Devarim 5773: Talking Points

By Rabbi Joshua (reticently known as The Hoffer) Hoffman z"l


The book of Devarim begins with the statement, “These (eileh) are the words that Moshe spoke to all of Yisroel…” (Devarim, 1:1). Various commentators point to the significance of the word “eileh” in indicating the special nature of this final book of the Torah. The Midrash says that the gematria, or numerical equivalent, of this three-letter word is thirty-six, corresponding to the amount of days that Moshe spoke to the people in his final address to them. Rabbi Avraham Schorr, in his HaLekach VeHalibuv cites a tradition that he says is found in the “holy works,” meaning mystical works, that the three letters of the word “eileh,” alef, lamed and heh, are an abbreviation of the words “avak leshon hora” or the dust of evil talk, a subtle violation of that prohibition, which, the Talmud tells us, everyone stumbles in. Rabbi Schorr explains that Moshe’s farewell address to the people consisted largely of rebuke for the sins committed by the generation of the wilderness, which to a great extent, consisted of leshon hora, specifically in regard to the sin of the spies, because of which that generation could not enter Eretz Yisroel. The work Ezer Eliyah, as cited by Rabbi Schorr, adds the point that by reviewing the Torah as part of his farewell address, Moshe was teaching the people that the only way to guard against the sin of leshon hora is to involve oneself in the study of Torah. Perhaps, by combining the note of the midrash about the length of Moshe’s farewell address, and the note of Rabbi Schorr about Moshe’s focus on the sin of leshon hora, as well as a third comment about the word “eileh” given by the Ohr HaChaim, we can find an additional message that Moshe delivered to the people before he died.

The Ohr HaChaim notes that the word “eileh” is written with a preceding vav, which is a connecting letter. The rabbis teach us that when eileh is written in this way, it serves as a separation from what precedes it. The Ohr HaChaim explains that the idea here is that what follows are the words of Moshe, in contrast to the preceding four books of the Torah, which are the words of God. Much has been written to explain what the Ohr HaChaim means by his comments because, after all, it is a fundamental Jewish belief that the entire Torah consists of the words of God. This is a topic for a different discussion, and the interested reader is referred to an article by Yaakov Elman in Hazon Nahum, about the Ramban’s comments about the nature of the book of Devarim. I would like to suggest a different point of contrast between the book of Devarim and the previous books of the Torah, namely, that while in the previous books we find that Moshe, who described himself as someone who was not a “man of words”, in the book of Devarim, speaks to the people at great length, and delivers many beautiful speeches, consisting of words of rebuke coupled with expressions of love, and Torah teachings. What accounts for this change in approach?

There is a common notion that in order to guard oneself from the speaking of leshon hora, one must refrain, to the extent possible from speaking altogether. The Chofetz Chaim, however, the master teacher of guarding one’ speech, taught by example otherwise. He was known to be friendly with people, speaking with them at length about their concerns in life, and offering them constant encouragement. His genius was that, with all of this verbal interaction, he strictly observed the laws of leshon hora. The Maharal and others explain that Moshe had difficulty with speech because speech represents the link between spirituality and the physical world, and Moshe, who was closer to God than any man who ever lived, had difficulty in forging that link. However, in addressing the new generation that would be entering Eretz Yisroel, he understood that he now had to take a different approach. The new generation would be involved in apportioning the land among the different tribes, and setting up a society that followed all the laws of the Torah. This enterprise necessarily involved a great deal of social interaction, and Moshe, by addressing the people at great length and focusing on the dangers of leshon hora, combining this with a review of the entire corpus of Torah, was delivering the message that, through the guidance of the Torah, one could be thoroughly involved in society, interact to a full extent with others, and, yet, adhere completely to all of the rules regarding the proper use of speech. In contrast to being a person who was not a man of words, as exhibited in the previous books of the Torah, Moshe, in the book of Devarim, spoke to the people at length in order to deliver this important message to them before he died.