Two Mountains Too Much (Devarim)

The Book of Devarim is often explained as Moshe’s recap of the Torah. Knowing his death is imminent, he gathers the people and reminds them of their travels and of many of the halachot they have learned. The first five verses of Devarim explain that these are Moshe’s words and set the time and place in which they were spoken. Then Moshe begins: “The Lord our God spoke to us at Horeb (Sinai) saying: ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain’” (1:6).

It is actually a bit puzzling that Moshe began his recap with the people leaving Sinai. What of all the events before – the 10 plagues, the flight from Egypt, the crossing of the sea, and, most specifically, receiving the Torah (and the incident of the Golden Calf)? Rather Moshe starts by reminding Bnei Yisrael that God told them to move on from Sinai.

If one wanted to compare Bnei Yisrael to a person, once could almost say that until they received the Torah at Sinai, the didn’t yet fully exist, at least not as a unified whole. Sinai was their first breath. Breath, in the world of Jewish metaphor, is the essence of the spiritual, for God breathed life into Adam and thus gave him the unique gift of a soul, a special connection to the Divine. At Sinai, Bnei Yisrael was given their soul, their special direct connection to the Divine. Is it surprising that they wished to stay longer in the area of Sinai?

Instead, as we learn here, God wanted the people to move on. In Hebrew the words that God used are: “Rav Lachem,” which is understood with commentary as “You have stayed long enough,” but which could really be translated as “It is too much for you.” Then the Jewish people were told “Turn yourselves and journey” (1:7).  Now that Bnei Yisrael had drawn the breath of Torah, it was time for them to live life.

It is interesting that Moshe next recaps how the Israelites went to the borders of the Promised Land … and proved themselves unworthy and unable to enter. This is the narrative of the scouts, their negative report, and the reaction of the people. Bnei Yisrael were so caught up in the physical elements of the land – the large fruit, the mighty giants – that they could not imagine how they had the strength through their spiritual connection to the Divine to conquer it. Their lack of physical self-confidence undermined their spiritual strength. Thus concludes the first chapter of Devarim.

The second chapter of Devarim has an oddly similar beginning. “We turned and journeyed to the Wilderness, toward the Yam Suf, as Hashem spoke to me, and we circled Mount Seir for many days. Hashem spoke to me, saying: ‘You have stayed long enough circling this mountain. Turn yourselves northward’” (2:1-3). Once again, Rav Lachem – It is too much for you. The mountain that they were circling, Har Seir, was the area given as an inheritance to Esav and his descendants.

Two mountains and two commands of Rav Lachem, a phrase not particularly common in the Torah.* Is there a connection? Sinai was the place where the Jewish people received the Torah, where they were strengthened spiritually, and they were sent away from there because they stayed too long. Seir was the land of Eisav, who was deeply connected to the physical world. Remember, according to Midrash, he sold his bechora because he couldn’t even believe in his own olam habah, World to Come. Perhaps, having failed to merit the Promised Land because they doubted their physical strength and ignored the significance of their spiritual connection, Bnai Yisrael dwelled longer circling the mountain of Eisav because they were trying to harness the power of the physical. Like for their forefather Yaakov, however, trying to be connected deeply to the physical world like Eisav could only be temporary…and so God sent them on their way.

The two mountains could, perhaps, represent the divided aspects of the spiritual and the physical that are both essential for serving Hashem. One must find a balance between these two realms rather than trying to dwell only in one or the other. The Promised Land, however, is the balance of both. It is the land of milk – a manifestation of the physical as the animal eats the grass and produces the milk – and honey – a manifestation of the spiritual in that Torah is as sweet as honey. Bnai Yisrael could not stay only in a world immersed in spirituality (Sinai), nor could they be part of a world immersed in the physical (Seir). Eretz Yisrael, once Bnei Yisrael had truly developed themselves as a nation, was the place for them to achieve that perfect balance.

*although the two words are found next to each other in 3:19, referring to a large amount of livestock. Same words, different usage.