Israel and America's Mission

Va'etchanan

Deut. 3:23 - 7:11

 

Précis: Moses continues the recapitulation of travels and urges the People to follow the laws​. Moses pleads with God that he be allowed to enter the Promised Land and is refused. Moses continues with a restatement of the Ten Commandments and follows with an articulation of the basic element of Jewish theology: the Sh’ma. 

 

Deut. 4:5-8 “See, I have taught you decrees and laws as the Lord my God commanded me, so that you may follow them in the land you are about to enter and possess. Take care to keep them, for this will be your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people!’ For what other nation has decrees and laws as just as this Torah that I am setting before you today?”

 

 It is ironic, given the incredible condemnation around the world of Israel (in specific) and Jews (in general), that our Torah reading implies a time when all nations will appreciate the gifts that Israel has given the world. It is also ironic that the United States has claimed a similar distinction during its history; that this distinction is imperiled by the current regime.

​     Rabbi Sacks examined the similarity between Israel and the United States as beacons of honorable societies (Rabbi Sacks Legacy, 8/15/24). He notes that while Moses foresaw a day when all other nations would admire the Jewish commitment to honorable decrees and laws, it was the United States which seemed to have inherited this mantle. Much of American political discourse is based on the biblical idea of covenant. Presidents from Ronald Reagan through Barack Obama all made statements which were explicitly religious in nature in their inaugurals, claiming a special role for the United States like that envisioned for Israel in the cited verses.
            How did this come to be?  Early Protestant theologians were students of the Hebrew Bible and of Talmud. Afterwards, Enlightenment thinkers continued to rely upon Biblical knowledge and language. (As an aside, learning Biblical Hebrew was a mandatory course, along with Greek, in most American universities into the 19th century.) This historic connection between the Hebrew Bible and the revolutionary thought of the American Founders is obvious.  

As John Adams wrote: “I will insist that the Hebrews have done more to civilize men than any other nation.”

            The history of ancient Israel shows that the goal of being a light unto the nations dissipated with the destruction of the Second Temple. It can be argued that today, the holy mission inherited and undertaken by our Founders has been neglected if not abandoned. We can pray that we have the time, talent, and understanding to reassert America’s devotion to the ancient dream of Israel to create a just society.

 

 

Words and Actions

D’varim

Deut. 1:1 - 3:22

The Book of Deuteronomy (D’varim – “words”) takes the form of a series of lectures by Moses to the People as they prepare to enter the Land. D’varim is sometimes called the “Mishneh Torah”, literally, the “second teaching of the Torah” (this is where we get the Greek name of the Book) because it contains repetitions of previously enunciated laws.

            The Book is also sometimes referred to as the “Priestly Code” by those who ascribe its origin to the Priests of the First Temple era. D’varim has two other significant themes: the cosmic relationship between God and the People Israel and the pursuit of social justice in terms of care for the “poor, the widow, and the orphan.” 

            The first parasha recounts the four decades of travel through the wilderness, repeats the story of the spies, deals with the appointment of judges, victories in the wilderness against enemies, and how the conquered land is to be divided.

 

It is interesting to note that the first Book of the Torah begins with God creating the world through words. The final Book of Moses also begins with words (d’varim).  We can see from both Books that words have power. We also know that actions can speak louder than words. Both are important in our tradition.

Moses’ words in this Book are different from his previous pronouncements. Here he engages in the act of remembering, an essential part of Torah and Jewish observance (i.e., the Passover seder reading of the Haggadah, meaning “telling”).

Recalling and telling are essential, but we need to learn from and protect the achievements we recall. Pirke Avot 2:21 states it best: “It is not [our] duty to finish the work, but neither are [we] free to desist from it.”

We read about Moses’ plans for the Land of Israel and, knowing the outcome, assume that his presumptions were certain. Similarly, we can look back upon the establishment of the modern State of Israel as being inevitable, since we observe a modern vibrant Jewish nation. But since October 7^th and its aftermath, we cannot merely retell the story of Israel’s creation, but we must take actions to help Israel (and the Jewish People) survive and thrive.