Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Devarim/0/en

Shabbat Table Topics – Parashat Devarim

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Contradictory Accounts

Several episodes described in one of the first four Chumashim are then also recounted by Moshe in Devarim. Often these accounts differ on key points, and in some case even appear to contradict each other. How are we to understand the variations?

• Compare the accounts of the story of the spies as narrated in both Parashat Shelach and Parashat Devarim. What differences do you note? Which are the most troubling? How might you explain them?  Do the same for the description of the conquests of Sichon and Og in Parashat Chukkat and Devarim. 
• What are the overall objectives and messages of Moshe's historical speech in the opening chapters of Sefer Devarim and how might these affect the way that he retells previous stories?
• Is it problematic to say that Moshe intentionally recasts history to promote an agenda?

For more, see The Story of the Spies in Bemidbar and Devarim and Battles with Sichon and Og in Bemidbar and Devarim.

The Spies' Route and Slander

Did the spies really travel from the Wilderness of Zin all the way to Israel's northern border, evaluating the country's main cities, fortifications, and water sources along the way, and then return to Moshe, all in less than forty days?

• While Rashi asserts that the spies had Divine assistance which hastened their pace and allowed them to explore the entire land, the Netziv claims that the spies scouted in pairs, dividing up the country between them.  Some modern scholars, in contrast, suggest that the spies scouted only the southern region of the land, as that would have been their first stop during the Conquest.
• Which verses support each position? Which are difficult?
• How do the different positions shed light on the nature of the Spies' sin as a whole?  How might our evaluation of the spies differ if Chevron was the sole city visited rather than merely one stop of many?  What ramifications might there have been if only one or two of the spies encountered the giants, or if all of them did? For discussion, see The Spies – Where Did They Tour?

Moshe's Assistants

The very first event Moshe chooses to recount in his speech in Devarim 1 is his appointing of assistants to aid in "bearing the burden" of the nation. It is not clear, however, to which episode Moshe is referring: the implementation of Yitro's advice in Shemot 18, the appointing of elders in Bemidbar 11, or both.

• What is the relationship between the appointments of Shemot and Bemidbar?  Do these accounts describe two distinct events or tell of one event from different perspectives? If Moshe had already received assistants in Shemot, why would he need others in Bemidbar? Finally, which aspects of Moshe's retelling in Devarim match each account?  See Appointing Moshe's Assistants for more.
• In Shemot, what does Yitro suggest are the necessary qualifications for the judges?  What qualifications does Moshe speak of in Devarim?  How do these relate to one another? How would your own list compare? Was Moshe able to find people with all of these qualities? See אנשי חיל and Advice and Implementation.
• What are "rulers of thousands, hundreds, fifties, and tens"?  Does this refer to the numbers of people over whom each group of judges was supposed to rule?  Doing the mathematical calculations, though, produces a figure of 78,600 judges for a populace of only 600,000 men, making for a staggeringly inflated bureaucracy. How else might the terms be understood?  See Yitro's System – A Bloated Bureaucracy?

Hardened Hearts For discussion of the above, see Hardened Hearts.

Devarim 2 teaches that Sichon refused to allow the Israelites to pass through his land, because "Hashem hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate."  The verse suggests that Hashem manipulated Sichon so as to cause his downfall at the hands of Israel.

• What does this episode suggest about man's free will?  Are there circumstances under which Hashem chooses to override this principle?  If Hashem does indeed take away someone's free choice, how can He hold the person responsible for their actions?
• There are many events that we attribute to Hashem, saying, "it was the hand of God" or the like. Are all such actions really miraculous workings of God or are they natural events that we nonetheless attribute to Hashem? If the latter, why then do we speak of them as Hashem's doing?
• A more well known example of Hashem's hardening of hearts is Paroh's consistent refusal to free the Israelites, despite plague after plague.  Can you think of examples of modern "Paroh's" who similarly refuse to capitulate in the face of definite defeat, knowing that it will lead to the destruction or suffering of their nations? What leads these modern figures to "harden their hearts"? Can the hardened hearts of Biblical characters be explained in the same way?