Devarim: Crossing Over: The Spiritual Transition from Exile to Redemption
Liluei Nishmas Ita bas Chanoch Aharon Bistritzky
In this week’s parsha, Devarim, we encounter an apparent contradiction between the beginning of our parsha and the end of the last parsha. Devarim begins with, “These are the words that Moshe spoke to the Jewish people on that side of the Jordan” (the non-Eretz Yisrael side of the river). But just one verse earlier, at the end of Parshas Matos-Masei, the Torah states, “These are the commandments... the Lord commanded the children of Israel through Moses in the plains of Moab,” specifying the precise location where the Jewish people were standing. The question is evident: why does the Torah locate the Jewish people in the plains of Moab in one verse, but then refer to them as being “across the Jordan River” in the next?
The Lubavitcher Rebbe explains that this all depends on context. Matos-Masei, being in the book of Bamidbar, describes galus, exile. It chronicles the many journeys the Jewish people took while wandering in the wilderness for forty years. From this perspective, the next “pit stop” for the Jewish people was the plains of Moab, another location in the wilderness. However, from the perspective of the book of Devarim, we describe not the various journeys in exile but the preparation for the ultimate entry of the Jewish people into Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel—redemption. Therefore, here the Jewish people didn't recognize the plains of Moab as just another stop in their journeys but as the immediate “across the river” from Eretz Yisrael, the Holy Land. They viewed this location as the final destination before their entry into Eretz Yisrael.
Spiritually, the plains of Moab (“Arvot Moav”) symbolize darkness—“erev.” Moav, as explained in Chassidus, is short for “Mei-Av,” meaning “from the father,” representing the beginning of intellect—wisdom. Therefore, Arvot Moav means “the darkness of the mind.” Other synonyms for this can be depression, mental anguish, and so on, unfortunately prevalent in our times. The question arises: why now are we presented with all this? Why do people predominantly find themselves in a depressed state?
There are two ways of viewing this: One way, from the “galus/exile” mentality, is that people today are very spoiled. In the past, Jews were busy running away from pogroms, genocide, etc. Thank G-d, we find ourselves in fairly better times (at least relatively). People have become bored with their free time and have lots of time to look internally and become self-absorbed, leading to mental darkness.
However, there is a second perspective. This is a “Devarim” perspective. We find ourselves at the doorstep of the arrival of Moshiach. When Moshiach arrives, we will have a new consciousness and awareness of ourselves and the world at large—a G-dly consciousness that is authentic and pure. For this new consciousness to set in, the older consciousness needs to melt away. These are like birth pains. As the new geula (redemption) consciousness begins to set in, the older one stops working. We start questioning it. What once worked and got us going just doesn’t do it for us anymore. Now, we don’t need to perceive this as a crippling “Arvot Moav” mental darkness; we can see and embrace it as an “across the Jordan” moment, right before entering the age of redemption.
We can choose to open our eyes and begin to view the darkness differently. We must view those around us and the world from a new perspective. We can upgrade to a new level of belief, from which we can see things with a new geula mindset. Instead of viewing our situation as “the darkness of the mind,” we can view it as the ability to cross over into an Eretz Yisrael perspective—a perspective of redemption. At this point, we can see the darkness not as debilitating but as an opportunity to use as a stepping stool to cross over into a new awareness of peace and happiness.
Adapted from “Life Talks on the Parsha”