Repetition - a reflection/dvar Torah on Parshat Devarim

Repetition

Devarim 2011/5771

©Rabbi Neil A. Tow

Deuteronomy – a name second only to Leviticus in its strange sound to today’s ear, means “The Repetition of the Law,” a second Torah.

And so we will hear over the next many weeks a repetition of what has come before.  A retelling of some keys points in the journey from Egypt toward the Promised Land, the 10 commandments later on. 

We’ll hear time and again about how we must root out idol worship from our midst and focus our attention on the central sanctuary in Jerusalem, how we must love God.

As Ramban-Nachmanides points out though in his introduction to the book, not everything we find in it is a repeat.  There are new mitzvoth mentioned here that were not previously recorded. 

Ramban also notes that we, the people, unlike the priests of old, require repetition in order to learn.  “pa’am achar pa’am” time after time we must hear and think about the meaning and practice of God’s teachings. 

Ramban underlines an important point when we think about repetition.  Repetition does not necessarily mean that what happens a second time will happen exactly the same as the first, nor that we will think about it in the same way. 

We also must be aware of how we respond to repetition.  Children can say the same thing, watch the same video, read the same book, wear the same clothing over and over again.  As adults, we may grow out of these patterns and look for more novelty.  We hear many messages over the course of a week about the ‘new thing’ as we have for so long.

I have noticed, though, the value of returning to words ideas, images, pieces of art, many times over.  Each time the message sinks deeper.  Each time the picture grows a bit clearer, especially if we engage with a teacher who helps us to see more effectively with each review. 

Return, repetition, is a mindset, a decision to re-engage in a serious way on many occasions with the goal of clarification and deeper connection.

The review of Deuteronomy then is not a sentimental journey backwards in time, nor a desperate reprise of past events with the hope of a last parting impression.  It is a moment when the review of past events and ideas will extend to a new generation that did not itself stand at Sinai.

And that reality extends through until today.  We may have been at Sinai in spirit, but we ourselves did not see the mountain on fire with God’s Presence.  Hearing the words again is as important as it ever was.

This week we will observe Tisha Be’Av, the ninth of Av, a holiday of repetition, repetition of the destruction of Jewish life and community over the centuries in different places on the globe—especially the Temples in Jerusalem.  We lament these losses and the suffering that they brought, and we re-enter those difficult worlds of experience to learn what we can from them, to search for meaning in the darkness once again. 

Our history is alive, a living, breathing phenomenon that must be dusted off, reviewed, replenished, and renewed through every generation.  Let us rededicate ourselves to cultivating an approach of openness and willingness to engage and re-engage.  Let us challenge ourselves to read and re-read the news and process it with others.  Let us find in the prayers of our tradition, in the words of the Torah the messages that carried our ancestors and carry us as we examine them through our own eyes-the messages of the past are ours too, may we hear them and hear them again, each day, each season, and one year into the next.