Haven’t we heard this before? The entire book of Deuteronomy often feels like a repetition, but especially this week’s Torah portion Ve’etchanan where the Ten Commandments is recited for a second time in Torah. In our yearly cycle we actually read from the Aseret Hadibrot (the Ten Commandments) three times in total, once in Yitro, once on the holiday of Shavuot and once in this week’s portion. Why so much repetition? Why, because it creates a communal ritual.
In a recent article in the New York Times Style Magazine Natalie Portman was quoted as saying: “I am woefully lacking ritual in my life, which is among the hardest things and best things about my work. I will never have the boredom or repetitiveness of an office. But every job takes me to a new place with a new schedule, and it requires a reinvention of ritual each time, even more so with a family. Every time I go on location, I have to figure out where to live, what activities are available for my son, how and when we will travel from our home base. We learn how deeply grounding ritual is when you lose it.”
This is exactly the situation of the Israelites in the wilderness, always moving, always transforming, and always recreating ritual. Things like the Ten Commandments and the Shema, that also appears in Ve’etchanan, were things they could count on even as their life situations changed so drastically. So, whether you are a Hollywood actress or simply a person on the go, finding the familiar in an ever changing world is vital. It’s a good thing that our ancestors made this a priority for the Jewish community in our initial Exodus out of Egypt.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alex
Last Updated on 08/19/2016 by wpadm