Dvar Torah for Parshat Devarim

Based on Likutey Halakhot, Hilkhot Netilat Yadayim 6:84

"These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel...after he had defeated Sichon...and Og" (Deuteronomy 1:1; 1:4). Rashi (v.1) tells us that the words were words of reproof. However, rather than openly referring to the various wrongdoings of the Jewish people, Moses merely hinted to them. The reason? K'vodan (literally, their honor) of the Jewish people.

Moses was addressing the Jewish people at the end of their 40-year sojourn in the desert, on the eve of their entry into the Promised Land. It was a little more than a month before his own demise. What message did this great leader, the teacher of all Jewry until today, want to instill in G-d's people as he prepared to leave them?

Moses knew that the Land of Israel was the spiritual soil from which all the latent holiness of every Jew would blossom. He knew also, that the Jews would face two-fold opposition in their attempts to plant themselves in the land. One source of opposition was the 31 Canaanite kings who ruled the land. They represented a seductive spectrum of desires run amok and misguided ways of thinking and living.

The other source was the history of Jewish sin in the desert. The Jews were painfully aware of the tremendous rebellions they had perpetrated against G-d. They felt that as result of those crimes they were unworthy of His love, unworthy of His land. It was only right, they reasoned, that G-d would reject their mitzvot, their attempts at drawing themselves nearer to Him.

Enter Moses. His message to the Jews was: DON'T BE AFRAID! Sichon and Og were tremendous giants who lived at the border of the Promised Land in their role as protectors of the Canaanite kings. The source of their strength was the angels who had fathered them. They were angels who had protested the creation of man. Because they were angels they were unable to grasp that man, by overcoming his physical nature, was in fact stronger than the angels. By defeating Sichon and Og in battle, Moses showed the Jews that one who keeps the Torah CAN overcome the Canaanite kings, and all they represent, as well.

In regard to the Jews' feeling of being distant from G-d Moses reminded them that m'lo kol ha'aretz k'vodo (the entire world is filled with His honor). Even though you have sinned the worst sins, again and again, know: GOD IS WITH YOU, NEAR YOU AND BY YOU! He still loves you. G-d has not rejected you! The proof is, that He is leading your children into the Holy Land despite what you have done. G-d will never reject as long as you make the effort to draw yourself nearer to Him. That's why Moses merely hinted to the Jews' mis-doings because of k'vodan/k'vodo, their honor, G-d's honor, presence and love that still graced them.

Rebbe Nachman summed up these messages when he taught us: THE WHOLE WORLD IS A VERY, VERY NARROW BRIDGE. [In order to pass over safely] THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS: DO NOT MAKE YOURSELF AFRAID!

Agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!