Mind the gap.
Whoever wrote the Book of Words wants us to notice and appreciate -------- absence. As with most precious experiences, we can only do that as we make it almost to the end. The absence is not just the looming loss of Moses the redeemer, who will die in the desert and will not lead the people on. It is also the absence that through his words is slowly seeping in, and is, in fact, quite radical. The first aspect of the absence is the way Moses minimizes his role in the history of the people. Just like he does not appear at all in the Passover Haggadah, throughout the Book of Words retelling of the past his role is very limited. It isn’t just humility, it’s a pedagogy and a political-theological approach. Although throughout his last sermon Moses talks about the future in the promised land as one in which the sacred shrine will be the center, the location is never named. No mention of elaborate sacrifices as is the case throughout Leviticus. Some scholars claim that this absence of focus on God’s Temple as the core is nothing less than a theological revolution. Moses is not focused on a Temple and its religious bureaucracy that will not last. He is focused on an eternal Book. THE Book. The one he’s assumed to be the author of and we are still reading -right now.
The Divine does not live in temples, as is the belief in other pagan cultures, Moses says. And even if we’ll have such a temple - The Divine is in the words, and in the scroll, and though there will be one central location - the book, the voice, the words -will always live in everybody’s ears, heart, eyes and mouth. He is decentralizing the sacred and brings it home to each of us.
The focus on the absence of Moses and possibly of God’s presence in the temple becomes more noticeable when we get to today’s chapter with its good news and the repetition of the trope - we have choice between good and bad behavior, and we may as well choose life, live by the laws that will best serve all future generations. We need no leader, Moses says, and writes himself out of his book. No need to have a prophet who will reach the heavens, or explorers who will travel far away to find the truth - it’s here, all the time, this moment, these words, this constant revelation:
כִּ֚י הַמִּצְוָ֣ה הַזֹּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם לֹא־נִפְלֵ֥את הִוא֙ מִמְּךָ֔ וְלֹ֥א רְחֹקָ֖ה הִֽוא׃לֹ֥א בַשָּׁמַ֖יִם הִ֑וא לֵאמֹ֗ר מִ֣י יַעֲלֶה־לָּ֤נוּ הַשָּׁמַ֙יְמָה֙ וְיִקָּחֶ֣הָ לָּ֔נוּ וְיַשְׁמִעֵ֥נוּ אֹתָ֖הּ וְנַעֲשֶֽׂנָּה׃ כִּֽי־קָר֥וֹב אֵלֶ֛יךָ הַדָּבָ֖ר מְאֹ֑ד בְּפִ֥יךָ וּבִֽלְבָבְךָ֖ לַעֲשֹׂתֽוֹ׃
“This Instruction which I give to you today is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens, that you should say, “Who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it? No, it is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart, to observe it.”
Earlier on in the Book of Words Moses instructs the people to conduct a future ceremony of words as soon as they enter the land - build the large rocks with the words of Torah on them, right on the two mountains of Gerizim and Ebal, overlooking the banks of the Jordan river. He is instructing them to conduct the ritual he began while in the wilderness - knowing full well that the main voice on stage will be absent once the ritual is actualized. The people will hear the Torah from Moses on the east side of the Jordan but the ritual of its acceptance will only occur on the western side, and his voice will be only remembered. This is the complete rejection of the Sinai Revelation. Back in the Book of Names Moses goes up for forty days to receive the Torah and while he is absent the people riot and co-create the golden calf - the earliest religious center in our history. Aaron, future high priest of the tabernacle, whose son will officiate in the temple for generations, is the one to cast the idol. But now comes the repair. Moses hands down a Torah that is all about the sacred absence, not a god to touch but an idea to hold on to, in our mouth and hearts, not a physical or tangible location. Even the prophet matters less than the idea, Moses says, as he prepares his final disappearing act, just a few chapters ahead, his final absence.
Micha Goodman writes:
“You can’t help but be astounded by the theological-political drama unfolding in Moses’s farewell speech. The great prophet and leader not only extracts himself from the story, he also removes himself from the covenant that he himself brought on. He edited himself out of the past, and now he ensures that the people will finalize the covenant on the other side of the river, and live by the words he had delivered - but without him.”
Whoever wrote the Book of Words gives us the words in the mouth of Moses - far beyond him, or any prophet or leader, and beyond the need for the written text as is it written - it’s ours to listen to, to talk back to, to own - or disown? This is the radical start of the spoken Torah, changing all the time, not in heaven, always close to home.
What can this radical approach teach each of us today about the power of absence and the secret of the sacred - always, always, right now, so close to each of our hearts and homes?
Today’s post is dedicated to my mother Joan, on the day on which we celebrate the publication of her memoir ‘The Honey and the Sting.” What a proud joy to be with her on this day, honoring her life and legacy, the many years of labor that she and others, myself included, put into this lovely book that tells the tale of one brave and wise woman finding her winding way to her homeland, and into her inner home, with a sharp mind and a heart full of blessings.
Ready for Joshua?? On 10/25 we bury Moses, close the Torah, cross the Jordan River into Canaan along with Joshua, entering ‘Prophets’ - the second section of the Hebrew Bible. The Book of Joshua is 24 chapters long and I invite you for a one-month journey of politics and myth, power and conquest, then and now. What’s at stake when land becomes a homeland?
On 10/24 1pm ET I will be joined by Dr. Rachel Havrelock, author of The Joshua Generation and Rabbi David Kline, to get ready for the Journey with Joshua.
Join us to get ready on this free 60 min. Zoom conversation:
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85448738911?pwd=dmRIRndNNDhjaXZsVjh5K3dSYUdLQT09
Meeting ID: 854 4873 8911
Below the Bible Belt: 929 chapters, 42 months, daily reflections: Join Rabbi Amichai’s 3+ years interactive online quest to question, queer + re-read between the lines of the entire Hebrew Bible, with daily reflections, weekly videos and monthly learning sessions. January 2022-July 2025
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Wonderful commentary.
Yasher koach to your mother! Where can we find her book? (I couldn’t find it online.)
"I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day: I have put before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life—if you and your offspring would live—"
I think this is my absolute favorite verse in the Torah. Choose life. Choose joy and community, choose to care about each other, choose compassion, choose to continue on this path of life, choose love. Not because someone tells you to, not because someone gave it to you. It's not a secret, it not unattainable. You are not mandated to. You can choose. To me, this is the part that explodes in my heart.
I absolutely love your post today.