, with less Jew-hatred.

The Whole and Its Parts

In verse 3;18, speaking to the entire people, Moshe says “va-atzav etchem, and I commanded you,” although the command in question addressed only Reuven and Gad. Ibn Ezra explains that “you” fits because these tribes were part of the nation.

He contrasts this to Devarim 31;25-27, where Moshe gives a Torah scroll to the Levi’im, to place next to the Aron, “for I know your rebelliousness (or defiance).” Except the Levi’im were not this way, the rest of the people were. Since Levi’im are part of the people, says Ibn Ezra, this form of address is legitimate as well.

The whole can represent the part and vice versa. It is a lesson about what it means to be part of a group, although Ibn Ezra doesn’t say what it is. As a first step, even if we think we are distinct from a small group within us, or a larger group is external to us and not our problem, Ibn Ezra thinks if we are part of the whole, we are part of that whole.

For these five comments, our parsha hands us some essential keys to success: sticking only with God, keeping all and only what God commanded, repenting in general and at key moments, and recognizing our connection to the group, each part affecting and affected by the whole.

Other Comments We Saw on This Parsha:
Ramban, Introduction to Devarim
Onkelos, Devarim 1;1, ba-midbar ba-aravah, etc.
Ramban, Devarim 1;1, Eileh ha-Devarim
Rashi, Devarim 1;4, Acharei hakoto
Ramban, Devarim 1;9, Va-omar aleichem
Ha’amek Davar, Devarim 1;9, Lo uchal
Meshech Chochmah, Devarim 1;9-13, Va-omar aleichem
Rashi, Devarim 1;12, Torchachem
Ramban, Devarim 1;12, Torchachem
Rashi, Devarim 1;13, Nevonim
Emet Le-Ya’akov, Devarim 1:13, Havu lachem
Rashi, Devarim 1;15, Anashim
Ramban, Devarim 1;23, Va-ekach mikem
Onkelos, Devarim 1;28, hemasu
Onkelos, Devarim 1;29, lo ta’artzun
Chatam Sofer, Devarim 1;39, Ve-tapechem
Chatam Sofer, Devarim 1;41, Va-ta’anu
Meshech Chochmah, 2;4-5, Ve-et ha-am
Onkelos, Devarim 2;7, yada lechtecha
Onkelos, Devarim 2;11, Refa’im, anakim
Rashi, Devarim 2;16, Va-yehi
R. Samson Raphael Hirsch,Devarim2;16-17, Va-yehi…va-yedaber
Sforno, Devarim 2;23, Ve-ha-Avim
Onkelos, Devarim 2;29, ha’avireinu…ki hikshah Hashem
Rashi, Devarim 2;26, Mi-midbar Kedemot
Onkelos, Devarim 2;33, va-yitenehu
Rashi, Devarim 3;11, Be-amat ish
HaKetav VeHaKabbalah, Devarim 3;11, Halo hi
Meshech Chochmah, Devarim 3;11, Halo hi