Adina Roth – Head of Jewish Life

Moshe’s Bat Mitzvah Moment

On my recent trip back to South Africa, I had the good fortune to run a Bat Mitzvah ceremony for a young girl. In the lead-up to the event, she often said to me: “I am so scared to speak in front of everybody”.  While I heard her, I couldn’t save her from her angst; part of her rite of passage required facing that fear. We all have moments of ‘speak fright.’ It might involve speaking in front of a crowd or even saying something courageous to a smaller group of people or even that one vulnerable thing to one person.

This Shabbat, we start to read the fifth book of the Torah. In it, Moshe prepares the Israelites to become a self-sufficient people in the land of Israel after his passing. This final book of the Torah is called Devarim, meaning “words”. Words, articulation and voice are intimately linked to this growing up moment.

The opening lines of the parsha read:  

These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan (Ch. 1, v 1.)

In the book of Exodus when God first asked Moses to lead the Jewish people, Moshe resists saying: “I am heavy of mouth and heavy of tongue”. Essentially, like my Bat Mitzvah student, Moshe was terrified to speak in front of everyone. The ancient Midrash Tanchuma suggests a powerful shift from the Exodus Moses to Moshe here in Devarim. Citing Isaiah, they say: “Then the disabled shall leap like a hart and the tongue of the mute shall shout for joy” (Chapter 35). Moses, who once feared to speak is now the ‘words man’, taking centre-stage in the fifth book of the Torah.

The question is how did Moshe transform from a resistant leader to  the master of spoken word. One might say that he overcame his fear by simply doing it. This is something I have noticed with nervous B’nei Mitzvah time and again. After months of practise and then weeks of being nervous in the build-up to their ceremony, they find themselves on the podium and they somehow, rise to the occasion. However, beyond ‘just do it’, what is it that somehow ensures their success? An answer is offered by the 19^th Century Hasidic Rebbe known as the Sefat Emet. He says that Moshe was scared to speak because the Israelites were not ready to listen. As they matured, they became better listeners. Their openness to listening in turn allowed Moses to develop the confidence to speak. This makes me reflect that students who perform so well at a B’nai Mitzvah have the advantage of a loving community witnessing them, receiving them, and listening to them. A ready and open audience allows the speaker to better shine!

According to this reading, Moshe’s speech defect might not have been intrinsic. Rather, it was related to the flow of relationship between him and the Israelites. As their relationship grew and strengthened, as trust increased, he could speak and they could hear. Simon and Garfunkel implored a generation “Hear my words that I may teach you/Take my arms that I might reach you”.

Next week, we shall commemorate Tisha B’av, the saddest day in the Jewish year on which we remember the destruction of our first and second Temples and many other atrocities that befell the Jewish people. The Rabbis of our tradition are emphatic that our Temples were destroyed because of baseless hatred, an inability to hear or see the other. With this significant date coming up on the Jewish calendar and the Voice referendum approaching in Australia, this week’s parsha is well-timed, inviting us not just to find the courage to say the things we want to say, but to become better listeners, creating the right atmosphere for people to overcome their silence.  

Shabbat Shalom