The book of Devarim is also called Mishneh Torah, the “repetition” of the Torah. The retelling of one story in particular shows how the way we remember our past shapes both our leaders and ourselves.

The first historical narrative Moshe shares with the second generation in the desert is the story of the meraglim (spies). It is not the Exodus, the revelation at Sinai, nor the sin of the golden calf. Why this story? There are also notable differences between the account in Devarim and its original telling in Bamidbar. In Devarim, it is not God who initiates the sending of the scouts, but the nation. Nor is it the spies, the tribal leaders, who bear primary responsibility for rejecting the land, but the people themselves. Rav Tamir Granot explains that Moshe chose to retell this story because its lessons were the most relevant for this generation. Bamidbar emphasizes the failings of the leaders; Devarim shifts the focus to the responsibility of the people.

A similar approach was taken by the rabbis in retelling the story of the churban, commemorated on Tisha B’Av. Historical sources and the Talmud recount the corruption of the priesthood at the end of the Second Temple period. They also tell of the enmity between Qamtza and Bar Qamtza and the silence of the rabbis who witnessed it, all of which contributed to Jerusalem’s destruction. Our leaders failed us then, and some accepted responsibility for those failures. Ultimately, however, the rabbis teach that it was because of sinat chinam – baseless hatred among the people – that God destroyed the Temple.

These messages resonate powerfully today. We must hold our leaders accountable and learn from their failures. Yet blame alone cannot move a nation forward. The most enduring response to historical trauma – then and now – is for every member of the Jewish people to accept personal responsibility for shaping a better future. Shabbat Shalom -Karen Miller Jackson