When I read the Torah, I like to look for the meaning behind the words. I hope you've figured this out about me by now. This is especially true for the Torah, but I also find that it affects other areas of my life as well. Sometimes words themselves do not convey the underlying meaning, they do not tell the whole story. The first time the Bible exhorts the Israelites to stay away from Moabite women, for example, you might tell yourself that Israelites avoided Moabite women. But when the Bible repeats it time and again, and several prophets echo the same sentiment, you start to realize (I hope...) that it was a real problem, and that the Moabites were tough to resist. Clever storyteller, that Bible...
This week's Torah portion has once again led me down the path of peeking behind the words in 
search of hidden meaning. In Deuteronomy, 7:17-18, we read: "Should you say to yourselves, 'These nations are more numerous than we; how can we dispossess them?' You need have no fear of them. You have but to bear in mind what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all the Egyptians." Ok, I got it. No need to worry, Israelites. No reason to fret. Just remember the plagues and the splitting of the sea and you'll remember that God is on your side. Obviously, the Israelites were no longer concerned about conquering the land, because their fears were all assuaged. Right?
search of hidden meaning. In Deuteronomy, 7:17-18, we read: "Should you say to yourselves, 'These nations are more numerous than we; how can we dispossess them?' You need have no fear of them. You have but to bear in mind what the Lord your God did to Pharaoh and all the Egyptians." Ok, I got it. No need to worry, Israelites. No reason to fret. Just remember the plagues and the splitting of the sea and you'll remember that God is on your side. Obviously, the Israelites were no longer concerned about conquering the land, because their fears were all assuaged. Right?
Wrong. Once again we see that God needs to keep reminding the Israelites to maintain faith. Why? Because they had none. The Israelites were having a really tough time relying on God, and trusting that God would take care of them.
So our follow-up question might then be, why not? Why are the Israelites so unable to trust God? What is missing from this relationship? The answer, I believe, is in the text itself. In last week's Torah portion, Vaetchanan, we learned the famous verse from the beginning of the Shema, "You shall 
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). Juxtapose that with a verse in this week's reading: "If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the Lord your God and serving God with all your heart and soul..." (Deut. 11:13) The first verse, from last week, was a command, "You MUST love God." This week the language has changed, it's conditional, "IF." Perhaps in between the two statements, a lesson was learned: You can't force love.
love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might" (Deut. 6:5). Juxtapose that with a verse in this week's reading: "If, then, you obey the commandments that I enjoin upon you this day, loving the Lord your God and serving God with all your heart and soul..." (Deut. 11:13) The first verse, from last week, was a command, "You MUST love God." This week the language has changed, it's conditional, "IF." Perhaps in between the two statements, a lesson was learned: You can't force love.
We don't like to admit this, but the Israelites never agreed to join God in the wilderness. Sure, they groaned under slavery and called out for help. Yet they never willingly set off for the Promised Land, and they certainly didn't bargain for the 10 Commandments, or the Torah filled with 613 laws to govern every aspect of their lives! The reason why they keep complaining in the desert, rebelling against Moses, and trying to turn back to Egypt is because they don't want to go. The Torah has to keep trying to mandate observance and participation because it doesn't come naturally to the Israelites. So where does that leave us? How do we make sense of these commandments, and our own relationship to God, when we view the Israelites from this new perspective?
Ordinarily I'd take on these questions, and try to leave you with a (potentially) satisfactory answer. But I'm not going to do that. We're only about six weeks away from the start of the High Holidays, and it's time to begin introspecting. What does this all mean to me? How am I going to
allow my relationship to Judaism to grow and evolve? Sometimes we
need a little tension and dis-ease to force us to think about these questions a little more. It's very possible that when the Israelites set out on their journey, they did not love God; what does that mean for me on my journey? Let's begin to explore this together, as we continue on the path towards the High Holidays and the New Year that lies ahead.
Photos in this blog post:
1. CC image courtesy of zeevveez on Flickr
2. CC image courtesy of hfb on Flickr
3. CC image courtesy of genvessel on Flickr
4. CC image courtesy of elirook on Flickr
5. CC image courtesy of @jbtaylor on Flickr
6. CC image courtesy of walkinguphills on Flickr
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