9 August 2024
Week of 4-10 August 2024
Torah portion: Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22 Haftarah: Isaiah 1:1-27
Theme: These words of Moses are the Words of God
Parashat Devarim is the 44th weekly Torah portion in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading.
As we can see, Parashat Devarim begins the book of Deuteronomy, which is the last of the 5 books of the Torah. The book in its entirety contains Moses’ speeches to the People of Israel. Moses is already aware of his death and his stay outside the Land of Israel, as a result of the people’s infidelities during their 40 years of wandering in the desert. God decided that he and his generation will not enter the Land of Israel: “Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, Because you had not enough faith in me to keep my name holy before the children of Israel, you will not take this people into the land which I have given them” (Nb 20.12). Thereby Moses associates himself with the sins of his people: “But the Lord was angry with me because of you and would not give ear to my prayer; and the Lord said to me, Let it be enough, say no more about this thing” (Dt 3.26). Therefore, if on the one hand this Parasha records the words of rebuke of the people which relate to the various incidents that marked their 40 years of wandering in the desert, on the other hand, Moses is concerned with creating new structures to guide the people and so that they do not commit the same mistakes.
In fact, Moses rereads the Word of God already revealed on Sinai. The tradition of Israel also called the Book of Devarim “Mishneh Torah,” “the repetition of the Torah”. (Commentary of Rashi (1040-1105), on tb Hagigah 6b). Moshe tells about the need to appoint judges to lead the people. With that Moses introduces new commandments and new structures that are more adapted to maintaining the people in unity in the search for perfection before God in the Land that he is about to conquer: the Land promised to Abraham and his descendants.
We learn from that that Devarim or “Mishneh Torah,” “the repetition of the Torah” serves as a lesson in keeping the Torah alive and relevant, the means by which we can always return to its study at a new level of understanding. By ensuring that the Torah remains eternally relevant, we can read it from an ever deeper, more alive, and newer perspective, and thus continually deepen, revive, and renew our relationship with God.
At the end of this Parasha, which begins with the expression: “These are the words which Moses said to all Israel” (Devarim), we have practically the conclusion of Moses’ mission and his salary. In fact, Moses remains the main servant of God who led the people and was the intermediary in the gift of the Torah to the people, nevertheless he remains the servant of the Lord. God’s project is with the people of Israel and he continues with new leadership in the Land of Israel.
Now is the time for the final realization of the liberation that God began with Moses when they left Egypt and Moses contemplates this accomplishment without entering the Land: “Go up to the top of Pisgah, and turning your eyes to the west and the north, to the south and the east, see the land with your eyes: for you are not to go over Jordan. But give my orders to Joshua, comforting him and making him strong; for he is to go over Jordan at the head of this people, making him take possession of the land you are contemplating” (Dt 3. 27:28).
This week’s Parasha Commentary was prepared by
Bro. Elio Passeto, Nds, Israel, Director of ISPS- Ratisbonne
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