Parashat Devarim (Deut.1:1-3:22) opens the final book of the Torah, also called Devarim. The book establishes core Torah concepts, the most essential being the Oral Torah. Speaking only in first-person, Moses literally, “…explains the Torah” to Israel. It’s the reason he’s called Moshe Rebbenu—Moses our teacher. He was first to employ the Oral Torah to clarify the meaning of the written text. It also established Halacha—how to specifically perform a mitzvah.
The book of Devarim is divided into three parts: Review, Reproof and Redemption—a pattern followed by all the prophets of Israel.
While Moses reviewed the journeys of Israel and their forty-two stops on the way to the Promised Land, we learn that the nation was encamped at Kadesh Barnea for nineteen years, which was equal to the total number of years of the other encampments combined.
Moses reminds the people that when they were still at Mount Sinai, he became overwhelmed by the task of judging disputes and hearing individual cases, so much that he decided to delegate the massive responsibility by appointing, "...wise and experienced leaders of your tribes, and I made them your leaders. I appointed commanders over a thousand people, over a hundred people, over fifty people, and over ten people and made them officers over your tribes." (Deut. 1:15-16)
You will recall that in Exodus 18:17-24, Yithro, Moses' father-in-law counsels him to delegate in the very same manner just described above, even resorting to the same language. Oddly, when we read Deuteronomy 1:15, Moses seems to take credit for this idea. We know that Moses possessed great humility so why would he fail to credit Yithro for his counsel? It could be that Moses simply defaulted to the truth that the ultimate source of all wisdom comes directly from the Creator. As it says in Proverbs 2:6, "For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."
The book of Devarim is also called the Mishne Torah because it repeats many of the teachings in the previous books. It's why Devarim is likened to the second set of tablets, hewn by Moses own hand but inscribed with God’s words—symbolic of God’s method of transmitting and preserving the Torah—via His teachers who understand the necessity of teaching both Written and Oral Torah.
Though the book of Devarim repeats many previous teachings, according to Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch, Moses introduces more than 70 commandments. Even so, in the book of Devarim, there are no teachings regarding the Levitical laws or the korbanot. That’s because Moses is preparing a new generation for the challenges of everyday life in eretz Israel. The rest of this Torah portion sees Moses reproving the nation for their missteps which lengthened their journey to the Promised Land—a prophetic lesson that the final Redemption depends on Israel's desire to possess the land and fully embrace their mission as a kingdom of kohanim.
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