Ekev 5773 - English

By Rabbi Daniel A. Kripper

Beth Israel - Aruba

The title of the Book from which we are reading - Devarim or Deuteronomy, which means "words" or discourses that Moses presented to the people of Israel - shows a mutation of his personality that surprises us. We are talking about Moses, the prince of prophets, according to the sages of Israel.  When he was first elected to become the leader of the children of Israel, Moses vigorously complained, saying that he was soft spoken and of unsteady speech. He needed his brother Aaron to be his spokesperson on the Pharaoh’s court in Egypt.  

In this book of Devarim, the last one of the Pentateuch, suddenly Moses, (or Moshe Rabeinu, as he is known in our tradition), transforms himself into an outstanding public speaker, a legislator and a preacher with exceptional capacity. When did he acquire this talent to speak in public, and these great rhetoric and eloquence abilities? I would like to sketch an answer that can bring some light to this curious revelation, and which refers to the different “languages” that he had to deal with.

When Moses was asked to go talk to the Pharaoh to ask for his people’s freedom - a strategic political and diplomatic mission - he felt that he would not be able to speak the double language of politics, or compete with the false promises and misleading actions of Egypt in the times of the Pharaohs. He personified the highest ideals of honesty and sincerity. The two-faced approach in diplomatic affairs was completely foreign to him, and was definitely not his strength. On the other hand, when he tried to transmit the teachings of the Torah – whose essence is morality and integrity – his speech acquired fluency and oratory ability, the same he demonstrates in the speeches in the book of Deuteronomy.

Suddenly they have discovered the secret of true leadership: being honest in speech as well as in actions. The prophets of Israel in their corresponding beginnings, such as Isaiah, Jeremiah and Amos, experience a similar process. They feel overwhelmed by “fear and tremble” as they face the extent of their challenge, but as they move forward and achieve their mission, they reveal themselves as spirit giants.

We recall some words of Isaiah, that bring a powerful comfort note to these seven weeks of “nechama”; which follow the ninth day of Av, day of mourning that commemorates the destruction of both temples and other tragedies suffered by our people during the centuries. His words resound with power to these days: “Learn to do well; seek justice, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”

It reminds us that to survive any catastrophe, physical or spiritual, Jewish life should be rebuilt over the ethic and moral foundations of the Torah and its commandments. Words without actions are nonsense and superficial. The religious discourse that does not share concern and consideration for others has no value and is hypocritical.

And in this Shabbat’s Haftarah portion:

“Listen to me, you that follow after righteousness, you that seek the LORD: look to the rock from where you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from where you are dig. Look to Abraham your father, and to Sarah that bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.  For the LORD shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste places; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the LORD; joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of melody. ….”
(Is. 51: 1-3)

Let us be inspired once again by the words (devarim) of Moses. In the Sinai and in the desert, our ancestors listened to the words that emphasize in the dignity of human condition and on the central importance of justice and the honesty of our actions, publicly and privately.

Let us be at his height.

Rabbi Daniel Kripper