Who Needs Devarim Anyway?
Midrash Tanhuma Devarim 1:1
诪讚专砖 转谞讞讜诪讗 (讜专砖讗) 驻专砖转 讚讘专讬诐 住讬诪谉 讗
讚讘专 讗讞专 讬砖讜砖讜诐 诪讚讘专 讜爪讬讛 诪驻谞讬 诪讛 讻转讬讘 讻讱 诇诇诪讚讱 砖讘砖注讛 砖讛拽讘”讛 诪讙诇讛 砖讻讬谞转讜 注诇 讬砖专讗诇 讗讬谞讜 谞讙诇讛 注诇讬讛诐 讻讗讞转 诪驻谞讬 砖讗讬谞谉 讬讻讜诇讬谉 诇注诪讜讚 讘讗讜转讛 讟讜讘讛 讘驻注诐 讗讞转 砖讗诐 讬讙诇讛 诇讛诐 讟讜讘转讜 讻讗讞转 讬诪讜转讜 讻诇诐…讛拽讘”讛 注讗讻”讜 讗诇讗 诪讛 讛拽讘”讛 注讜砖讛 诪转讙诇讛 诇讛诐 拽诪注讗 拽诪注讗
“The wilderness and the parched land shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose” (Isaiah 35:1). Why was this verse written in such a descriptive manner? In order to teach that when The Holy One Blessed Be He revealed His presence to Israel, He did not reveal it to them all at once, because they would not have been able to stand the totality of God’s goodness. For if God’s goodness had been revealed all at once, all of Israel would have died . . . so what did the Holy One Blessed Be He do? He revealed himself to them bit by bit.
This week’s midrash seeks to answer the question of why Moses needed to retell the entire Torah in the book of Devarim. Shouldn’t one iteration of God’s covenantal relationship with Israel have been enough? Using a particularly descriptive verse from Isaiah, our midrash’s clear answer is that the repeated revelation of the Torah was necessary for Israel’s sake. Had the full magnitude of the Torah, of God’s presence been shown all at once, the Israelites would have been overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness of the event, and would have died on the spot. So God disclosed the Torah and His presence bit by bit, over a period of time. Hence the need for the Devarim鈥攖o continue the process of revelation.
A valuable lesson lies at the heart of this midrash. When we are looking to create change in ourselves, our spiritual life, our community, and the world, the natural tendency is to want to do everything all at once鈥攖o achieve the instant gratification of rapid transformation. But like God imparting the entire Torah at once, this approach is not sustainable, and in fact can be harmful. Rather, gradual growth, learning, and slow transformation are the way to achieve true change, and to see God’s full glory revealed in this world.
