Torah serves as the foundation for change—and for justice

Devarim

Deuteronomy1.1-3.22

Isaiah 1.1-27

Devarim, the opening portion of the Book of Deuteronomy, the fifth and final book of the Torah (which is also called by that Hebrew name), signals the close of Israelite nomadic and enslavement history. Leaving the Aravah, the huge expanse of desert wilderness, and Kadesh barnea, the base camp for 40 years of wandering (Deut. 1:1ff), Devarim sets the tone for permanent agrarian settlement, urbanization and the rise of the monarchy.

Thus, in Devarim, the Torah portion read on this Shabbat, known as Shabbat Chazon (the first word of the Haftarah for Devarim, taken from the first chapter of the Book of Isaiah), Moses is presented with one last opportunity to establish a fair and just means of governing the people through an expansive impartial judiciary, whose keystone is the principle that the Torah is the possession of the people -- the book of study and teaching that requires interaction with the precepts that must be bound on the hand and written on door posts and gates (Deut. 6:7ff; 11:18ff).

The text sets the tone for the establishment of a just society: "Hear out your fellow men, and decide justly between any man and a fellow Israelite, or a stranger. You shall not be partial in judgment: hear out low and high alike. Fear no man, for judgment is God's" (Deut. 1:16-17).

Furthermore, Moses' appointment of knowing and discerning leaders versed in the application of equitable justice (Deut. 1:9-18), established the precedent for the teaching, interpretation, transmission and preservation of the law. Thus, the seemingly rigid view of Deuteronomy, "You shall not add to any word that I command you, nor shall you take anything from it" (Deut. 4:2), gives way to and is embellished by a court-based legal system. The same God who revealed the Torah at Sinai also charged Moses with appointing interpreters of that law. In short, a close reading of Devarim reveals that Torah was not to restrict change but rather to serve as the foundation for change. According to Deuteronomy, interpretation became the handmaiden of revelation, thereby providing the foundation for later rabbinic Judaism that would produce the Talmud, the greatest compendium of interpretation of divine law.

To emphasize the importance of impartial magistrates and the highest standards of judicial honesty as the keystone of the transformation from nomadic to an agrarian and urban society, the text dredges up the memory of King Sichon of Cheshbon and Og of Edrei who are viewed by the tradition as perennial enemies of impartiality and just action (Num. 21:21-35). Furthermore, Devarim also provides an oblique illusion to the rebellion of Korah by linking God's reprimand, rav lachem -- "you have stayed too long" (Deut. 2:3) to the same words, rav lachem -- "you have gone too far," words that were earlier utilized by Korah as a reproof of Moses and Aaron (Num.16:3).

And if bringing up reminders of Sichon, Og and Korah were not enough, the Haftarah from Isaiah also summons the lawlessness of Sodom and Gomorrah: "Hear the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; give heart to our God's law, you people of Gomorrah" (Isa. 1:10); "Wash yourselves clean; put your evil doings away from My sight. Cease to do evil; learn to do good. Devote yourselves to justice; aid the wronged. Uphold the rights of the orphan; defend the cause of the widow" (Isa. 1:16-17). These admonitions were a response to the description of the lawlessness of these cities, "The outrage of Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave" (Genesis 18:20).

Devarim presents a pivotal moment of transition that signals the evolution from a past of bitter enslavement and endless wandering to the upbuilding of the Promised Land, the establishment of the kingship, the creation of Jerusalem as the seat of government and the construction of the great Temple to provide a place of grandeur for communion with the Eternal. But above all else, Moses and Aaron wanted to be certain that the new order would be grounded in equity for all citizens as the Haftarah instructs: "Zion will be redeemed by justice" (Isa. 1:27), for a house of God and a kingdom of priests can only be established through impartiality and mercy.