Dear Friends,
Bees and Deuteronomy?!
Yes! In Hebrew, Deuteronomy is called “D’varim,” or “words,” and it comes from the opening phrase ofthe Book of Deuteronomy, “These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel…” )Deut. 1:1)
And, in Hebrew, bees are “d’vorim.”
So, they sound alike, and are written nearly identically. Thus, we can learn from their commonality in the midrashic commentary: Moses’ criticisms of the Israelite people are like the sings of a bee. A bee’s stings can hurt the person who is stung, but even more, it hurts the bee, because the bee commonly dies upon stinging another, as the stinger literally takes the life out of the bee
So, too, Moses dies at the very end of Deuteronomy, the commentary teaches. Why does Moses die? Because his criticizing Israel for forty years, reminding us of our backsliding and chiding us for our complaining, took the very life out of Moses, too.
The teaching is that we have to be very careful with criticism and criticizing. A rabbinic sage offers that we should judge the validity of criticism not only by its factual accuracy, but by how much it pains the critic to say it. Fascinatingly, the sage did not mention the potential pain which the recipient might feel. He was more concerned with the difficulty incurred by the critic.
Thus, as we begin the book of Deuteronomy this week, reading its opening passages and its opening words, including “D’varim,” we benefit from its allusion to “D’vorim,” bees, and the impact of the sting and the stinger. Just as “D’varim,” words, may sting, we learn that they can sting both the speaker and the listener, the critic and the recipient. And, they may affect the very life of both parties. Being careful with our “d’varim” is wise counsel.
Welcome to Deuteronomy!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
Bees and Deuteronomy?!
Yes! In Hebrew, Deuteronomy is called “D’varim,” or “words,” and it comes from the opening phrase ofthe Book of Deuteronomy, “These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel…” )Deut. 1:1)
And, in Hebrew, bees are “d’vorim.”
So, they sound alike, and are written nearly identically. Thus, we can learn from their commonality in the midrashic commentary: Moses’ criticisms of the Israelite people are like the sings of a bee. A bee’s stings can hurt the person who is stung, but even more, it hurts the bee, because the bee commonly dies upon stinging another, as the stinger literally takes the life out of the bee
So, too, Moses dies at the very end of Deuteronomy, the commentary teaches. Why does Moses die? Because his criticizing Israel for forty years, reminding us of our backsliding and chiding us for our complaining, took the very life out of Moses, too.
The teaching is that we have to be very careful with criticism and criticizing. A rabbinic sage offers that we should judge the validity of criticism not only by its factual accuracy, but by how much it pains the critic to say it. Fascinatingly, the sage did not mention the potential pain which the recipient might feel. He was more concerned with the difficulty incurred by the critic.
Thus, as we begin the book of Deuteronomy this week, reading its opening passages and its opening words, including “D’varim,” we benefit from its allusion to “D’vorim,” bees, and the impact of the sting and the stinger. Just as “D’varim,” words, may sting, we learn that they can sting both the speaker and the listener, the critic and the recipient. And, they may affect the very life of both parties. Being careful with our “d’varim” is wise counsel.
Welcome to Deuteronomy!
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Douglas Kohn
