A Time for Silence, a Time to Speak

“Hear, O Israel! This very day you have become the people of the Eternal your God.” (Deuteronomy 27:9). How powerful are these few words...and a surprising break in Moses’s soliloquy. We now hear the voices of the priests speaking with Moses.

This part of Deuteronomy reminds me of the many discussions I have had with students about the differences between hearing and listening. Regardless of varying interpretations each student may have, most everyone agrees that hearing and listening are not synonymous.

In the past, the Israelites had heard what God said but did not really listen. In Deuteronomy 5:1, we read:

“Moses convened all Israel, and said to them: ‘Hear, O Israel, the statutes and ordinances that I am addressing to you today; you shall learn them and observe them diligently.’”

Here, the command is quite different. It is not simply about hearing; the command for silence implies that the Israelites are expected to both hear and listen to this declaration so that they fully absorb its meaning. 

It is time for the Israelites to listen to the words of God through Moses and the priests, not just hear them. They need to pay attention and, in the silence, fully absorb these words into their consciousness so that the message becomes part of them. 

However, there is also time for the Israelites to speak and confirm their understanding. When the tribes stood on both Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, with Moses and the Levites standing in the valley between them, they are given their turn to respond to the curses that would follow disobedience. Everyone answers “amen,” showing that the entire community agreed (Deuteronomy 27:15-26). They did not have to say amen to verify the blessings. 

It is easy for people to say that they will agree to do the right thing. However, it is much more of a responsibility to acknowledge the consequences of doing wrong. The telling part of these curses is they emphasize that, even if a person is following all of the commandments in public, they cannot go home and break them in secret. Hypocrisy, while not directly named, is primary among the curses and indeed the consequences brought about by hypocrisy are also highlighted. God sees what is done both in the light and darkness, even if people do not.  Deuteronomy 27:24, “Cursed be the one who strikes down their neighbor in secret.”

In this parashah, the Israelites are at an inflection point in their journey to peoplehood. Moses will not be entering the Promised Land with them, but can they manage on their own without his guidance? It would seem that the blessings and curses are a last-ditch effort by Moses and the Levities to clarify what the Israelites need to do when Moses is no longer leading them. It would be easy for them to backslide and return to the ways of the Egyptian captors of their ancestors since that was a familiar, even if hated, part of their history. It is much like a family trauma that lives from generation to generation. It will take courage and strength to unite as a people and do God’s will. No one said that being a righteous people was going to be a simple task.