Ki Tavo

Shabbat Ki Tavo 2004

Deut.29:3

For 40 years, God showed them otot and moftim, yet God didn't give them a lev ladaat or eynaim lir'ot or oznaim lishmoa - ad hayom hazeh.

Two problems:

1. What is the meaning of ad hayom hazeh?

NJPS: to this day, the Lord hasn't given them a mind to understand or eyes to see or ears to hear.

EH: until today, i.e. they didn't have it before, but they have it now.

Dividing line: is there hope that the people will reach a point of understanding, or not? Did "this day" represent a transformation of some kind, or only wretched continuity? Either way, what do we do with a passage like Deut.4:35-36 (atah horeita ladaat), which indicates clearly that they did know?

2. Theological problem of free will - how could God interfere with their understanding, causing them to misunderstand? Was the Exodus generation responsible for its faithfulness, if God didn't let them truly perceive?

Abravanel: v.3 s/b read as a rhetorical question. Didn't I give you a mind to understand, etc. [thereby enabling you to understand, yet you didn't] - putting the onus on us. Problem: it's not grammatical.
IE, Shadal: God was the cause of their not understanding, but only in the sense that God is the Prime Cause of everything. It wasn't an active or direct causation. Problem: so why link it to God specifically here?
R. Meir Simnha of Dvinsk (Meshekh Hochmah): The transformation came about b/c this was the day of Moses' death. Before, they had attributed everything they saw to him. Now that they see his is mortal, they realize everything came from God. Fine, but then why link their lack of understanding to God?
Nehama Leibowitz: No-transformation theory. They never got it, and they still don't get it. Reflective of Moses' bitterness that at the end of his life, they still hadn't learned anything. God had done everything for them - miracles, manna, etc. - but hadn't given them a heart to appreciate these gifts. Not a statement of fact or theology on Moses' part, but rather an emotional statement reflecting his own disappointment with the people.
Rashi much more positive about Moses' frame of mind when he made this statement, emphasizing the transformation in his own understanding. Links it to 31:9, in which Moshe says he will give Torah to bnei levi. The rest of the people complained, saying af anu amadnu b'sinai ve-kibalnu at hatorah ve-nitna lanu, u-mah atah mashlit et bnei shivtkha aleha? Ve-samah Mosh al hadavar, saying (27:9), this day you become the people of the Lord, b/c now I understand that atem d'vekim ve-hafetzim bamakom. Doesn't solve the problem in the text, but a nice drash.
David Hoffman: There is a transformation represented here on this, the last day of Moshe's life, and that transformation explains why we need a second tocheha here, when one had already been given in Leviticus. Now they get it. Signs and wonders didn't lead them to properly acknowledge their Creator. Only the 40 years of desert wanderings and trials led to their ability to understand. God helps us to understand, only when we come with the desire to understand.
Moshe Hefez, 16th c. Italian commentator: you saw the miracles every day and came to take them for granted. Now, looking back, you're able to appreciate their significance. Problem: doesn't deal with the causality to God.

I can't imagine that Moses intended ad hayom hazeh to be a statement ot continuity ("to this day...") While no one explanation will ever solve all the textual problems associated with this pasuk, I find most convincing a combination of the last two theories: it is part of our God given nature that we never really understand the significance of the things that happen to us or the things we go through until we can look back on them from the vantage point of a different stage of our lives. The day on which this was all happening was one of those days which allowed for a gaining of new perspective. The last day of Moses' life. The miracle of manna coming to an end. The river Jordan right there, waiting to be crossed. Everything they knew was changing, and there must have been a tremendous sense of loss, allowing them to look back and apprehend everything differently - like when someone very important to us dies and we suddenly understand things about that person and the role they played in our lives that we never could while they were alive, or when we move to a new city, giving us a new perspective on our life in the old one.

This time of year is about transformations, it's about gaining new perspective. Why did God not create us in such a way that we can understand our experiences at the time? That problem is not solved by our text, but is part of our existential reality. We are simply blind to the signs and wonders all around us, until something drastic happens that allows them to come into view.