Our Torah reading for this week (i.e., parashat Devarim) is the very first portion from the Book of Deuteronomy (i.e., Sefer Devarim: ספר דברים), which is always read on the Sabbath that immediately precedes the somber holiday of Tishah B’Av (תשעה באב). In Jewish tradition, this special Sabbath is called “Shabbat Chazon” (שַׁבַּת חַזוֹן), “the Sabbath of Vision,” since the Haftarah that is read (i.e., Isa. 1:1-25) comes from the vision of the prophet Isaiah (ישעיהו הנביא) regarding the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. In both Jewish tradition and liturgy, teshuvah (repentance) and viduy (confession of sin) are the themes of this preparatory Sabbath.
The book of Devarim (i.e., דברים, “words” or “things”), is so named from the phrase eleh ha’devarim (“these are the words…”) found in its opening verse. In our English Bibles, Sefer Devarim (ספר דברים) is known as the Book of “Deuteronomy,” from a Greek word meaning “second (or repeated) law” (δευτερονόμιον), a term used to translate the phrase mishneh ha-Torah (“copy of the Torah,” Deut. 17:18). Generally speaking, this book represents Moses’ “farewell address” to Israel, where he reviews and summarizes the history and the laws given to the people and repeatedly warns that obedience will bring blessing while disobedience will bring disaster. The series of personal discourses (or sermons) in this book all have the tone of rebuke and admonition, and indeed some sages say it resembles a sort of “deathbed blessing” not unlike Jacob’s blessing given to his sons.
- Deut. 1:1 Hebrew page (pdf)
Devarim Podcast:
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