Va'etchanan -- Generational Arcs

This entry is this substack’s original intent: Raf’s Dvar/Riff Torah.

Select Parsha Highlights (from 2023’s Va’etchanan)

The simple level is a recap of the approach to the Land and recounting the assignment of Joshua, camping across of Beth Peor, reminders, remembering those who left to follow Baal Peor, more reminders, recounting the Tablet delivery, and admonitions to watch oneself closely, and to avoid making graven images.

And much more...

כה: אֶעְבְּרָה־נָּ֗א וְאֶרְאֶה֙ אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַטּוֹבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּעֵ֣בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן הָהָ֥ר הַטּ֛וֹב הַזֶּ֖ה וְהַלְּבָנֹֽן׃
[Moses to G-d:] Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan, that good hill country, and the Lebanon.”
כו: וַיִּתְעַבֵּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֥ה בִּי֙ לְמַ֣עַנְכֶ֔ם וְלֹ֥א שָׁמַ֖ע אֵלָ֑י וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֤ה אֵלַי֙ רַב־לָ֔ךְ אַל־תּ֗וֹסֶף דַּבֵּ֥ר אֵלַ֛י ע֖וֹד בַּדָּבָ֥ר הַזֶּֽה
But GOD was wrathful with me [Moses] on your [the Tribe of Israel’s] account and would not listen to me. GOD said to me, “Enough! Never speak to Me of this matter again!

Anger is a tough one. What does the Mishnah say?

רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, יְהִי כְבוֹד חֲבֵרְךָ חָבִיב עָלֶיךָ כְּשֶׁלָּךְ, וְאַל תְּהִי נוֹחַ לִכְעֹס
[אבות - ב:י]
Rabbi Eliezer said: Let the honor of your friend be as dear to you as your own; And be not easily provoked to anger

I was fortunate to go through Avot a number of times: Yoela and Alma chose to learn with me, and we did Avot. Rivy Kletenik’s shiurim on Avot every year during Sefirat Ha-Omer are always with me.

The parsha and Mishnah use different words for anger: The Mishnah uses a word that spans rabbinic and modern Hebrew: לכעס. The scriptural word, in the Parsha is הִתְעַבֵּר - to be furious, angry. A contemporary reader might well read the phrase וַיִּתְעַבֵּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֥ה בִּי—G-d was angry with me—as “G-d was pregnant with anger toward me.” The root of the scriptural word is ע.ב.ר. the basis of להיתעבר – to impregnate; and עובר — fetus, embryo.

If I composite the Mishnaic and scriptural verses, where do I land?

I ask: Does the Torah recount every interaction of G-d and Moses? Is it reasonable to imagine incidents not transcribed? That dialogs of a few scriptural lines may have lasted hours? Days?

If I may so imagine, וַיִּתְעַבֵּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֥ה בִּי -- G-d was angry with me -- becomes easier to digest. That Moses--after so many travails and efforts-on-the-edge-of-failure--would want to enter the Land seems natural. A sensible reward. A logical consequence.

That this desire would be explicit or implicit in every exchange is natural.

Anger, I think, comes from two places.

There are those with anger in their nature. Who wake up angry. Who itch for a fight.

And there are those who express anger at times. Not daily. Not weekly. Once in awhile.

They are, often, essentially prodded to anger. Their anger comes from a place of: Did you not hear me? I answered this question. Once. Twice. A number of times. Your behavior makes it seem you are ignoring me. Or that you are not making the effort to hear me. That behavior makes me angry.

Is this what is under G-d’s anger?

A common understanding is that Moses lost the privilege of entering the Land when he became angry with the Tribe and struck the rock. The sin may have been hitting the rock instead of touching it (as directed by G-d). The sin may have been losing his cool at the Tribe (losing one’s cool at a mass of very thirsty people seems misplaced). Moses does seem angry:

וַיֹּ֣אמֶר לָהֶ֗ם שִׁמְעוּ־נָא֙ הַמֹּרִ֔ים הֲמִן־הַסֶּ֣לַע הַזֶּ֔ה נוֹצִ֥יא לָכֶ֖ם מָֽיִם
“Listen, you rebels, shall we get water for you out of this rock?” [JPS 2023, במדבר כ:י]

It seems wrong to get angry at someone who is hungry or thirsty. Did Moses live as the Tribe, or did he have special supplies?

Provisions strongly impact disposition... (c.f. “hangry”— עַצְבָּנִי מֵרָעָב or רעב-עצבני)

The Ten Commandments are restated, including:

...וְלֹ֥א תַחְמֹ֖ד אֵ֣שֶׁת רֵעֶ֑ךָ
You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife. And you shall not crave your neighbor’s house, or field, or male or female slave, or ox, or donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.

My Mother often invoked “Thou shalt not covet!” in reference to ... anything. She understood both sides of the coin: Self knowledge, on one side, and satisfaction/contentment with what you have on the other.

I estimate that this came to my mother from her father. She mirrored so much of him. With joy. Both of them were of the generations of Jews in America who saw prosperity rise as discrimination fell. Together, those are the ingredients of opportunity.

In the Parshat Hashavua, Moses declaims to the Tribe. In that declamation are the admonitions of the Ten Commandments and recounting key events on the way. It has been a journey from the difficulties and trauma of Mitzraim/Egypt to freedom and opportunity in Canaan.

This seems to mirror the arc of my grandparents’ generation, who left the poverty and oppression of Tzarist Russia for freedom and opportunity in America.

Freedom and opportunity, are, of course, relative.

And nothing is free. There is always a cost, of some kind.

The Tribe under Moses moved to the leadership of Joshua. Subsequent generations waxed and waned. Flourished and suffered. Lived under freedom and oppression. Good eras and evil.

Ditto the generations from my grandparents on?

(Thanks to A.K.)