Deuteronomy’s power to save us From all suffering

Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto’s talks are known throughout the Jewish world. They combine chassidic teachings and philosophy, along with tips for a better life. We have collected pearls from his teachings that are relevant to our daily lives. This week he comments on the Torah section of Devarim.

"These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan in the Aravah desert in the plain opposite the Red Sea, between Paran and Tofel and Lavan and Hazerot and Di Zahav."

Thirty-six days before his death, Moses stood before the people and began to relate to them the Book of Deuteronomy. There is a question on this: Despite the enormous importance of the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses had been teaching the Torah to the Israelites every day. Why did he have to repeat the many Torah sections that are in the Book of Deuteronomy before his death? And why did Moses note the place where he began to speak: "on the other side of the Jordan in the Aravah desert opposite the Red Sea." Everyone knows that Moses was in the desert and was not allowed to enter the Land of Israel. Why did he have to mention the place where he was when he began his talk?

Our sages say, and this is cited in Sifri, that before his death, God showed Moses everything that was going to happen to the Jewish people throughout the generations. God showed everything to Moses - the good times, and the bad and difficult times. Our sages explain that the places sited in this verse are hinting to this. “In the Aravah desert” - symbolizes the destruction of the Temple and the devastation that the Jews would subsequently experience. “And Hazeroth [lit. “courtyards”] - He also showed them the consolation, that they will have beautiful courtyards and houses, and Di Zahav [lit. “enough gold”]  - they would lead a golden life. Di also is connected to the verse "And I will pour out blessing for you until it is more than dy - enough" (Malachi 3:10). This is how God showed Moses the good and the bad.

The midrash says (Yalkut Shimoni #793) that after hearing Moses say such difficult things, people began to grumble that his mind was getting weak. It can be compared to an old man who was about to die. He called a lawyer and told him about his assets and what to do with them after his death - to give this asset to this son and that asset to that son and to divide up all his property. The lawyer wasn’t sure the man is of sound mind. Maybe the old man is sick and his thinking is confused? So what did he do? He asked him questions to check how sound he is. He asks him where he is now, what is his friend’s address, what day of the week it is and what is today’s date.

It was the same case here. The Israelites thought that perhaps Moses was rambling incoherently. Perhaps his fear of death and leaving the Israelites was causing him to speak confusing and incorrect words. Perhaps he was disoriented? So Moses told them all the details of their location - they are in the desert, opposite the Red Sea, a distance of eleven days' walking from Mount Sinai. He told the Israelites all the details of where they were so they would know that every word he said was with utter clarity of mind. Everything was true. Yes, when a person is about to die or when he hears devastating things, his mind can go off and he can say delusional things, but Moses showed them that every word He said was from God and he is completely with it.

Jeremiah the prophet (Jeremiah 10:2) said, "On the fourth month on the ninth of the month, a breach was made in the city." The commentaries ask how come the verse says that the breach occurred on the 9th of the month when it actually happened on 17 Tammuz?

The rabbis explained that while it occurred on the 17th of Tammuz, because of the severe suffering and grief that the Israelites experienced during that period of killing and captivity, they got the date wrong and began to think it was the ninth of the month. The commentaries press further and especially the Korban haAidah asks how God could have allowed the prophet to write what was clearly a mistake. Since Jeremiah was a prophet and everything he said was with divine inspiration, why was this mistake allowed to become part of his prophecy and written down for all generations?

The rabbis explain that when Jeremiah the prophet received the prophecy, it crushed him. He experienced terrible pain and sorrow. When he awoke from his prophecy and vision, he said "on the ninth of the fourth month" out of grief and anguish. Even though the terrible events were going to take place on the 17th of the month, after receiving the prophecy earlier, he was already in so much pain that he felt as if the city had been destroyed. God left his words and did not change them because Jeremiah experienced the terrible anguish on the day he related the prophecy - on the ninth of the month - even though the event itself took place a few days later on 17 Tammuz.

God also showed Moses the destruction and other difficult things that would occur, but He showed it to Moses in a different way than He showed it to Jeremiah. First, God showed Moses the Third Temple, and the Final Redemption. He saw the uplifting and happy events at the end of days, the great light that would await the Israelites in the future.

After God showed him the great light and the rebuilding of the Third Temple, He showed him the long exile that we are now in for close to two thousand years. Moses did not experience the same pain as Jeremiah had who only seen the destruction, because he first saw the good ending. Jeremiah, who only saw the destruction of the Temple and the evil times that followed it, was filled with such immense and incomprehensible sorrow and pain that it was far more difficult for him than what Moses experienced.

Our sages say that God gave Jeremiah his prophecy precisely in this way and not in another way, because Jeremiah was the prophet at that time of the destruction, and had to experience and feel these things in order to properly relate the prophecies to the Israelites. God did not want to give him moments of comfort and hope so he wouldn’t stop urging everyone to wake up before the imminent destruction. 

Moses did not live at a time of destruction but was merely close to his death. God therefore showed him a general prophecy of what would happen in the future. There was no point in him admonishing the Israelites to repent.

Moses before his death related to the Israelites the Book of Deuteronomy which contains all Jewish ethics, the future that will befall the people and the people’s immense strengths. The Book of Deuteronomy has an immense power that cannot be imagined or described. 

Moses related the Book of Deuteronomy for the sake of future generations. The Israelites in the desert knew intimately their recent history. They had lived in the desert, studied the Torah, saw the Splitting of the Red Sea and the Giving of the Torah. Moses repeated all these things not for the generation that came out of Egypt, but for the generations to come. This book would accompany them and strengthen the Israelites until the coming of Moshiach. This is the inner purpose of the Book of Deuteronomy.

This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel