write - The plain meaning refers both to Moses and Joshua; He commanded them to write it. Ramban
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Parashat VaYelech is the shortest parashah of the year: only one chapter long! It is almost always read together with last week's (Nitzavim) but this year the two are read separately in order that the conclusion of our annual reading of the Torah coincides with the week of Simchat Torah. Moses is instructed to write down 'this poem.' Last year (for Ha'azinu) I focused on the meaning of Torah as poetry and what that meant. This week, I want to concentrate on the commandment to 'write it down.' The pshat, or intended meaning according to modern scholars is to write down the laws and other parts of Deuteronomy. Nachmanides, (Ramban) understands the verse to mean that Moses and Joshua were commanded to write the Torah.
But what does it mean to 'write the Torah?' Is the mitzvah to actually write it? The Ralbag (Rabbi Levi Ben Gershom, a 14th century Biblical interpreter) agrees with Maimonides that this verse is the source for the halachah to write the Torah. Of course, because of the technical expertise and skill required to do this, we perform the mitzvah by commissioning a trained Sofer (ritual scribe); even if one letter is written on one's behalf, one fulfills this mitzvah. But is the intent that one should write the Torah or have the Torah in one's house? Perhaps the purpose of 'writing the Torah' is not the writing per se, but possessing the Torah, in order that each person should own their own personal copy (like Ben Gurion, an avowed atheist, who nonetheless slept with the Hebrew Bible next to his bed)? In other words, can purchasing a copy of the Chumash in one of the many fine editions available today fulfill the commandment? Seventeenth century commentators Rabbi Yehoshua Falk Katz and Rabbi Shabtai Hacohen (the Shach), maintain that one observes the commandment of writing a Sefer Torah by purchasing published editions of the Five Books of Moses and other rabbinic texts. I think it is fair to say that every Jewish home should own both a good translation of the Torah with commentary and a copy of the entire Jewish Bible.
Many authorities list 'writing the Torah' as the last of the 613 mitzvot, although the Geonim (such as Saadia Gaon) did not include it. But is writing or even purchasing the Torah enough? Some 14th century sages link the writing to the second half of the phrase: "and teach it to the people." It is not the writing that is the main thing; the purpose of the writing is the studying of the Torah. I like the idea that the last mitzvah of the Torah is to transmit the Torah. According to verse 10-11, every seven years the Torah is to be read in front of the whole community. And later (verse 22) Moses writes down this 'Torah' and teaches it to the Israelites. In other words, while copying is the way to transmit a written document, reading and teaching is the way to pass it on to the next generation.
Lessons for Today
But it's more than that. Our verse literally says kitvu lakhem "Write for yourselves" [this Torah] and continues: "put it in their mouths." How do we do this? Barry Holtz, in his excellent introduction to "Back to the Sources" calls our reading/ study of classics texts interactive. The reader must engage with Torah. Holtz then quotes Wolfgang Iser to make this point about the relationship between text, commentary and reader: "Thus the reader, in establishing these interrelations between past, present and future, actually causes the text to reveal its potential multiplicity of connections" (pg. 17).
This is our challenge. It is in the process of Torah study- finding meaning in the Torah for ourselves that make the words of Torah come alive. I hope this past year of columns has helped you 'write for yourselves' the Torah, and I look forward to continuing in the new year with a new focus on the Haftarot.
Shabbat Shalom & Gmar Chatimah Tovah
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