July 24th: Devarim
THIS WEEK IN THE TORAH
Rabbi David E. Ostrich
Though the Bible is presented as history, it is not a history book. It is rather a collection of episodes and teachings compiled for the purpose of presenting particular messages. In other words, there is a lot that happened in those days that did not get included. For example, the Biblical figures about whom we know the most—Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and David, have gaping holes in their Biblical curriculum vitae. There is a lot about their lives and experiences we do not know.
A case in point came up a few weeks ago, in Numbers 12, when there is some domestic drama in Moses’ family. “Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman he had married.” We may feel like we know Moses, but we have no idea who this Cushite (Ethiopian) wife is. It could be a reference to Zipporah, who was from Midian and might have had darker skin than most Israelites. It could be a reference to a second wife Moses might have married at some point. And, we have no idea why Aaron and Miriam complain. In other words, this is a highly edited story, leaving out most of the details and including only what the editor found relevant to the intended message. We do not know who selected and compiled these stories, but, whether it was God or human editors, a selective editorial process was clearly at work.
This simple and perhaps obvious fact is important in understanding the Book of Deuteronomy, which we begin this week. It is presented in the Torah as a series of farewell lectures by Moses. The Israelites are poised to enter and conquer the Promised Land, and Moses has been informed that he is being retired. This is his last chance to communicate the experiences and wisdom of the last forty years, and he undertakes telling the people their story.
If one were to compare the stories in Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers with Moses’ retelling in Deuteronomy, one would notice a number of differences. Among the most famous are a few changes in the Ten Commandments (which come in next week’s portion). It may not seem like a big deal in Commandment #10 when Moses inverts the order of whom one is not supposed to covet: Exodus 20 says not to covet one’s neighbor’s house and wife. Moses says not to covet one’s neighbor’s wife and house. However, Commandment #4, on the Sabbath, has some larger interpretative issues. In Exodus 20, we read: “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days shall you labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God: you shall not do any work—you, your son or daughter, your male or female slave, or your cattle, or the stranger who is within your settlements. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth and sea and all that is in them, and God rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.”
However, in Deuteronomy, Moses recounts it this way: “Observe the Sabbath day and keep it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; you shall not do any work—you, your son or your daughter, your male or female slave, your ox or your ass, or any of your cattle, or the stranger in your settlements, so that your male and female slave may rest as you do. Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and the Lord your God freed you from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath Day.”
Moses is not repeating the historical event at Mount Sinai; he is interpreting God’s words.
Another example is in this week’s Torah portion where Moses explains the development of the Israelites’ leadership hierarchy. In Exodus 18, Moses’ father in law, Jethro, notices Moses’ burden and suggests designating responsibility to other leaders. However, in Deuteronomy 1.9, Moses “remembers” it this way: “I cannot bear the burden of you (the Israelites) by myself. The Lord your God has multiplied you until you are today as numerous as the stars in the sky—May the Lord, the God of your fathers, increase your numbers a thousandfold, and bless you as promised. How can I bear unaided the trouble of you, and the burden, and the bickering! Pick from each of your tribes men who are wise, discerning, and experienced, and I will appoint them as your heads...”
There is a tradition that everything in the Torah is dictated by God and therefore represents a set of immutable instructions. However, a closer reading shows a multiplicity of voices and opinions—not only in the Torah, but also in the Prophets and the Writings. In fact, sometimes there are outright debates. Should all the Levites be priests, or is the priesthood reserved for one family of Levites, the Sons of Aaron? Is Solomon a hero, or do his habits of conspicuous consumption and “promiscuity” (300 wives and 700 concubines!) represent a problem with unbridled authority? Does God want and need sacrificial worship, or is God more concerned with piety and righteousness? Is intermarriage with non-Jews a way to increase our population, or is it a threat to our communal “purity?” (See Ezra and Nehemiah.)
Through the panoply of Jewish experiences and texts, many have sought to record the stories and wisdom of our historical and spiritual experiences. While some regard the textual tradition as a unanimous set of instructions dictated by God, we in the Liberal Jewish community (Reform, Conservative, Reconstructionist, Renewal, etc.) see it as a sacred discussion that began long ago and continues into the future. Moses’ interpretative re-telling of the story reminds us that the story is ours—ours to tell and ours to craft.