Because of mount

which lies desolate;

Jackals prowl over it

On another occasion they were

coming up to Jerusalem together, and just as

they came to Mount

Scopus they saw a jackal

emerging from the Holy of Holies. They fell a-weeping and R. Akiva seemed merry. Wherefore, said they to him, are you

merry? Said he: Wherefore are you weeping? Said they to him: A place of which

it was once said, And the common man that draweth

nigh shall be put to death, is now become the haunt of jackals, and should we

not weep? Said he to them: Therefore am I merry; for it is

written: And I will take to Me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest

and Zecharia the Son of Berechiah.

Now what connection has this Uriah the priest to Zechariah? Uriah lived during

the times of the first Temple, while Zechariah

lived [and prophesied] during the second Temple;

but Holy-Writ likened the prophecy of Zechariah to the prophecy of Uriah. In

the [earlier] prophecy of Uriah it is written, Therefore

shall Zion for

your sake be ploughed as a field, etc. In Zechariah it is written, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts,

There shall yet old men and old women in the squares of Jerusalem. So long as Uriah's [threatening]

prophecy had not its fulfillment, I had misgivings lest Zachariah's prophecy

not be fulfilled; now that Uriah's prophecy has been [literally] fulfilled, it

is quite certain that Zechariah's prophecy also is to find its fulfillment.

Said they to him: Akiva, you have comforted us! Akiva, you have comforted us!

(Bavli, Makkot 24b,

Soncino edition)

Because of Mt. Zion

which lies desolate, jackals prowl over it. – Said they to him: Akiva, you always puzzle us; we weep and you laugh! They

suspected that he laughed because he believed that Ben Koziva

was the Messiah, and the Children of Israel will be saved by him. Said he to

them etc. and I rejoiced because as the words of Uriah were fulfilled, so will

ultimately the words of Zechariah etc, and even if the words of Zecharia will reach fulfillment only at the end, in the

distant future, I am comforted. And thus the phrasing "Akiva,

you have comforted us" – Be comforted with the footsteps of the herald,

meaning, [be comforted] with the Messiah who is preceded by a herald, and, as

is written (Bavli, Eruvin 43b) "The

Messiah will arrive only when preceded by Eliyahul",

but [salvation] will not come through Bar Kochba, who

was not preceded by a herald.

 (Meshekh

Hokhmah, ibid., ibid.)

Rabbi Akiva,

who was able to delve deeply into both thought and faith, to the point at which

– standing by the ruins of the Temple

and his companions are in tears – he is merry! You are all acquainted with the

legend at the end of Tractate Makkot: Desolation… a

jackel emerges from the Holy of Holies,… all

are stunned, broken, shattered, but he already sees the vision of the

Redemption: Just as the prophecy of Uriah has been fulfilled: "Yerushalayim shall become heaps of ruins and the Temple

Mount a shrine in the woods," so shall Zechariah's prophecy be

fulfilled: "There shall yet be old men and old women in the squares

of Jerusalem, each with staff in his hand because of their great longevity.

And the squares of the city shall be crowded with boys and girls playing in the

squares". Rabbi Akiva, with his deep foresight, tried

to encourage the people and strengthen their sprits: "How fortunate are you , Israel"

– the existence of the people is not dependant upon the existence of the Temple!

(Meorot Neriah,

Elul-Tishrei, p.87)

A midrashic narrative for

the book of devarim

Elon

Langbenheim

The three

opening chapters of the Book of Devarim present the

narrative of Israel's desert

journey as described by Moshe on the steppes of Moab. There are discernable discrepancies

between Moshe's version and that appearing in the Books of Vayikra

and Bemidbar. For example, Yithro's

role in initiating the system of 'of the thousands and of the hundreds' is

absent and so is the Divine command to send spies. Many explanations offered by

the commentators to these changes attribute them to Moshe's attempt to

refashion the narrative for the children of the desert generation, those who

are soon to cross over to Eretz Yisrael

(so, for example the commentary of Ramban to the Book

of Devarim, or Abarbanel's

introduction to Devarim).

My intention

is not to deal with the details of these explanations, but to suggest a general

overview of Moshe's story of the desert journey. I wish to argue that two layers

of meaning may be identified in Moshe's version. In order to clarify the two

levels, I shall employ the midrashic method of

parable, the parables being two stories written and popularized in the past

decade which allegorically present the two layers in Moshe's story.

The first level

The first

story/parable tells of a father and his son walking on a path in a desolate

world, dark and cold. The father hovers over his son, protecting him from evil

people, feeding him, nourishing him in his illness. Even though the son angers

his father with his stubbornness, with his despairing of the long distance, the

father persists and carries him along. The son follows the father, holds on to

him, loves and admires him. He knows nothing of the world that was before, he

knows only one reality: a cruel world in which nothing other than his father

can be trusted. This is the essence of "The Road" by the American

author Cormack McCarthy. It is really the story of the Children of Israel's

journey, following the Father in Heaven: "…And in the wilderness that you

have seen, where the Lord carried you as a man caries his son all the way that

you went as far as this place" (Devarim 1:31) Moshe tells the Children of Israel the

story of the journey in which God carries the Israelite nation on his

shoulders, feeding it the manna, and fulfilling its needs.

But in

contrast to the child who is tied to his father with all his soul, who follows

the noble and resilient man who tends to him, the Children of Israel who went

out of Egypt

do not develop a similar attitude towards the Holy One. Yet worse, they do not

trust him, and have no faith in his promises regarding the Land: "And

despite this thing you do not trust the Lord your God, Who goes before you on

the way to search out for you a place for our… And the Lord heard the sound

of your words, and He was furious…" (Ibid

32-33). Why?

The people

coming out of Egypt

did not see in God a father image. The commitment, the admiration and

dependence of a child upon his father characterizes the attitude of the

Children of Israel to Moshe. This is the reason for their fear of entering the

Land, which led to the sin of the spies. Thus suggests the "Meshekh Hokhma" on Parashat "Shlakh Lekha", on the basis of the preacher in Sanhedrin 17b.

He claims that the Children of Israel heard from Eldad

and Medad that Moshe will die and not lead them into

the Land, and therefore they doubted their ability to conquer and expressed

lack of trust in the Lord.

In the

beginning of the Book of Devarim, Moshe tries to tell

the story differently. True, he tells about the generation of the wilderness

and does not hide their sins, but he quickly moves to emphasize the Holy One's

support of the Children of Israel in their recent battles. Moshe makes clear that

he will die and not enter the Land, but God's protection of the people will

continue. Thus Moshe tries to describe the difficult journey as did McCarthy, a

journey in which there is no mercy, but there is a father.

The second level

The second

layer describes a mother protecting her son from afar. The son is a soldier who

goes out on a military operation, and the mother goes on a journey and tells

the story of herself and her son, in the hope that her words will protect him.

The son was born to a father who had suffered Arab imprisonment, remaining severely

wounded in soul and body. The father's fate is sealed, and he is socially marginalized.

The mother tries to raise the son alone, far from the father, to create for him

a different reality, but the child grows up, joins the army, and she senses and

knows the worst is embedded in her son's personality, and that he is in great

danger. The mother does not protect her son physically; the story that she

tells to herself, to the father of the son, and to the earth on which she

walks, this is intended to guard over him. This is the great drama in the novel

"To the End of the Land"*, written by David

Grossman, a story which teeters between hope and despair and ends with the

author's terrible tragedy.

The mother in

Grossman's story is compared to Moshe Rabeinu, the

father and son – two generations in Israel. Therefore, the story which Moshe

writes is not directed only to the people, but also to the Supreme Power – the

Holy One, Blessed Be He, the only one capable of preventing the destruction of

the generation of the children who grew up in the laps of those who departed Egypt. Moshe

fears that the trust-lacking genetic makeup of  'the complainers of evil' may come to

light in the generation or the sons, and that history will repeat itself. Moshe

fears that the nation will sin, and that the Almighty will punish it as He did

the generation of the wilderness. Therefore, in a hidden underlying layer,

Moshe turns to God and tells the story somewhat differently from the actual occurrence.

He hopes thereby to protect the people he will soon depart, and uses the

revised history to appease the Lord and change fate. Reading the story on this

level also explains Moshe's references to the destruction of Temple "Oh,

how can I carry by myself your trouble and your burden and your disputing?"

and the Sages' decision to arrange the yearly calendar so that this parasha in particular will always be read before the Fast

of the 9^th of Av.

The two

stories/parables share a common basic line; both describe a journey of parents which

is intended to protect the children. The stories were written during the same

period in different places which were subject to murderous terror attacks. A somber

atmosphere hovers over both stories, but whereas at the end of the American story

hope awaits, the Israeli story leaves the reader with the painful sensation of

uncertainty. Can the parent protect the child, or is it too late?

Many parents

in Israel

believe that the Jewish State will always have to live by the sword. Therefore

they are prepared to accept the fact that their children will have to live a

reality of war and uncertainty just as they did, and they do not do enough to

change the future. Are we indeed destined to always live on the threshold of

destruction? Must we accept the evil sentence? Is this not the time to

differentiate between our generation and that of our children?

*Original

Hebrew title אישה בורחת מבשורה[Lit:

A Woman Fleeing a Message]

Eilon Langbheim teaches physics and is a doctoral      candidate in Science Education. He lives in

Yerushalyim.

"Get you wise and

understanding and knowing men well known to your tribes"

"Wise": Knowledgeable

of law and justice; "and understanding": Persons with the

ability to derive from given data the correct conclusions in order to render judgment;

"known to your tribes": His character is known to you. I

and understanding, but their moral character can be known only to those who

come into contact with them. Therefore, I can appoint them only on your advice.

"Known to your tribes" includes all the moral character traits which Yithro enumerated, saying "God-fearing men, truthful

men, haters of lucre"… and from here we learn: the truth of the matter

is that according to the views of Moshe and Yithro,

these character traits – fear of God, love of truth, hating of lucre – are more

essential to the execution of justice than are knowledge and intellectual

acuity. But in the eyes of the general public, the judge's main advantage lies

in his knowledge and his perspicacity.

(Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, Devarim 1:13)

Torah and Redemption are Conditional upon Justice

These are the laws (Shemot 21:1), as it is written mighty

King Who loves justice (Psalms 99:4). Moses told Israel: God has given you His

Torah. If you do not observe its laws, He will take His Torah away from you. Why?

Because God only gave you the Torah in order that you keep its laws, for it is

said, mighty King Who loves justice.

If you keep the laws, in the future God will give you back your own courts of

law, for it is said: I will restore your judges as of old (Isaiah 1:26). And what is written

afterwards? Zion

shall be saved by justice (1:27).

 (Shemot Rabbah 30)

"I will espouse you with

righteousness and justice" – that you shall practice them. And with goodness

and mercy" – Which you will receive from me by virtue of your actions.

With regard to our Father Avraham it is written (Bereishit 18), "For

I have embraced him because he charges his sons and his household after him to

keep the way of the Lord to do righteousness and justice" and in return

the Lord gave his sons righteousness and mercy, as is written (Devarim 13) "And

He will give you compassion"… and the Lord your God will keep the

covenant and the faith (ibid 7:12).

Should they desist from righteousness and justice, as is written (Amos 5) "You who

turn justice into wormwood and hurl righteousness to the ground!'- so will God take away from you righteousness and mercy, as

is written (Yirmiyahu 16) "For I have withdrawn my favor from

that people – declares the Lord- my kindness and compassion." And when

they return to practice righteousness and justice, as is written (Yeshaayahu 1) "Zion shall be redeemed

through justice"… The Holy One, blessed be He, will add them mercy and

righteousness and will make of the four a crown and will place them upon their

heads.

(Rashi, Hoshea

2:21)

For R. Yohanan

said: Jerusalem

was destroyed only because they rendered judgment in accordance with Biblical

law. Were they then to have judged in accordance with untrained arbitrators?! –

 But say thus: because they based their

judgments [strictly] upon Biblical law, and did not go beyond the requirements

of the law.

(Bava Metziah 30b).

The Tosafists

(loc. it) point out a seeming

contradiction between two sources: "Jerusalem

was destroyed only etc." and the cause cited in Yevamot

9b, "Because of baseless hatred." The Tosafists

reconcile the sources: "It may be said that both caused the destruction of

the Temple."

(Bava Metsia 30b)

Parties of high principle

…It was essential that the State

devise a plan to forestall the calamity. But the inhabitants of the country

were divided into two factions, those who covered their heads, and those who

did not, and whatever one faction sought , the other blocked, and the factions

themselves were contentious among themselves, each hating each other, perhaps

even more than the common enemy hated both the covered heads and the bare

heads. How did it come about that one nation should become as two nations who

so hated each other? The explanation lies in events in the nation's history

which continue to influence, even though the world realities had changed and

the character of the people had changed, and its sons had abandoned all that

was dear to their parents. There existed a tradition in that nation that its

founding fathers were Jews, and since it was the practice of Jews to cover

their heads, therefore some were wont to cover their heads. And others, why did

they bare their heads? Because they consider themselves as Jews prior to receiving

the Torah, when they was no command to cover the head, and therefore they bared

their heads. And because these covered their heads and those bared their heads

they were divided and they hated each other. And why did those who covered

their heads hate each other, if all covered their heads? The answer is that

these wore yarmulkes [skullcaps], and those wore turbans… the latter were

larger out of jealousy, and the former were smaller than a louse… there was actually

no need for a head at all as long as the covering was conspicuous. And why did

the bare-headed hate each other, if all uncovered their hair? The answer is

that these grew forelocks and those cut their hair short; these were partially

bald and those were completely bald. Actually there was really no need for a

head at all, as long as it was bare… In one respect alone were they alike; each

group contended that all ills which befell the country were the fault of the opposing

side. And if the author of the Book of the State were not fearful of

redundancies, he might have said: "Both these and those are words of truth".

(From Agnon: "The Book of the Nation", Samooch

V'Nir'eh. Page 261

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