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HOW CAN I BEAR UNAIDED THE
TROUBLE OF YOU, AND THE BURDEN, AND YOUR BICKERING!
(Devarim
1:12)
This teaches you that they were contentious and combative towards each
other.
(Rabbeinu
Behayeiy on Devarim 1:12)
That it is said, I cannot
bear the burden of you by myself (Devarim 1:9)
and afterwards, How can I bear unaided the trouble of you (1:12) can
be interpreted in two ways: First, that the expression I cannot refers
to something entirely impossible, while How can I bear refers to
something possible but which is not proper to do. I cannot refers to the future as well, for at the time, in as much as
he was there, the thing was possible.
(Keli
Yakar Devarim 1:9)
And your
bickering: Regarding legalities and property. He told them this to
remind them of their sin; even though he had told them that they would enter
the Land without [fighting] any war - a matter of greater advantage and
importance than all of their property and dealings in the wilderness - they did
not avoid raising up contentious words between a man and his fellow in a manner
that necessitated the appointment of several strata of judges. Every group of
ten men among them required a private judge, because of their bad-heartedness.
(Seforno
1:12)
The Judgment of
the Nations
Amos Bardea
The fifth book of the Torah opens with parashat Devarim, which is always read on the Shabbat preceding Tisha B'Av. Accordingly, it is accompanied by the haftorah Hazon, which contains elements found also in parashat Devarim. Together they confront us with the great theme of redemption and exile.
The book of Devarim is referred to as Mishneh Torah because it recounts the topics and events already mentioned by the earlier books (except for Bereishit and Vayikra). Devarim begins its review from the period immediately following Moses' giving of the Torah in order to prepare the new generation of Israelites for their entry to the Land. Rashi, in his comments of the first verse of the Torah, quotes the words of his father, Rabbi Yitzhak. He wants to explain why the Torah begins with the creation of the world. After all, if the Torah is essentially concerned with the great national mission of serving God in the Land of Israel, why do we have to hear about creation? The Torah should have begun with the first commandment, This month is for you (Shemot 12:2). He answers:
Because
of the thought expressed in the text (Tehillim 111:6)
He declared to His people the strength of His works [i.e., He gave an
account of the work of Creation], in order that He might give them the heritage
of the nations. For should the peoples of the world say to Israel, "You
are robbers, because you took by force the lands of the seven nations of
Canaan," Israel may reply to them, "All the earth belongs to the Holy
One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it to whom He pleased."
The RaMBaN there adds:
Have
not the Kaftorim that came forth from Kaftor destroyed them and dwelt in their stead (Devarim 2:23)?
The world and the fullness thereof belong to the Holy One, blessed be He. When
He willed it, He gave it to you, and when He willed it, He took it from you and
gave it to us. It is this which Scripture says, He declared to His people
the strength of His works [i.e., He gave an account of the work of Creation],
in order that He might give them the heritage of the nations. Hence He told
them the account of creation. (Chavel translation)
The RaMBaN quotes a passage from parashat
Devarim belonging to an account of the region's
history of population movements and conquests. The children of Esau conquered
the Hurim and settled in their place, the Ammonites
and Moav conquered the Refaim,
who had earlier conquered the Eymim, and the Kaftorim from Egypt conquered the Aviym
who had lived in Hatzerim. The RaMBaN
chose to mention the Kaftorim who took over land from
the Aviym, rather than Amon
and Moav, who were descendants of Abraham's brother,
Lot, or the children of Abraham's grandson Esau, because the land had been
promised to Abraham, while the Kaftorim were not
connected to Abraham's family. The seven nations of Canaan could have accused Abraham's
descendants of being robbers, like Israel. By mentioning the Kaftorim, he could give an example of conquest carried out
by people similar to the Canaanites. The Torah presents the historical dynamic
in which various peoples undergo geographical and national upheavals, while
some peoples take over others, physically destroying them, or different peoples
assimilate into each other. In this way, some peoples collapse while new ones
rise in their stead.
Questions
regarding the ownership of land by individuals can be decided in the framework
of the laws of a particular regime, but there is no law to decide such matters
between different nations and governments. Sovereignty over a particular
territory is determined by the military, economic, and cultural relations
between nations, which result in conquests or treaties based on mutual
interests. The recounting of these facts expresses the impermanence of nations
and their locations, which are given over to Divine Providence: "When He
willed it, He gave it to you, and when He willed it, He took it from you and
gave it to us." Therefore, Rabbi Yitzhak says, the Torah begins with the
story of the creation in order to tech us about nature, including the nature of
man in whom Divine Providence is realized. Providence allows the Israelites to
possess the Land just as other nations possessed theirs - absolving Israel of
the charge of robbery. It would seem that if Israel possessed its land in the
manner of other nations that they, like the other nations, would also be
destined for eventual destruction in accordance with the natural historical
dynamic. The answer to this problem lies in the connection between the
introduction and the essence of the Torah. The understanding of nature and
Providence is only a preface to the essence of the Torah as symbolized in the
first national commandment; this month is for you the first of
months. That is to say, the natural process of settling the land occurred
only for the sake of Israel's spiritual goal. Here we find the difference
between Israel and the other nations, as RaMBaN
states:
And
He gave them the lands of the nations, and they took the labor of the peoples
in possession; that they might keep His statutes , and observe His laws (Tehillim 105:44-45). That is to say, He expelled those who rebelled against Him, and
settled therein those who served Him so that they know by serving Him they will
inherit it, whereas if they sin against Him, the land will vomit them out, just
as it vomited out the nations before them…Why did the Holy One, blessed be He,
reveal to Israel what was created on the first day and what was created on the
second day? It is on account of the seven nations who inhabited the land of
Canaan, so that they should not taunt Israel and say to them: "Are you not
a nation of robbers?" Israel could then reply to them: "And you, is it not booty in your hands?" (RaMBaN Bereishit
1:1, Chavel translation)
It
seems that the central message of Rashi and RaMBaN's interpretations of the first verse of the Torah is
precisely the core message of the parasha of Devarim, and of the book of Devarim
as a whole. Parashat Devarim,
like the preceding parshiyot Matot
and Masei, deals with reception of the Land. Moses
reminds the generation born to those who had left Egypt how their parents, "men
of war," died in the wilderness as a consequence of their cowardly
unwillingness to take on the mission of acquiring the Land. "Men of war,"
according to some commentators, are called so cynically; they fought against
God and Moses, dying for the sin of not having fought to conquer the Land. In
this context he reminds them of the conquests of other nations in the area, in
order to demonstrate its feasibility. That is why he brought examples of
nations that were considered weak who conquered giants and Eiymim
who were thought to be especially powerful. Moses' words contain the message
that conquest itself lacks a spiritual dimension - it is a completely natural
affair, as the prophet Amos wrote,
To
Me, O Israelites, you are just like the Ethiopians - declares the Lord. True, I
brought up Israel from Egypt, but also the Phillistines
from Kaftor and the Arameans
from Kir. (9:7)
In constrast, the whole point of Israel's very existence in
the Land is a spiritual one of the worship of God and the observance of His
commandments in order to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. The
book of Devarim is completely devoted to
admonishments geared towards instilling in the new generation an appreciation
for the spiritual mission of Israel's very existence in the Land in a manner
unlike that of other nations. The "Commandments which are dependent on
residence in the Land" define the Land's sanctity, while Israel's
existence in the Land is defined by "a Land dependent on commandments"
- this is the message woven into the length and breadth of the book of Devarim:
When
you have begotten children and children's children and are long established in
the land; should you act wickedly and make for yourselves a sculptured image in
any likeness, causing the Lord your God displeasure and vexation, I call heaven
and earth this day to witness against you that you shall soon perish from the
land that you are crossing the Jordan to possess; you shall not long endure in
it, but shall be utterly wiped out. (4:25-26)
The essence of this admonishment
is connected with the present season, with the days of national mourning which
find their climax in Tisha B'Av. These days mark the worldly exile which is but an
indicator of the spiritual exile - the departure from God's Torah - which leads
the Land to spit out its inhabitants.
Our understanding of exile
becomes sharp as a razor in the light of the words of Devarim
and of the Prophets. However; redemption, its causality and mode of occurrence,
are wrapped up in mystery, so much so that the vast repertoire of its various
interpretations have motivated many fateful developments in Jewish history
through the generations. "Any generation in which it [the Temple] is not
rebuilt, .is considered as one in which it was destroyed" (Yerushalmi 5:1). Since the Holy Land has become our national
home in the manner of acquisition natural to the history of the nations, it has
become incumbent upon us to strive to possess the Land as a spiritual
possession, observing the covenant and God's commandments while dwelling in it.
To strive to build a society founded upon justice and law as a first and
necessary condition for the Jewish People's historical actualization in the
Land of Israel: Zion shall be saved by justice, and her repentant ones by
righteousness (Isaiah 1:27).
Dr. Amos Bardea
is a PhD in Chemistry and Biochemistry, a philosopher and thinker (BA in
philosophy from Bar Ilan University)
Eikhah of
Moses, Isaiah, and Jeremiah
There is a connection between
the words of Meggilat Eikhah,
which relate to Tisha B'Av
and the parasha itself. In the course of the story of
Israel's arrival, or near arrival at the Land, Moses complains of the people's
failures: Eikhah [how] can I bear
unaided the trouble of you, and the burden, and your bickering (Devarim 1:12). Eight hundred years later, Isaiah speaks of the failure of Israel's
conquest and settlement of the Land, in which the people did not fulfill the
obligations placed upon them: Eikhah [how]
has she become a harlot, the faithful city that was filled with justice, where
righteousness dwelt - but now murderers (1:21). And, in the great words of lament which
tradition (perhaps a legend?) attributes to Jeremiah, we read: Eikhah [how] does the city sit, lonely (Eikhah 1:1).
On the way to the Land's
conquest: How can I bear unaided the trouble of you, and the burden,
and your bickering. While settled in the Land: How has she
become a harlot, the faithful city; and, finally: How does the city sit,
lonely.
This is a deeply meaningful
philosophy of history - the connection between the parasha,
which deals with arrival at the Land, Tisha
B'Av, the memory of destruction and exile, is not
accidental. It is not a by-product of the way the yearly calendar is set up,
but rather touches upon the meaning of Jewish history, and, to a certain
degree, upon the relationships and historical ties between events in the
histories of all peoples.
(Prof. Yeshayahu
Leibowitz, z"l, He'Arot le'Parshiyot ha'Shavua pp. 112-113)
Even when War is Legitimate, One Must Pursue Peace
Israel now sent messengers to
Sihon king of the Amorites (Bamidbar 21:21):
As Scripture says: Shun evil and do good (Tehillim34:15). The Torah did not require the pursuit of commandments, but rather if
you happen upon a bird's nest (Devarim 22:6),
When you happen to encounter your enemy's ox (Shemot 23:4), When you happen to see your enemy's ass
(23:5) when you beat down the fruit of your olive trees (Devarim 24:20), when you gather the grapes (24:21),
when you enter another man's vineyard (23:25). All of them
involve an obligation, if you happened upon them, but you need not chase after
them. But peace - seek it in your place, and pursue it in other places. And so
did Israel: Even though the Holy One blessed be He
told them Begin the occupation, take possession of his land! (3:31),
they pursued peace, as it says: Israel now sent messengers, etc.
(Tanhuma
Hukat 22)
Torah and Redemption are Conditional upon Justice
These are the laws
(Shemot 21:1), as it is written mighty King Who loves justice (Tehillim 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)
[In the days of
] the Second Temple they were busy with Torah and mitzvot
and deeds of kindness - why was it destroyed? Because they
bore undeserved hatred.
(Yoma 9b)
And if we were destroyed, and
the world destroyed together with us, because of undeserved hatred, we will
again be built up, and the entire world will be rebuilt, through undeserved love.
(Rabbi A.I Kook, ztz"l, Orot Ha-Kodesh 324)
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