So we arrive this Shabbat at the final book of Torah, Deuteronomy. This is a fascinating book with a rich history as many scholars see it as a template for the attempted religious reformation of King Josiah in the 7th century BCE. The main feature of this book are the so-called farewell sermons of Moses. There are many “devarim”/words in these sermons; words which retell the journey of the Israelites and continually caution them against straying from the commandments. There is a repeating theme in the book of: “If you follow the commandments there will be blessing and if you stray there will be curses.”
The “words” here are usually the words of Moses. There is, according to Biblical scholars who examined texts, a sort of re-writing of some of the Wilderness experiences. Moses, it seemed, as he aged and did his “life-review” remembered some things a little differently. We may also do the same thing, in a away of re-writing history according to how we wish to remember.
Something to keep in mind is the very start of the passage. “These are the words that Moses spoke to all of Israel” (1;1). We can see an echo of this later in portion Nitzvaim. The words were, and are, addressed to all generations. It is a reminder that these words are eternal, we just choose to “hear” them differently, at different stages of life. We understand these words differently at different stages of life. That is one of the gifts of tradition that it is always open to interpretation depending on where we are in our own journey. So many of us, as we age, look back and “see” things differently, as our priorities change and life experience has helped redefine what we may have thought was important.
Likewise, we hear the call of tradition depending on our own life situations. There is a lovely interpretation of this in “Sparks Beneath The Surface”, edited by Rabbis Larry Kushner and Kerry Oiltzky. They quote the Rabbi Simcha Bunem who noted that these words that Moses spoke “depended on all Israel, to each one according to his or her
character and age, his or her understanding and level of perception, each one according to his or her measure.” (p. 219)
Thus, Torah “speaks” to us every day and we “hear” it depending on where we are in life. In this way, the message remains eternal and every changing at the same time. Let us not be afraid to “hear”.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Richard F Address
Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min, is the Founder and Director of www.jewishsacredaging.com. Rabbi Address served for over three decades on staff of the Union for Reform Judaism; first as a Regional Director and then, beginning in 1997, as Founder and Director of the URJ’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns and served as a specialist and consultant for the North American Reform Movement in the areas of family related programming. Rabbi Address was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972 and began his rabbinic career in Los Angeles congregations. He also served as a part time rabbi for Beth Hillel in Carmel, NJ while regional director and, after his URJ tenure, served as senior rabbi of Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, NJ from 2011-2014.
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