Before Israel enters the land, Moses recounts their history. He discusses the wandering, the gathering at Sinai, the episode of the scouts, and much more.
This parashah of the Torah, Devarim, is always read before the commemoration of destruction on Tisha B’av. The Shabbat, because of the haftorah reading from Isaiah, is known as Shabbat Chazon, the Sabbath of a vision. The title is taken from the first words of the book in which the prophet’s vision is introduced.
In one Shabbat, we read of a look back and a vision of the future. What has all of this to do with Tisha B’av which is arriving this week and the parlous state of Israel and the world today?
For a modern parallel, look to Israel’s declaration of independence. Before enunciating the vision of the new state, it recounts the ancient attachment of the people to the land and the travails that kept Israel from its birthplace. In other words, when building the modern state, our people chose the ancient example: recount the past and then offer the vision.
The vision arises in part from the pain of the past. For ancient Israel, wandering in the desert drove their desire for the land. In modern Israel, the centuries of exile strengthened the resolution to fight for our homeland.
There is a tradition that the Messiah will be born on Tisha B’av, the saddest day of the Jewish year. For the sorrows of the past are a prelude. From the moment we stood on the second bank of the Jordan, Jews have believed that from sadness will spring joy. We recount the story of the past because it is the past that impels us to seek the redemption of what can be in the future.
Right now, the pall of Oct. 7 and all that followed still hangs heavily over Israel and indeed over the world. Our task is to recount those events but also to offer a vision of how the pain of the past can yield to the promise of the future. The history of Moses leads to the vision of Isaiah; the destruction of the Temple presages the birth of the Messiah; the years of diaspora lead to the declaration of Independence; and we pray and work to ensure that the agonies of Oct. 7 and the war will impel us to a new vision of a strong and safe Israel and Jewish people, in a more peaceful world.
