Parasha Devarim
SAN DIEGO — “Do not fear them, for it is the Eternal your God who is fighting for you” (Deuteronomy 3:22). What a buoyant, assuring, and optimistic message of hope. That’s what this week’s parasha offers to us. The surety that, after we’ve done all we can, we can confidently let go and move forward with faith and trust in Hashem. As Rabbi Tarfon taught in Pirke Avot (2:16), “It is not your responsibility to finish the work of perfecting the world, but you are not free to desist from it either.”
Whether we apply this to parenting or to continuing community leadership, we can learn a great deal from this teaching. During these especially unsettling times, we have no real idea what will happen, as we never really do. All of life is uncertain, except for uncertainty. We do what we can, and we have faith.
Will our children’s education be obstructed by home schooling? Will our youngsters’ lives be negatively crushed by the impediments of COVID 19? Will our offspring be properly prepared to deal with what life will present them in the years ahead? Will they apply our teachings when we are no longer here? Are we supplying our progeny with the gifts of our life’s stories, much like Moses did with the Israelites in his farewell?
In the first line of the parasha, we are told, “These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel on that side of the Jordan in the desert…” (Deuteronomy 1:1). What are the words we are speaking with our children? Recall what the humble prophet said, “…I beseech You, O Lord. I am not a man of words, neither from yesterday nor from the day before yesterday, nor from the time You have spoken to Your servant, for I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue” (Exodus 4:10). For someone who wasn’t a “man of words” he certainly inspired us to today with his lofty words and powerfully moving stories.
We can find words, in Torah, to do so similarly, COVID19 aside. Or we can use these emotionally tumultuous times as an excuse to shirk from our responsibility to our children. In spite of the challenges and strains we face, we can inspire our children to hope, to love, to generate compassion, to achieve, to be the change the world needs through sharing the teachings of our Torah, the stories of our own lives, the words in our soul that have carried us. When shared, they can and will carry our children…without fear, “for it is the Eternal your God who is fighting for you.”
Moses reviewed the history, past misdeeds, successes and failures of the Children of Israel before they entered the Promised Land. How do we offer rebuke, tochecha, to our children as a way of helping assure a more positive path and vision for their future? It appears the way is to follow what Moses did, through faith-inspiring, not faith-killing, religious awakening and covenant building, stories.
It is interesting to observe that there is no form of the Hebrew root l-m-d (to learn, study, or teach) that appears anywhere in the Torah other than in this parasha, and here it appears seventeen times in thirty-four chapters. The message for parents and leaders is that teaching and learning is how we assure a healthy future for our people. We learn from the Sfas Emes that Moses translated the Torah to help future generations understand the eternal lessons of the Torah. And the K’sav Sofer tells us that Moses was similarly sharing the words of Torah in languages that future generations could understand. Moses used his days to share eternal lessons for future generations.
Our future, our children’s future, our community’s future, depend on the stories, the intentional and unintentional messages, we impart. These are what will reach long into the future of our families and communities, as did the stories Moses shared.
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Michael Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly d’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family worship. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com