From 2001 to 2006, I taught a spring semester course
in Sociology of Religion at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas. I had been asked to teach that course
because I had majored in Sociology in college at the University of Illinois in
Champaign-Urbana. The Sociology
department head was a congregant at my Temple, and they needed someone to fill
in at the last minute because the usual instructor had taken a leave of
absence. I had only a week to prepare the
course after a quick look at the textbook.
I settled into the course rather
quickly. One of the assignments I gave
my students was to go to a house of worship or a gathering of a faith group not
their own in order to observe and to report on what they witnessed. I would ask them note how the group
expressed their core beliefs, what symbols were central to the worship
experience, how people present were personally acknowledged, which rituals
involved participation of worshippers and which involved a leader presenting a
core message, and how social ties were created before, during and after the
service. For me, it was an exercise
not only in teaching, but in self-reflection.
Every Shabbat, I would keep this assignment in mind as our worship at my
congregation, and our post-service reception, the Oneg Shabbat, unfolded.
We can easily engage in this type of
observation in the present day. Sometimes
ancient texts describe in some detail rituals and customs from the past. The Torah reading for this Shabbat from the
book of Deuteronomy does just that, in its own way.
It is really difficult to know when this
passage originated. Traditionalists
would say that God gave it to Moses on Mount Sinai, well before this scene
prior to crossing into Canaan ever materialized. Some scholars would say that the whole book
of Deuteronomy was nearly identical to a “Book of the Teaching of Moses” that
was found in the Temple in Jerusalem in 621 BCE during the reign of King Josiah. Other commentators would date this section
to 100 to 200 years after that.
The date may not really matter at all. What is important is that this scene portraying
a special ritual, with community values proclaimed before the people, depicts
ancient practices that are quite similar to what we do now in our respective
congregations.
First, the people were gathered together
into one place. There was not yet a Temple, given that the Israelites seem to
have been witnessing Moses’ farewell speech in an outdoor setting, likely near
their Tent of Meeting that they set up in the wilderness.
Second, there was a sermon. If you look only at this section, it was a
very short sermon. If you count the
entire book of Deuteronomy as Moses’ speech, well, it was much, much longer! With Moses about to conclude his time as
leader of the Israelites, passing the torch to Joshua, he knew that he had to reassure
his people and offer them a sense of security that would outlast his presence
with them. So he told them to be
strong and resolute. He declared that
God would be with them wherever they would go. In those moments, he used his words to bestow
his spirit upon them in a way that would preserve his legacy.
Third, the leader’s message was put into
writing. As I already mentioned, we are
not sure if “this Teaching” that Moses wrote down was this short section or the
whole book of Deuteronomy. It might have
even been the entire Torah, from Genesis through Deuteronomy. In any
case, it was written down so it could be read again and again. Similarly, these days, most any clergy person
saves his or her messages of all types in writing or online, because they
embody the essence of who he or she is and what he or she believes.
Fourth, there were other leaders involved
in the ritual, who would read the Teaching they received from Moses in the
future at a set time - in this case, that was to be every seven years at the
time of the fall harvest festival, the Feast of Booths or Tabernacles, called
in Hebrew SUKKOT. And it would not be
in that place that the Teaching was originally read – to the east of the Jordan
River -- but in a place that God would choose after the Israelites had settled
across the Jordan.
Fifth, there was a symbol that was a focal
point for the people: the Ark of the Covenant.
It signified the teachings that the people would continue to study in
future. The Ark reminded them that God
was with them.
Sixth, this section gave specific
instructions regarding who should listen to the Teaching being read every seven
years. The directions were crystal clear:
“Gather the people—men, women, children, and the strangers in your
communities—that they may hear and so learn to revere the Eternal your God and
to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching.” It was a worship experience that included
religious education among community members and for anyone who was curious and
happened to be in the vicinity. The
focus, though, seemed to be on assuring that the children, who hadn’t personally
lived through the Exodus from Egypt and all those years in the desert, would be
able to teach their children and grandchildren the stories from their past and
the values that were most important for their people.
So this passage from the Torah sets a
pattern for a gathering of people for prayer and study that we still follow
today. I believe that it also sends us
a crucial message: that we should be strong and resolute, or courageous, about taking
a stand for our own beliefs, and that we should see the value in joining with
many people to reflect on such a text together, not just in our congregations,
but across a variety of faith groups.
If we see our whole community as being gathered together as one - men,
women, and children - we may just have a chance to truly reach a promised land,
a future filled with mutual respect, with understanding, with hope, and with
peace. 
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