Why does Moses tell the people that God has blessed them in all the works of their hands, when they haven’t worked with their hands in 40 years?
Table for Five: Devarim
In partnership with the Jewish Journal of Los Angeles
Edited by Salvador Litvak, the Accidental Talmudist
For the Lord, your God, has blessed you in all the work of your hand; He knows of your walking through this great desert; these forty years that the Lord your God has been with you, you have lacked nothing.
– Deut. 2:7
Bracha Goetz, Author of 42 Jewish Children’s Books
What is happening today corresponds to our first Exodus. As we near the end of our journey in exile, the supernatural quality of the Jewish people is as evident as it was when we left Egypt. Our efforts to keep on going have been remarkably blessed. And it is well known that we have trekked for many years through a vast emptiness in what was often for us a scorching desert.
How did we miraculously survive against all odds? The Almighty gave us exactly what we needed – all along this challenging way. We have the directions we need to thrive – and ultimately help the world thrive too.
There is no nation like us – managing to continue on despite not living all together in our homeland, not all using our common Hebrew language, and not sharing a similar recent history since we are still scattered in exile. And we never yet got large in number, so it makes sense that we would have long ago gotten lost and disappeared among our many host countries. On top of all that, when other nations assimilate, the persecutions against them end. Only the Jewish people have repeatedly suffered increased persecution when they sought to assimilate and become indistinguishable from the surrounding culture.
God promised – and predicted – that our relationship would last forever. And we’ve had our guidebook along with us in this long travel through the desert. We’re an eternal nation – with a message of gratitude to teach the world.
Morah Yehudis Fishman, Author and community educator, Boulder Colorado
The context of this verse is important. G-d provided for all the Israelites for forty years, but at times, their faith was fragile. They forgot the A and the B, the Emunah and Bitachon, the trust that was nourished through the presence of the Manna and the Well of Miriam, and the clouds of glory in Aaron’s honor. Above all, they were immersed daily in the Torah taught by Moses, the greatest prophet of all time. Therefore, in this verse, Moses is reminding them with a caring admonition that they have lacked nothing. As Rashi points out Moses is insisting that they should not be ungrateful even when more precarious situations push them to forget their constant and unfailing divine protection. A recent example in their desert travels was the snakes that bit them when they complained, till they were made to realize through the staff pointing to heaven, that G-d was ALWAYS by their side.
This reminds me of a frequent thought of mine as I turned eighty, when I feel nervous and vulnerable, of the iconic line from Fiddler, when Tevya asks Golda, “Do you love me?” She reminds him of all her acts of devotion during their marriage! So too I imagine G-d replying to my aging concerns, “Who was with you through all your challenges like illnesses, car collisions, falls, and the various ‘slings of fortune’ that you encountered in your long life?”
Dr. Sheila Tuller Keiter, Judaic Studies Faculty, Shalhevet High School
I often like to interpret Torah by questioning the obvious. Let’s call it the “Duh” method of exegesis. This verse offers a wonderful opportunity to do that: God “knows of your walking through this great desert.” Of course He does! He’s the One who sent Israel into the desert for forty years. Duh!
Using the Duh method, once we identify the obvious, we must presume there is a good reason for it. Rav Ovadia Sforno (16th century Italy) argues that “knows” suggests more than mere knowledge or awareness. It is a deeper knowing indicating intentionality. Hashem did not simply know about your walking through the desert; He directed every step.
This reading challenges common perceptions. We often think of the time in the desert as punishment for Israel’s wrongdoings, most notably the sin of the spies. Indeed, Israel was held accountable for its errors. But the extended desert journey was more than mere retribution. It was specifically tailored to rehabilitate Israel and foster its growth. Forty years were needed to purge the slave mentality and inculcate reliance on Hashem. Our verse’s positive spin on forty years of wandering challenges us to examine our own experiences. How do we view our trials and tribulations, including those caused by our own missteps? Must we merely suffer through tough times, or can we view them as opportunities for growth? Can we see that Hashem has been with us all along directing our every step? With enough hindsight, we often realize the answer is, “Duh!”
Denise Berger, Freelance writer & Miracles in the Minutiae columnist
Moshe tells the people that Hashem has blessed them in all the works of their hands. It’s a simple enough claim — until we realize these words are delivered near the end of the time in the desert, when no one has worked with their hands in forty years. There was no plowing or planting, there was no harvesting, no milking, no threshing, no baking. Food was provided for them in the form of the manna. They did not have to dig wells or walk for miles carrying water. Water appeared, through the merit of Miriam. The Mishkan was maintained only by the tribe of Levi, and the vessels were constructed by Betzalel and Ohaliav. According to Rashi, even their clothes didn’t have to be laundered, as they were kept clean by the Clouds of Glory. So what is Moshe talking about?
Prior to the time in the desert, the Jewish people knew nothing but work. Through two centuries of slavery in Egypt, all we knew was back-breaking labor and the accompanying despair. Moshe is telling the people that the bracha bestowed during that hardship is what carried them through these four decades. It’s meant to ease apprehension on the cusp of entering the Land of Israel.
The deeper message applies not only to those generations, but throughout time. The experiences that feel most difficult while they are happening end up being the source of great blessings. The pasuk is helping us remember that. Am Yisrael Chai.
Gavriel Sanders, ThriveStudyAbroad.org
We’ve turned the page into the final book of the Torah. We observe a softer tone from Hashem. Even when reminding the desert Jews of their failings (Deut. ch. 1), the references are more oblique. In our passage of 2:7, three assurances leap from the text: You’ve been blessed in all your efforts; you’ve been watched over in all your wanderings; the Divine Presence has always been with you. Result: You’ve lacked nothing.
How do we reconcile that with the documented grumblings and complaints about the food and water supply in the wilderness? There are two perspectives here, the immediate from the people’s point of view and the ultimate, from the Divine vantage point.
Our human perspective is subjective. Only our Creator possesses pure objectivity. Part of their “lacking nothing” was the actually the collective, subjective encounter with challenges – with temporary setbacks arranged to develop their faith while experiencing temporary deprivation. Our mesorah (tradition) tells us that they received daily bread (2x on day six), a mobile water supply, and they were shielded from the elements by annaei hakavod – clouds of glory. Even with these life sustaining, visible miracles, they found reasons for discontent (are leeks and garlics that good?).
Why? Because a slave mentality had to pass away in the wilderness. Not all that left Egypt entered into Canaan. On the ground, they perceived lack. But from above, they lacked nothing. So the Psalmist adjures us to “lift up our eyes” (121:1).The ultimate reality resides there.
With thanks to Bracha Goetz, Morah Yehudis Fishman, Dr. Sheila Tuller Keiter, Denise Berger and Gavriel Sanders.
Image: “Gathering of the Manna” by Dieric Bouts, c. 1450 (detail)
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