We are now in Vaetchanan, the second parashah of Devarim, where Moshe’s message is very strong because he knows his days are at an end. The first generation had gone, and he is now reminding the second generation that their parents had been afraid to hear directly from the Creator and pleased with him to be their intermediary, acting in the place of God, almost like a god. This is not new. At the beginning of humanity, we had already begun to create our own gods. Moses lived at a time when every nation had its own territorial gods, so when the people moved to another area, they simply changed gods. Israel’s God, however, was not a local god that could be seen and touched; He was the invisible God who went with the people wherever they travelled. The other nations knew that Israel had something that no one else had: the protection of the Creator. They saw that with Bilaam.
The gods of all the other nations needed to be appeased, and demanded that the people fear them, while the God of Israel taught loyalty, reverence and honour. His people, who represented Him, were to be Ohr la Goyim, a light to the nations. Avinu Abraham was told that all the nations of the world would be blessed by Israel. We were given the Torah, the only true light, the basis for every world constitution, and providing justice for everyone. But is Israel being that light today? Sadly, that is not the case. They prefer to be like other nations rather than be a living example of how nations should behave.
Moses’ message is highly applicable in these chaotic times, as we are heading toward self-destruction. Nation against nation and religion against religion. We are our own worst enemies. Supposed liberal thinkers allow everyone to do whatever they want in what is called the “Politics of Appeasement.” We sacrifice our values or beliefs in order to be nice to others in the hopes that they will not kill us. These “supposedly appeased” people, when offered a finger, take a hand; when given a hand, they take an arm, until finally they want the entire body. They want society to change according to their understanding. Today, one group of people say that it’s ok to believe whatever you want since all roads lead to God, while others, who are more fanatic, cry out, “My god is better than your god,” and “if you don’t follow my god, I’ll kill you”. This is why it’s so important for us to open our eyes and stop being naïve in this Western world by thinking appeasement works.
The key lies in Deut. 4: 5 “Look, as the LORD my God commanded me, I have taught you chukkim (Ordinances) and Mishpatim (customs), for you to observe in the country where you are going to take possession. 6 Keep them, put them into practice, and other peoples will admire your wisdom and prudence. Once they know what all these ordinances are, they will exclaim, “No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation!” 7And indeed, what great nation has its gods as near as the LORD our God is to us whenever we call to him? 8 And what great nation has Chukkim and Mishpatim as upright as the entirety of this Torah which I am laying down for you today?”
Moses is exhorting this generation to follow the Word of God; not to twist it or to add anything to it, for that only makes it difficult to come to the Creator. The God who spoke to the people spoke to them in a language they understood; it is not complicated. We need to follow what He said, not what others say He said! Instead, we are constantly telling others what He really meant. Today there is a marketplace where people can pick and choose the religion that offers the greatest benefits for them as if they were the center of the universe. We have forgotten that God is the center. There may be a multitude of religions, but there is only one God. Moses cries out in Chapter 6, “Shema Israel, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad. Hear o Israel, the LORD is our GOD, the LORD is ONE.” Religions have developed from previous interpretations and theological ideas, but we don’t need to be rocket scientists to understand what the Creator is saying here… there is no other God besides me. I am the only One; the others don’t exist. Moses was reminding them that they were coming out of the nations who believed in anything, and now they needed to stop.
Is Israel united as a nation today? Is everyone following the Creator? The answer is no… instead, we are full of hocus-pocus and superstition. Each one claims theirs is the right way to do things, as if the Creator is more interested in how many steps we take than in what is in our hearts. He is not fooled by appearances. We say one thing and do the opposite; we are in a generation where hypocrisy is a virtue and honesty is a vice; a generation of cosmetics. We are condemned for being honest and elevated for being dishonest. We live in a world of political, theological, and sociological correctness! The Word of God is now considered wrong while the word of man is right. That is why there is such chaos, but remember, let’s be careful not to point a finger at anyone, since three are pointing back at us. The only people who can walk close to God are those who humble themselves before Him, not stuck up.
Moses is telling this second generation not to make living with the Creator difficult, but rather to know that His arms are always open for us to come directly to Him. We don’t need to bribe Him or buy Him like the other gods. Our God knows us better than we know ourselves. We become confused by what all the religions tell us, but if we read the Words that our GOD spoke on Mount Sinai, we won’t find most of what they say. They justify their doctrines by appealing to the idea of interpretation. I am a simple person, and His Words are simple.
Today we are allowing people who are wrong to think that they are right and can do whatever they want. They consider those of us who follow the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as weak. Whether they like it or not, the three major religions, Rabbinic Judaism, Christianity and Islam, are all based on the Torah, but none of these three emphasize a true “relationship” with the Creator; they are all man-made religions. True Torah, the direct revelation of the Creator, is found in Biblical Judaism and belongs to all humanity.
The failure of Israel was not that they weren’t following the true GOD; rather, they needed to be “a light to the nations”. Our father Abraham was told, “Whoever curses you will be cursed, and whoever blesses you will be blessed”. Our Creator doesn’t change His mind. We represent the Creator, and if we are doing the opposite of what He said to do, or insist that He committed a mistake, and we change His words, there are consequences. Vaetchanan tells us that the nations will call us wise; they will exalt us because of the righteous teachings we have received from the Creator. Today we correct Him with things like, God didn’t create male and female, or He never really said that we can’t murder anyone.
Here in chapter 5, Moses repeats the “Ten Words” or the Ten Commandments as our foundation of life. If we follow just these, we have everything we need. The Mitzvot, Chukkim and Mishpatim will be developed until the end of Devarim. The first three commandments are Mitzvot and express our relationship with Him. In other words, if we do not have a good relationship with the Creator, how can we have one with ourselves and others? Did we create ourselves, or are we aliens? We are uniquely created by Him, and I don’t need to imitate anyone else. The first states that not only is He a God of history, but He also shows His power by defeating all man-made gods. The second one tells us not to make a man into a god or an animal – we don’t come from monkeys or anything in nature… i.e., pantheism. Third, we are not to use his name in vain. This has nothing to do with not pronouncing His name; rather, we mustn’t use the Name of God for something that is not true or not coming from Him. The fact that we cannot express the name YHVH out loud, even when we are praying, is a religious invention.
The fourth and fifth commandments are Chukkim, ordinances which are to be obeyed without being clearly understood. The fourth is the Shabbat, given for our sake, for our own good, not for GOD’s. Does God need our Shabbat? It’s a time to enjoy His Shalom with family and friends. Don’t worry, our problems will still be there the next day. The Fifth Commandment is to honour father and mother in order to extend our life. As a counsellor, I have seen many sad cases where children say their parents don’t deserve their respect or honour. I urge them to be grateful to their parents for the gift of life. Our Creator will deal with our parents. Honouring them represents honouring Him. If we cross that line, we destroy ourselves.
The last five commandments are about our relationship with others around us. These are mishpatim, judgements, basic human rights. He begins with “Do not murder,” which is disrespect for human life. The fact is that my rights end where the rights of another begin. This enhances society. Otherwise, society is destroyed. They teach us to love and honour the Creator and to show respect toward others. We were not called to be judges. He is the only Judge. We can offer others our opinion on their behaviour, but it’s up to them to decide what to do. Yeshua said, “There is no worse blind than the one who doesn’t want to see or worse deaf than the one who doesn’t want to hear”. They alone will face the consequences.
Moses gave the Ten to us to share with others, saying: ” I have taught you chukkim (Ordinances) and Mishpatim (customs), for you to observe in the country where you are going to possess. Keep them, put them into practice, and other peoples will admire your wisdom and prudence. Once they know what all these ordinances are, they will exclaim, “No other people is as wise and prudent as this great nation!” How can they know if we don’t show them?
Is the Torah only for us? Is the Creator only for Israel? There is only one God for all humanity. Why do all the religious leaders say that the Torah is only for the Jews? They are liberated; they are no longer “under the Law”; but under grace! Grace to do whatever you want to do? Grace to say I no longer need to obey the Creator and now I can do whatever I want because someone else paid for my sins? That is being shameless, utilitarian. How many of us use others or God to satisfy our own needs? How many of us only remember the Creator when we are in need? We are heading toward self-destruction because we trust in ourselves rather than in the Creator.
Throughout history, generation after generation, we have demonstrated that we are not trustworthy. Let us be careful when we say that one religion is better than any other. When we blurt out that Islam is barbaric, let’s not close our eyes to the bloodthirsty history of Christianity – the Holocaust, the Pogroms, and the Inquisition all done under the banner of the cross. Even in Judaism, there have been zealots who claim to be a modern-day Pinchas. I do not condone terrorism, but hating the terrorists doesn’t make it right. Hatred doesn’t cure hatred. It is sad that the Palestinians are teaching their children from birth to hate us. When Golda Meir met President Sadat of Egypt, she said, “When peace comes we will perhaps in time be able to forgive the Arabs for killing our sons, but it will be harder for us to forgive them for having forced us to kill their sons.”
Moses pleaded with us to humble ourselves, to return to the God of Israel (teshuva) and to follow His Ten Sayings. We are in such a chaotic situation in the world that only the Creator Himself can repair the damage we have done to this planet. May He do it sooner rather than later.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Netanel ben Yochanan (Ranebi Z”l)