From:          "Yeshivat Har Etzion's Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash"
To:            yhe-parsha@vbm-torah.org
Subject:       PARSHA -44: Parashat Vaetchanan


                   YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
      ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH (VBM)
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                  PARASHAT VA-ETCHANAN
                           

             Material Wealth and Its Dangers
                           
                  By Rav Elchanan Samet
                           
                           
a. TWO SEEMINGLY SIMILAR PASSAGES

     Sefer  Devarim is the book of preparation for  entry
into  the  Promised Land. This is evidenced both  by  the
halakhic parashot that are situated at its core  as  well
as  by  the later parashot, which deal with the  covenant
sealed  on  the  plains of Mo'av and -  especially  -  by
Moshe's  great  monologue in the early  parashot  of  the
Sefer.  Eight  times during the course  of  parashot  Va-
etchanan and Ekev, Moshe describes the imminent encounter
with the land. This encounter is described from different
aspects,  each  description accompanied  by  mitzvot  and
warnings  related to the theme of that description.  Here
we  shall  compare two such descriptions, one in parashat
Va-etchanan (6:10-15) and the other in parashat Ekev (8:7-
20).

      The  general  framework of these  two   parashot  is
similar:
i.    Both  consist  of  a lengthy introductory   sentence
  followed by the primary section of the parasha.

ii.    The introductory sentence in each case begins with
  similar wording: "And it shall be when Hashem your  God
  brings you to the land..." (6:10), and "When Hashem your
  God  brings  you to the land..." (8:7).  Likewise,  the
  introductory sentences also conclude in a similar manner:
  "And you shall eat and you shall be satisfied." Between
  the  opening and the conclusion of the introduction  we
  find a description of all the good that awaits the nation
  in the land.

iii.  The primary section of both parashot opens with the
  same warning: "Guard yourself lest you forget God," and
  in both we are reminded that it is God Who "took you out
  of  the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery."  The
  reason  that  may lead to forgetting God is  the  great
  goodness showered upon them in the land.

iv.   Corresponding to the warning about forgetting  God,
  both parashot contain a contrasting positive mitzva: in
  parashat Va-etchanan (6:13) we are told, "You shall fear
  Hashem  your God," while in parashat Ekev (8:18)  Moshe
  commands, "You shall remember Hashem your God."

v.    Both  parashot conclude with a warning about  going
  after other gods, and the threat of being punished with
  annihilation for this sin.

      Thus the parallel between these two parashot exists
both  in  their  general structure and in the  linguistic
similarities  found in corresponding places within  their
common structural framework.

      Whenever  it  appears that the Torah  is   repeating
itself,  we need to look for the differences between  the
seemingly similar passages. It is these differences  that
help   us   discern  the  uniqueness  of  each    parasha,
indicating the special significance and the innovation in
each.

      It  is  not difficult to discern the basic   general
difference  between the two parashot under discussion,  a
difference  which  in turn gives rise  to  all  the  more
detailed  differences:  these two parashot  describe  two
different stages in the encounter between Am Yisrael  and
their  promised land. In parashat Va-etchanan we  find  a
description  of  the  initial encounter  with  the  land,
immediately  following the conquest, when Israel  inherit
and  possess  all  the  material assets  that  have   been
created in the land by the nations that had dwelled there
until  the  conquest. Parashat Ekev, on the  other  hand,
describes  the encounter with the good land itself,  with
the   natural  qualities  that  provide  the  basis    for
successful agriculture (the growth of the seven species),
building and economic growth, which come in the  wake  of
conscientious hard work on the part of Bnei  Yisrael  who
put  the  good  of  the land to good use.  Although  both
parashot  describe material abundance and  the  plentiful
blessings that await the nation in their land,  they  are
different types of abundance, from different sources, and
given  to  Israel at different stages in the  process  of
their settlement in the land. As a result, the danger  of
religious  corruption that this abundance may  cause,  as
warned  by the Torah, is also different in each case,  as
is  the prescribed precautionary commandment. Let us look
at   these  differences  in  more  detail,  dividing   our
discussion  into  a treatment of the encounter  with  the
land  on one hand and an analysis of the Torah's warnings
about the results of that encounter, on the other.

b. CONQUERING THE LAND

   "Hear,  O  Israel:  You are passing  over  the   Jordan
   today  to  go and possess nations greater and mightier
   than  you... Know this day that it is Hashem your  God
   Who  passes  before you, a consuming  fire,  He   shall
   destroy them and He shall defeat them before you;  you
   shall  drive them out and destroy them quickly as  God
   has told you." (9:1-3)

      Bnei  Yisrael  were not brought to an  empty   land,
covered  with  wild  forests. They  were  brought  to   an
inhabited land where nations with a material culture more
highly  developed than their own were living. The  battle
against these nations for the conquest of the land, if it
lasted a long time and if it was conducted with difficult
and  great effort, would leave in its wake scorched earth
and  utter  destruction of that entire material  culture.
But  the  Torah  promises a great and QUICK  victory  for
Israel  over those nations. Indeed, the conquest  in  the
days  of Yehoshua is described as realizing this promise:
most  of the cities of the land fell into Israel's  hands
in  their  entirety, and in a speedy process of conquest.
This  was  meant to work in Israel's favor, easing  their
task   of  conquest  and  settlement  of  the   land   and
introducing  them  into  a  life  of  material   abundance
immediately  upon  their  arrival.  Therefore  the  Torah
commands, in the parasha dealing with "when you  approach
a  city  to  wage war" (20:14), that "All the  spoil   you
shall  take to yourself, and you shall eat the  spoil  of
your enemies which Hashem your God has given to you," and
later  on  the nation is commanded not to destroy  fruit-
bearing trees during the siege of a city, "for you  shall
eat of them" (following the conquest); "you shall not cut
them down" (ibid 19).

      In  parashat  Va-etchanan,  in  the   section  under
discussion,  the Torah describes the great  advantage  in
possession of the land achieved in this manner. It is not
the good of the land itself that is pointed out here (for
in  the  initial stage of the conquest this is of  lesser
significance), but rather the good that man  has  created
upon it: "Great and good cities... and houses full of all
types of good." In the corresponding parasha in Ekev,  it
is  specifically  the  good of the land  itself  that  is
described,  and also twice: "When Hashem your God  brings
you  to the good land... and you shall bless Hashem  your
God for the good land which He has given you."

      The abundance enjoyed by the nation in the land  is
also  different in each of these two parashot.  While  in
parashat Ekev water is provided by the land itself, in  a
natural manner (through the "rivers and streams that flow
and  the  fountains  in the valleys and  mountains"),  in
parashat Va-etchanan the water comes from wells that have
been  dug  out by the previous inhabitants of  the  land.
While  in parashat Ekev we are told that the land  brings
forth  seven  species of agricultural produce  (requiring
man  to  invest effort in their cultivation until  he  is
able to eat his bread in abundance), in our parasha there
are  "vineyards and olive trees" just waiting for Israel.
It  is  not the SPECIES of fruit that are important here,
but  rather their situation: they are already planted and
are ready for use and consumption.

     In  parashat Va-etchanan there is mention of   "great
and  good  cities, and houses full of all types of  good"
that  the inhabitants of the land will leave behind them.
Thisis  not  mentioned  in the corresponding  parasha  in
Ekev, for these are not qualities of the land itself.  On
the  other  hand,  parashat Ekev mentions  the  iron  and
copper found in the ground; these need to be mined. This,
obviously,  has  no  place  in  the  description  in   Va-
etchanan.  The root "ch-tz-v" (to mine, dig) is  reserved
there for the wells of water dug out of the rocks by  the
previous inhabitants of the land.

      To conclude the comparison between the two passages
which describe the material abundance of the land, let us
turn  our  attention  to one stylistic  phenomenon  which
exists  in both and which illustrates the special subject
dealt  with in each. In both parashot a certain  word  or
phrase is repeated in a fixed place - at the beginning of
the   sentence  or  at  its  conclusion,  such   that  the
repetition  echoes  in the ears of the  listener  like  a
hammer.  In  parashat Ekev it is the word "land"  (eretz)
that  repeats  itself at the beginning of five  sentences
(e.g.  "a  land  of streams ... a land of wheat...")  and
thus determines the subject of the parasha: "the goodness
of  the  land." In parashat Va-etchanan it is the  phrase
"which you did not ..." that occurs at the conclusion  of
four consecutive sentences (e.g. "great cities which  you
did not build, houses full of all kinds of good which you
did  not  fill..."), determining that the special subject
of  this parasha is the material abundance that is  being
given  to  the nation as a free gift, without any  effort
being required on their part.

c. LEST YOU FORGET GOD

     What the Torah warns about in both parashot is "lest
you  forget  God," and both mention the ingratitude  that
such forgetting would entail, for it is God who took  the
nation  "from  the  land  of Egypt,  from  the   house  of
slavery." But a close examination reveals that the reason
for  this  forgetting is different in each  parasha,  and
therefore it also has a different result.

      In  parashat Ekev we find an account of the process
that may bring about the forgetfulness of ingratitude, an
account  that  is lacking in Va-etchanan:  a  person  who
makes  use  of  the  good of the land and  cultivates  it
diligently will become wealthy and live a life of luxury.
This  will  not  happen immediately, but  rather  at  the
conclusion of the process of settling down in  the  land.
(Attention  should be paid to the contrast  between  "YOU
SHALL  BUILD good houses and dwell in them," in  parashat
Ekev, and "great and good cities which YOU HAVE NOT BUILT
and  houses full of all kinds of good  which YOU DID  NOT
FILL,"  in parashat Va-etchanan.) The wealth and economic
luxury achieved through human effort bring one to a sense
of  pride  - "and your heart will be haughty" -  and  the
tendency to attribute all this success to oneself -  "and
you shall say in your heart, My power and the strength of
my hand have made me all this might."

      The  practical result of this is first of all   that
one  forgets  God,  "failing to observe  His  mitzvot"   -
neglecting  the yoke of mitzvot, as we read  in  parashat
Ha'azinu  (32:15) "And Yeshurun grew fat and kicked."  It
is  only  at  a  later stage that this process  leads  to
following  after  other  gods. What  is  the  reason   for
forgetting  God in parashat Va-etchanan? The  Torah  does
not  specify,  but the reason is clearly not  pride  (for
what reason can there be for pride in wealth that one did
not  create oneself?), nor neglect of the mitzvot. In our
parasha  the  Torah reaches the stage  of  idolatry  much
faster.  If  we  compare the formulation of  the  Torah's
warning  against idolatry in both parashot,  we  find  an
important difference:

   Va-etchanan  (6:14): "You shall  not  go  after   other
   gods IN THE PATH OF THE NATIONS WHO ARE AROUND
YOU"

   Ekev (8:19): "And it will be if you forget God and  go
   after other gods and serve them...."
    
     The  Torah's  concern  in Va-etchanan  is   that  the
material culture which Israel will inherit in the land of
Canaan  will  lead  to  an acceptance  of  the   religious
culture  with  which it is bound up.  Together  with  the
"great and good cities" and "the houses full of all kinds
of  goodness," Bnei Yisrael might also accept  Ba'al  and
Ashtoret, the gods of Canaan, and the pagan concepts that
are  part  and parcel of the material culture.  In  every
Canaanite  home  there  were  idols  of  gods,  and   many
Canaanite  cities  boasted pagan  temples.  The  material
culture of Canaan was saturated with pagan worship.

      It  is  now clear what concern the Torah is voicing
here: the inheritance of a material culture (Canaan) by a
nation   with  a  relatively  inferior  material   culture
(Israel)  may turn out to be a Pyrrhic victory.  Feelings
of inferiority and insignificance may lead the victorious
nation  to  enter the materially richer  culture  of  the
defeated  nation,  adopting it wholeheartedly,  including
its  religious  aspects. The defeated nation  could  then
say,  "They  beat us, but they accepted our  philosophy."
Such  a  process  has occurred more than  once  in  human
history.

      Therefore  the  Torah  demands  of   Israel  that  a
distinction be made between the good cities,  the  houses
full  of  all  types  of good, and the  entire  Canaanite
infrastructure - all of which are given to Israel out  of
God's kindness - and the beliefs and philosophies of  the
Canaanites   and  their  tangible  expression.   At    the
conclusion  of parashat Va-etchanan (7:1-8) we  find  the
direct continuation of our discussion:

   "When  Hashem your God brings you to the land to which
   you  are  coming to possess it, and He will drive  out
   many   nations   before  you...  seven   nations   more
   numerous  and  mightier than you... You shall  utterly
   destroy  them... and have no mercy on them.  So  shall
   you  do  to  them: you shall destroy their altars  and
   break  down  their images, and cut down their  asherim
   and  burn  their idols with fire. For you are  a  holy
   nation  to Hashem your God; Hashem your God chose  you
   to  be for Him a special nation out of all the nations
   upon  the  face of the earth. God did not  desire  you
   and  choose  you  of all the nations  for  your   great
   numbers  - for you are the smallest among the  nations
   - but rather because of God's love for you..."

     Thus, it is true that the nations that you are about
to  possess  do have an advantage - they are greater  and
mightier than you. But you are a holy nation to God,  and
He  has  chosen  you from among all the nations.  On  the
strength  of  that  superiority you are  destined  to  be
victorious  over  all these nations, and  therefore  take
care that you do not lose your advantage over them - your
sanctity.

      What  is  the  precaution that the   Torah  suggests
against the possibility of deterioration in each  of  the
parashot? In parashat Ekev the answer starts to be hinted
at  even  before the possibility of the deterioration  is
explicitly discussed (8:10): "And you shall eat  and  you
shall  be satisfied, AND YOU SHALL BLESS HASHEM YOUR 
GOD for  the  good  land  which He has  given  you."   In  the
corresponding place in parashat Va-etchanan, we are  told
simply,  "And you shall eat and you shall be  satisfied,"
with  no  mention of blessing God for this goodness.  The
reason  for  this difference lies in the fact that  God's
blessing in having given us the good land, which  is  the
source of all the wealth and ease which we have attained,
is  indeed  a  measure  of guarantee  against  pride   and
forgetting God's mercies, but it has no power to  protect
the nation against the influence of pagan culture.

      An  additional precaution provided by the Torah   in
parashat Ekev against man's pride and forgetting  God  is
the  mention of God's mercies towards Israel during their
desert  wanderings (8:15-16): "...Who leads  you  in  the
great   and  terrible  desert,  with  poisonous    snakes,
scorpions  and  drought with no water,  Who  brought  out
water  for you from the rock of flint, Who fed you  manna
in  the  desert..." The Ramban (8:18) interprets this  as
teaching,

   "If  you  think 'My power and the strength of my  hand
   made  all of this might for me,' remember God Who took
   you  out  of  Egypt  -  there you  had  no   power  nor
   strength in your hands at all. And remember also  that
   in  the desert, where you had no means to survive, God
   performed  all  that  you needed.  Thus,  this   might,
   which  you have achieved by your own strength - it  is
   God Who gives you the strength with which to do it."

      This  precaution, too, lacks the power  to   protect
agathe  influences  of pagan culture  against  which  the
Torah warns in parashat Va-etchanan. In our parasha there
is no suitable precaution other than complete cleaving to
God  (6:13):  "YOU SHALL FEAR Hashem your  God,  and  you
shall  serve HIM, and you shall swear IN HIS NAME."  From
this  verse  we  learn the prohibition of  fearing  other
gods,  the  prohibition  of  serving  them  and  that   of
swearing in their names.

      A  practical  precaution against the influences   of
pagan  Canaanite culture is found in the continuation  of
the  parasha, and it is repeated several times  in  Sefer
Devarim:  the  destruction  of  the  pagan  nations,   the
shattering  of  their  altars and the  burning  of  their
idols.  These  acts  are a precondition  to  ensure  that
Israel will in no way remain "stuck" to the spoils.

d. A SOCIETY OF LUXURY

     From  our  study  here we may draw conclusions   that
apply  to our days as well, and the society of luxury  in
which  we  live. Economic abundance, wealth and ease  for
the  individual and society as a whole present two hidden
dangers.  One  danger applies to the individual  who  has
earned  his  wealth through his own efforts - a  positive
phenomenon in its own right - and that is the  danger  of
pride  and a feeling of human power, which distances  the
memory  of  God's mercies towards him. There  is  nothing
wrong  with the joy of creating and doing, and  pride  in
the  success  and achievements that come in the  wake  of
diligent  and  careful labor. But only a  hair's  breadth
separates  this  joy  and  pride  from  a  forbidden   and
negative type of pride. This hair's breadth is a person's
constant   memory  of  the  true  source   of    all   his
achievements: God's mercy towards him.

      And  thus the Ran, in his tenth derasha, interprets
the  verses in parashat Va-etchanan (8:17-18),  "And  you
shall say in your heart, My power and the strength of  my
hand  have made me all this might. And you shall remember
Hashem  your God, for it is He Who gives you strength  to
perform  might."  If  a certain power  or  talent   exists
within  you,  remember Who gave it to you. As  the  verse
teaches, "For it is He Who gives you STRENGTH to  perform
might." It does not say, "Remember that it is Hashem your
God  Who  gives you the might" - for this would deny  the
power  that  a  person  indeed  has,  as  the   means  for
gathering wealth. In other words, when a person remembers
and recognizes the source of his strength and talents and
Who it is that has shown him so much mercy so far, he may
truly declare with joy, "My power and the strength of  my
hands  (which  are  a gift from God) have  made  me  this
might!"

       The   other   danger,  which    characterizes   our
generation, is that the society of abundance in which  we
live  connects with many different cultures, making  them
into a single global culture. There is tremendous benefit
in  this:  without any need for war and for  "eating  the
spoil of our enemies" we are able to enjoy every cultural
achievement from every part of the world; it  arrives  at
our  doorstep - or straight into our homes - without  any
effort  on our part. The question posed to us is to  what
extent  we  are capable of drawing a distinction  between
material  culture which improves our "quality  of  life,"
and the spiritual values of the creators of that culture.

       The  ability  to  draw  this   distinction  in  our
generation, and the knowledge of where exactly  the  line
is  to be drawn, is one of the most complex and difficult
tasks  that  we face. This is because western culture  is
not  a pagan culture as was the Canaanite culture in  its
time. Some of the spiritual values of western culture fit
in  with  the  Torah  and  are indeed  nourished  by   it.
Nevertheless, other values stand in clear contrast to our
Torah.  We  may  run  away  from  this  task  by   closing
ourselves off from any manifestation of this culture. But
someone  who  seeks to address it, to  extract  its  good
while rejecting its negative elements, must pay attention
to the Torah's warning in our parasha.

(Translated by Kaeren Fish)

YESHIVAT HAR ETZION
ISRAEL KOSCHITZKY VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH
ALON SHEVUT, GUSH ETZION 90433

Copyright (c) 1999 Yeshivat Har Etzion
All Rights Reserved

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