Moses continues his pep talk to the Israelites, cautioning them not to fear the Canaanite armies for God will wage battle for them. He also notifies them that their entry into the Land is not due to their own virtues – Moses reminds them of their many transgressions to emphasize this point – but rather, it is in the merit of the nation’s Forefathers. The commandments of prayer and Grace After Meals are mentioned. The second part of the Shema is also found in this portion
Let’s read from the parsha:
Deu 10:17 For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe.
Deu 10:18 He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing.
Deu 10:19 Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt.
Deu 10:20 You shall fear the LORD your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear.
Deu 10:21 He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen.
The following is based on FFOZ weekly eDrash from 2011
Deuteronomy 10:20. Moses says, “You shall fear the Lord your God; you shall serve Him and cling to Him…” What does it mean to “cling to Him?” It is actually the same Hebrew word which is used of Adam in the garden when it says, “a man shall leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” (Genesis 2:24)
But how is this cleaving done in practical terms? The Rabbis ask, “Is it possible for a man to cleave to the Divine Presence, seeing that it is written, “For the LORD thy God is a devouring fire?“
They answer the question by suggesting that “clinging to God” can be accomplished by clinging to the servants of God, i.e. those who teach Torah. This is explained specifically as the act of discipleship to a man of Torah who is already connected with God and can teach you the way to God.
Chasidic Judaism believes that through clinging to one’s rebbe (spiritual leader), one is brought into union with his rebbe. Because the rebbe is in union with God, the disciple is also elevated into union with God by virtue of that connection. In the same way, our Rebbe, Yeshua, taught us that in order to cling to God we must cling to him. As it is written in John 15:1-7.
Joh 15:1 I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.
Joh 15:2 Every branch in me that beareth not fruit he taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.
Joh 15:3 Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you.
Joh 15:4 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Joh 15:5 I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.
Just as Adam’s cleaving to his wife made him one flesh with her, Yeshua’s perfect cleaving to God makes him ‘One with the Father.’ When we cleave to him, we become one with Yeshua, and thus we enter in some mysterious way the unity of his relationship with God. Again John writes:
Joh 17:21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 17:22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
Joh 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
So, for us, the interpretation of the commandment to “cling to God” can only be fulfilled by clinging to the Master, our Lord Yeshua.
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