Holding Fast
This week we emerge from the destitution of Tisha Be鈥檃v, the fast day that commemorates the destruction of the Temples, and receive the gift of Shabbat Nahamu, the Shabbat of our being comforted. 谞址讞植诪讜旨 谞址讞植诪讜旨 注址诪旨执讬 讬止讗诪址专 讗直诇止讛值讬讻侄诐, 鈥淐omfort, oh comfort My people, Says your God鈥� (Isaiah 40:1). What is comfort? One way of understanding the essence of comfort is by engaging with Moshe Rabbenu (our teacher, Moses) in this week鈥檚 parashah.
All of Torah is shaped by the knowledge of where the story ends鈥攏ot with the people of Israel entering the Land, but with them situated on the other side of the Jordan. They will enter the Land in the book of Joshua, but that is not part of the Torah. The Torah ends with the not yet, with the longing, with an experience of incompletion. There are profound theological implications to this ending. We don鈥檛 focus on triumph, on everything being right. We make space for brokenness. And perhaps the story of yetziat Mitzrayim, being redeemed from Egypt, is told in this way to keep us connected to the personal story of Moshe Rabbenu. It is Moshe Rabbenu who is most acutely affected by not being able to enter the Land. In this week鈥檚 parashah we encounter Moshe鈥檚 anguish in a powerful way. The parashah begins with his plea:
讜指讗侄转职讞址谞旨址谉 讗侄诇志讬职讛讜指讛 讘旨指注值转 讛址讛执讜讗 诇值讗诪止专變
I pleaded with the LORD at that time, saying, 鈥淥 Lord GOD, You who let Your servant see the first works of Your greatness and Your mighty hand, You whose powerful deeds no god in heaven or on earth can equal! 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.鈥� (Deut. 3:23鈥�25)
Moses pleaded with God. 痴补鈥檈迟-丑补苍苍补苍. What鈥檚 the meaning of 痴补鈥檈迟-丑补苍苍补苍? Midrash Tanhuma (痴补鈥檈迟-丑补苍苍补苍 3:1) acknowledges that prayer is called by many names and asks why Moshe prayed in the language of 鈥�tahanunim鈥濃�攃onsolation/comfort. This is because God doesn鈥檛 owe God鈥檚 creatures anything, 鈥渞ather I give it to them as a free gift.鈥� We learn this from Exodus 33, when Moses pleads to see God鈥檚 presence, God responds by saying: 鈥淚 will offer grace when I offer grace (hanoti) and have compassion when I have compassion.鈥� The word for pleading鈥�et-hannan鈥攁nd the word for consolation鈥�tahanunim鈥攁nd the word for grace鈥�hen鈥攕hare root letters, helping us to understand that the choice of verb conveys that Moshe is hoping his pleading will evoke God’s grace, and that will be the source of Moshe鈥檚 comfort. Moshe uses the word v补鈥檈迟-丑补苍苍补苍 to say: ten li hinam, please give me a free gift.
Moshe has a strong idea about what that gift needs to be: being allowed to go into the Land. But God tells Moshe not to speak of this again. 鈥淏ut the LORD was wrathful with me on your account and would not listen to me. The LORD said to me, 鈥楻av lakh, Enough! Never speak to Me of this matter again!鈥欌�� (Deut. 3:26).
The Bekhor Shor, the French Rabbi Joseph ben Isaac, understands God鈥檚 admonition as follows: 鈥淚鈥檝e done enough miracles for you. Leave space for others to feel that they have been distinguished by me. Because there won鈥檛 be an end to what you want me to do for you. After you enter the Land, you will then ask to see the Temple.鈥� This is a reverse Dayyenu, the song that proclaims, 鈥渋t would have been enough鈥� that we sing at the Passover seder. Here, God warns, there will never be enough. The only way for there to be enough is if you see that this, even in it not being enough, is enough.
God is instructing Moshe to see the abundance. God is helping Moshe to cultivate a sense of gratitude in the face of brokenness. The comfort comes in seeing the gifts that exist even in the brokenness. The hen, the grace, the free gift, does not depend on reaching the Land. It is already possessed by you. When God tells Moshe that he can see the Land from where he is, God teaches him that the gift, the abundance, doesn鈥檛 need to look like what he thought鈥攁nd hoped鈥攊t would look like. If we can find a way to cultivate gratitude, to find ways to affirm rav lakh, enough, then we can experience the hen/grace in our lives. And this is where we can find comfort.
In this week鈥檚 haftarah, the prophetic reading, we find another layer of teaching about comfort, in the words of the prophet Isaiah: 鈥淎 voice rings out: 鈥楶roclaim!鈥� Another asks, 鈥榃hat shall I proclaim?鈥� 鈥楢ll flesh is grass, all its goodness like flowers of the field: grass withers, flowers fade when the breath of the LORD blows on them. Indeed, man is but grass: grass withers, flowers fade鈥攂ut the word of our God is always fulfilled!鈥欌�� (Isaiah 40:6鈥�8). These words are offered as comfort, so the question is, what is comforting about them? For me, it鈥檚 the honest acknowledgement of the fragility of life, along with the faith that God鈥檚 word鈥攁nd God鈥檚 self鈥攊s eternal. There鈥檚 an invitation to depend on the largeness and permanence of the divine to help us experience the abundance. Each individual life withers and fades, but we are all held in the divine abundance which endures forever.
A verse in our parshah captures this beautifully: 讜职讗址转旨侄诐 讛址讚旨职讘值拽执讬诐 讘旨址讬讛讜指讛 讗直诇止讛值讬讻侄诐 讞址讬旨执讬诐 讻旨只诇旨职讻侄诐 讛址讬旨讜止诐, 鈥渨hile you, who held fast to the LORD your God, are all alive today鈥� (Deut. 4:4). I love the image of holding fast to God. There鈥檚 an urgency here. And the promise that life鈥攁bundant life鈥攊s tied not to achievement, to reaching the Land, but to being in relationship with that which is eternal. We say this verse each time we are about to read from the sefer Torah, the Torah scroll, in community. As a community we can help one another to hold fast. Coming together as a community, for the sake of holding fast, fosters deep possibilities for comfort.
The publication and distribution of the JTS Commentary are made possible by a generous grant from Rita Dee (锄鈥漧) and Harold Hassenfeld (锄鈥漧).
