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 scribe Shafan also told the king, "The priest Hilkiah has given me a scroll," and Shafan read from it to the king. When the king heard 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 Lord will drive you, and the king you have set over you, to a nation unknown to 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 the day you cross the Jordan into the land that the Lord your God is giving to you, you shall set up large stones. Coat them with plaster and inscribe upon them all the words of this Torah. When you cross over to enter the land that the Lord your God is giving you, a land flowing with milk and honey, as the Lord, the God of your fathers, promised you - upon crossing the Jordan, you shall set up these stones, about which I charge you this day, on Mount Eval, and coat them with plaster. There, too, you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not wield an iron tool over them; you must build the altar of the Lord your God of unhewn stones. You shall offer on it burnt offerings to the Lord your God, and you shall sacrifice there offerings of well-being and eat them, rejoicing before the Lord your God. And on those stones you shall 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 [other] day the Ark travels after two flags, but that day it traveled at the 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 bearers of the Ark reached the Jordan, etc... 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 you lift a stone onto his shoulder - corresponding to the number of the tribes of Israel (4:5). And it is written: This shall serve as a symbol among you: in time to come, when your children ask, "What is the meaning of these stones for you?" etc. (4:6), a sign for the children that their parents crossed the Jordan. Joshua told them: "Pick up twelve stones from the spot exactly in the middle of the Jordan, where the priests' feet are standing; take them along with you and deposit them in the 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 plain and hill; a land of wheat and barley, of vines, figs, and pomegranates, a 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 reached the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the Ark dipped into the water at its edge, while the Jordan was completely full, as it is throughout the harvest season, the waters coming down from upstream piled up in a single 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 people, one from each tribe, and instruct them as follows: Pick up twelve stones from exactly in the middle of the Jordan, where the priests' feet are standing; take them along with you and deposit them in the place where you will spend the night. (Joshua 4:2-3)

Joshua also set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, at the spot where the feet of the priests bearing the Ark 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 up these stones, about which I charge you this day, on Mount Eval, and coat them with plaster. There, too, you shall build an altar to the Lord your God, an altar of stones. Do not wield an iron 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, this very stone shall be a witness against us, for it heard all the words that the Lord spoke to us; it shall be a witness against you, lest you break faith 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; Hiddeness of God's Face is the Source of Evil in the 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): Permission to Enjoy the Fruits of the Land is connected to Recognition that The earth is the Lord's and all the fullness 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)

 

 

 

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