…West owes entirely to the book of Devarim, most famously in the second paragraph of the Shema: If you faithfully obey the commands I am giving you today . . . then I will send rain on your land in its season . . . I will provide grass in the fields for your cattle, and you will eat and…
…looks like. What Moses was proposing in Devarim was fundamentally different. He assembled the people and told them, in so many words, that there would be social order in the new land they were about to inherit. But who would achieve it? Not Moses. Not Joshua. Not a government. Not a tyrant. Not a charismatic leader. Not the army. Not…
Shemini tells the tragic story of how the great inauguration of the Tabernacle, a day about which the Sages said that God rejoiced as much as He had at the creation of the universe, was overshadowed by the death of two of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu: “Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu took their censers, put fire in them and…
…was about to die, his disciples sat before him and asked, ‘Our teacher, teach us one [fundamental] thing.’ He replied, ‘My children, what can I teach you? Let every one of you go and be very careful of the dignity of others’ (Derech Eretz Rabbah, 3). The Talmud defines onaat devarim, “verbal oppression”, as reminding a person of a past…
…God. It would not be easy. With his prophetic eye turned to the furthermost horizon of the future, Moses had been warning the people throughout Devarim that the real dangers would be the ones they least suspected. They would not be war or famine or poverty or natural disaster. They would be ease and affluence and freedom and prosperity. That…
…of understanding and intellect [gedolim be-havanah uve-haskalah]. The example of this was Yitro: his advice and the way he chose to organise a society. For there are indeed among the nations people who recognise well-authenticated propositions [devarim me’usharim]. The [divine] intention here was to show that the Israelites were not chosen because they were better-endowed with intelligence and discernment than…
…command in Devarim: You shall not see your brother’s ass or his ox falling [under its load] in the road, and hide yourself from them. You shall lift it [the load] up with him. Dt. 22:4 Exodus talks about enemies; Deuteronomy, about friends. On this the Talmud states: If [the animal of] a friend requires unloading, and an enemy’s loading,…
…them. And therefore there is a revolution, and it is signalled in the book of Deuteronomy where the word shema appears 92 times. It’s a key word of Deuteronomy, and as you know, it is the first word of the key verse in the whole of Judaism: “shema Yisrael” (Devarim 6:4). And in the new prayer book which I’ve just…
…from departure (A-B) to the beginning of return (B-A). The entire Pentateuch (the five Mosaic books) forms a chiasmus. From the perspective of the Israelites in the wilderness, Bereishit looks back to the pre-history of Israel, while Devarim turns to the future, as Moses’ prophetic vision scans the far horizons of hope and expectation. Shemot and Bamidbar are a matched…
…pioneers built the land and state of Israel in modern times. It is the vision Moses articulated in the last month of his life in the book of Devarim. This calls for leaders who inspire others with their vision, delegating, empowering, guiding, encouraging and making space. That is what God was hinting to Moses when he told him to take…