Parshas Va'etchanan: A Life Affirming Endorsement

In this week's Torah portion, Va'etchanan, Devarim (Deuteronomy) 3:23-7:11, Moses makes a strong case for God centered principled living to a nation whose destiny will be to forsake it.  

Moses Delivers 

This next generation of Jews are busy preparing for their new adventure in the Promised Land.  They are thinking about where to live, building homes and businesses, raising families, and protecting themselves from enemy attack. Their attention is not on character building, but on nation building.

Moses foresees they will soon lose their understanding of the spiritual aspects of life embodied in Torah law that must accompany them for a successful future. Denied entrance himself, He won't be there to refresh their memory, so he spends a lot of time reminding them of Torah fundamentals before they embark.

He covers a lot of material. He cautions them to curb the tendency to revise the law to suit circumstances or to satisfy personal preferences; to constantly think of God in all things rather than seek other sources of leadership and inspiration; to recognize the unique experience at Mt. Sinai as a signature moment in Jewish history that animates the future of all humanity; to reject idolizing nature in all its beauty and splendor.

He predicts the future collapse of Torah principled living, the exiles and dispersions, the suffering, challenges, heartache and upheaval that will result from replacing Torah guidelines with secular ideologies of all sorts. Moses reminds the people of God's mercies and His promise to keep the covenant with His people in a future time when we repent and renew the covenant.

It's God's Way or the Highway

Deuteronomy Chapter 4:1-3 addresses this tendency for the human ego to assume God's role in human affairs, and the tragedies we invite by doing so. So now, Israel, listen to the rules and ordinances that I am teaching you to observe, in order that you may live and enter and take possession of the land that God, God of your forefathers, is giving you. Do not add anything to what I command you, nor subtract from it, in order to observe the commandments of God, your God, that I am commanding you. You have seen with your own eyes what God did in the incident of Ba’al Pe’or, how God, your God, exterminated from your midst every individual who followed Ba’al Pe’or.

Ba'al Pe'or worship deeply offends the Creator because it includes destroying the Divine image thru child sacrifice and disregards entirely God's authority in human affairs. The Almighty always imposes a penalty of some sort for this egregious secularism. Adding allowances to clear biblical bans and reinterpreting original meaning to accommodate situational ethics, spells trouble.

For Jews, whose right to life is threatened or denied in many countries, agnosticism adds to our problems. For Jews in Israel, whose right to occupy the Land of Israel depends upon a biblical mandate based on Torah moral principles, adopting secular lifestyles means big problems.

In Parshas Va'etchanan, Moses repeats the Ten Commandments and then prays the Shema. The Shema is a central prayer in Judaism that endorses God's supremacy in human affairs. We recite the Shema daily to renew our obligation to surrender in love to all of God's laws, to teach these laws to the next generations, to praise God in our daily routine, to strengthen our connection with Him and to act on His word in all aspects of life.  

Isaiah Offends the Establishment

In our Haftorah this week, Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 40:1–26, Isaiah channels the Divine word of God regarding Judah's corrupted civil and religious policies. He points out that current troubles result from a societal detachment from God. He tells how people suffer from ill advised military actions, unfair tax codes, and religious practices that promote idolatry. 

Isaiah isn't popular with the establishment. He preaches Torah ethics and morals over progressive politics and dangerous religious practices. He arouses antipathy in the ruling elite of his day whose power and authority is threatened by the prophet's calls for a return to dependency on God for sustenance and safety.

Isaiah's words apply equally to today's Jewish leadership, as well as to the ruling establishment in Israel. Only one king, Hezekiah, had the wisdom and temerity to change national priorities to restore God's protection in Judah, pausing for a short time the fall of Israel. Kings before and after Hezekiah ignore or persecute Isaiah. Israel's troubles increase until the nation fails, as predicted.

Israel's Source of Strength

Chapter 40 of Isaiah concludes with an eloquent and timeless reminder of our source of strength. Let's teach this message to our children, friends and neighbors as we navigate turbulent waters that tempt us to rely on our own energy and understanding for resolution, ever making matters worse.

"Do you not know? Have you not heard? An everlasting God is the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth; He neither tires nor wearies; there is no fathoming His understanding. He gives the tired strength, and to him who has no strength, He increases strength. Now youths shall become tired and weary, and young men shall stumble. But those who put their hope in the Lord shall renew [their] vigor, they shall raise wings as eagles; they shall run and not weary, they shall walk and not tire."

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.

Cecily Routman

Cecily Routman is the founder and president of the Jewish Pro-Life Foundation. She opposes abortion homicide in general and among Jews in particular and laments secular policy making in Israel that results in loss of Jewish life and delays the messianic redemption. Cecily envisions a Torah based holy Land of Israel and a world that respects the life of every human being from conception.

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