The literal meaning of the Hebrew name of today’s Sidra is FOOTSTEPS. Here it is used in a borrowed sense to mean result, consequence or reward. Therefore, the first sentence means: “It will be, as a reward, for listening to all these commandments… that, the Lord will fulfil the terms of the covenant to love you and to extend to you his kindness”’. This is the meaning of the formal term for the covenant used in Hebrew, which is: BRIT CHESED.
The Sidra is a continuation of Moses final speech to the Israelites. It contains some extremely beautiful prose and, at times, it is hard hitting. In the midst of his remarks, Moses mentions some important religious principles which have guided the Jewish people throughout the centuries.
The first is mentioned in chapter 8 verse 3, when Moses declares that the Almighty tested and afflicted us with famine and thirst, throughout our journey, in the desert, for 40 years. He fed us manna, in a miraculous manner, in order to teach us the lesson that man does not live on bread alone. He can live without bread, for his life depends, entirely, on God’s will. Furthermore, it means that we need to be connected with God in order to live. We should place our efforts on the spiritual side of life. It does not mean that we can neglect our bodies. The Torah also teaches us to be very careful not to harm ourselves physically. But, in the final analysis, it is the blessing from the Almighty that guarantees us good health. This blessing comes from adhering to the Mitzvot. Moses became 120 years old and he was in perfect condition. The Torah says that “his eye wasn’t dim and he remained in full vigour”. He was granted this extraordinary blessing because he was the ultimate role model of a servant of God. The famous Rabbi, the Chafetz Chayim, was particular to celebrate his birthday when it became very old. He had never done it before. When he was asked to explain he said that he wanted to show the world that when we observe the Torah, we can expect to live a long life. The Chafetz Chayim passed away in 1933, at the age of 95.
The second teaching is mentioned in chapter 8 verse 17. Moses warns the Israelites that there is great risk that when we succeed economically, we shall be tempted to forget all the blessings that the Almighty gives us, and imagine that we can do it all in our own. We shall say in our hearts: “My own strength and prowess have made me all this wealth”. The Torah teaches us that both poverty and wealth are divine tests and that the religious challenge is always to maintain and energise our faith and trust in God. Loyalty to our faith cannot be taken for granted. It has to be worked on, like any other relationship. We must never forget to be grateful to God for everything that we have. In this context, we find the commandment to recite the Grace after Meals which is called in Hebrew: BIRKAT HAMAZON. This mitzvah is one of the 613 Commandments. It is the only blessing that has the status of Torah law. All the other blessings and prayers were instituted by the 120 Rabbis who were members of the Great Assembly, which was the governing body of the Jewish People, in the fifth century BCE. Our rabbis decided that the Grace after Meals should be recited only after a meal with bread, which, in ancient times, was the only nourishing food. The Grace after Meals originally consisted of three blessings. The first blessing expresses thanks to God for the food. The second expresses thanks for the land and the third asks for mercy upon Jerusalem and upon us. The fourth blessing is called HATOV VEHAMETIV, which means, ‘the Good God, who performs good deeds’. Because it is a later addition, it is separated from the first part by the response ‘Amen’. This is the only response of amen, which we ourselves say when we complete a blessing.
In chapter 9 we find Moses last speech in the first part of the Book of Deuteronomy. He continues on the same theme that the people must avoid, at all costs, becoming arrogant. He re-states the fact that Israel never succeeded in the past, nor will it succeed in the future, without help from God. He warns the people to recognise that their success in conquering the land will come because God will walk ahead of them and consume their enemies through his fiery presence. They must not think that they are being given the land because they are righteous or because the inhabitants of the Land of Canaan are wicked. This is not so. The reason why the land will be given to them is because God is determined to fulfil his promise to their forefathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Moses is determined to uproot any trace of arrogance in the people’s heart, so he continues his speech by reprimanding them for their obstinacy and haste. He reminds them of their downfall when they built the Golden Calf. It was a veritable descent from a very magnificent divine moment to an abominable idolatrous act.
In the course of the speech, he tells the people that he fell before God in prayer, for 40 days and 40 nights, during which period he did not eat any bread or drink any water. According to some commentators, in this speech, Moses is indicating that he went to the top of Mount Sinai three times. He went up for the first time, on the 7th of Sivan, to receive the first tablets. He came down, on the 17th of Tamuz, saw the Golden Calf, smashed it to pieces and ascended the mountain, for the second time. He remained there for another 40 days and prayed for forgiveness. On the first of Elul, he went up again, for the third time, he prayed yet again and, at the end, he received the second set of tablets. He finally descended from the mountain with the tablets on the 10th of Tishri, which later became the Day of Atonement.