Remembrance and Survival: Va-et’chanan.23

Remembrance and Survival: Va-et’chanan

Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman

July 26, 2023

As we enter the last part of summer, so does our Torah reading turn to the last of the Five Books of Moses: D’varim, or in its English title, Deuteronomy.

Both in its message and language, Deuteronomy stands out from the rest of the Torah’s texts. Though tradition has it that it was written by Moses in the last days of his life, Biblical scholars believe that it is post-Mosaic, probably the product of one or more authors  known collectively as “the Deuteronomist.”

Appearing around the 7th century BCE, the text paints a harsher tone of Moses than we are accustomed to. In this week’s portion, Va-et’chanan (“I Beseeched,” Deut. 3:23—7:11) Moses entreats God to allow him to enter the Promised Land, and when his pleas are turned down, he blames the Israelites. It was their stubbornness and repeated loss of faith that led Moses to lose his patience and display the momentary lack of faith that cost him his greatest dream and aspiration.

But Moses does not dwell long on his bitterness. Instead, he reiterates the teachings and laws that God had instructed him to give the People (hence the title of the book—the “second teaching”). 

In this portion we are told never to forget the miracles that had brought us out of Egypt and to the borders of the Promised Land. It was God’s word that we had heard at Sinai decades earlier, and which we now must observe as we go forward into the future. Several verses from Va-et’chanan have found their way into our prayer books, including the Sh’ma (“Hear O Israel—Adonai is our God, Adonai is one!”) and V’ahavta (“You shall love Adonai with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might,” Deut. 6:4-9). In this chapter we also read the verses that form the basis for the Passover Haggadah: “You shall say to your child, ‘We were slaves (avadim ha-yinu) to Pharaoh in Egypt and Adonai took us out of Egypt with a strong hand.’”

The Ten Commandments are also repeated in this portion, signifying the importance of the words that were first given to us at Mt. Sinai.

These are the texts that form the foundation of Jewish belief and rituals. The fact that they appear at this point in the Torah highlights the cultural assimilation that has always endangered our Jewish existence. These texts are the lifeline meant to ensure our survival through the ages. When we repeat them today as the Deuteronomist did almost 3000 years ago, we reaffirm our identity, connecting the present day to our ancient past as well as to future days to come.

© 2023 Boaz D. Heilman