In Parshat Devarim (1:12), Moshe says to the people, “How can I alone bear your contentiousness, your burdens and your quarrels?”
Is this a tone of complaint? Rashi thinks it is. The people were annoying and prone to argument. The Ramban says this does not show Israel’s lowly status but the reality of their situation: Am Yisrael had grown and needed more than one judge. This episode is a continuation of Parshat Yitro, in which the need for a team of judges became clear.
The simple meaning of the verses reinforces the Ramban’s opinion, for in the previous verse, Moshe says he can’t carry the people by himself and they are as many as the stars in the heavens. He even blesses them, and only then says, “How can I alone bear…” In other words, because of the people’s natural growth, they need additional judges (see verses 1:9–14).
Nevertheless, the people behave as Rashi describes them. When the ba’al koreh reads this verse in shul, he reads it to the sad tune of Eicha.
Perhaps, even if the Ramban is correct, this reading comes to teach us, before Tisha B’Av, to leave the small stuff aside and desist from quarreling, so we can build together and attain blessing.
When we are on a mission, building something greater than ourselves, we need to leave the small, private bickering behind (see Sforno’s commentary). We must see the divine, sense the greatness of the vision and the importance of the mission. When an entire people see their mutual lofty goal, they can then leave the small stuff behind, stop the internal fighting and grow into greatness.
Despite our current physical reality, let us see the bigger picture. Baruch Hashem, Am Yisrael is recognizing the enormity of its mission. The vast majority of Jews do not live in a world of pettiness and pointless argument.
Here are just a few examples:
- We can feel the unity (we’re working on a huge unity project, to ensure the unity will continue long after the war is over).
- Jews overseas are helping and supporting — sending resources of all kinds, lobbying their governments and visiting all the time.
- We spend a lot of time with the soldiers. They are highly motivated to save the Jewish people. It’s the same with our wounded heroes.
- I’ve been asked one identical question by many new IDF recruits: Can I make the Shehechiyanu blessing when I go to war? No one wants war. No one wants to fight. However, when they come to annihilate us, we see it as a great privilege to be able to defend ourselves. That’s something we have not merited for thousands of years. So from that perspective, yes, “…shechechiyanu v’kiy’manu v’higianu lazman hazeh,” a time when Am Yisrael is fully entitled to defend itself.
- And above all, we clearly see God’s helping Hand. The Americans predicted a far greater death toll among soldiers fighting in a built-up area, and in April, there was the total neutralization of the Iranian attack, etc. etc. We are not “bearing it alone.”
We pray our soldiers will succeed in their mission and return home safe and sound.
We pray for the full recovery of the wounded.
We send our love and support to all those who still have loved ones serving in the army.
And we pray for the immediate return of our hostages and embrace their families.
Redemption is not a supernatural process: Redemption comes through natural means. Chazal taught us that there will be challenges along the way, but they are an integral part of our ascent.
May we see how the current reality is leading Am Yisrael to a destination that is higher, holier, more unified and more loving. For it is this love between us, b’ezrat Hashem, that will act as a vital springboard on the way to our full Redemption.
Rabbi Yosef Zvi Rimon is the nasi of World Mizrachi. He serves as the chief rabbi of Gush Etzion, rosh yeshiva of the Jerusalem College of Technology and is the founder and chairman of Sulamot and La’Ofek. He is a member of Mizrachi’s Speakers Bureau (www.mizrachi.org/speakers).
The RZA-Mizrachi is a broad Religious Zionist organization without a particular political affiliation.
