A God So Close, and Laws So Righteous: Moses Challenge (and Promise)

Transcription

1 A God So Close, and Laws So Righteous: Moses Challenge (and Promise) Rabbi Shai Held According to Deuteronomy, Israel s unique God has given it unique laws. If Israel will only follow them, it will be recognized as unique among the nations. 1 Seeking to inspire obedience to the law, Moses offers three arguments on its behalf: first, that the nations will recognize Israel s wisdom and greatness (4:6); second, that God is (and presumably will remain) near (4:7); and third, that the laws themselves are righteous (4:8). 2 Analyzing each of Moses arguments in turn can teach us a great deal about the theological vision of Deuteronomy, and of the Torah more broadly. Moses declares to the people, See, I am imparting to you laws and rules, as the Lord my God has commanded me, for you to abide by in the land that you are about to enter and occupy. Observe them faithfully, for that will be a proof of your wisdom and discernment to other Israel s unique God has given it unique laws. peoples, who on hearing of all these laws will say, Surely that great nation (ha-goy ha-gadol) is a wise and discerning people 1 Cf. Moshe Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1-11 (1991), p Weinfeld writes that according to these verses, Israel is a great nation that has an extraordinary God (close to His nation) and extraordinary laws. 2 Richard D. Nelson, Deuteronomy: A Commentary (2002), p

2 (4:5-6). The twice-repeated phrase wise and discerning is extremely suggestive: When Moses appoints judges, he searches for men who are wise, discerning (hakhamim u-nevonim), and experienced (1:13). Similarly, Isaiah envisions a future ruler for Israel who will have a spirit of wisdom and discernment (ru ah hokhmah u-vinah) alight upon him (Isaiah 11:2). When Joseph is appointed to manage Pharaoh s affairs, it is because he is discerning and wise (navon ve-hacham) (Genesis 41:33, 39); likewise, Solomon s uniqueness is understood as a function of his having a wise and discerning (hakham ve-navon) heart (1 Kings 3:12). Since greatness usually reserved for kings and rulers is here attributed to Israel as a whole, Bible scholar Richard Nelson concludes that Deuteronomic law represents a democratization of the special quality that enables just government. 3 Crucially, the wisdom and discernment for which Israel is to be known appear to be thoroughly worldly qualities. When Joseph is appointed viceroy over Egypt, after all, it is not for being pious or orthodox, but for being effective in the ways of the world. The laws that God gives Israel, then, will not just render it a holy community; they will also enable it to flourish in concrete, practical terms. For this text, Walter Brueggemann writes, it is important that the celebration of Israel is not for some narrow, ghettoized religious passion, but for effectiveness by the norms of the nations. 4 At first glance, it might seem odd of Moses to refer to Israel as a great nation; after all, he will soon remind his hearers that they are the smallest of peoples (7:7). In an understated way, 3 Nelson. Deuteronomy, p. 65. Cf. also Georg Braulik, Wisdom, Divine Presence and Law: Reflections on the Kerygma of Deut 4:5-8, in The Theology of Deuteronomy: Collected Essays of Georg Braulik, O.S.B. (1994), pp. 1-25; relevant passage is on pp Walter Brueggemann, Deuteronomy (2001), p

3 Moses here teaches Israel a critical lesson: Although numerical growth may be a sign of blessing, 5 it is surely no guarantee of virtue. Sometimes demographic success is a sign only of demographic success. In any case, true greatness is not ultimately measured by population studies. What is at issue in our verse, Richard Nelson explains, is not numerical but religious and ethical greatness. 6 One can be numerically great and religiously bankrupt; one can be numerically tiny and religiously great. The mark of genuine greatness is wisdom and discernment: Israel achieves its greatness by making the wise choice to obey God s laws. 7 The book of Proverbs expresses the same tension. On the one hand, we learn that a numerous people is the glory of a king; without a nation a ruler is ruined (Proverbs 14:28) for some things at least, numbers do matter. Yet the text quickly adds that righteousness 5 Cf., e.g., the use of the phrase goy gadol in Deuteronomy 26:5. 6 Nelson, Deuteronomy, p. 65. Weinfeld states simply that in our verse, great nation is intended in the spiritual sense. Weinfeld, Deuteronomy 1-11, p But cf. Jack Lundbom, who takes great nation to refer to name and reputation. Jack R. Lundbom, Deuteronomy: A Commentary (2013), p. 238; and cf., similarly, Braulik, Wisdom, Divine Presence and Law, p Jeffrey Tigay notes that it is not the laws themselves that will show Israel s wisdom; they are the product of God s wisdom, not Israel s (though admittedly the nations might not realize that). Jeffrey H. Tigay, Deuteronomy (2003), p. 351, n26. I am not sure whether there needs to be a tension (or a contradiction) between taking wisdom and discernment to refer to the decision to obey God s rules, on the one hand, and taking it to refer to worldly abilities, on the other. It may simply be that the former is what enables the latter. 3

4 Righteousness matters at least as much as demographics. exalts a nation; sin is a reproach to any people (14:34). 8 Righteousness matters at least as much as demographics. Moses lays out his second claim on behalf of fealty to the law: For what great nation is there that has a god so close at hand as is the Lord our God whenever we call upon Him? (4:7). At times in Tanakh God s closeness to Israel is expressed as a hope. Thus, King Solomon, for example, prays: May Your eyes be open to the supplication of Your servant and the supplication of Your people Israel, and may you heed them whenever they call upon you (1 Kings 52:8). At other times, God s closeness is treated as a fact, a source of profound confidence that the righteous will not be abandoned: The Lord is near to all who call to Him, to all who call Him with sincerity (Psalm 145:18). Confidence in God s innate nearness challenges the classic ideology of images, one purpose of which was to guarantee the nearness and availability of the god represented. 9 Other nations seek to bring their god/gods near with idols, 10 but Israel has no need for such intermediaries. For Deuteronomy, in other words, it is not just that Israel is prohibited from making images of God; it is also that Israel has no need for images because its God is so close at hand. For some later 8 On the relationship between these two verses, cf. Roland Murphy, Proverbs (1998), p. 107; and Christine R. Yoder, Proverbs (2009), p It is difficult to know precisely what kind of exalted status is spoken of here. In light of the converse ( sin is a reproach to any people ), Derek Kidner insists that exalts is not a material but a moral term ; William McKane, in contrast, avers that righteousness elevates the status of the nation, gives it a standing in the world and makes it a power for good; sin [,in contrast] depresses its influence and brings it into disrepute. Compare Derek Kidner, Proverbs (1984), p. 112, with William McKane, Proverbs: A New Approach (1970), p Nelson, Deuteronomy, p. 65. Cf. also A.D.H. Mayes, Deuteronomy (1981), p Lundbom, Deuteronomy, p

5 Jewish thinkers, the problem with images is that they compromise God s otherness and transcendence; for our verse, in contrast, the trouble with them is that they belie the wondrous fact of God s closeness. Moses puts forward his third argument on behalf of God s law: Or what great nation has laws and rules as just (tzadikim) as all this The laws that God gives to Israel are just and equitable. Teaching that I set before you this day? (4:8). Where verse 6 refers, at least in part, to worldly wisdom, verse 8 adds another crucial element arguably the most crucial element: The laws that God gives to Israel are just and equitable. The law Moses will promulgate is one that helps debtors, slaves, and widows. 11 Indeed, the watching nations can see that the socially powerless in Israel widows, orphans, aliens are treated according to social policies and practices that curb oppression. These may well be Deuteronomy s two most fundamental blessings and challenges for Israel: the nearness of God and just social practice. 12 Moses here makes a radical and sweeping claim: Israel s greatness will be measured by its righteousness. We can now feel more clearly the force of Proverbs insistence that righteousness exalts a nation (Proverbs 14:34). In evaluating a nation or people, Bible scholar Richard Clifford notes, one ordinarily considers its territorial extent, wealth, history, and military might. This verse affirms that the key factor in assessing a people [is] 11 Nelson, Deuteronomy, p Brueggemann, Deuteronomy, p

6 righteousness, that is, being in right relationship to God. 13 Kings are evaluated by a similar scale: Wicked deeds are an abomination to kings, for the throne is established by righteousness (16:12). If Israel obeys God s laws, it will be a beacon of righteousness and will thereby be exalted. If it fails to live up to God s laws, its status will sink and it will lose the land. If Israel obeys God s laws, it will be a beacon of righteousness and will thereby be exalted. There is something odd about these verses as a unit. Moses begins and ends by talking about God s laws first, he speaks of Israel s wisdom and discernment in obeying them, and of the impression this will make upon the nations (Deuteronomy 4:5-6); then, he praises the laws for their unparalleled righteousness (4:8). But the flow between these two reflections on law appears to be interrupted by a celebration of God s nearness. Bible scholar Patrick Miller makes the beautiful suggestion that Moses is making a subtle but powerful point here, that the nearness of God and the righteous laws are closely related. Consider what Moses will say later, again invoking images of closeness: Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin upon you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens neither is it beyond the sea. No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth, and in your heart, to observe it (30:11-14), There, Miller notes, it is the commandment that is near, not God. What is happening[, Miller concludes,] is that the commandment, the law, is almost a surrogate for God. The righteous laws being written on the heart and being kept are in some 13 Richard J. Clifford, Proverbs (1999), p

7 sense a manifestation of the presence of God. God draws near in the law that God gives. 14 Israel keeps God close by heeding God s word. We ought to be mindful of the danger in all this, because as I have suggested elsewhere, whatever mediates God can also come to displace God. When Torah mediates God s Israel keeps God close by heeding God s word. presence, we can become so focused on Torah that we lose any sense of the reality of God, let alone of God s commanding presence. And then we run the risk of being text-worshipers rather than God-worshipers. 15 The same applies, mutatis mutandis, to law: When God s law mediates God s presence, we can end up revering the law more than God so much so that we all but forget the God whose will and presence the law is supposed to mediate. 16 And yet there is enormous power in the idea of God s laws mediating God s presence. For a people who spent centuries in exile, often wandering and wondering why God seemed so hidden, the portability of God s laws was no doubt a source of immense comfort. The Temple had disappeared but God s guidance for daily life remained close, to be observed and pored over day after day after day. 14 Patrick D. Miller, Deuteronomy (1990), p Shai Held, Between God and Torah: Judaism s Gamble, CJLI Parashat Toldot 5775, available here. As I have written there, This is Judaism s gamble. When it works, Judaism s text-centeredness renders our connection to God portable; we can have access to God in every conceivable circumstance. When it doesn t, it makes God marginal. We can forget whom we serve because we love the Torah more than God. Torah-centeredness and law-centeredness are not the same thing, but for traditional Judaism they have often (always?) been intertwined. 16 Hasidim used to attack their opponents by saying that whereas a Hasid worships God, a misnaged (opponent) worships the Shulhan Arukh (the classic 16 th century code of Jewish law). Whether or not the attack was fair, it did give voice to a legitimate worry about how a preoccupation with law can, against its own intentions, serve to erase God from religious consciousness. 7

8 God s laws are intended to enable Israel to flourish in concrete, this-worldly ways, but also and even more fundamentally to guide us in creating a society animated by justice and care for the powerless. Moses instructions remind us that (sometimes) numbers matter, but spiritual and ethical greatness matter far more; his subtle weaving of law and divine presence offer us a potent promise, one which Jews have carried with them wherever we have gone: that God draws near in the law that God gives. Shabbat Shalom. See Shai Held s other divrei Torah on parashat Va-Ethanan: 5774 Coveting, Craving... and Being Free Sign up to receive Rabbi Shai Held s weekly divrei Torah direct to your inbox: 8