Dear Eitz Chaim,

Just before Moshe recounts the 10 commandments in Parshat Va’ethanan, which we read this week, Moshe affirms that the covenant God made at Sinai endures, beyond the generation that actually stood at the mountain. But the wording Moshe uses to convey that message raises eyebrows. Specifically, Moshe says (Devarim 5:3) “It was not with our fathers that God made this covenant, but with us, the living, every one of us who are here today.”

Rashi’s comment on the verse adds in the word that seems to be implicit in the first phrase: “It was not only with our fathers that God made this covenant.” In other words, Moshe is not excluding the Sinai generation from the covenant, but rather including this and every future generation in it. A super-commentary on Rashi entitled Siftei Chachamim (the Lips of the Sages) seeks to further explain a Rashi’s almost unnecessary comment. Lest you read the verse so literally as to suggest that God chose to eliminate the Sinai generation as a result of their many sins (the Golden Calf, complaints in the desert, etc…) Rashi seeks to reinforce that they, too, are to be included.

I think Rashi, further explained by the Siftei Chachamim, makes perfect sense, and is probably close to pshat, the plain meaning of the verse.

And I also think there is meaning in the verse unadorned, with out emphasizing “only.” Consider Moshe’s position, and his goal for this final set of speeches before he dies, leaving the Israelites to go forward to Israel without him. Maybe his most significant message is: “Friends…in the realm of religion, faith and Torah, nostalgia will not cut it. On some level, of course, it matters that your parents stood at Sinai and entered into a promise. And on some level, it matters only if you feel the same sense of connection.”

We deliver modern versions of this message all the time. As rich as nostalgia can be, we teach our children that, for instance, they can’t do Pesah simply because their grandmother did. It is not enough. What will be left when nostalgia dissipates into trivia? Each generation must derive personal meaning from ritual, from Torah. If not, the whole enterprise of Judaism will collapse on itself.

And so Moshe’s message to the Israelites during his last days is apt today. It is not with your parents, grandparents or ancestors that Torah must live. It is with you, in us. And hopefully in those who will come after us.

Shabbat Shalom

Rabbi Adam Kligfeld