Ve'ethchanan: Recruitment

Ve'ethchanan: Recruitment

In this parsha, Moshe tries to persuade the Israelites to keep the commandments, edicts and laws that Gd has delivered.  The reward will include a long, stable life in the land they are about to enter.  Note that Moshe will not enter that land because of his violation ( which remain less than explicit).  The chapter is introduced by the immutability of Gd's decision.  We realize that even Moshe did not fulfill the Divine will perfectly enough to win his appeal. Enter the battle hopeless. 

Moshe exhorts the people to recognize the unity and the power of their Gd. The phrase J is E means that J, the Gd of the Hebrews is the embodiment of all the concepts of power , el (as in Kal-el [the Kryptonite name for Superman]).  The monotheistic idea simplifies the universe. 

Maybe monotheism is an example of the broader mono, oneness idea.  The idea that all concepts should (  or can) be reduced to a single  core idea.  One law for all in justice gives us the value of equality.  One law for all in science  gives us universal gravitation, relativity and (perhaps someday) the unified field theory.  The one Gd means that the rules won't change, there  can be no outside alliance. 

Is Gd's special relationship with the Israelites a challenge to Gd's unity?  From the inside, it can be brushed away by the inscrutability of Almighty.  We cannot fathom how Gd orders the world.  But I grew up in America,  where equality should extend to all people.  Here the special  relationship is hidden under the clothes and emerges from the secret meta-value of oneness. 

The special relationship also serves a political purpose - to limit the scope of the national goals.  The Jews are told not to catholic (universal).  They are told to settle in an assigned area, the permit for conquest is limited.  Jews do not proselytize, they exclude.  Jews are born into this relationship with the One Gd and the concepts surrounding.  The Jew can accept ( as the parsha encourages) or reject (the implication that necessitates the parsha) some spectrum of this worldview , and the laws and edicts that come with it.  The package comes with benefits... and costs.