From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, August 12, 2005 1:40
AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Devorim,
5765
Straight
from the Heart
By
Rabbi Joshua (heartily known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
Rabbi
Mordechai Pinchos Teitz, was the rabbinic leader of the Orthodox Jewish
community of Elizabeth, New Jersey, and also a pioneer radio broadcaster who
founded and delivered, for several decades, the weekly program Daf HaShovua,
which was the first Talmud class ever heard over radio in America. In the later
years of his life, Rabbi Teitz had severe throat problems, to the extent that
his doctor told him not to speak publicly. Despite these strict orders, however,
he decided to deliver a talk at a simcha, or joyous occasion, that he was
attending. He prefaced his remarks by saying that even though his doctor had
given him strict orders not to speak publicly, he had no fear that any harm
would come to him from his words, because they would be coming from the heart.
This remark, although its medical merits may be open to question, can help us
understand the opening sections of Moshe's farewell address to the Jewish
nation, as recorded in this week's parsha.
In parshas Devorim,
Moshe begins his farewell address to the nation by recounting some of the events
that occurred since he was sent by God to be their leader. We mentioned in last
year's Netvort to parshas Devorim (available at Torahheights.com) that Moshe's
long oration, which lasted thirty-six days, from the first of Shevat until his
death on the seventh of Adar, poses a great difficulty for the commentators.
This is especially so in light of the Talmudic statement that Moshe said the
section of blessings and curses in the book of Devorim ‘from his own mouth.’
Some commentators explain this to mean that whereas, in regard to the rest of
the Torah, God spoke directly through Moshe's mouth, meaning that Moshe
delivered God's message to the people at the same time that he received it, in
regard to the section of blessings and curses in the book of Devorim, Moshe
first heard God's message, and then delivered it to the people. Other
commentators, understanding this Talmudic statement differently, and in a
broader sense, explain it to mean that the entire book of Devorim was said by
Moshe on his own to the Jewish nation, albeit through divine inspiration, and
was later said over to him by God to be written in the Torah as he had delivered
it. However we understand this Talmudic statement, it certainly tells us that
Moshe did not suffer from a lack of communication skills. This seems to be in
conflict with what Moshe himself told God when He first asked him to speak to
the Jewish people, as recorded in parshas Shemos and again in parshas Vaeira.
There, Moshe told God "I am not a man of words….. I am heavy of mouth and heavy
of speech" (Shemos 4:10). Last year we offered an approach that reconciles these
seemingly contradictory sources, but I would now like to suggest a different
approach based on a comment of Rabbi Avrohom Shmuel Binyomin Sofer, known as the
Kesav Sofer, on this week's parsha.
The Kesav Sofer cites the
Midrash Rabbah (Devorim 1:2) which relates the opening words of parshas Devorim,
" These are the words (that Moshe spoke)," to a verse in Mishlei (28:23), " He
who rebukes a man shall in the end find more favor than he that flattered with
the tongue." The midrash explains that Moshe is the one who rebuked Yisroel, and
he found more favor in their eyes, in the end, than did Bila'am, who flattered
them but eventually caused them to sin. The Kesav Sofer explains that the people
accepted Moshe's words, despite the fact that he had given testimony on himself
that he was not a man of words, because his words came from the heart, and
therefore entered into the heart. One is reminded here of the story concerning
Rabi Avrohom Kalmanowitz of the Mir yeshiva in Brooklyn, who approached Henry
Morgenthau, Jewish Secretary of the Treasury in the administration of FDR during
World War Two and asked him to exercise his influence on the president to help
rescue the Jews of Europe. Morgenthau was spurred into action, and his efforts
helped create, in 1944, the War Refugee Board, which was instrumental in saving,
by one estimation, perhaps 100,000 Jews from Nazi clutches. He later remarked
that although he did not comprehend the Yiddish language in which Rabbi
Kalmanovitz spoke, he understood everything he said, because of the emotional,
heartfelt way in which he delivered his message. In the case of message, also,
according to the Kesav Sofer, Moshe's words came from the heart, and, therefore,
the people understood what he was saying, despite what may perhaps be described
as his throat condition.
Based on the Kesav Sofer's
explanation of the reason for the effectiveness of Moshe's oration, we can
understand what seems to be an interruption in the flow of his message. Moshe
begins his words of rebuke to the people by telling them that the trip to the
Holy Land should really have lasted only eleven days, but they ended up
traveling in the wilderness for forty years, due to their sins. Now, however, he
tells them, they are ready to enter the land. At this point, Moshe describes the
process of choosing judges to handle any cases of litigation that may arise
among them. Why did Moshe choose this moment to mention this entire episode?
What did the appointment of judges have to do with what he was in the middle of
telling them? Rabbi Shlomo Goren, in his Toras Hamikra, explains this apparent
interruption by referring to the Talmudic statement that the appointment of
proper judges is worthy of keeping the Jewish nation alive and settling them
upon the Holy Land (see Rashi to Devorim, 16:20). The purpose of a judicial
system is to maintain peace among the nation, and in order for the Jewish people
to endure in the land, they must care for each other and work together as a
unit. Only judges who had a feeling of love for their people would be able to
adjudicate their disputes in a manner that would maintain the cohesiveness of
the unit. Perhaps, then, Moshe was offering himself as an example of how a judge
should deal with the people. Although Moshe spoke words of rebuke to them, he
did it in a way that made his inner feeling of love for them palpable, and, in
that way, his rebuke was accepted. So, too, the judges needed to approach their
task of judging cases in way that demonstrated their desire to bring peace to
all involved in their adjudication.
Actually, the section of
appointing judges that Moshe mentions during his oration was already recorded,
with some differences in detail, in parshas Yisro, when Moshe's father-in-law,
suggested that he set up such a system. The Torah there tells us that this
incident occurred 'on the next day,' (Shemos 15:13) which the midrash, cited by
Rashi there, explains to mean the day after Yom Kippur. Rav Yosef Dov
Soloveitchik, zt"l, explained this to mean that when a judge considers a case,
he must have in mind the experience of Yom Kippur. Just as we all hope that, on
Yom Kippur, God will judge us with mercy, and not on the basis of strict
justice, so, too, should the judge strive to judge the cases he handles in this
way. In this spirit, said Rav Soloveitchik, the Talmud urges judges to use the
method of 'peshara,' or judicial compromise, in judging cases, rather than
strict justice, in order to give consideration to the human weaknesses of both
sides, and arrive at an amicable solution. It was, then, this approach to
judging the nation that Moshe wished to inculcate in the men he appointed, so
that they would follow his example of sincerity and love in approaching the
problems that were certain to confront them upon entering the land.
Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman)
with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.
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