Two Minute Torah Podcast

Devarim 5772 by Rabbi Daniel Goldfarb

Hi, this is R' Daniel Goldfarb from the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem.  This Shabbat we begin Sefer Dvarim, Deuteronomy, the last book of the Torah.  Sefer Dvarim records Moses' words to the Children of Israel in the weeks before he dies - he recounts the events since leaving Egypt 40 years earlier, reviews legal material the people should know upon entry into Eretz Yisrael, and warns them about the dangers to their faith in God, most particularly from material success and the arrogance that can come from that. 

Parshat Dvarim is read traditionally on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av, the day that commemorates the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, the latter almost 2000 years ago.  But when the 9^th of Av falls on Shabbat, as this year, we read Parshat Davarim on that day and observe the fast and the mourning practices Motse Shabbat – Sunday, the 10^th of Av.

Parshat Dvarim and Tisha b'Av are connected verbally by the word Eicha, "How, Alas" in the sense of lament.  Eicha is the title and first word of Lamentations, in which the prophet Jeremiah grieves over the destruction of the Temple. And in line 12 of the first chapter of our Parsha, Moses laments how the burden of leading the Children of Israel has become too much for him – Eicha esah levadi – "How can I bear alone your trouble, burden and bickering?"  This verse is traditionally read in the sad, plaintive chant the way Lamentations is read on Tisha b'Av.  But the choice of the word Eicha, how, rather than Madu'a, Why, is significant.  The Jewish response to trouble and tragedy can be philosophical – Why does this happen to us?  Or it can be practical – How do we deal with it?

The work Eicha recalls a word written exactly the same way, in Genesis 3:9 – Ayecha?  "Where are you?" God calls to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden after they have eaten from the forbidden Tree of Knowledge.  Where are WE today, we must ask ourselves, as humans and as Jews.  We may not have answers to the Why questions of life – Why I am like this?  Why did this happen? But if we can address the How questions – how do I deal with it?  How can I be a better Jew, than we are more like to know Where we are when God calls us.  Shabbat shalom!!