Category Archives: Dvarim

5783, AI art, Bat Ayin, Deuteronomy, Dvarim, Parsha

Divine Megaphone (Devarim)

Leave a comment

Divine Megaphone (Devarim)

The ability to express an idea is well nigh as important as the idea itself. -Bernard Baruch

Moses Addressing

Moses, since the Exodus from Egypt, through the wandering in the desert for forty years and their final encampment by the eastern banks of the Jordan River, is constantly addressing the people of Israel. We know that the people of Israel had over 600,000 men of military age and likely comprised a total population of a few million people.

A question I always had was, how did Moses physically communicate with the entire nation at once? Even if a few million people squeezed into as tight an area as possible, we would be talking about an area that would comprise thousands upon thousands of acres. Remember, we are talking about a time before any electronic voice amplification technology existed. Was there some rudimentary Egyptian bullhorn used to address large crowds? Was there some forgotten Mesopotamian technology that amplified voices?

Before the age of electricity, it was presumed that a crowd of 5,000 was a natural limit that could be addressed, not including a stadium or some other enclosed and acoustically enhanced location. Benjamin Franklin tested a particularly powerful preacher, George Whitefield, who successfully addressed a crowd of 30,000 people in Philadelphia. Whitefield spoke from the top of the Court House steps on Market Street. Franklin was able to hear him up until about Front Street, half a mile away, at which point he could no longer hear him. The question still remains, how did Moses address a crowd that was one hundred times larger, over presumably a much larger area?

The Bat Ayin on Deuteronomy 1:1 wonders the same thing. The verse states that Moses addressed ALL of Israel. So how did he accomplish such a herculean task? How did he address millions of people at once? The Bat Ayin answers that God was Moses’ megaphone. God consistently and supernaturally amplified Moses’ voice whenever he wanted to address all of Israel. That in a sense, it was really some aspect of God’s voice that was coming out of Moses’ throat. Not only was Moses speaking the words that God put into his brain, but God was using Moses’ mouth and raising the reach and volume to divine levels. Moses’ attachment to God was so strong that he became a full and complete conduit to transmit God’s words to Israel. Moses faithfully transmitted both the words and the voice of God.

May we always appreciate the divine nature of the Torah that’s in our hands.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

To Herzog’s Yemei Iyun (Bible Study Days) in Alon Shvut. It constantly amazes me how so much relevant and new material can be gleaned from something so old.

5782, Chidushei HaRim, Deuteronomy, Dvarim, Parsha

Holy Translations (Devarim)

Leave a comment

Holy Translations (Devarim)

Translation is the paradigm, the exemplar of all writing. It is translation that demonstrates most vividly the yearning for transformation that underlies every act involving speech, that supremely human gift. -Harry Mathews

There is a popular Midrash which explains that besides writing the Torah in its original Hebrew, Moses went on to explain the Torah in translation into the 70 prime languages of the world, corresponding to the 70 formative nations of the world. The Chidushei HaRim on Deuteronomy 1:1 provides an exposition as to why such a monumental effort was needed.

He explains that by translating the Torah for everyone, every person from every nation through their language and the very root of their identity could connect to the Torah. Furthermore, engaging in the Torah is considered to have a measure of healing, and this too is accessible to the entire world, in whatever language they speak.

There is also a protective element to the multiplicity of languages. Each of the 70 primordial nations and their root languages possesses some negative characteristics, some national trait which needs to be redeemed. By providing the nations of the world the ability to connect to the Torah, it allows them to call upon forces that will enable them to correct those hereditary faults. In parallel, the Torah likewise protects Israel from those selfsame shortcomings.

However, the translations are not merely a benefit vis-à-vis the nations of the world, but also for all Jews in exile. The widespread diaspora has given rise to countless Jews who don’t speak or understand Hebrew, but rather the language of where they live. By having the Torah available in translation, it provides access to all Jews, no matter how far they are, how foreign Hebrew may seem to them or what languages they understand.

May we take advantage of the multiplicity of Torah translations that are so freely and easily accessible to all of us.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To Herzog College’s annual Bible study days.

5781, Bechor Shor, Deuteronomy, Dvarim, Parsha

Iron Wall, Glass Chin (Devarim)

Leave a comment

Iron Wall, Glass Chin (Devarim)

All things human hang by a slender thread; and that which seemed to stand strong suddenly falls and sinks in ruins. -Ovid

Moses recounts recent history to the generation about to enter the land of Canaan. He retells the very recent battle with King Sichon of the Emori and King Og of the Bashan and the lands they conquered. Moses adds a bit more detail about King Og, which is usually translated as follows:

“Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaim. His bedstead, an iron bedstead, is now in Rabbah of the Ammonites; it is nine cubits long and four cubits wide, by the standard cubit!”

The Rephaim were apparently a race of giants, and Og was the last surviving member of that group. To impress upon the listener how big Og was, Moses provides the dimensions of Og’s bed, implying Og’s massive size.

The key word is what we’ve translated as “bedstead” which in the original Hebrew is pronounced “Eres” and which does appear in other places in the Bible with the same meaning.

However, the Bechor Shor on Deuteronomy 3:11 has a completely different translation of the word “Eres.” He explains that “Eres” is not referring to a bed, but rather to a walled city. And that the dimensions provided are not the dimensions of Og’s bed, but rather of the height and thickness of the wall that protected Og’s city, which was as strong as iron. A loose translation of the verse according to the Bechor Shor would read as follows:

“Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaim. His fortified walls were like walls of iron, in Rabbah of the Ammonites; its walls are nine cubits high and four cubits thick, by the standard cubit!”

In this maverick interpretation of the word “Eres,” Moses’ description of Og becomes even more meaningful. Not only was Og the last of his race of giants, a formidable warrior and opponent, but he was also protected by perhaps one of the more fortified cities in antiquity, with walls of unusual height and width, making the walls as impenetrable as iron. Nonetheless, Moses and the nation of Israel are successful in repelling Og’s attack, vanquishing Og and his army and conquering his land.

For all of Og’s natural and engineered might and strength, he fell very quickly when God delivered him into the hands of Moses and Israel.

May giant opponents and iron obstacles never scare us.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To Herzog College for their fantastic Bible Study Days program (Yemei Iyun b’Tanakh).

5780, Deuteronomy, Dvarim, Meshech Chochma, Parsha

Biblical Demigod (Dvarim)

Leave a comment

Biblical Demigod (Dvarim)

The fame of heroes owes little to the extent of their conquests and all to the success of the tributes paid to them. -Jean Genet

As the nation of Israel finishes their decree of wandering in the desert for forty years and approach the Promised Land from the eastern bank of the Jordan River, they are successively met and attacked by the armies of two kingdoms. They are first attacked by the forces of Sichon, king of the Emori. Thereafter, they are attacked by Og, king of the Bashan. Moses and the Israelites quickly vanquish both forces and conquer vast tracks of land across the eastern bank of the Jordan.

In retelling the tale in the Book of Deuteronomy, the Torah goes out of its way to describe how Og was a giant, a descendant of the Refaim. It uncharacteristically gets into such minutia as to the size of Og’s crib and that it was still preserved at the time in the city of Rabat Ammon (the modern-day Amman of Jordan).

The Meshech Chochma on Deuteronomy 2:11 gives the reason and history for the mention of Og’s crib. According to the Midrash, Og, besides being a giant of physically enormous dimensions, was also unusually long-lived. According to some accounts, he was around during the days of Abraham (400 years earlier) and may have even been around from the days of Noah (800 years earlier).

Understandably, due to his prodigious size, strength, and long-life, the local population thought Og was a god, revered him and worshipped him, and even placed his crib in their temple as part of the cult of Og.

Moses, in telling the story, highlights that Og is a descendant of the Refaim. The Meshech Chochma explains that by contextualizing Og’s origin from the Refaim nation and detailing his large yet still human crib, he is bringing Og back to the mortal sphere. It seems that the nation of Refaim was a people of quite large dimensions and naturally long-lived. Og was merely a survivor of that people. There was nothing independently divine to his otherwise naturally endowed attributes. Yes, they were unusual for that time and place, but it didn’t make him a “god.” Though understandable, it was still a serious idolatrous mistake for people to believe that Og was a God. Moses needed to clarify that and remove any erroneous beliefs.

May we be careful who and what we idolize and realize that God is the only entity appropriate to worship and the source of – everything.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the memory of Dov Brender z”l of Alon Shvut.

5779, Berdichever, Deuteronomy, Dvarim, Parsha, The Times of Israel

Multilingual Torah (Dvarim)

Leave a comment

Multilingual Torah (Dvarim)

Language is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow. -Oliver Wendell Holmes

With the people of Israel camped on the plains of Moab, across the Jordan River from the Promised Land, Moses gives what is likely the longest and most important sermon in history. The sermon lasts weeks. Moses, knowing his preordained death is near, delves into the recent history of the Jewish people, the future, and the divinely mandated laws, the heart and soul of the Torah, in exquisite detail that we still have, word for word, in the Fifth Book of Moses, the Book of Deuteronomy.

Rashi, the premier rabbinic commentator, tells us that when Moses explained the Torah, he did so in seventy languages. The Berdichever asks why. The entire nation of Israel spoke Hebrew. What reason could Moses have for taking the painstaking effort of translating the Torah, not just to one other language, but to seventy other languages?

The Berdichever answers his own question and explains that specifically in that place, outside of Israel, there was a vital importance in Moses translating the Torah into all the languages of the Earth. The very survival of the nation of Israel depended on it.

Moses knew, through divine prophecy, that the Jewish people would eventually be exiled from the land they were about to conquer, and would wander throughout the world, reaching all corners of the planet. They would be adrift in a sea of languages. God needed to provide some “hooks,” some linguistic connection to keep the bond between the Torah and the Jewish people going. The Torah itself has a handful of foreign words, including some of Aramaic, Egyptian and African origin. However, a full (oral) translation was required to really serve the Diaspora that has spanned millennia and continents.

Somehow, this early translation of the Torah, outside of Israel, is what has sustained the nation of Israel in its long exile.

May our exile end and may we witness the rebuilding of our Temple in Jerusalem, speedily and in our days.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the amazing Yemei Iyun – Bible Study program of Herzog College.

5778, Deuteronomy, Dvarim, Parsha, Rabbeinu Bechaye, The Times of Israel

The Judge behind the Judge (Dvarim)

Leave a comment

The Judge behind the Judge (Dvarim)

Men in general judge more from appearances than from reality. All men have eyes, but few have the gift of discernment. -Niccolo Machiavelli

The fifth and final book of the Five Books of Moses, Deuteronomy, is in essence a long, detailed, yet powerful and prophetic speech by Moses, given during his final days on earth. It is filled with history, laws, articles of faith, as well as a vision for the future. Moses describes, among a plethora of items, the creation and comportment of a judiciary. In a profound statement, he exhorts judges to “fear no man, for judgment is God’s.”

However, for a human judge, that is easier said than done. Communal Rabbis, for example, are often called upon to adjudicate between members of their community. These are people with whom he generally has an ongoing relationship. Some may be important and influential leaders of the community. The Rabbi’s livelihood and position may well be in jeopardy if he rules against such a person. Who knows what vengeance a disgruntled plaintiff may take against the Rabbi who ruled against him? Even more dramatic and well publicized are the cases involving members of organized crime networks. Judges of such high-profile cases must be of a particularly strong constitution. When such powerful men threaten a judge, they know their lives are in danger.

To complicate matters further, no judge can ever know the full extent of circumstances behind a case. Are there ameliorating factors? Who is telling the truth? Is there fabricated evidence or testimony? How does one interpret the law in this particular case? No two cases are ever exactly the same and precedent, while helpful, can’t always make the ruling and capture the nuances of a case in front of you.

Rabbeinu Bechaye on Deuteronomy 1:17 (Dvarim) elaborates further on Moses’ command to “fear no man, for judgment is God’s.” He explains that judges should fear no person, even if they are violent or dangerous. We should try, within the realm of our human capacity and faculties, to see that justice is done. However, even if we should err, ultimately God is the one who ensures that justice is served. If a judge wrongfully fined a plaintiff, the judge has sinned, and God will make sure the plaintiff receives what is owed to him through other means.

We must always do our very best, without fear. God will take care of the rest and make sure that ultimately, justice is served.

Shabbat Shalom and may we have a meaningful fast of Tisha B’Av,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the next US Supreme Court Justice. May he serve the people well, with honor, dignity and justice.

5777, Deuteronomy, Dvarim, Hirsch, Parsha, The Times of Israel

Israel the Non-Imperialist

Leave a comment

Israel the Non-Imperialist

Sovereignty over any foreign land is insecure. -Seneca the Elder

Historically, Israel was blessed with fearsome warriors. The ancient near east quaked in their sandals as the Children of Israel approached the borders of successive nations. There was the miraculous Exodus from Egypt and the Splitting of the Sea, which basically destroyed the mighty Egyptian empire.  Forty years later, there was the lightning-fast conquest of the lands of Sihon King of Emor and Og King of Bashan. The other nations learned that God was with Israel and that the new generation of Israelites was fearless.

However, what the non-Canaanite nations did not know was that God had given an express command for Israel not to attack the neighboring nations, not even to threaten them. This included not attacking Israel’s distant cousins, the Edomites, the Moabites and the Amonites.  Had Sihon and Og left Israel alone, if they would have let Israel pass through to Canaan peacefully, they too would have remained unscathed and unconquered.

Rabbi Hirsch (in the 1800s) on Deuteronomy 2:5 details:

“Israel is to take its place among the nations with a God-fearing respect for their possessions. Israel must not see itself as a nation of conquerors from whom no nation on earth will henceforth be safe. Rather, Israel must limit its military actions and prowess to the task of occupying that one sole land which God has intended for it and promised to it from the very outset of history.”

Israel has its Promised Land. Every other land is off-limits to Israel. Just as God assigned a particular land to the Jewish nation, so, too, He assigned other lands to other peoples. The Torah goes out of its way to detail the conquests of other lands that God facilitated for other nations.

There are people in the world who imagine that Israel has imperialistic designs or “Zionist plots.” Often these people and their theories are anti-semitically motivated and are disengaged both from reality, as well as from our very nature and founding as a people. In the end, they are either distorting reality for their own purposes or just clueless.

What we will fight for is to defend the land that God has finally returned us to, but we have no designs or interest in anyone else’s land.

May we remain steadfast in protecting our people and our land and may our enemies learn again to fear us.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

In memory of the recent victims of terror. God will avenge their blood.

 

5776, Deuteronomy, Dvarim, Parsha, Sfat Emet, The Times of Israel

Multi-lingual Torah

Leave a comment

Multi-lingual Torah

If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart. -Nelson Mandela

Different languages have different expressions; different concepts and even different ways of thinking that are not easily translated to other languages. Nevertheless, God spoke to Moses in Hebrew. The Torah is written in Hebrew and that is what our ancestors spoke. The modern world has witnessed the rebirth of Hebrew as a spoken language and the common tongue of the State of Israel.

Ideally, every Jew should understand Hebrew. There is nothing like reading our sources in the original. Much is lost in translation. However, the reality is that vast numbers of the Jewish people today don’t understand Hebrew. They need to rely on translations. They can only learn Torah in a foreign language.

The Sfat Emet on parshat Devarim in 5635 (1875) explains that the multiplicity of languages in which one can learn Torah is purposeful. He explains that there are certain aspects of the Torah, certain lessons, which can only be transmitted in a different language. While Hebrew is the main language of transmission, the main river that carries the knowledge of millennia, there are other distributaries, other streams that branch off from the main Hebrew one, with their own unique and important lessons.

May we learn those lessons, in whatever language we can.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the memory of Mr. Lenny Bolnick.

 

5775, Baal Haturim, Book of Judges, Deuteronomy, Dvarim, Parsha, The Times of Israel

Sufficient Scholars?

1 Comment

First posted on The Times of Israel at: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/devarim-sufficient-scholars/

Baal Haturim Deuteronomy: Dvarim

Sufficient Scholars?

Excess generally causes reaction, and produces a change in the opposite direction, whether it be in the seasons, or in individuals, or in governments. -Plato

There is a belief in Jewish tradition, that the merits of a Torah scholar, of a “Talmid Chacham”, that dedicates himself exclusively to studying Torah the entire day, provides a physical protection to the Jewish population around him. The mere act of profoundly and deeply reading and reviewing the ancient texts, of immersing oneself in the sea of Torah scholarship affords to others a divine safeguard against the evils of the world.

While this is an old, long-held belief, in recent decades it has become a more popular and underlying philosophy for growing segments of the Jewish nation. One question that may be asked is what is the ideal required ratio of these “spiritual defenders” as compared to the population being protected. How many of our sons should dedicate themselves to what otherwise might be considered activities that don’t contribute materially to society? How many Torah scholars do we require as compared to active soldiers? How many people should be working for a living and how many should confine themselves to the four walls of the study hall as a career path?

Interestingly enough, the Baal Haturim provides an answer. He states on his commentary to Deuteronomy 1:3 that one “Talmid Chacham”, one true Torah scholar, has the capacity to “protect” 40,000 people. For every 40,000 residents, one Talmid Chacham is enough. So for example, for a population of 8,000,000, the math would indicate that we would want 200 full-time professional Torah scholars.

One would therefore hope that the quality, commitment and seriousness of thousands upon thousands of men who ostensibly dedicate their lives exclusively to Torah study will afford us great protection.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To the true Torah scholars out there.

5774, Deuteronomy, Dvarim, Netziv, Parsha, The Times of Israel

Striking While Hot

Leave a comment

First posted on The Times of Israel at: http://blogs.timesofisrael.com/dvarim-striking-while-hot/

Netziv Deuteronomy: Dvarim

Striking While Hot

“There is no avoiding war; it can only be postponed to the advantage of others.” -Niccolo Machiavelli

Millennia ago, perhaps the first technological profession, blacksmithing, taught us to strike iron while it’s hot. If you wait too long, if you wait until the red-hot metal has cooled down, your blows will be ineffective, your effort wasted, your resources spent, your time lost.

On the retelling of the journey of the tribes of Israel from Egypt towards Canaan, there is a curious statement which claims that the Jewish nation was only eleven days away from their destination, if they crossed into Canaan from the south. For a journey that eventually took forty years, it is an unusually short amount of time, making the decades-long trek particularly tragic, especially to an entire generation of soldiers that died in the desert and never merited to see the Promised Land. Furthermore, the direction the Israelite people finally entered Canaan was from the eastern border and not the southern one. So why does the Torah include this ironic and geographically misleading reminder of our wasted opportunity?

The Netziv on Deuteronmy 1:2 explains that at the time of the Exodus, the nations of the world were terrified of Israel. They had all heard of the ten plagues, the parting of the sea and the miraculous and complete destruction of the armed forces of the Egyptian Empire, the mightiest nation on the planet. The countries on the border of Canaan, specifically the nation of Seir on the southern border, would have scattered out of the way to let the Children of Israel cross through their territory. However, forty years later, Israel was no longer feared. Seir stood fearlessly in the path of Israel. Israel had to take the long road. They needed to march all the way around, eastward and northward and then to head back west towards the Jordan River and only then start their long withheld conquest of the land.

May our leadership and our soldiers strike well, strike hard, strike fast, and may all enemies of our people be destroyed quickly and thoroughly.

Shabbat Shalom,

Ben-Tzion

Dedication

To Captain Roni Kaplan for his own work against the media terrorists, to all our troops and to the entire family of Israel that supports them.