Sefer Devarim

Devarim 1:1-3:23

The Loss of Civility, the Crumbling of Society

Aryeh Bernstein, 5765

Near the very beginning of Mosheh's great speech, he recalls desert history (Devarim 1:6-13):

There is considerable debate among the commentators regarding when this appointment of judges and leaders took place and it recalls Shemot 18:13-27 and Bemidbar 11, especially verses 11-17 and 24-30.

Be that as it may, how do we understand Mosheh's tone in our parashah? On the face of it, he is retelling the history innocuously-when God commanded them to leave the mountain and prepare to conquer the Land of Israel, Mosheh pointed out that he did not have the strength to lead single-handedly through an undertaking of this magnitude, especially since, thank God, the people has become so numerous. Therefore, he inaugurated a more elaborate governmental system that was instructed to judge with full integrity. It is in this light that Ramban understands that "trouble-טָרְחֲכֶם" refers to the overwhelming task of teaching Torah to so many people, "burden-מַשַּׂאֲכֶם" refers to praying on their behalf, by way of which he took upon himself the awesome burden of their needs and misdoings, and "strife-רִיבְכֶם" refers, simply, to their legal disputes. All three of these elements are natural aspects of civic life that imply nothing improper about the Israelites: decent citizens need educators, spiritual advocates, and judges, but naturally, when the population grows, one person can't handle it all for everyone.

However, something in the language suggests a negative tone-that maybe Mosheh rejected the people because he was fed up with them. All three of these words can mean what the Ramban says, but they more naturally cast aspersions on their object. More significantly, "How can I bear..." sounds like a leader at the end of his rope, lashing out at his intolerable subordinates. This word, "How?!/אֵיכָה", is known to us from the beginning of the megillah we read on Tisha B'Av (Eikhah 1:1): "אֵיכָה יָשְׁבָה בָדָד הָעִיר רַבָּתִי עָם הָיְתָה כְּאַלְמָנָה"- "How can it be that it sits all alone-this city that was full of people has become like a widow!" This word reverberates through the megillah, also appearing in 2:1, 4:1, and 4:2. Similarly, in the haphtarah that Hazal assigned to this parashah, the prophet Yesh‘ayahu exclaims, "אֵיכָה הָיְתָה לְזוֹנָה קִרְיָה נֶאֱמָנָה מְלֵאֲתִי מִשְׁפָּט צֶדֶק יָלִין בָּהּ וְעַתָּה מְרַצְּחִים"-"How can it be that the faithful city has become a whore; it was full of law, and righteousness lodged there, but now they are murderers!" (Yesh‘ayahu 1:21). It is a word that suggests disgusted shock at some proposition or situation. For further examples, see Devarim 32:30, as well as Judges 20:3, which describes the brutal rape and murder of the Concubine of Giv‘a. Hazal arranged the calendar such that we always read Parashat Devarim the shabbat before Tisha B'Av, when we mourn God's terrible abandonment of the Jewish people. This arrangement suggests that the Sages wanted us to hear the word "אֵיכָה" in our parashah in Eikhah's tone of revulsion. If so, then we read those three words-trouble, burden, and strife-as a violent indictment of our behavior as a people. What did Israel do that was so bad? How did we manifest trouble, burden, and strife?

Rashi cites a midrash in the Sifrei that shows a Rabbinic understanding of the cause of Mosheh's rejection of the people. (I encourage you to visit www.edah.org/parsha250.cfm for a brief and provocative devar torah about this midrash by Rabbi Saul Berman, which triggered my thoughts on this parashah.) The midrash explains as follows: Mosheh lashes out at "טָרְחֲכֶם-The trouble of you" because they were "torhanim-troublemakers". A person on the losing end of a legal dispute would endlessly prolong the legal procedure, digging up more witnesses and finding any opening by which the conflict would be maintained. "מַשַּׂאֲכֶם-your burden" is because they clung to Mosheh like his undergarments. If he left his house unusually early in the morning, they would spread rumors that he had family problems. If he left home a little late, they would scare people by spreading gossip that he must have stayed late scheming against them. They were privacy-invading rabble-rousers. They violated their leader's personal space, poking around his private life and using whatever "scoops" they concocted to destabilize legitimate authority; they used scaremongering and wild, unfounded gossip to maliciously discredit an honorable human being. "רִיבְכֶם-your strife", which the Ramban noted is a normal word for legal disputes, has a sinister connotation according to the Sifrei. They were nitpickers, always trying to cheat the system and get an unfair bargain, murmuring legal jargon along the way.

The components of this midrash recall the story of Qamtza and bar Qamtza, the most famous of the many Rabbinic explanations of why Jerusalem was destroyed (Gittin 55b-56a). What is the point of that story? That entrenched partisan jealousies and pettiness tore Jewish society to shreds, while the unwillingness of those in power to put an end to it condemned this hemorrhage to be irreparable.

We read Parashat Devarim and immediately thereafter mourn the destruction of Jerusalem on the eve of Israel's Disengagement from Gaza and as America prepares for a Supreme Court confirmation process. Mosheh's words should ring as a desperate and urgent plea that we not repeat the errors of our ancestors in the desert, but that we act with the utmost of civility and respect for leaders and even our political opponents, lest our civilization, God-forbid, fall apart at the seams.