Re'eh: imagination

 The phrase הַמָּק֞וֹם אֲשֶׁר־יִבְחַ֨ר , The place where Gd will establish to rest Gd's name,  is introduced in this week's parsha.  It appears 12  times in the Torah, all in Deuteronomy,  seven of them in this week's parsha. It is a strange phrase, implying a future decision  or revelation by Gd. The common understanding is that  the place isJerusalem. Moses did not make  that designation.  Hundreds of years later, David made Jerusalem, in territory that bordered Benjamin and Judah, the great capitol This was when the Hebrew people united in their great, but transient, ascendancy. 

This מָּק֞וֹם, place, connects  the physical world that we understand with the transcendent.  הַמָּק֞וֹם, Hamakom, the place, is a proxy for GD.  Thus, the standard statement to mourners invokes   הַמָּק֞וֹם, Hamakom, as the provider of comfort.   מָּק֞וֹם, place, is central to the kedushah, the most hallowed section of the standard prayer. Perhaps it conveys some of the subversive undercurrent in this prayer that declares the ascendancy of the Divine over the temporal: Gd is greater than the state to which we are exiled.  

This מָּק֞וֹם, place, that is to be selected is part of the prescription for the approved monotheism.  Moses instructs the conquering people to tear down the sites of idolatry that are scattered through the land. Then the text reads: Do not do likewise to your Gd. 

לֹֽא־תַעֲשׂ֣וּן כֵּ֔ן לַי

This could mean " do not destroy your Gd's area of worship": a trivial message, but following it with the instruction to  restrict acts of worship to the place to be designated,  הַמָּק֞וֹם, Hamakom, implies that the single capitol is part of the prescribed faith.  The place ( yet to be designated) is part of the process that unifies the people and the unity of the people is needed to fulfill Gd's commandment.  The geographic single place acts to unite the single people to serve the One Gd. 

The inability or  refusal to identify the chosen place leaves it open. Other places are identified prior to the conquest: Kadesh, Chevron, Shechem, etc.   Shilo, in the territory of Ephraim ( the tribe of Joshua and Jeroboam [king of the "breakaway" 10 tribes]),  where the tabernacle  resided for 369 years is not named. Nor is Jerusalem, site of the temples ( until their destruction) named.  But these seem to be the chosen spots based upon the structures that stood there or were built there. 

The altar of communal offering, the unique focal point for all the people, would need to be in this chosen place.  The chosen place was the only location in which the pilgrimage festivals: Passover, Shevuoth and Succoth could be celebrated.  The altar brings with it the remainder of the Sanctum and, ultimately, the judiciary/legislative high court of the Sanhedrin.  The political life of the people gets conglomerated with the spiritual and the practical. 

On another plane, perhaps there is an ongoing process of selection for the מָּק֞וֹם, place. Did it move to Babylon? The opinions expressed in Nehadea and Pumpiditha took priority over those emanating from Jerusalem as the Jews became an exiled people.  Toledo, Cordoba, Troyes, Vilna, Vienna, New York were all cities of great Jewish synods.  Each selected for its time. 

The steamship and the airplane changed the meaning of place. It no longer took years to travel over great distances. Everyone could now visit the  capitol. 

A rebuilt מָּק֞וֹם, makom, would rekindle the theocratic notion; the nation would garner strength - and self-justification - from the ritual performed on the designated land. What should the ritual look like now? Is the Jerusalem that now carries the name, that has evolved over millennia, the designated place? Does the future tense of the designation continue to apply?

We have come to believe that God designates a time as well as a place. The process of acting upon the designations  is left to us. 

Aikev: National Transaction

This weeks parsha's index word is עֵ֕קֶב  aikev.  It  is translated (officially) by Onkelos as חֳלַף chalaf, in exchange (for).  This is how the word is used ( and translated by Onkelos) the second time it appears in Genesis. 

הִתְבָּרֲכ֣וּ בְזַרְעֲךָ֔ כֹּ֖ל גּוֹיֵ֣י הָאָ֑רֶץ עֵ֕קֶב אֲשֶׁ֥ר שָׁמַ֖עְתָּ בְּקֹלִֽי׃ 

All the nations of the earth shall bless themselves by your descendants, because you have obeyed My command.”

In exchange  for attempting to  offer Isaac  as a burnt offering on the altar, Abraham is paid with  this benediction. This is the sense in which עֵ֕קֶב  aikev is used to introduce this week's parsha: 

וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן אֵ֤ת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם וְשָׁמַר֩ יְ לְךָ֗ אֶֽת־הַבְּרִית֙ וְאֶת־הַחֶ֔סֶד אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֖ע לַאֲבֹתֶֽיךָ׃

And if  עֵ֕קֶב you do obey these rules and observe them carefully, your God will maintain faithfully for you the covenant made on oath with your fathers:

 But the first appearance of  עֵ֕קֶב aikev is part of the curse delivered to the tempting serpent of Eden. 

וְאֵיבָ֣ה ׀ אָשִׁ֗ית בֵּֽינְךָ֙ וּבֵ֣ין הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה וּבֵ֥ין זַרְעֲךָ֖ וּבֵ֣ין זַרְעָ֑הּ ה֚וּא יְשׁוּפְךָ֣ רֹ֔אשׁ וְאַתָּ֖ה תְּשׁוּפֶ֥נּוּ עָקֵֽב׃ (ס) 

I will put enmity
Between you and the woman,
And between your [serpent]offspring and hers;
They [human] shall strike at your head,
And you[serpent] shall strike at their heel.”עֵ֕קֶב

Here the word is generally understood to mean heel. Onkelos stays with the transactional meaning of עֵ֕קֶב  aikev, despite the usual anatomic understanding: 

וּדְבָבוּ אֱשַׁוֵּי בֵּינָךְ וּבֵין אִתְּתָא וּבֵין בְּנָךְ וּבֵין בְּנָהַהּ הוּא יְהֵי דְּכִיר לָךְ מַה דִּעֲבַדְתָּ לֵהּ מִלְּקַדְמִין וְאַתְּ תְּהֵא נָטִיר לֵהּ לְסוֹפָא:

I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. . [He will remember you, what you did to him from the beginning, and you will expect him at the end].

When Jacob  is born, and named for grabbing the heel of Esau, the anatomic definition cannot be avoided: 

וְאַֽחֲרֵי־כֵ֞ן יָצָ֣א אָחִ֗יו וְיָד֤וֹ אֹחֶ֙זֶת֙ בַּעֲקֵ֣ב עֵשָׂ֔ו וַיִּקְרָ֥א שְׁמ֖וֹ יַעֲקֹ֑ב וְיִצְחָ֛ק בֶּן־שִׁשִּׁ֥ים שָׁנָ֖ה בְּלֶ֥דֶת אֹתָֽם׃ 

Then his brother emerged, holding on to the heel of Esau; so they named him Jacob.^*Jacob Play on Heb. ‘aqeb “heel.”

Onkelos here uses: 

 וְיָד֤וֹ אֹחֶ֙זֶת֙ בַּעֲקֵ֣ב עֵשָׂ֔ו  grasping the heel of Eisov,

 The first Rashi of our parsha: 

והיה עקב תשמעון. אִם הַמִּצְווֹת קַלּוֹת שֶׁאָדָם דָּשׁ בַּעֲקֵבָיו תשמעון. והיה עקב תשמעון AND THE CONSEQUENCE WILL BE, IF YE HEARKEN (The Hebrew text may be taken to signify if you will hear the heel, עקב) — If, even the lighter commands which a person usually treads on with his heels (i.e. which a person is inclined to treat lightly), ye will hearken to,

raises the significance of the ( apparently) trivial. Everything has consequences. 

At the same time, עֵ֕קֶב aikev evokes Jacob, the father of the nation. Perhaps it points to the (Jewish) accountant quality that permeates a culture that glorifies the minutiae of Talmud ( ,science,  business, etc).  

In this parsha the nation is addressed  Previously, Moses spoke to the individuals, second person singular.  In the previous parsha it states: 

וְאָ֣הַבְתָּ֔ אֵ֖ת יְ

You ( singular)  shall love your Gd

Here we have 

שַׂמְתֶּם֙ אֶת־דְּבָרַ֣י אֵ֔לֶּה עַל־לְבַבְכֶ֖ם 

impress these My words upon your (pleural) hearts

The people are about to step into the Promised land, and Gd grabs them by the heel and reminds them to watch where they tread; and consider what they crush with every step. Is the worm a defanged serpent whose dying spirit calls out to a more powerful avenger?

Ve'Ethchanan: Exceptionalism

Ve'Ethchanan: Exceptionalism 

Why should good things, exceptional things, happen to me and those I care about? The unpredictable nature of good fortune is not just.  Sometimes the law applies one way, sometimes another.  Luck is distributed over life like galaxies in the universe; mostly bland with bright spots that have black holes in their centers. 

Moses prays to be allowed to enter the promised land. His request his refused with an expression of annoyance: don't ask about this anymore. 

רַב־לָ֔ךְ אַל־תּ֗וֹסֶף דַּבֵּ֥ר אֵלַ֛י ע֖וֹד בַּדָּבָ֥ר הַזֶּֽה׃  “Enough! Never speak to Me of this matter again! 

Gd banished Moses from from the Promised Land.  Like all Gd decisions, this was irrevocable and it was for the best...in the long run.  That did not stop Moses from filing an appeal, thus modeling the process for attempting to re-open an adjudicated case despite the odds. 

The meaning of the first word of the parsha,  ve'ethchanan, וָאֶתְחַנַּ֖ן, derives from חֵ֖ן, chayn, usually translated as grace or favor. The first person to have found חֵ֖ן  chayn before Gd is Noah ( חֵ֖ן spelled backward).  Noah is permitted to survivive the flood that kills all other land animal life. 

חֵ֖ן chayn seems to be a field of favor, privilege granted to the beautiful  and, occasionally, the supplicant. It is a quality that exempts the  petitioner from considerations of fairness and history. Its allotment is  unpredictable; its unexpected gravity arises from nothingness ( like the Higgs boson). חֵ֖ן  chayn can be requested in certain close relationships.  The ask raises the stakes. Granting the request is an act of love. Rejection  shakes the foundation of the connection. The unreasonable nature of the petition may allow the bond's survival. 

When Jacob returns to Canaan from his time in Aram with Lavan, he buys and requests חֵ֖ן  chayn from Esau, that he not kill him, and allow him to return to the territory  Jacob acquired with subterfuge.    Is this the model for Moses? Chayn can allow the banished to return to the Promised Land.  This does not work for Moses. To Israel, Moses transfers the secret for obtaining grace: obedience to the law, especially monotheistic behavior toward the GD of the Hebrews.  This is the price of admission.  No rational principle can stand against Divine grace. 

The tribes of Israel are the heirs of  Gd's beneficence to their ancestors. Allegiance to the people and/or their Gd of oneness confers privileges. During the thousands of years of exile, these people continued to strive for  חֵ֖ן  chayn in a world in which their historic exceptionalism, recorded in stone tablets for all to see, was seen as a source of envy and (hence) a threat - a basis for persecution. 

 The natural variation among living beings is the basis  for the selection that drives evolution. As circumstances change, different traits become advantageous and are selected and survive. Retrospectively, every survivor is an exception, a recipient of חֵ֖ן chayn. 

Sometimes you have to ask for חֵ֖ן,  chayn. Sometimes you get it.

Devarim: language and existence

 Devarim: language and existence

אֵ֣לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּעֵ֖בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן בַּמִּדְבָּ֡ר

These are the words ( or things)  that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan.—Through the wilderness,

 In the first sentence of  the parsha the three letter root דְּבָרִ֗ dvr , appears three times. In this translation, the first usage, devarim, means "words, " the product of  dibar, speech.  The last usage is midbar, wilderness, a type of physical space. 

Three words are used in the parsha in relation to speech. DABER, speak, EMOR, say , and TZAV, command. Tzav, command,  is used sparingly at the beginning, but becomes frequent at the end. In part, this is a consequence of the structure of the parsha. There is an introduction that anticipates the arc of the story. It is a telling. The end of the parsha details instructions necessitated by events that have occurred ( the conquest of Sichon and Og, the Amorite kings)  or will occur ( the death of Moses and the entry into the Promised Land) 

EMOR is generally  used to describe communications from Gd. It echoes back to creation. The statements that bring the familiar universe into existence are introduced by וַיֹּ֥אמֶר אֱ, Vayomer E.., Gd said. Emor is not a command, it is operator, it invokes a force with consequences. Emor has two 2-letter phonemes: אמֶ, meaning mother and מֶר meaning responsible party ( but not quite master).   EMOR carries hints of parenthood, birth and accountability. 

Devarim emerges as the key word of this parsha  - and this, the final, book of the Torah. The definitions of  דְּבָרִ֗ dvr include speech, business, occupation, acts, matter, case, something. Google, presumably based upon common modern usage,  translates dvarim as "stuff."  and  דְּבָרִ֗ dvar, as "nothing."   דְּבָרִ֗ dvr  is also an operator. It imparts utterability, the ability to say something, and thus a level of potential reality. Thus,  דְּבָרִ֗ davar  means "thing."  The Latin word for "thing" is res, the root of the English word: reality. Does Dvarim anticipate Wittgenstein in telling us that the set of real things consists of those thigs we can talk about?

Computer coding is a special use of language. It is a demonstration of the power of words. Computer instructions can coordinate global communication and transportation.  Some lines of code can launch enough nuclear weapons to destroy the world.  Coding contains two kinds of statements. Comments are clarifying words, describing intentions (דְּבָרִ֗,dibur). Commands  invoke actions that yield results (אמֶר, emor). In machines, these functions of words, declaration and instruction, are demarcated and separate. In human communication, they are confused [note the etymology :con= together and fused=unified).  There are so many messages. Which require action? 

Comments construct our reality. The words, הַדְּבָרִ֗ים  hadevarim, that Moses said,   דִּבֶּ֤ר, diber,  contextualized the things (דְּבָרִ֗ים, devarim) that were done in the wilderness ( מִּדְבָּ֡ר midbar).  They justified the Exodus into a desolate expanse. They legitimized the breaking of the Tablets and the giving of the law. They give a version of the story of the spies and an explanation for 40 years of wandering. The instructions that generated these events were a different kind of transmission.  Sometimes the comments are added after debugging, occasionally they are the debug. 

What you say creates your reality. 

Watch what you say.