Parshas Devarim 5775

Parshas Devarim is always read before Tisha Ba’av, and this is hinted to in our parsha by the fact that the word “eicha,” which begins Lamentations (read on Tisha Ba’av), appears in our parsha as well.

What does “eicha” mean? It is a cry, from deep in the heart, asking “How? How could this happen? How can this continue?” On Tisha Ba’av the navi asks, and we should ask as well: How can this go on! How can Klal Yisrael continue to exist in a state of churban? In our parsha, Moshe recounts that he asked Hashem, “how (eicha) can I bear the yoke of this people?”

Medrash Eicha 1:1 says, “Moshe said Eicha, Yishaya said Eicha and Yirmiyahu said Eicha.” Chazal saw a connection between each of these three utterances.

This poses a difficulty: When Yishaya and Yirmiyahu said “Eicha,” both were beholding a nation that had fallen into sin. Yishaya foresaw the impending destruction, Yirmiyahu described as it happened, and both asked how Klal Yisrael could continue in this way. In Moshe’s time the nation’s sins were very few. There was no murder or idolatry as in the times of the later prophets. Moshe could suffice with veiled words of rebuke, whereas Yishaya and Yirmiyahu had no choice but to castigate the nation in the harshest of terms. How can Moshe’s eicha be equated with theirs?

Moreover, when Moshe said eicha, he wasn’t referring to a sin such as the chet hameraglim. He was referring to the difficulty of teaching and judging all of Klal Yisrael alone. “How can I bear this nation by myself?” he asked. And indeed, Hashem commanded him to appoint judges to help him instruct the nation. Is this a sin at all? Yisro was even praised for advising Moshe to appoint such figures. Why is the word eicha even used when describing this episode?

Rashi (1:14) shows us that in fact, Klal Yisrael’s behavior at this time is deemed a sin. Instead of accepting the command that Moshe appoint judges over the nation, the people should have risen up in protest, demanding: “Who should we learn from, the rebbe or the talmid? We want to learn directly from you, Moshe!”

The nation’s acceptance of judges who would then separate them from Moshe is the sin alluded to here.

 

Still, we can ask: Even if this is a sin, is it worse than the chet hameraglim? Why is eichahexpressed here and not there?

The Sefas Emess answers that Moshe was expressing the root of the nation’s sin: their lack of connection with the gadol hador. Their willingness to turn away from Moshe and learn instead from a talmid, a lesser figure, showed that they felt they did not need the guidance of the gedolim in their lives. This initial germ of sin went on to develop into the chet hameraglim, and ultimately to the sins recorded by Yishaya and Yirmiyahu. This is why the Midrash places the three Eichas together, because the root of the sins of Yishaya and Yirmiyahu’s times began with the nation’s complacency when judges were appointed in place of Moshe himself.

Failing to heed the counsel of the gedolei hador is a sin, as we learn in Devarim 17: 11, that we “must not stray from what they say, neither to the right nor to the left.” Chazal explain that this means “even if they say that right is left,” meaning even if we feel that the proper direction to go is to the right, if they say to go to the left, it is incumbent upon us to put aside our personal opinions and obey the gedolei hador. Sefer Hachinuch says that this applies to the gedolei Yisrael of every generation.

How many people nod their heads in agreement with the gedolei hador until they hear an opinion that differs from their own? In our times, for example, we can find Torah-observant Jews who feel that somehow, when it comes to use of internet or guidelines fortzniyus in dress, they “know better than the gedolim,” chalila.

We must know that the knowledge of the gedolei hador comes from their exceptionalameilus in Torah and avodas Hashem, which gives them the siyatta deShemaya to reach the truth. Even in cases when the human mind is incapable of reaching the truth, thegedolei hador have the siyatta deShemaya to arrive at the truth and rule correctly.

Time and again we see that the truth is with the gedolei Yisrael. How many people saw nothing wrong with the haskala (enlightenment) movement? What is haskala, they asked, if not pursuit of knowledge? What’s wrong with that? Only, the gedolim of that era foresaw the far-reaching results of the haskala movement, which ultimately served as a way station for untold thousands of Jews to abandon Yiddishkeit.

Every era has such nisyonos. Just as a Jew who felt admiration for secular knowledge should have obeyed the gedolim and shunned the haskala movement of his time, so too in our generation, those who properly heed the words of the gedolim know that they must run away from the dangers of internet like from fire.

 

In the times of the Chasam Sofer, a beis din once dealt with a case of an aguna (a woman whose husband had been missing for a long time, and until confirmation of his death she could not remarry). After examination of the evidence and considerable halachic deliberation, the beis din felt that there was sufficient basis to presume that the husband had died. The woman was given permission to remarry.

The woman came to the Chasam Sofer and presented him with the beis din’s written ruling. He read through the lengthy halachic explanations and after some time concluded: “As for the evidence, everything is in order, but my heart tells me that your husband is still alive…”

In light of this, the woman decided not to remarry. Soon afterwards, the woman’s husband returned to her, alive and well.

The Chasam Sofer merited that unique siyatta deShemaya granted to the gedolei Yisrael of every generation, and even against sound evidence, his heart knew the truth.

May we be zocheh to cling to the gedolei hador and their teachings!

Exciting news! Rabbi Krieger will soon be publishing a sefer featuring the “best” of the weekly Parsha sheet. If you would like to share in this celebration, please go towww.bircas.org for further details.