Parashat Va'etchanan

I believe this week’s Torah portion, Parashat Va’Etchanan, is best read through three different pairs of glasses. You decide which one enhances your sight best!

Dark Glasses:
This week, Moses learns, once and for all, that God will not allow him to cross over the River Jordan and enter into the Promised Land with the People. God tells Moses, “Go up to the top of the pisga (range) and lift up your eyes—toward the sea, toward the north, toward the south, and toward sunrise; see it with your eyes, for you will not cross this Jordan!” This verse may seem distressing to some of us: What a cruel story! Moses leads the people for 40 years through the desert, only to arrive at the edge of the Promised Land and to be denied entrance. What could he have possibly done to deserve this? We may feel that God is almost taunting Moses, like a guard might taunt a captive: “See that land of freedom over there, take a good look, because you won’t ever step foot on it.” The story gets even worse because Moses can’t even enjoy his last moments of his life in peace; rather, he has to keep teaching the people. Listen to the bitterness of Moses’ words when he says, “And now, O Israel, listen to the laws and the regulations that I am teaching you to observe, in order that you may live and enter and take-possession of the land that Adonai, the God of your fathers, is giving to you.” Moses has taken himself out of the equation—by repeating the word “you”—instead of the word “we”—again and again. These glasses show us a story of disappointment and loss.

Rose Colored Glasses:
Maybe, the image of Moses looking over the Promised Land isn’t depressing at all, maybe this is a message of hope. Maybe God offers Moses this concrete visual image in order to help Moses realize that he has succeeded in his journey. When Moses looks North and South, East and West, maybe he feels a sense of pride. And, of course, Moses has the joy, even in these last moments of his life, of teaching his people Torah, the laws they will need to succeed in the land. These glasses show us a story of satisfaction and hope.

Bifocals:
Maybe this passage isn’t about Moses’ disappointment or hope, at all. Maybe this entire parashah is delivering a message about the future of Judaism! Forget about what Moses is feeling for a second! Let’s ask this question instead: Why won’t God let Moses into the land in the first place? When the Torah describes Moses looking across the River Jordan, it paints a picture of a new future for Judaism—a future that will not be dependent on Moses’ leadership. When Moses turns to his people and says “And now, O Israel, listen to the laws and the regulations that I am teaching you to observe, in order that you may live and enter and take-possession of the land that Adonai, the God of your fathers, is giving to you,” Moses is letting the People know that they now hold the future of Judaism in their hands. Moses has set the People up to live and to behave correctly without his ongoing leadership. In fact, Moses instructs the People further; he tells the Israelites to “make the laws known to your children, and to your children’s children.” This parashah lets us know that, after Moses’ passing, Judaism will continue to exist independent of a single leader. Judaism will be dependent on the collective, on the people who practice it. These glasses show us a story about the survival of Judaism and its ability to endure from one generation to the next.

You choose the glasses. Is this a story of disappointment, of hope, or of continuity?

On this Shabbat let us remember that we have both the power and the responsibility to view Torah through many lenses. It is only when we widen our lens of viewing that we strengthen our tradition and enrich our own lives.