This week we begin the fifth and final book of the Torah, Devarim.  It is a beautiful soliloquy as it is Moshe’s last will and testament in which he says goodbye to the Jewish people before his death.

The name of the parsha “Devarim” means “words.”  It is interesting that when G-d first approached Moshe at the burning bush and asked him to be the leader of the Jewish people, Moshe’s initial response was “I am not a man of words.”  He told G-d that Aaron his brother would be a much more suitable candidate. But G-d persisted with Moshe, until Moshe relented.

And now we come to the book of Devarim. It is now 40 years later since that first encounter. Moshe has spent 40 years leading the Jewish people, dealing with challenges, and acting as a guide throughout the Jewish people’s journey of becoming a nation consecrated to G-d’s mission. Moshe’s final speech is filled with emotion, serving as a testament to his love and dedication to the Jewish people.

How did Moshe overcome his limitations? How did he become a man of words after his initial protestations that he was anything but? The Midrash asks this very question and answers that Moshe spent years connecting to G-d through the diligent study of Torah. He came to accept his role as a leader: from the time he took the Jewish people out of Egypt, taught them Torah to when he brought them to the plains of Moab, just before they entered the land of Israel.  

The Torah is not concerned with superheroes. Instead, the Torah’s purpose is to teach us lessons through flawed and imperfect personalities. It is precisely a stuttering Moshe who said, “I am not a man of words,” who was the perfect candidate to be transformed into someone whose words we would encounter for thousands of years.

Moshe serves as an exemplar for overcoming challenges and achieving greatness in spite of weakness. We all have this capacity—not only to overcome challenges but to transform ourselves. While Moshe was not a “man of words,” he nevertheless became the most famous wordsmith in all of history. Words and the power of speech are key to living a life dedicated to G-d’s purpose—building a world grounded in justice and compassion.

The power of words is illustrated time and again in the Torah in both its positive and negative effects. It was words that was at the centre of the sin of the spies; the spies spoke lashon hara (negative words) about the land of Israel, causing the Jewish people to cry out and balk at the prospect of conquering the land of Israel.

Indeed, our sages tell us that it was because of the Jewish people’s complaints that the first and second temples were destroyed. The Talmud explains that G-d determined that because the Jewish people cried that night (the 9th of Av) for no reason, G-d gave them a reason to cry for all future generations. This sin was the root cause for why we fast on Tisha B’av, the ninth day of Av, which we will be observing this Sunday, culminating the three-week period of mourning.

The Talmud teaches that lashon hara, negative speech, is worse than all three cardinal sins of murder, idolatry and illicit relations. Words have the power to both destroy and create worlds. We currently live through a time where much of our discourse happens on social media. Any quick perusal of a social media thread will reveal the utter desecration of how we use words. We must pause before we speak, write, or post, asking ourselves, “Is what I am about to write true, kind, necessary?” Ask if the words you are using will build or destroy someone else.

Let us use our power of speech to uplift, to create new worlds. Give a compliment to someone or make a call to speak to someone who is going through a rough time. As we reflect on this 3-week mourning period, let us contemplate how we can use our words to build and repair, rather than hurt and take down.  

Shabbat Shalom!

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