Questions on Sefer Devarim
Q. Why does Devarim matter to Jews today?
A. Do you mean the Book of Deuteronomy (as opposed to the parsha of that name)? It's one of the five books of Moses, which were dictated verbatim by God, so it's a pretty important book! It includes many commandments that we still observe today, as well as important theological messages.
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Q. Mount Gerizim appears in five books as Mount Barkat, and it has a prominent role for the Samaritans. But Jewish tradition marginalizes this mountain and the Samaritans in a debate that began more than two and a half thousand years ago.
Deuteronomy describes two commandments that the Israelites must fulfill immediately after arriving in the land of Israel: Building an altar in Mount Abal, and gathering with the blessing and cursing ceremony on Mount Gerizim and Mount Abal.
Why?
A. The reason that the Samaritans are "marginalized" is explicit in II Kings 17: they were being attacked by lions in Samaria, so they converted to Judaism with the hope receiving of Divine protection. However, they didn't divest themselves of their idols and they continued in their idolatrous ways. The result was that they were quasi-Jews (or perhaps pseudo-Jews): they presented themselves as Jewish but they observed many practices that were antithetical to Judaism. Accordingly, they posed a threat to the Jewish people.
As far as the blessings and curses on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, that was a very meaningful ceremony. Just picture it: the Jews had spent 40 years wandering in the wilderness. They had God's pillar of cloud to lead them, manna to feed them, their clothes never wore out, and Moses had a direct pipeline to God's will. Now they were entering Israel - no cloud, no manna, no Moses... it was going to be a much more mundane existence, with building houses, practicing agriculture, and more things that they didn't have to worry about before. A major ceremony underscoring the importance of the mitzvos as the Jews entered upon this major lifestyle change just seems like a good idea.
Nevertheless, I'll give you more than "just a good idea." As you are no doubt aware, the Jews accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai. Well, according to the Talmud (Sotah 37b), at the ceremony on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal the Jews accepted responsibility not just for themselves but for one another as well.
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Q. Deut. 23:16: If a runaway slave runs from somewhere outside of the holy land to somewhere else also outside of the holy land, are you still not supposed to return the slave?
A. Thanks for your question. The prohibition against returning runaway slaves only applies in Israel. If you lived in the North before emancipation in the US, you might have had a moral obligation not to return a runaway slave but it wouldn't have been a Biblical prohibition.
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Q. I would like to know the history of Deuteronomy 28 and its fulfillment. Can you provide me with an explanation? Especially verse 68 of that chapter – what does it mean?
A. Thanks for your question, which was forwarded to my attention. Deut. 28 is one of two chapters known as "the rebuke" (the other appearing in Leviticus 26). You ask when it was fulfilled but this is not the kind of prophecy in which God says, "Behold, such-and-such will happen." Rather, God says, "If you behave properly, I'll do A, B and C but if you behave improperly, then I'll do X, Y and Z." Since these events are the consequences of certain patterns of behavior, it's possible that they never occurred (because the people never behaved in that way) or that they occurred repeatedly (because the people frequently behaved that way). Nachmanides (13th century) says that the rebuke in Leviticus describes the shorter exile that followed the destruction of the first Temple, while the rebuke in Deuteronomy describes the longer (and ongoing) exile that followed the destruction of the second Temple.
As far as verse 68, which describes the Jews attempting to re-sell themselves into slavery but having no buyers, I can't point to a particular historical event and say, "This is the fulfillment of that prophecy." However, the way we traditionally translate the verse into English is not the only way of understanding it. The Sforno (15th century) says that it means that the Jews will manufacture products that other countries need but people will refuse to buy them because of anti-Semitic embargoes. One can certainly see this understanding of the verse fulfilled in modern history.
I hope this helps!
Rabbi Jack's latest book, Ask Rabbi Jack, is now available from Kodesh Press and on Amazon.com.