THE

LORD WILL DRIVE YOU, AND YOUR KING WHOM YOU HAVE SET OVER YOU, TO A NATION

UNKNOWN TO YOU OR YOUR FATHERS, WHERE YOU SHALL SERVE OTHER GODS, OF WOOD AND

STONE.

(Devarim 28:36)

And reign alone over us, with

kindness and mercy

The

words of the Torah, he tore his clothes.

(2

Chronicles 34:18-19)

He

tore his clothes – when he heard them read, The Lord

will drive you, and your king, etc. He understood that [the words] whom

you have set over you applied to himself, [since] the people had made him

king, rather than [having been made a king] by a prophet fulfilling God's

command.

(Rashi ad locum)

The

scepter shall not depart from Judah – Its purport is not that the

scepter of royalty shall never depart from Judah, for it is written, The

you or your fathers, with the result that the people and their king will be

in exile, devoid of royalty and nobility, and for a long time there has not

been a king in Israel! The prophet (Jacob) did not assure Israel that because

Judah would rule over them, they would not enter captivity under any circumstances.

(RaMBaN on Bereishit 49:10, based

on Chavel translation)

On

inscribe every word of this Torah most distinctly.

(Devarim 27:2-8)

Between

Cultivated Land and Wasteland

Haim Rubinstein

Transition from night to day. The

rays of first light pierce the darkness, scintillating in the east. The Morning Star. The gloom gradually recedes, and the

distant hills flare increasingly red. Redness whitens and spreads,

yellows and folds the blanket of darkness until all is bright. Transition. Little by little. Gradually.

On the day you cross the Jordan into

the land that the Lord your God is giving to you (Devarim 27:2) from Eval Hashittim in the plains of Moav

until Jordan by Jericho. Over from the desert, from a

wasteland to arable land. From emptiness, nothingness,

to a place of dwelling. From a ruined and thirsty

land. Land of wandering. The

no-place. Bare nature, raw, ancient primeval grandeur,

cliffs, sands, mountains and steppes. Beyond the

no-place to a settled place. To a place. To a

conquered land, its trees cultivated, buildings upon its

mountains, walls and towers, hewn stones. Smooth. Vineyards

and orchards, springs and canals. Proper roads.

Agricultural land. Settled land.

Our Rabbis learned:

How did Israel cross the Jordan? Every

head, as it is said, the Ark of the Covenant of the Sovereign of all the

earth is advancing before you (Joshua 3:11). Every

day the Levites carried the Ark, but on that day the priests carried it, as it

is said, when the feet come to rest of the priests bearing the Ark of the

Lord…(3:13). We

learn: Rabbi Yossi says: The priests carried the Ark

in three places: when they crossed the Jordan, when they walked around Jericho,

and when they returned it to its place. When the feet of the priests entered

the water, the water flowed back from them, for it is said, as soon as the

waters coming down from upstream piled up in a single heap… (3:13). While still in the Jordan, Joshua said to them: each of

of Israel (4:5). And

it is written: This shall serve as a symbol among you: in time to come, when

etc. (4:6), a

sign for the children that their parents crossed the Jordan. Joshua told them: "Pick

place where you will spend the night" (4:3). Could they be [deposited] at any place where they spent a night?

We learn from the verse, where you will spend the [that particular] night.

(Sotah 33b)

A

pile of plastered stones. A sign

for the children, that their parents crossed the Jordan. A

sign of transition. A monument to change. A turning point. From wilderness to settled land, a land

that is flowing with milk and honey (Bamidbar

14:8),

a good land, a land with streams and springs and fountains issuing from

land of live trees and honey (Devarim

8:7-8).

The crossing of the Jordan, of a

flowing watercourse, separates land from land. From a wasted, primeval, and

constricted land to a worked land, which changes, develops, and blossoms. Crossing

the Jordan is like crossing the Yabok, or the

Rubicon. Running, changing, uneasy water – they are what must be crossed. Metamorphoses. Absolute transformation.

Transformation in a state of flux.

But as soon as the bearers of the Ark

heap a great way off. (Joshua 3:15-16)

The

infinite [ein sof] vanishes and the place [ha-makom] appears. The barren desert is replaced

with a fixed location. Safe harbor. Homeland.

Home. Journey's end. New beginning.

The fore-fathers crossed the Jordan,

and their situation changed unrecognizably.

When they arrived in the Land of

Israel, the ways of God's People in the world were changed and transformed from

what they had been in the wilderness. In the desert they acted under the

attribute of Tifferet (Beauty), which

walked at Moses' right-hand, completely beyond the ways of nature. In the Land

of Israel they walked in the ways of nature, by the hidden providence of Divine

Kingship (Malkhut), may He be Blessed. It differentiates between those leaving Egypt and

those entering the Land. The conduct of those leaving Egypt was the light of God's

providence, seen by all, which is God's glory and the

purpose of creation. This is not true of manner of those entering the Land. Theirs

was a hidden providence; only one watching with a good eye would notice it,

like someone walking in night's darkness. Or providence would be visible to all

only occasionally, like lightening illuminating the night. (Ha-Amek Davar, introduction to Bamidbar)

The forefathers entered the Jordan from

its east bank in one condition, and rose onto its west bank in another

condition. That

was the moment of transition. From there. The

natural stones were lifted from the point of change. Virgin.

Symbolic. There they were formed. At

the entrance to the cultivated land. Door of the

wilderness, gate of culture.

Select twelve men from among the

spend the night. (Joshua 4:2-3)

Joshua also set up twelve stones in the

of the Covenant had stood; and they have remained there to this day. (Joshua 4:9)

And Joshua set up in Gilgal the twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan. (Joshua 4:20)

A sign to the children that

their parents had crossed the Jordan.

There were three kinds of stones: that

which Moses set up in the land of Moav,…that set up

by Joshua in the Jordan, …and one [type which was] set up in Gilgal. (Sotah 35b)

Upon crossing the Jordan, you shall set

tool over them. (Devarim 27:4-5)

Ancient echoes rise from between the

stones of the altar on Mount Eval, the echo of the

stones of the place, whisperings of the stone he placed by his head, the flavor

of the stone from the mouth of the well, the stone of Sh'tiyah

– foundation of the world.

Perfect stones, nowhere

unscarred. Plastered over. Stones

of the field. Without blemish. Stones taken from the Jordan. No iron tool raised over them. Unfinished, innocence

untouched by man. The last vestige of the wilderness.

Innocence of ancient nature. Shaped

long ago by natural forces. Eroded by water. A row of stones, a virgin series.

A line sent to connect the plains of Moav with Shekhem, crossing the

Jordan and Gilgal on its way. A line connecting

symbolic points of reference: wilderness,

change, covenant, place.

A row of stones drawn down to

the earth's navel. Drawn between

desolation and flowering, between curse and blessing. To

the valley between Eval and Gerizim.

To the delicate balance between wild and cultured. "Desertification"

is the land's terror. It is in human hands to move from desolation to blessing,

from curse to flowering.

A line drawn between desolate

infinity by way of the point of transformation, crossing the place of the

covenant, and arriving at the stone altar. The line winds its way through

the smoke of the sacrifice, rising to infinity.

And Joshua said to all the people, "See,

with your God." (Joshua 24:27)

Our rabbis learned: How did Israel

write the Torah? Rabbi Yehudah says: it was written

on the stones, for it is said, and on those stones you shall inscribe every

word of this Torah (Devarim 27:8), and afterwards

they were covered with plaster. Rabbi Shimon said to him: According to your

statement, how did the nations of the world of those days learn Torah? He told

him: God granted them extra understanding and they sent their scribes, who

peeled off the plaster, and copied [the Torah]. That sealed their decree of

punishment to the pit; for they could have learned but did not. Rabbi Shimon

says: It was written on the plaster, and written for them below, lest they

lead you into doing all…(Devarim 20:18). This

teaches you that if they had repented, they would have been accepted. (Sotah 35b)

From the place of darkness to

the place of stored-up light, by way of the point of change and between the

pieces of the covenant. Ever upwards.

Haim Rubinstein. Reader of plaster.

God is Responsible for the Good;

World

These

shall stand to bless

the people – but by the curses it does not say these will stand to curse,

because good things come actively from God, while the curses come automatically

when His face is hidden. For the evil will not come from

the mouth of the Exalted (Lamentations 3:

38). That is why it says these will stand on the curse, and

not to curse. They

merely prepare for the arrival of the curses, leaving it in question whether

the curses will arrive or not, for they only come when the Face is covered. If

so, the matter is still dependent upon the workings of the cosmos.

(Keli Yakar on Devarim

27:12)

And you shall take some of every

first fruit of the soil (Devarim 26:2):

thereof

In

bringing the first fruits, I myself serve witness that it was God who gave me

the land as a portion and a gift. That is why it says you shall take some of

every first [fruit]: It

does not say give of

every first, but rather take, in

order to tell you that it is by virtue of these first [fruits] which you bring

to God's House, to give thanks and honor to His Name, that you can take any fruit of the earth. You

will merit all fruits of the earth after you acknowledge that you bring the

first ones from your land which God

has given to you. For that land is not called "your land"

until you bring the first [fruits]. Upon bringing them, you will be able to

take all of the fruits of the earth. This bringing is the recitation mentioned

in the verse, I acknowledge this day (Devarim

26:3).

(Keli Yakar on Devarim

26:1)

The Proselyte Brings and Makes

the Recitation

The

proselyte brings [first fruits] and makes the recitation, for it was said to

Abraham, I make you the father of a multitude of nations (Bereishit 17:5). He is the father of the all who enter

under the wings of the Divine Presence, and it was Abraham who first received

the oath that his sons would inherit the land…

(RaMBaM, Hilkhot Bikkurim 4:3)

I

received the question of the master Ovadiah, the wise

and learned proselyte, may the Lord reward him for his

work, may a perfect recompense be bestowed upon him by the Lord of Israel,

under whose wings he has sought cover.

You

ask me if you, too, are allowed to say in the blessings and prayers you offer

alone or with the congregation: "Our God" and "God of our

fathers," "You who have sanctified us through your commandments,"

"You who have separated us," "You who have chosen us," "You

who have inherited us," "You who have brought us out of the land of

Egypt," "You who have worked miracles to our fathers," and more

of this kind.

Yes,

you may say all this in the prescribed order and not change it in the least. In

the same was as every Jew by birth says his blessing and prayer, you, too,

shall bless and pray alike, whether you are alone or pray in the congregation. The

reason for this is, that Abraham our father taught the people, opened their

minds, and revealed to them the true faith and unity of God; he rejected the

idols and abolished their adoration; he brought many children under the wings

of the Divine Presence; he gave them counsel and advice, and ordered his sons

and the members of his household after him to keep the ways of the Lord forever…Ever

since then, whoever adopts Judaism and confesses the unity of the Divine Name,

as it is prescribed in the Torah, is counted among the disciples of Abraham our

Father, peace be with him. These men are Abraham's household, and he it is who

converted them to righteousness.

 (From RaMBaM's

letter to Ovadiah the Proselyte, translation from Twersky's A Maimonides Reader)

About

us

Oz

Veshalom-Netivot Shalom is a movement dedicated to

the advancement of a civil society in Israel. It is committed to promoting the

ideals of tolerance, pluralism, and justice, concepts which have always been

central to Jewish tradition and law.

Oz

Veshalom-Netivot Shalom shares a deep attachment to

the land of Israel and it no less views peace as a central religious value. It

believes that Jews have both the religious and the national obligation to

support the pursuit of peace. It maintains that Jewish law clearly requires us

to create a fair and just society, and that co-existence between Jews and Arabs

is not an option but an imperative.

Oz

Veshalom-Netivot Shalom's

programs include both educational and protest activities. Seminars, lectures,

workshops, conferences and weekend programs are held for students, educators

and families, as well as joint seminars for Jews, Israeli Arabs and

Palestinians. Protest activities focus on issues of human rights, co-existence

between Jews and Arabs, and responses to issues of particular religious

relevance.

9,000

copies of a 4 page peace oriented commentary on the weekly Torah reading are

written and published by Oz VeShalom/Netivot Shalom

and they are distributed to over 350 synagogues in Israel and are sent overseas

via email. Our web site is www.netivot-shalom.org.il

Oz

Veshalom-Netivot Shalom's

educational forums draw people of different backgrounds, secular and religious,

who are keen to deepen their Jewish knowledge and to hear an alternative

religious standpoint on the subjects of peace and social issues.

Oz

Veshalom-Netivot Shalom fills an ideological vacuum

in Israel's society. Committed both to Jewish tradition and observance, and to

the furthering of peace and coexistence, the movement is in a unique position to engage in dialogue with the secular left and the

religious right, with Israeli Arabs and with Palestinians.