It's in our own hands

Ekev

Deuteronomy 7:12 - 11:25
Précis: Moses continues his recapitulation of the commandments to the people, reminding them to be obedient to God’s laws in their forthcoming struggle with the Canaanites. Moses describes in detail all of the blessings which God had already provided them, and reminds them to bless and thank God for the bounty they receive. On the other hand, they should learn the lesson of rebelliousness of their fathers, including the incident of the Golden Calf. Moses reminds the people that he brought down a second set of tablets, which require their continued obedience to God.

Deuteronomy 10:1–2 “Thereupon the Eternal One said to me ‘Carve out two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain; and make an ark of wood. I will inscribe on the tablets the commandments that were on the first tablets that you smashed, and you shall deposit them in the ark.’”

Jonathan E. Blake, writing in Reform Voices of Torah (8/18/08), cites Nachmanides to explain the importance of the second set of tablets. The first set was the work of God, and ‘the writing was God’s writing’ (Exodus 32:16). The second set was inscribed on tablets made by Moses, a mere mortal. Nachmanides concludes that while God inscribed the first set of tablets, Moses, a mere mortal, carved the second set.

Moses’ action has an important implication for us. While it is our obligation to learn and study what has transpired before (what we call “tradition”), we still need to create our own “copy” with our own “mortal hands.” While some may suggest that we human beings have no right or power to “tinker” with what has been handed down from Sinai (whether by hand of Moses or as part of an oral tradition), I suggest that the Judaism of today (regardless of how observed) is substantively different that the Judaism practiced 1,000, 1,500, or 2,000 years ago. Change has happened, and continues to happen.

Whether these changes in practice are human invention or Divine guidance ("continuing Revelation”) I leave others to discuss.