Everyone Falls Sometimes
“For I know that after my death you are sure to become
utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to
come, disaster will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of
the LORD and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.” — Deuteronomy
31:29
The Torah reading for this week is Vayelech, which means “and he went,” from Deuteronomy
31:1–30, and the Haftorah is from Hosea 14:2–10 and Micah 7:18–20.
As Moses’ life came to an end, he gave his last
speech.
As part of his final remarks, Moses told the
Israelites that, inevitably, they would rebel against God.
He said, “For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly
corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come,
disaster will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of
the LORD . . .”
Now, if not for the fact that Moses was the greatest
leader to ever live, I would have thought that his choice of words leaves much
to be desired.
How is telling the people that they were
doomed to fail empowering? How was that encouraging?
One can even argue that by placing the idea
in their minds, Moses had set the people up for failure when they might have
otherwise succeeded.
Indeed, this part of Scripture can seem quite
disturbing.
Israel was told without a doubt that they
would anger God and be punished. It seems unjust that they might have been
given a task doomed to fail.
However, I believe the following perspective
can shed some light on what is intended to be a loving, caring, and important
message on the eve of Moses’ death.
Think of a baby who is learning to walk. The
parent knows beyond the shadow of a doubt that the toddler will fall. Not once,
not twice, but many times over.
The baby will fall and fail time and again
until eventually he or she can take a few small steps at a time. Ultimately,
after much practice and effort, the baby will walk on his or her own.
A parent would never suggest that the child
never try to walk, even though he or she may sustain some bruises along the
way.
If the baby could understand, the parent
would say, “Don’t worry. You will fall, you will fail, but ultimately, you will
learn to walk.”
Once that child
learns how to walk, he or she will be able to
skip, jump, climb, hike, and go all sorts of places. Learning to walk
involves some failure, but it is well worth it.
In the same way,
Moses was telling the fledgling nation of Israel that they, too, needed to
learn how to walk.
Moses had led and carried them until now, but
the time had come for them to walk on their own.
Moses empowered them by acknowledging the
pitfalls that they would stumble into, but also reassured them that it was all
part of the process.
Failure was part of success. Moses encouraged
Israel not to give up when they fall down, and neither should we.
With prayers for shalom, peace.
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“His Strength Is Perfect”
Steven Curtis Chapman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZTkW1nyZpsPrayingWarriors
lyrics
I can do all things
Through Christ who gives me strength,
But sometimes I wonder what He can do through me;
No great success to show, No glory on my own,
Yet in my weakness He is there to let me know . . .
(chorus)
Through Christ who gives me strength,
But sometimes I wonder what He can do through me;
No great success to show, No glory on my own,
Yet in my weakness He is there to let me know . . .
(chorus)
His strength is perfect when
our strength is gone;
He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on.
Raised in His power, the weak become strong;
His strength is perfect, His strength is perfect.
We can only know
The power that He holds
When we truly see how deep our weakness goes;
His strength in us begins
Where ours comes to an end.
He hears our humble cry and proves again . . .
(chorus)
He’ll carry us when we can’t carry on.
Raised in His power, the weak become strong;
His strength is perfect, His strength is perfect.
We can only know
The power that He holds
When we truly see how deep our weakness goes;
His strength in us begins
Where ours comes to an end.
He hears our humble cry and proves again . . .
(chorus)
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
Founder and President
Devotional@HolyLandMoments.org
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