Va’etchanan
Deut. 3:23 - 7:11
On this Shabbat we return to one of the richest Torah portions. It includes the familiar - as we read the Shema and Veahavta, our proclamation of faith; it includes the ideal - as we recite reverently the words of the Ten Commandments; and it includes the reality of human frailty and ego needs. I often marvel, as I close my eyes to say the Shema, how these words from an ancient past still resonate for us; I am rarely surprised by the fact that the Ten Commandments -chiseled in stone and proclaimed as self-evident - are not yet ingrained in the human soul. Needless to say, we live in awareness of human frailty and ego needs that can never be satisfied.
On this Shabbat we return to one of the richest Torah portions. It includes the familiar - as we read the Shema and Veahavta, our proclamation of faith; it includes the ideal - as we recite reverently the words of the Ten Commandments; and it includes the reality of human frailty and ego needs. I often marvel, as I close my eyes to say the Shema, how these words from an ancient past still resonate for us; I am rarely surprised by the fact that the Ten Commandments -chiseled in stone and proclaimed as self-evident - are not yet ingrained in the human soul. Needless to say, we live in awareness of human frailty and ego needs that can never be satisfied.
In our Torah portion, Vaethannan, Moses pleads with God once again to let him enter the Promised Land. In the mystical tradition, where letters have numerical values that shed new meanings on apparently simple words, Vaethannan (I pleaded - or I place myself at the mercy of another...) is transformed from a single plea to indicate that Moses pleaded with God 515 times (Vaethannan in gematria =515), so desperate was he to reverse the judgement. The Biblical text is full of pathos as we discover a side of Moses we may not have known. He makes no secret, either in front of the Israelites or before God, of his frustration. The midrash makes it even more dramatic: Moses suggests that he be allowed to sneak in so no one else will know (that God’s will was susceptible to change!); Moses asks that his bones be carried into the land after his death; and in yet another interpretation Moses asks that he be allowed in as an animal or a bird. Each one adds to the sense of desperation we feel in Moses at this time. To all of these God says no.
Abravanel, a 15th century commentator, looks at this story from a different angle. He wants to understand why it is so important for Moses to enter the land. He lists several reasons: There are certain mitzvot which can only be fulfilled in the land and Moses, (the ever observant 15th century Jew!) wants to have this opportunity. He wishes to lead the people to Mount Moria, to make sure they know where to build the Temple; and of course, he wants to pray there. Finally, Abravanel says, Moses’ desire to enter the land is the desire every person has to complete their life’s work.
It is the last of the reasons that shows us the unchanging nature of human nature! How often we hear stories -when the end of life is near- of people who turn in desperation to prayer for one more chance (Vaethannan!) to complete something we know cannot be accomplished, to repair a relation that had been broken, or to express love or regret to someone previously dismissed or ignored… So many reasons for “one more chance,” even when we know that we had so many chances we ignored!
We don’t know whether Moses ultimately understands and accepts the fact of his own mortality. Tradition certainly does, for we are taught in Pirke Avot, “It is not up to you to complete the task, but you are never exempt from doing your part!” Within each human being lies the potential to do good, to spread love, to contribute something to the world we inhabit. Go out and fulfill your potential every time you have a chance. Don’t leave it for tomorrow, for tomorrow may not come.
Moses had brought the people to the very border of the Promised Land. As a parent ready to let a child go, a teacher sending a student into the world he had gone as far as he could. He needed to learn the lesson “lo alecha ha-m’lacha ligmor -it is not up to you to complete the task” and so must we, “but neither are we exempt from doing our part.”
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Roberto D. Graetz
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