Drash on Parashat Dvarim 2024
Rabbi Dr Esther Jilovsky
Progressive Judaism Victoria
According to the great Australian swimmer Grant Hackett, there are two types of silver medals. He writes: ‘There are the silver medals you attain when [you] […] perform above your expectations. They feel like success. There’s peace in those results.’[1] Over the last ten or so days of the Olympics in Paris, we’ve seen plenty of examples. One of the most memorable was British diver Tom Daley, competing in his fifth Olympics, who was absolutely overjoyed to win a silver medal, as his young family watched.
But not every silver medal brings happiness. Hackett continues: ‘Then there are the failures; the races you expected to win, had chances to win, but didn’t. Those silver medals hurt, then and now.’ Defeat can be deeply painful. Sometimes coming second feels like coming last. And those feelings are perfectly justified. Yet in sport, as in life, it can be helpful to try and gain perspective, and remember that it’s not necessarily what happens, but rather learning how to deal with disappointment, that really matters.
This week, we start reading Deuteronomy, Sefer Dvarim, the final book of the Torah. Literally meaning ‘words,’ Dvarim contains the text of Moses’ final speech to the people of Israel. Delivered standing on the other side of the Jordan River, in the land of Moab, Moses knew that he would never enter the Promised Land. Was this akin to Moses’ silver medal? There are certainly multiple possible interpretations.
Moses’ journey has been incredible. From the baby floating down the Nile we meet at the beginning of the Book of Exodus, to growing up in Pharoah’s household, to dramatically leading the people of Israel out of slavery, Moses’ story is like no other in our Torah, or indeed, in Jewish tradition. He has led a sometimes grumbling and stiff-necked people through the wilderness for forty years, communicated God’s words to a people who were not always receptive to them, and still successfully brought the people of Israel to just across the river from the land of Israel (Exodus 34:9).
As Sefer Dvarim opens, Moses begins to share dvarim ‘words’ with the people of Israel. Originally a reluctant leader, as Everett Fox writes: ‘Moshe, the man who was “not a man of words” (Ex. 4:10), all of a sudden finds his voice.’[2] The man, who stuttered and doubted himself when God first called upon him to lead the Jewish people, has grown into an erudite leader who prioritises the welfare of the Jewish people over his own destiny (Exodus 4:10). The Torah states:
בְּעֵ֥בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֖ן בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מוֹאָ֑ב הוֹאִ֣יל מֹשֶׁ֔ה בֵּאֵ֛ר אֶת־הַתּוֹרָ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את לֵאמֹֽר׃
‘On the other side of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to expound this Teaching, saying:’ (Deuteronomy 1:5)
It’s not only the location of Moses’ speech that is significant This verse also contains two verbs in an unusual construction. Both הוֹאִ֣יל ‘began’ and בֵּאֵ֛ר ‘explain’ are conjugated but lacking a vav, meaning ‘and,’ to connect them.[3] Medieval commentator Sforno interprets this to mean that Moses had already given up on the idea of being able to cross the Jordan and enter the land: ‘Now, seeing that Moses himself had already given up hope of personally crossing the river Jordan he began to explain the parts of the Torah concerning which he thought some doubts could arise after his death.’[4] By accepting that his journey was over, but trusting that the Jewish people would continue his legacy, Moses demonstrates great leadership. For him, destiny is greater than a single person, it is the people of Israel continuing their journey into the land of Israel.
An Olympic medal of any colour is an amazing achievement. But it’s not about where you end up on the dais. It’s about how you travel through this journey called life. And as an example for the Jewish people, there’s a reason that we say, from Moses to Moses, there was no-one like Moses!
[1] Grant Hackett, “‘I Felt like a Fraud’: The Psychology of Silver,” The Age, July 27, 2024, https://www.theage.com.au/sport/swimming/i-felt-like-a-fraud-the-psychology-of-silver-20240727-p5jx0x.html.
[2] Fox, Everett, “Deuteronomy, On the Book of Deuteronomy and Its Structure,” in The Five Books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy (New York: sefaria.org, 1995), https://www.sefaria.org/The_Five_Books_of_Moses%2C_by_Everett_Fox%2C_Deuteronomy%2C_On_the_Book_of_Deuteronomy_and_Its_Structure.2?lang=bi&with=all&lang2=en.
[3] See: Ibn Ezra on Deuteronomy 1:5.
[4] Sforno on Deuteronomy 1:5.