Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech

The Truth That is Israel

After all the trials and tribulations of last week's parsha, this week's parsha promises the Jewish people redemption:

"The Lord, your God, will bring back your exiles, and He will have mercy upon you. He will once again gather you from all the nations, where the Lord, your God, had dispersed you" (Devarim 30:3)

As someone who was brought up as and remains an orthodox Jew, I was taught from a very young age that the Torah, the five Books of Moses, were the direct word of God, dictated by God to Moshe during the forty years that Israel through the wilderness.

As a student of Bible, I can see many textual problems with this theology, some of which we have discussed in previous Sedra Shorts. These issues can be very challenging for the believing Jew.

Nevertheless, all those issues are resolved by the pesukim we have just quoted. The impossible has happened. After 2,000 years of forced exile, the Jewish people have returned to their land. Indeed, after only 61 years since the birth of the Jewish state, more Jews now live there than in any other country.

Together with this unparalleled event, Hebrew, a language that had remained dormant for an even longer period than the exile, has been reborn as a modern spoken language.

I cannot resolve all the textual analysis that casts doubt on the concept of Torat Moshe MiSinai, but I can say that those words show that even though God sometimes "hides His face" (ibid 31:17), the Torah made an incredible and highly improbable prediction that has come true.

Nonetheless, many don't see God's hand in the return of the Jewish people to their land. Indeed, much of this return is due to the hard work of many individuals.

This issue can be resolved by another passuk in this week's parsha.

God tells Moshe that he will not cross over the Jordan into Canaan. Yehoshua will take over from him and lead the people into the Promised Land:

"The Lord, your God He will cross before you; He will destroy these nations from before you so that you will possess them. Joshua he will cross before you" (31:3).

The passuk begins by saying that God will cross over into the land before Israel yet ends with the fact that Yehoshua will actually be doing that..

There is no contradiction here. Yehoshua was God's agent on earth. The people did not see a presence of God fighting for them. They saw Yehoshua. Yet, God was there. It was for the people to see that Yehoshua's success came because God was with him. In the Bible, God doing something and people doing something are almost always he same thing; because people are God's agents on earth.

So too, the individuals who made (and still make) a superhuman effort to help bring home Jews from the four corners of the earth can be seen as being the agents of God. That does not mean that they do not deserve the credit for their efforts, but it does mean, that if we look carefully at the workings of the world, we can see God's hand in action.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Nitzavim entitled "Not In Heaven" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2008/09/parshat-nitzavim-not-in-heaven-this.html

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat VaYelech entitled "The Lantern Shines On" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2008/10/parshat-vayelech-lantern-shines-on.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Nitsavim-VaYelech, entitled: "Alone in a Crowd" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/09/parshat-nitsavim-vayelech-alone-in.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Nitsavim-VaYelech entiled: "The Hidden" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/09/parshat-nitzavim-vayelech-this-weeks.html

Parshat VaYishlach

Seeing the Face of God

The night before meeting Esav, Yaakov struggles with a man at Nachal Yabbok. As it turns out, the man is a divine being. He gives Yakov a new name: Yisrael. We have discussed why a divine being was fighting Yaakov in the first place and the significance of Yaakov's additional name in a previous Sedra Short (see http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2005/12/parshat-vayishlach-wrestling-with.html).

This week, I would like to discus Yaakov's reaction. "Yaakov named the place Peniel (lit. the face of God), for [he said,] "I saw an angel face to face, and my soul was saved" (Bereshit 32:30).

It is clear from this statement that Yaakov expected to die. Seeing divine beings is meant to be beyond the human narrative and so when he saw the angel, Yaakov should not have continued living.

Indeed, Moshe asks God "show me your glory" (Shemot 33:18), God responds that "you cannot see my face, for no man can see me and live (ibid 20)."

In fact, the first time that Moshe encountered God, he almost died. Moshe sees a burning bush in the wilderness and is surprised that the bush is not being consumed. He decides to have a better look. "The Lord saw that he had turned to see" and so quickly calls out saying "Do not come close" (Shemot 3:4-5). To be sure, as soon as Moshe realizes that God is within the bush, he "hid his face because he was afraid to look toward God (ibid 6).

Gidon also saw an angel and thought he was going to die. At first, Gidon thought that the angel giving him the mission to save Israel was an ordinary person and so Giodn refused to accept the mission. The angel decides that Gidon needs to understand that his mission is from God and so he reveals himself by performing a supernatural act and then disappearing.

Gidon then realized that he was an angel and said: "Alas, O Lord God! Because I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face" (Shoftim 6:22). He assumed he was going to die, so "the Lord said to him, "Peace be to you, fear not, you shall not die (ibid 23)".

Manoach and his wife, Shimshon's parents, also met an angel. Manoach also did not believe that he was an angel until the angel revealed himself.

"Manoach (then) knew that he was an angel of the Lord. Manoach said to his wife, 'We shall surely die, because we have seen God" (ibid 13:22). However, his wife seemed to be more intelligent than him. "But his wife said to him, "If the Lord wanted to kill us, He would not have received from our hand a burnt-offering and a meal-offering, and He would not have shown us all these things; and at this time He would not let us hear (such things) as these (ibid 23)".

While seeing only God himself would lead to death, as happened with Aharon's two sons, Nadav and Avihu (see Shemot 34:10-11 and VaYikra 10:1-2), seeing angels would not lead o death.

Nevertheless, as is clear from the episodes recorded here, people, including Yaakov, were frightened about seeing all divine beings.

Perhaps the Torah is trying to give us a monotheistic message. Only God is truly a Divine Being. Everything else, including angels, is just his tools. They are not worthy of worship.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat VaYishlah entitled: "Israel and Shechem – a Varied Relationship" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/11/parshat-vayishlach-israel-and-shechem.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat VaYishlah entitled: Reuven and Bilha" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/12/parshat-vayishlach-reuven-and-bilha.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat VaYishlach entitled "Struggling with the Present", appears at: http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2005/12/parshat-vayishlach-wrestling-with.html

Parshat Shoftim

Why Not a King Now?

This week's parsha introduces the institution of the Monarchy to Judaism.

'When you come to the land the Lord, your God, is giving you, and you possess it and live therein, and you say, "I will set a king over myself, like all the nations around me," you shall appoint a king over you, whom the Lord thy God shall choose' (Devarim 17:14-15).

Depending on how we translate and emphasize key words, it is unclear from this section as to whether Israel is obligated to establish a monarchy or whether they are permitted, should the people feel the need, to appoint a king.

One could understand the word: “וְאָמַרְתָּ” as “you should (i.e. are required to) say: ‘I will set a king over myself’”, it would imply that the mitzvah is an obligation. On the other hand, one could translate it as "you are permitted to say" – making it optional. The same applies to the final clause: "שׂוֹם תָּשִׂים עָלֶיךָ מֶלֶךְ" can be translated as either "you must appoint king" or as: “you are free to appoint a king".

Was the Torah being deliberately ambiguous? Furhermore, if the monarchy was an ideal, why was it not instituted immediately in Sefer Devarim, or at least after the death of Moshe?

To answer these questions, we need to understand the structure of ancient of Israel's society.

Ancient Israel was a tribal society. It was divided into twelve distinct tribes, each with their own flag and substrata of clans. They were counted and camped according to their tribes (Bemidbar Ch.1 & 2) and at the conquest, the land was divided according to tribes (ibid 26:53). There were even circumstances when inter-tribal marriages were forbidden (ibid 36:6-8).

This meant that tribal loyalty was stronger than national loyalty.

Indeed the first time the Tenach calls the country: "Eretz Yisrael", is only after Sha'ul is crowned as Israel's first king (I Shmuel 13:19). Up until that point, there was no united country called Israel, only a confederation of tribes, with little national unity.

The lack of national unity was very disturbing to both King David and Shlomo, who undertook the building of a nation. They were concerned that the united kingdom would not survive if tribal loyalties remained strong.

Therefore, David built his capital (i.e Jerusalem) in a border city that was not associated with any tribe, while Shlomo divided the country up into twelve administrative units, not along tribal grounds (I Melachim 4:7), in attempt to break tribal loyalty and to create a national allegiance.

Therefore, the Torah appreciated that at Moshe's time, Israel was not ready for a Monarchy. However, it anticipated that as the nation matured, the people would see the importance of solidifying their unity and of creating a national structure that would have absolute authority of the whole nation. When that time came, the tribal elders would then be able to select a king. That occurred at the end of Shmuel's leadership.

The Torah understood that different models of leadership would be needed for different times. Therefore, the Torah was deliberately ambiguous and allowed Israel different options for different eras.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Shoftim entiled: "The King and Sha'ul" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/08/parshat-shoftim-king-and-shaul-sefer.html.

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Shoftim entiled: "The King" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/08/parshat-shoftim-king-this-weeks-parsha.html.

Parshat Ekev

The Mountainous Country

In this week's parsha, Moshe describes a major difference between the Land of Israel and Egypt:

"For the land to which you are coming to possess is not like the land of Egypt, out of which you came, where you sowed your seed and which you watered by foot, like a vegetable garden. But the land, to which you pass to possess, is a land of mountains and valleys and absorbs water from the rains of heaven" (Devarim 11:10-11).

The ancient Egyptians built a series of canals that allowed the water to flow directly to their farms, avoiding their homes. The Egyptians directed the canals by opening and closing the vents with their feet, or by carrying the water with their feet from the river, or by a foot pump.

Biblical Israel however is mountainous. Farmers could not water the fields. They had to rely on rainfall. The rain would come down the mountains in wadis and the fields would be watered. However, if it did not rain, Israel would be in serious trouble.

Therefore, even though Israel is considered to be "a land of honey" (Bemidbar 13:27) it is also described as a “land that devours its inhabitants” (ibid. 32).

The Torah considers the fall and lack of fall of rain as being dependent on Israel's loyalty to God: "a land the Lord, your God, looks after; the eyes of Lord your God are always upon it" (Devarim 11:12). If Israel is loyal to God, the rain will come. If Israel is not loyal to God "He will close off the heavens, and there will be no rain" (ibid 17).

However, it is for this reason that throughout ancient history Egypt was always a wealthy country and a super-power, while Israel had long periods of impoverishment and vassal status. Is this really good?

In Bereshit we see that the richness of Egypt's land is compared to two other countries: Sedom and the Garden of Eden: "Lot raised his eyes, and saw the whole plain of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, (before the Lord destroyed Sedom and Gomorrah), like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt (Bereshit 13:10)".

What is in common with all these places?

Firstly, each place "was well watered", as they were fed by full flowing rivers: Egypt had the Nile, Eden had four rivers (Pishon, Gihon, Tigris and Euphrates), while Sedom had the Jordan (The Torah here relates that after Sedom's destruction, the area was no longer well watered; the destruction may have altered the Jordan River somehow.

Another factor they had in common was: sin. In Sedom the "sin has become very grave" (ibid 11:20), that God destroyed it. Adam and Eve were driven from Eden as a result of their sin (ibid Chapter 3), while Israel is frequently warned to avoid acting: "Like the practice of the land of Egypt" (VaYikra 18:3).

The wealth of the water led to sin. Therefore, Israel was given a land that would help keep them on God's path: "a land the Lord, your God, looks after; the eyes of Lord your God are always upon it" (Devarim 11:12).

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Ekev entiled: "The Two Arks" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/08/parshat-ekev-two-arks-when-god.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Ekev entiled: "Shema 1 and Shema 2" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/08/parshat-ekev-shema-1-and-shema-2-in.html

Pashat Va'Etchanan

The View From On High

At the beginning of this week's parsha, Moshe describes how god denied him his request to cross over the Jordan and enter the Promised Land. However, god does grant Moshe one concession. He may see the land from the peek of Mount Nevo.

"Go up to the top of peek and lift up your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward and see with your eyes, for you shall not cross this Jordan" (Devarim 3:27).

The question we must ask is why Moshe would want to look towards the east. Canaan is ahead of towards the west and the north and south west. However east is away from Canaan. Moshe would be looking towards present day Iraq and Saudi Arabia – they my have a lot of oil, but they are not part of the holy land.

Rabbi Menachem Leibtag suggests that in order to answer this question we need to look at the two other occasions the Torah talks about these four directions.

The first time is with Avraham:

"The Lord said to Avram…., "Raise your eyes and see, from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward" (Bereshit 13:14)

The place Avraham was standing was Bet El (see ibid 3).

The next occasion this expression appears is with Yaakov. It was also at Bet El:

"Your seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and you shall gain strength westward and eastward and northward and southward; and through you shall be blessed all the families of the earth and through your seed" (ibid 28:14).

The Rabbis understand Bet El to mean Jerusalem, literally, the House of God.

The purpose of the Jewish people conquering Canaan and establishing a unique relationship with God, is not because God has given up on the rest of humanity. On the contrary, it is because He wants Israel to be light unto the nations, to help spread the word of God to humanity (see my blog on Parshat Yitro, http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007_02_01_archive.html).

The word of God therefore, is not meant to be tied down to Israel; it is to spread to all humanity, in all four corners of the earth. Therefore, God tells Moshe not just to look at Israel's home, but at the influence Israel will have over the whole world.

Perhaps this is why the opening pesukim appear in Parshat VaEtachanan, even though they are thematically linked to Pashat Devarim In VaEtchanan Moshe reminds Israel of the time they accepted the Torah, i.e. the time when Israel accepted its mission to be a treasured nation. Therefore, when the Rabbis divided the Torah into weekly portions, they understood that God telling Moshe to look eastward, away from the Holy land, as linked to Moshe's repetition of the Ten Commandmentswanted the giving of the Torah (Devarim Chapters 4 and 5).

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat Va'etchanan entiled: "The Two Tablets" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2007/07/parshat-vaetchanan-two-tablets-in-this.html.

Another Sedra Short on Parshat Va'etchanan entiled: "Despair and Hope" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006/08/parshat-vaetchanan-despair-and-hope.html.

Parshat VaYigash

The Descent to Egypt

After Yoseph revealed himself to his brothers, he organized for them and their family, including to Yaakov, so that he could protect them from the famine because: "for another five years, there will be neither plowing nor harvest" (Bereshit 45:46). Indeed, he even believed that the whole purpose of him being sold to Egypt was so that he could protect them from the famine.

Little did he know that it was actually part of a greater plan that God had. He had promised Avraham many years earlier "You shall surely know that your seed will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and they will enslave them and oppress them, for four hundred years" (ibid 15:13).

Perhaps this is why Yaakov goes with trepidation to Egypt. On his way he actually stopped in Be'er Sheva. There God appears to him and says: "I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid of going down to Egypt, for there I will make you into a great nation" (ibid 46:3).

It is interesting that God calls Himself: "the God of your father", i.e. Yitschak, and not the God of Avraham. Yaakov knows that that his father and grandfather had both experienced famine in Canaan. Both wanted to go down to Egypt. God expressly forbade Yitschak from going to Egypt. Therefore, God is saying that He, the God who prohibited Yitschak from going to Egypt, is allowing Yaakov to go.

The question is why. Why did God want Israel to go to Egypt? Why was it necessary for them to be "strangers in land that is not theirs"? Why will He "make you into a great nation there"? Why can this not be done in Canaan?

The answer appears in this week's parsha. Immediately, after God appeared to Yaakov, the Torah lists seventy of the names of those people who went down. Let's examine some of them. There was: "Saul the son of the Canaanitess" (ibid 10) and there was "Shelah, Perez, and Zerah" (ibid 12), Yehuda's sons from two different Canaanite women (Batshua and Tamar). We do not know the identity of the wives of any other of the brothers, but they had certainly not gone through the process of Yitschak and Yaakov, of marrying women from Avraham's family in Padan Aram.

At least two of Yaakov's children had married Canaanite women, something that was expressly forbidden to Yitschak and Yaakov, and something that would be forbidden to all of ancient Israel. Yet, what would have happened to Yaakov's grandchiuldren? It is very likely that would all have marry local girls.

Therefore, God says to Yaakov that only: "there (i.e. in Egypt) I will make you into a great nation". In Canaan, you will be absorbed into the locals and form part of the Canaanite nation. The only option was to go to Egypt where they could keep their own identity and become a great nation.

Why only Egypt? The answer again appears in this week's parsha: "because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians" (ibid 34). The Egyptians did not like foreigners. We had seen last week how Yoseph could not eat together with the brothers because of Egyptian law. Now, the brothers' profession, shepherds, a profession abhorrent to the Egyptians, would ensure that they would be kept isolated from the locals, therby remaining intact and growing into a great nation.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat VaYigash entitled: "The Saving of Egypt " appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

A second Sedra Short entitled "Confrontation and Reconciliation" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_parshablog_archive.html.

Parshat VaYishlach

Israel and Shechem – a Varied Relationship

This week's parsha brings two explanations as to how Shechem became a possession of ancient Israel.

"Yaakov came safely [to] the city of Shechem…He encamped near the city. He bought the part of the field where he had pitched his tent from the sons of Hamor, the father of Shechem, for a hundred kesitas" (Bereshit 33:18-19). Israel took control of the area peacefully when Yaakov purchased the city from a noble Shechemite family.

However, in the next chapter, we see a different explanation: "Now it came to pass on the third day, when they were in pain, that Yaakov's two sons, Shimon and Levi, Dinah's brothers, each took his sword, and they came upon the city with confidence, and they slew every male. They slew Hamor and his son Shechem with the edge of the sword" (ibid 34:25-26).

Israel became masters of the city through violent conquest, in the aftermath of Shechem's violation of Dinah, Yaakov's daughter.

This was the beginning of Israel's strange relationship with this Canaanite city.

Historically, Shechem was different to other Canaanite cities. Regular Canaanite cities were city states, i.e. they were ruled by a king. Canaan's topography effectively allowed each city to remain self-sufficient and independent from each other. Indeed, Yehoshua conquers 31 kings (see Yehoshua Ch.12) in a tiny country barely the size of New Jersey. Indeed at least eight distinct nations lived in this land. Interestingly enough, Israel was the first nation to unite the land into one country.

However, Shechem's status was different. It was not ruled by a king: "Chamor and his son Shechem came to the gate of their city, and they spoke to the people of their city, saying, 'These men are peaceful with us'" (ibid 20:21). Note how Shechem and his father Chamor, have to persuade the inhabitants of Shechem to accept the agreement they had made with Yaakov's sons. Shechem might have been a leader of Shechem but he did not have ultimate power.

Interestingly enough, Shechem does not appear in the list of cities that Yehoshua captured. In fact, no conquest of Shechem is ever noted. Yehoshua even took all the people to make a covenant there (Yehoshua 8:30-35), and yet he does not fight with it. Moreover, from the Sefer Shoftim, it is clear that the people of Shechem were Israelite citizens, even though they were not Israelites.

There, Gaal Ben Eved inadvertently causes an uprising against Avimelech, Gidon's son and Israel's leader, saying: "'Who is Avimelech, and who is Shechem, that we should serve him? is not he the son of Yerubbaal (Gidon)? … serve the men of Chamor the father of Shechem" (Shoftim 9:28). From this source it is clear that the inhabitants of Shechem were clearly descendents of Shechem's original inhabitants, and yet they were Israelite citizens.

How did this happen? It is unclear. I would like to suggest two possible explanations that are linked..

Firstly, we have already seen how Israel in Yaakov's day became the legal masters of Shechem. It is possible therefore, that Shechem already saw itself as loyal servants of Israel at the time of Yehoshua's conquest, and hence, there was no need to conquer it.

Secondly, I would like to suggest that the Shechemites were part of the Givon alliance, the people who tricked Israel into making a non-aggression pact: "The men of Israel said unto the Hivites…" (Yehoshua 9:7). The Givonites were Hivites. So was Shechem: "Shechem the son of Hamor, the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her" (Bereshit 34:2).

Simon and Levi tricked Shechem and took advantage of them. The Hivites then turned the tables and tricked Israel by making a treaty with Yehoshua. These people then caused havoc in Israel during the period of the Judges.

Perhaps the seeds to this incident were planted in this week's parsha.

Last year's Sedra Short on Parshat VaYishlah entitled: Reuven and Bilha" appears at http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2006_12_01_archive.html

Another Sedra Short on Parshat VaYishlach entitled "Struggling with the Present", appears at: http://parshablog.blogspot.com/2005_12_01_parshablog_archive.html