July 17, 2010 | 6 Av 5770 

The Israelites stand on the east bank of the Jordan River poised to enter the Land of Israel. They must have been anxious to continue this final leg of the journey. But that last leg would have to await a long “pause.” We call that “pause” the Book of Deuteronomy. I say “pause” because the Israelites move no closer to their final destination by the end of the book than at its outset. Very little narrative is found in the Book of Deuteronomy. It largely consists of Moses’ final speech and admonitions to the people he has led through this torturous forty year journey.

Shouldn’t it strike us that Moses, the reluctant leader who responds to God’s call with reticence (“Who am I that I should go to Pharoah and free the Israelites from Egypt?” – Ex. 3:11) and who has difficulty speaking (“Please O Lord, I have never been a man of words…I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” – Dt. 4:10) now commands the attention of the Israelites over the course of an entire book? How did Moses grow from a reluctant leader of the Israelites who had difficulty speaking to a figure who now speaks forcefully and convincingly?

Of course, the leader that Moses has become is, in large measure, a product of his experiences. Moses was “battle tested” and ultimately transformed by his every day activities. Whether or not he felt himself worthy, Moses accepted the mantle of leadership God placed on him and made it his own.

But what about Moses’ ability to speak? How did he overcome his difficulties, whatever their nature? I believe the answer lies in the words heard over and over again following God’s first interaction with Moses – Vayidaber Adonai el Moshe laymor... – “God spoke to Moses…”

Of course, because this phrase that alludes to divine speech is always followed by content that seemingly flows from God’s mouth, we tend to understand the words literally. We have been socialized over the course of time to take the words or at least the divine action associated with them at face value – God spoke to Moses.

I would like to suggest that we downplay the literal notion of divine speech here. Rather when the Torah uses the verb vayidaber to express something that God does in relationship to Moses, we understand it to mean that God empowered Moses. The specific content that follows becomes less important. When we think of what God did vis–a–vis Moses as empowering him and we add our tradition’s perspective that God and Moses shared a unique relationship, we may say that God empowered Moses in a unique fashion. That is why Moses could overcome his reticence and his speech difficulties to lead in the strong fashion he did and to offer a final speech to his people that constitutes almost the entire biblical book we begin to read this week.

So God empowered Moses in unique fashion. But God did not empower Moses alone. The Holy One may also empower us. If only that empowerment could be expressed in the biblical fashion of “God speaking,” it would be much easier to explain and confirm. What, then, do I mean when I suggest that God empowers us?

When I sit in a service, at a contemplative spot or anywhere else and suddenly a new insight occurs to me, from where does that insight emanate? When one suffers an unexpected loss of any sort and feels that he/she will never become reconciled to this absence yet eventually does find the means to continue living in positive ways, what is the source of that resilient expression? As a person of faith, my answer is “God.”

How does God empower you? How does God provide you with the means to express your strength and abilities when you believe you can’t do so? Every day God empowers us…if only we can “hear” the divine voice.