Aug 13/05 - Shabbat Devarim

Commentary by Chazzan Aníbal Mass

This week, we start the book of Deuteronomy. It’s interesting to note that Deuteronomy repeats the Ten Commandments that had already been pronounced in the book of Exodus. However, the most curious thing is that they were not only repeated, but rather were presented with changes in their content that invite us into a deep study of the reason for these changes. For example, while in the book of Exodus the reason for Shabbat is the creation of the world, in Deuteronomy Moses tells the Israelites that the reason is that they were slaves in Egypt and God liberated them.

What happened with Moses? Did he make a mistake? Did he change the Biblical text after God commanded: “Don't add or remove anything from what I order you”? Or maybe he was trying to teach us something ...

As an example, let us take the case of our young B’nai/B’not Mitzvah. These young people study in an elementary school. In a few years their lives will change dramatically: they will move on to high school, and then they will probably go to university, get their first job, drive a car, etc. Every year they will gain some new experiences to help them develop into the adults that we expect them to become.

Knowing all that these boys and girls will learn during the coming years, wouldn’t it be sad if they decided to stop having those experiences in their lives?

However, some people never learn more about their Judaism than what they learned when they were little kids. They grow in any area of their lives except in their understanding of their religion, their culture, their traditions, their God. This area usually remains, on a best case scenario, at a “teenage” level. They believe that they can’t learn anything new.

What happens, my friends, is that we are not able to bring new meanings to things we have already learned. We don't make the effort of complementing our life experiences with the messages of the Torah. Throughout the years, as our minds grow in discernment and as our experiences deepen, we will be able to discover new meanings in our Judaism.

Now let’s go back to Moses “change” between Exodus and Deuteronomy. When the Ten Commandments were given at Sinai, the spirituality of the Israelites was at a peak due to the direct presence of the Divinity. Moses understood that, for them, Shabbat was the most meaningful way to remember the miracle of Creation. For the next generation of Deuteronomy, born in freedom, the most meaningful way to experience Shabbat was to remember that their parents were slaves and they didn’t have the chance to observe it.

We are witnesses of the greatness of Moses: he is able to find new messages in old rituals, making them more significant in terms of the new experiences of his people. Moses doesn't eliminate the old rituals, but simply teaches us to find in them a significance, appropriate to our time, that inspires and fulfills our spiritual needs.

We have lived through unimaginable experiences for thousands of years. For that reason, my friends, if we seek to preserve our Judaism for many thousands of years more, we should assume the challenge of finding sense in our tradition, and we can only achieve that through serious study of our Torah and the constant practice of our rituals.

Shabbat Shalom.