"We Wanted
Our Children Second Time Around
To Believe
In Themselves. I
That's Why We
Joined The
Birmingham
lemple

Shabbat Devarim: Deuteronomy 1:1-3:22;
Isaiah 1:1-27.

RABBI GILA RUSKIN SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

f I type the same word twice

The Birmingham Temple teaches taking
responsibility for your own actions. And that's some-
thing you're never too young to start learning.

44 •

THE BIRMINGHAM TEMPLE

A Congregation for Humanistic Judaism

Call 248-477-1410 for more information or registration.

Programs for children K-12 including Bar/Bat Mitzvah study.
Enroll your child today in Explorer's Club-for 3-5 year olds.

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THURSDAY 10 AM - 8 PM

in sequence, my word pro-
cessing program will cause a
red squiggly line to appear on
the screen under the second
word. This is a reminder to me
that I may have unintentional-
ly repeated myself, like the old
joke, "the Department of Redun-
dancy Department."
So where was the cosmic com-
puter when the book ofDeuteron-
omy was written? Laws are
repeated, narratives are repeat-
ed, it's just deja vu all over again.
Even its name means "told a sec-
ond time."
One explanation is that Moses,
aware that he will die before en-
tering the land, feels compelled
to remind B'nai Yisrael of the sys-
tem of laws and statutes and or-
dinances that comprise the
eternal covenant between God
and the Jewish people. But a clos-
er look reveals that Moses, the
quintessential teacher, is not just
providing a stultifying review of
all that has come before.
So what is Moses' hidush, or
new interpretation? To answer
this, we must ask the questions:
Why are there so many innova-
tions in Deuteronomy (in fact,
more new laws than repeating
ones)? And which laws are em-
phasized in a different way? How
have the historical circumstances
changed since the last time these
laws appeared in the books ofEx-
odus, Leviticus or Numbers?
Though at first glance
Deuteronomy is a review of the
past, it actually is a preparation
manual for the future of the peo-
ple of Israel. This future in the
land of Israel would demand from
them new skills, new strategies,
new priorities. During the 40
years of wandering in the wilder-
ness, shelter, clothing, food and
guidance were steadfastly pro-
vided by God. With the transition
from the direct divine providence
in the wilderness to the normal-
ization of social human conditions
in the land, a new set of social
laws were necessary.
Without the daily manna boun-
ty, the Israelites are responsible
for earning a livelihood. With this
newfound independence, there
looms the possibilities of theft,
fraud, extortion, corruption and a
class-based society. Thus,
Deuteronomy details many laws
and pronouncements dealing with
the administration of justice.

Rabbi Gila Ruskin is a former
Detroiter and spiritual leader
of the Conservative Chevrei
Tzedek Congregation in
Baltimore.

In the wilderness, when every-
one had all their needs, there was
no necessity and no possibility for
tzedakah. But now, as climate
conditions, physical strength,
health and military service im-
pact one's ability to support one-
self and family, there will be poor
and needy. The community must
be deliberately organized through
a system of social obligations to
care for all its members. In
Moses ' discourse in Deuterono-
my, the Israelites are challenged
to learn from their life experience
and achieve the human potential
demanded of us who are created
in God's image. No longer are
they to be the kvetchy ex-slaves
who depended on God's daily ra-
tion in order to survive. Instead,
they are called on to imitate God's
behavior with their behavior.
Just as they have beheld God's
clothing the naked and feeding
the hungry and sheltering the
vulnerable, they must provide for
those who need their care now
that they are entering the land.
Moses adjures the judges to be
righteous and honest, not to fa-
vor the "great or the small," and
not to fear revenge from one who
has been justly sentenced.
And finally, introduced in
Deuteronomy is the concept of
ahavat HaShem, calling on us to
love God. We are implored to per-
form the mitzvot not out of fear
of punishment but as an expres-
sion of love. May the words of
Deuteronomy inspire us all to
strive for tzedakah u'mishpat
v'hesed, as loving partners of our
God. ❑

.

.41

Youth Movement:

Child Leads Them

STEVE LIPMAN
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Andrew Weisman is barely old
enough to drive the mile and a
half to his synagogue in a north-
ern suburb of Los Angeles — he
recently acquired his learner's
permit. He's not old enough to
buy the wine or schnapps for the
shul's Shabbat kiddush.
But he's old enough to sit on
the bimah along the synagogue's
eastern wall — in the president's
chair.
Weisman, 16, is serving his
second one-year term as presi-

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