THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK:
A famous rebbe once stated that the opening phrase of the
parashah, "These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel," is meant
to teach that words of Torah should always be regarded as something new and
exciting. "They should be new in your eyes every day," says Rashi.
Ben Bag Bag says, "Turn it over, turn it over again, for everything is
within it. Look into it and become gray haired and old in it." (m.Avot
5:22)
THIS WEEK'S TORAH PORTION:
Devarim (דברים | Words)
Torah: Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22
Haftarah: Isaiah 1:1-27
Gospel: Mark 14:1-16
These are the Words
The book of Deuteronomy begins saying, "These are
the words which Moses spoke to all Israel..." (Deuteronomy 1:1) The Hebrew
for "words" is devarim (דברים), hence the traditional Hebrew name of
the book. The words of Deuteronomy are, in many ways, simply Moses' recapitulation
of the Torah, hence the common name Deuteronomy, which derives from the Greek
words for repetition of the law.
A famous rebbe once stated that the opening phrase of the
parashah, "These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel," is
meant to teach that words of Torah should always be regarded as something new
and exciting. "They should be new in your eyes every day," says
Rashi.1 This means that one should never consider himself to be beyond learning
Torah. If the Torah is really the words of the living God, then it continues to
impart revelation regardless of how many times a person has read it. It is
always new. So it is when Moses recapitulated the Torah in the words of
Deuteronomy, it was the same Torah, and yet it was also new and fresh.
Yeshua is the prophet like Moses. He is also the teacher
like Moses. When Yeshua taught Torah, He did so effortlessly. Torah rolled out
of Him. Yeshua taught Torah so naturally that Bible readers unfamiliar with the
Torah scarcely ever realize that He was doing it. He never formally announced
to His disciples, "Gather around, we are going to learn some Torah
now." Instead, all of His words and teachings were pure Torah, insights
into Torah, interpretations on Torah and implications of Torah. It was the same
Torah Moses received at Sinai and spoke at the Jordan, but it was ever new in
the mouth of the Master. The words of Yeshua are pure Torah, like the words of
Moses beside the Jordan. They are the words of life, living water springing
forth. Turn them over and turn them over again. Everything is in them.
Yeshua's disciples knew the Torah, too. They had grown up
with the Torah. Yet they did not always see it as He saw it. It was not always
new in their eyes every day. After His resurrection, "He opened their
minds to understand the Scriptures." (Luke 24:45)
The Spirit of Yeshua is still with His disciples. He
still opens our minds and makes the Torah new in our eyes. He told His
disciples, "Every scribe [of Torah] who has become a disciple of the
kingdom of heaven is like a head of a household, who brings out of his treasure
things new and old." (Matthew 13:52)
Endnotes
1. Rashi on Deuteronomy 26:16.
-First Fruits of Zion
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