Parshat Devarim; Deuteronomy 1:1 – 3:22 by Rabbi Denise L. Eger

The final book of the Torah opens this week with parshat Devarim. This will be Moses’ final message to the Children of Israel and the setting is on the Western side of the Jordan in the land of Moab. His words will not only remind the Children of Israel of their obligations to the one God but he will encourage and try to give them confidence to fulfill the covenant they have made with Adonai. He will teach them and explain in even greater detail the promises God made to Israel and those Israel made to God.

But Moses’ also reviews the recent history of their journey. He reminds the people that he set up a system of judges and magistrates because he could not alone administer the entire people. He reminds them of their wanderings and of the lies about the land that caused them to wait a generation in the wilderness. This is important because to whom is he recounting this history? Not to those who came out of Egypt with him who lived it first hand. But he is recounting this to the next generation; those who were born into the desert and whose parents had escaped slavery. Moses tells them that it was Caleb who refused to participate in the lies and was thus rewarded with the opportunity to enter the Promised Land. This is a variant tradition since is mentioned earlier in Numbers that it was both Caleb and Joshua.

But the group that is now poised to conquer the Land under the leadership of Joshua bin Nun must learn their own history and must be motivated to fulfill their part of the covenant. Moses’ words are meant to instill that tradition and spirit within them. Even in the way Moses’ addresses this group—he speaks to this generation as if they were the ones that had been punished to the wanderings in the desert –when it had been the generation before them. But it in this way Moses can make the point that they must stick to their task because it could be them at any moment. I think Moses’ words are meant to teach and instill in them the lesson of their parents’ and grandparents’ failure to live up to the covenant.

This is no different than us today. We study Torah and its stories not just to learn about our past –but to learn about ourselves. We study their story of to build our own faith in God and to shape our own connection to the covenant with God. We see time and again what happened to the Children of Israel when they participated in idolatry or rejected the covenant with God. Thus our study of text helps us to reinforce and strengthen our own beliefs and faith. It is a lesson good for the generation about to enter the Promised Land or for us! Let us hope to heed it.