Deuteronomy All the Days and All the Nights
Va’etchanan Deuteronomy 3:23-7:11
Parshat Va’etchanan begins from a place of profound humility: Moshe recounts how he prayed to God, pleading for the opportunity to accompany the Israelites across the Jordan River:
וָאֶתְחַנַּ֖ן אֶל־יְהֹוָ֑ה בָּעֵ֥ת הַהִ֖וא לֵאמֹֽר׃ אֲדֹנָ֣י יֱהֹוִ֗ה אַתָּ֤ה הַֽחִלּ֙וֹתָ֙ לְהַרְא֣וֹת אֶֽת־עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶ֨ת־גָּדְלְךָ֔ וְאֶת־יָדְךָ֖ הַחֲזָקָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר מִי־אֵל֙ בַּשָּׁמַ֣יִם וּבָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה כְמַעֲשֶׂ֖יךָ וְכִגְבוּרֹתֶֽךָ׃ אֶעְבְּרָה־נָּ֗א וְאֶרְאֶה֙ אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַטּוֹבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּעֵ֣בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן הָהָ֥ר הַטּ֛וֹב הַזֶּ֖ה וְהַלְּבָנֹֽן׃
And I pleaded with God at that time, saying: “Lord God! You have begun to let Your servant see Your greatness and strength, Your powerful doings which no god in heaven or on earth can do! Please, let me cross the Jordan River and see the good land, the hill country, the Levanon.”
(Devarim 3:23-25)
Moshe’s narration does not allow us the luxury of suspended disbelief: immediately, he turns to recount how God denied his request, repeating that Moshe would be permitted to see the land, but would not be eligible to enter it alongside the rest of Israel, whom he led for so many years. So continues Moshe’s epic recapitulation of the people’s recent history, and God’s instruction to them.
Highlights of our parsha include the duty to love God, recited twice daily in our own prayers during the Shema/V’ahavta; and the importance of memory in connection with observance of God’s commandments. Moses instructs the people to take care to teach the mitzvot to their children “all the days of their life” and to observe them in order to “lengthen their days.” This kind of sentiment appears not once or twice – but six times in this week’s Torah portion alone.
The Rabbis and Medieval commentators have a field day decoding this language: popular explanations include that this means to be aware of God throughout all of one’s days AND nights, or that the “lengthening of one’s days” refers to life in the World to Come.
Reading these verses, I can’t help but think of the short story “All the Days and Nights” by one of my favorite writers, William Maxwell. With the cadence of a bedtime story, Maxwell’s tight prose describes the tale of an unnamed man, who “without actually thinking about it, had meant to live each day to the full – as he had – and still not let go of it.” The story continues: “This was not as foolish as it sounds,” and our intrepid character sets out to find all the days and nights of his life.
Without spoiling the plot, the story raises questions about what it means to live our days well, and the role of memory and community in our relationships. And so I wonder if perhaps our task is not to try and literally lengthen our days as much as possible, but rather to live lives which extend temporally to the past and the future. This, I feel, is one meaning of being a Jew: to constantly grapple with a tradition that is rooted firmly in the past, yet still seeks to make meaning in the present and leave legacies for the future.
Parshat Va’ethanan comes at a specific time in our calendar: it is always read on Shabbat Nachamu, the first of seven shabbatot (and special Haftarah readings) between Tisha B’Av — the lowest point of the Jewish year — and Rosh Hashanah, a new beginning. These “shabbatot of consolation” are a source of comfort: a reminder that a future we cannot yet imagine may be equally as real as the past — and its memory —– which sometimes mires us down.
One aspect of Moshe’s prayer worth dwelling on is that it remained unanswered. Even so, elsewhere in our tradition, its structure is held up as an ideal model of prayer (BT Brachot 32a). The measure of a prayer’s power, in other words, might not be found in a given outcome (or lack thereof), but in depth of expression. This, may we remember, all the days and nights of our lives. May our days be made long as we connect to God and each other through prayer, Torah, and mitzvot. May our nights be illuminated with the comfort of knowing we are all reliant upon one another. May our memories be for guidance as we navigate moments of despair and celebration in the present and the future.
Alyssa Coffey (she/her) is a rabbinical student at Hebrew College, where she also serves as Editor of the 70 Faces of Torah blog. Prior to rabbinical school, she studied religion and history at Hampshire College, worked at a Jewish social service organization in Chicago, and spent two years studying in Jerusalem at Pardes. When not learning Torah, Alyssa is often knitting, spinning yarn, or solving puzzles.
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