THE
MYSTERY

Who wrote the
last verses of
Deuteronomy?

Moses is attributed with
writing the Ybrah, yet
Deuteronomy 34:5 states,
"So Moses the servant of
the Lord died there in the
land of Moab." If Moses
was dead, who wrote the
concluding eight verses of
Deuteronomy?

THE
MYSTERY
Whom did Cain marry?

T

wo theories exist
about this mystery,
says Rabbi Allan
Meyerowitz of Congregation
B'nai Moshe. The first
postulates that Joshua com-
pleted Deuteronomy after
Moses died; the second sug-
gests that Moses himself
finished the chapter, in-
cluding the writing of his
own death.
Rabbi Meyerowitz says
he follows the second
theory, describing Moses as
a man connected to God
and completely insightful
of the Torah's wisdom.
Consequently, when Moses
wrote of his own death, he
did so because he fully
understood God's plan for
the Jewish people.
Rabbi Meyerowitz cited a
midrash on the Song of
Songs, which states that
"God gave most of the
Torah through a kiss."
Thus did Moses receive the
Torah, in a transference of
God's love, he says.
The scholar Abraham
Joshua Heschel likened
Moses' close relationship
with God to prayer, Rabbi
Meyerowitz says. Rabbi
Heschel said that through
prayer, one could "dream
in league with God."
Rabbi Meyerowitz stress-
ed that Moses was not
predicting the future when
he wrote of his last days,
but rather writing the in-
evitable: each man knows
he is finite.
The last verses of
Deuteronomy describe
Moses, saying "There hath
not arisen a prophet since

22

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 28, 1990

The first chapter of
Genesis speaks of Adam,
the first man God created,
and Adam's wife, Eve. It
also describes the birth of
their children, Cain and
Abel. No other human
beings are mentioned. Yet in
Genesis 4:17, the Torah tells
that Cain's wife bore a
child. Where did Cain's wife
come from?

R

Moses with the Ten Commandments.

in Israel like Moses, whom
the Lord knew face to
face." Yet Moses was
famous for his humility.
Could he have written such
words about himself?
Rabbi Meyerowitz says
yes. Such words do not con-
stitute false praise, he
says; they speak only the
truth. Moses was a
remarkable man with a
unique relationship to God.
That the question of who
wrote the last verses of
Deuteronomy is perplexing
is intrinsic to the nature of
the Torah, Rabbi
Meyerowitz says. "The
Torah is a book filled with
mystery, and to look at it
as if it is logical is to lose

the beauty of it," he says.
Those bewildered by the
apparent puzzles presented
by Deuteronomy's last
verses also should re-
member that God did not
transmit the Torah "like
an executive speaking to
her secretary."
"Some people feel the
Torah has to be a literal
record," he says. "But that
doesn't make sense, be-
cause the Jews wandered
for 40 years in the desert;
yet the Torah doesn't offer
a day-to-day report for all
those 40 years.
"The Torah is not a
historical diary, but rather
a spiritual diary," Rabbi
Meyerowitz says.

abbi Eliezer Finkel-
man, director of the
Wayne State Univer-
sity Hillel Foundation, says
Cain could have wed one of
three women: Eve, a sister, or
a woman from another fami-
ly. That neither a sister or
women in another family are
mentioned in the text does
not preclude their existence,
Rabbi Finkelman says:

The classical Jewish view
is that Cain married his
sister.
Until Genesis 4:25, the
Torah does not say that
Adam and Eve bore any
children other than Cain
and Abel. Yet this is not
unusual; the Torah offers
the names of leagues of ge-
nerations and generally
mentions only the sons,
Rabbi Finkelman says.
Ancient Midrash applies
a modern method called
narrative technique to
unravel the mysteries of
Cain's wife. The Torah
often leaves out important
details in the text, "forcing

you to use your own in-
genuity to figure out the
background," says Rabbi
Finkelman, who is writing
a dissertation on the image
of Cain in literature. Nar-
rative technique suggests
that what appears simple
at first often gives hints to
a much richer background.
Such is the case with
Cain and Abel, Rabbi
Finkelman says. In
Genesis 4:8, the two
brothers are described
quarreling in a field; the
source of the conflict is not
mentioned. Midrash inter-
prets this scene as the
battle over a sister.
According to the
Midrash, the sister was
Abel's twin. Cain insists
the sister should be his,
claiming this is his right as
firstborn. Abel also wants
the sister, insisting it his
right because she was born
with him.
The question of incest —
later forbidden in the
Torah — may be partially
explained in a verse from
Kings which states, "Have
we not all one father?"
Thus, in a sense, all humail
beings are brothers and
sisters.
The idea that all men are
part of the same family is
vital to human relations,
according to the Mishnah.
It means that no one can
assert, "My forefathers
outrank your forefathers,"
Rabbi Finkelman says.