Rabbi Sacks addresses 3 questions: a) Why does the book of Devarim have the structure – a mix of history and law, recollection and anticipation? b) Why is it a “second law”? c) Why is this book included in the Torah?
Rabbi Sacks wrote this article 10 years ago, yet the circumstances have commonality with the current situation. He asks the question: is Tisha b’Av relevant to our post-Holocaust generation? He writes that in the Torah, freedom without order was the world before the Flood, every person against every person. We see this anarchy in Syria, Iraq, and Somalia. The alternative world of order without freedom was the world of Egypt of the Pharaohs, who achieved greatness at the cost of turning humanity into slaves.
Rabbi Posner writes about the 42 stops that are cited in the text. Why is this information so important? He analyzes the timing: 14 stops during the first year, before the people were punished; 8 during the last year; therefore 20 stops during the 38 years in between. In recounting our own journeys, we learn that things aren’t always as bad as we thought. Additionally, when we reach the goal, we find new meaning in the journey.
Jill Levy writes about the difficulty in reading this text—the killing of the Midianite men, capturing women and children, plundering, and then killing all women of the age of intimacy. She proposes that a study of such challenging texts can enable us to navigate the disturbing realities of our own world. For instance, while Moses was angry at Reuben and Gad for choosing to remain on the east side of the river. However, they did not deny their responsibility to the people, but were traumatized by war and needed to protect themselves.
Blood vengeance, that can decimate an entire community, has plagued society for centuries. The cities of refuge were established to ensure that the blood vengeance ended when the legal authorities have ruled. The text stipulates that those who had committed manslaughter had to stay in one of these cities until the death of the High Priest in order to remain safe. Why is the death of the High Priest relevant? The Talmud holds the High Priest culpable in the act of killing since if he had prayed enough, it would not have happened. Suffering was necessary in order for the victim’s family to feel that justice was done. Maimonides wrote that the death of the High Priest caused a collective grief that allowed people to let go of their desire for revenge; no guilt or culpability was involved.
Pinchas Shir addresses the complicated narrative on Pinchas’ murderous actions that resulted in God’s praise and the cessation of thousands of deaths. The emphasis should not be on the superficial elements of the narrative — a death sentence for idolatry – but the actions of one person, however gruesome, that resulted in the saving on many lives; God saw his actions as virtuous.
Moses asked God to name a leader who would “go out before them and come in before them, one who will lead them out and bring them in.” Why the duplication? Rabbi Sacks writes about the sense of timing that is required in good leadership—what is possible when? For most leaders, the hardest challenge is change – people change slowly, and frequently resist, or experience the change as loss. When the timing is wrong, the people don’t follow.
Rabbi Barenblat writes about the recurring theme of death in this parashah, rather than focusing on the challenging concept of hukim, which don’t appear to make sense. In her experience, the contact with the dead isn’t an “unclean” experience, as much as it is a changing experience; one becomes spiritually out of phase for a period of time. Since the ritual of parah adumah is impossible today, we have developed other rituals to address the challenging contact with death, such as shiva. However, in light of the terrible events on October 7, everyone-Jews and Palestinians-has been touched by death, without the luxury of closure. We lack the rituals that in Biblical times would have washed away the grief.
Rabbi Lowenstein discusses the spiritual essence of the water in this parashah—an element so precious and vital to our lives that we could not survive for more than a few days without it. Please follow the link below to hear his focused statement on not taking our water for granted:
Rabbi Sacks explores the concepts of “aloneness” vs “set apart”. One can lead to leadership and vision, whereas the other, “aloneness”, leads to delegitimization and anti-semitism.