Devarim – Chazon 5784

This week, we begin to read the book of Devarim, the book of words, as Moses gives his last speech to the Children of Israel. He knows he will not complete the journey he has begun, and he will die before he reaches the Promised Land. He has one final opportunity to reflect on the journey he and they have taken, and to give them wisdom for the time ahead. In order to understand the future, he looks to the past, he considers the trials and tribulations, the mistakes and the triumphs, the moments of tragedy and celebration. Moses reflects on what the journey teaches them, what they will learn to help them move forward, without their leader. Moses and the Israelites wrest meaning from all the moments they can, they learn the lessons and they begin to understand how it has shaped who they are and who they will become.

This portion is always read the Shabbat before Tisha Be Av, the time in our calendar when we remember and grapple with the many tragedies and disasters which have befallen us over the centuries. We reflect upon the destruction of the Temples, the exile from our land, the suffering of those who remained, the Crusades, the Pogroms, the many times people have risen against us with hate in their hearts, ready to destroy us. We sit in the ashes of our history and lament the destruction of the Temple which mirrors so many moments of tragedy and suffering in our history, and this year, we enter a Tisha Be Av more poignant than those of recent memory. In the shadow of October 7th, the war, the suffering and the struggle, the hostages, still in captivity, now over 300 days, it is hard to comprehend what they are and have endured, along with their family, friends and communities. And so much loss of life. On October 7th and since, a trauma which for many, has brought to the surface so much of our past, a deep sense of fear, anger, insecurity, grief. We are struggling and in the midst of this challenge we are enduring the rise of Antisemitism and more destruction of our safety and security. So this year, more than ever, we need to turn to our ancestors, to our ancient texts, to find our path forward. We look back to see that every generation when such hate has been directed towards us, we have found hope. 


The haftarah this week begins with “Hazon,” a vision, a vision of a world we hope to create, one where there is no more suffering and struggle, where we can live in harmony and friendship. When we are in the midst of the pain and suffering it is so hard to find the hope, to remember that others have survived before us and to believe that we will do so again. We turn to the words of our ancestors who give voice to our pain and our longing but also to our hope and dream for a better tomorrow. They teach us not to sit in the ashes forever. That we, like mourners must rise from the dust and go forth to life. To engage with the world and work to create the future we want. We mourn our losses, we grieve and we gather our strength and move forward. Always remembering, honouring, telling our stories, believing and dreaming of the vision of tomorrow. The one where there is peace, everyone has returned home, soldiers no longer need their weapons and in the words of a poem by Yehudah Amichai:
“Don’t stop after beating the swords into ploughshares, don’t stop!
Go on beating and make musical instruments out of them
Then whoever wants to make war again will have to turn them into ploughshares first.”

May all of our weapons become instruments of music and play the song of peace.


Rabbi Jacqueline Ninio