Rabbi Yaakov NeuburgerMeaning and Resilience

Hundreds of times each year we collectively pronounce words from this week's parsha (Devarim 4:44), "וזאת התורה אשר שם משה לפני בני ישראל - this is the Torah that Moshe placed before the Jewish people" as we raise the Torah for all to see. What is this seemingly repetitive recitation supposed to evoke or confirm within us? Also intriguing is the placement of this pasuk, sandwiched between the record of Moshe's establishment of the Levite arrei miklat and Moshe's review of the asseres hadibros; our earliest commentaries disagreed as to what it refers to and what it adds to either topic.

To be sure, Hashem reports to us that Moshe has indeed fulfilled His mandate to take the unique position of "Moshe Rabbeinu - Moshe our teacher". Charged by the unusual phrase for teaching (Shemos 21:1), "these are the laws that you shall place before them", his career has now comes full circle with the same phrase, "this is the Torah that Moshe placed before them". It is precisely that rare description that, according to chazal, refers to master teaching that organizes the material in a way that intrigues, informs, inspires and impresses in a lasting manner (see Rashi ad loc). Yet the questions remain: why does this appear now in this week's parsha? Why repeat it after every public Torah reading?

Rashi sees the pasuk as an introduction to the aseres hadibros (which come at the beginning of the next chapter). If that is the case, perhaps this pasuk needs to be read in conjunction with the five pesukim that follow it which briefly describe the events from the exodus from Egypt until the conquest of the eastern bank of the Yarden. The pasuk would thus be understood to be reminding us how Hashem, through Moshe, taught Torah through the various stages of our national experience: the triumphant and openly miraculous moments of the exodus, the time in the midbar when the miraculous become routine, and then during our transition into a people who had to lift the sword and later the plowshare. Thus the pasuk, read during this week's leining and recited after our reading every other week, affirms our appreciation of the Torah as that which adds meaning, direction, and mindfulness to every stage of our national experience and our personal lives.

Alternatively, the Tur and the Kli Yakar view the pasuk as referring to Moshe's designating the Levite cities, a miztva he had just taught but whose primary application would not be relevant until well after Moshe leaves this world. Accordingly, Hashem teaches us to marvel at Moshe's deep and incessant love for His mitzvos and his dedication to teach them in every possible manner. After all, Moshe had just categorically lost his final appeal of G-d's judgment and the supreme disappointment of a lifetime was now set in stone. Nevertheless, Moshe had the eternal wellspring of resilience and unabating trust in the Almighty to pick himself up and move on instructing and guiding. This resilience, then, is also the Torah that Moshe taught, of which we can never be reminded too many a time.

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