You know how some portraits seem to be staring at you from the wall? Some movies always make you cry? Some texts feel timeless, some works of art transcend the taste and test of time. Was the last speech of Moses crafted by him or by later literary authors with this ideal in mind? It seems to be about eternal presence.
Moses mixes past and present through this last sermon which is intended for future readers. The past in which the Hebrew ancestors left Egypt flows into the present of their children about to enter the land - the ones listening to his last speech. It isn’t clear if he’s talking to the ones who were slaves, to their children, or to us, today.
This confused sense of time - addressing all generations of listeners/readers transforms history into contemporary performative experience, happening right now. This is perhaps one of the greatest achievement of this long enduring book - the past is released, the future is folded into the present - and the covenant Moses insists on perpetuating in the last chapters of his life is always spoken of in present tense - it’s always happening TODAY:
You stand on this day, all of you, before your God —your tribal heads, your elders, and your officials, every person in Israel, your children, your wives, even the stranger within your camp, those who chop your wood and bring you water - to enter into the covenant of your God, concluding with you this day..
The covenant is made with all generations, past and future, all of us are already present, signatories on the deed. The time gaps are not important, as myth made history justifies the continuity of who and why we are.
In his brilliant Hebrew book on Moses and his last speech, Dr. Micha Goodman writes “ In the Book of Words all the generations are the same generation and every day is today.”
Why does this matter? Goodman explains further - I’m paraphrasing and translating: “One of the key ideas implied in this book, though not explicitly mentioned, is that the past shapes who we are, but we each choose which part of the past we wish to be shaped by. Moses instructs the people to operate selective memory. Some parts of the collective memory must be released so that they will not keep appearing in our future, events such as the golden calf, for instance. But other mega memories such as the Sinai revelation must be remembered and ‘repeated’ as though they are in the present..they are literally eternal. This is the human secret strength - to use memory wisely, to redesign the past, so that it can strengthen the moral and ethical identity of our present - and future.. “
The covenant that concludes this book and wraps up the Torah of Moses is always happening right now. That means it is still binding. Are we still in? What does that even mean?
Perhaps on some spiritual level it is the invitation, shared by so many traditions, to be less in the past or scared for the future - just be more present - here and now?
Today the Jewish world is celebrating Simchat Torah - the ending of one annual cycle of chanting the Five Books of Moses and the start of the next cycle. Each year on this day, as we recite the last verses of this book in which Moses dies - I cry. It feels real. His death is the death of a year, of a cycle, of a mythic Moses with all that archetypes offer our soul-life. My mind knows this is a story - my tears are real, in the here and now. Isn’t that what makes a ritual story be part of one’s life?
As we come closer to the end of the Book of Words on this Below the Bible Belt journey, I hope that on same level this ancient text helps each of us make more meaning of our own ever evolving lives - right here, right now.
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:
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
I saw a portrait of Malcolm X today, thought of this post and Joseph Campbell’s work. We need heroes. Of Biblical proportion. And without them who can our children emulate?
This definitely one of the most moving speeches ever written, and the fact that it was written so long ago and still feels so present blows my mind... my favorite verse of all time is in tomorrow's chapter...
I saw a portrait of Malcolm X today, thought of this post and Joseph Campbell’s work. We need heroes. Of Biblical proportion. And without them who can our children emulate?
This definitely one of the most moving speeches ever written, and the fact that it was written so long ago and still feels so present blows my mind... my favorite verse of all time is in tomorrow's chapter...