In his weekly D’var Torah, Rabbi Arnold Goodman, my cousin who now lives in Jerusalem after a long and distinguished career as a pulpit rabbi in the United States, compares the difference between the delivery of God’s instruction at the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy to the account of the giving of the Ten Commandments in the Book of Exodus.
Elah ha’d’varim (these are the words) that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan. (Deuteronomy 1:1)
God spoke ha’d’varim ha’elah (these words) saying… (Exodus 20:1)
Rabbi Goodman writes as follows:
"In a perceptive and challenging Midrash, R. Ishmael reflected upon the similarity of the words, elah ha’dvarim, (these are the words) in both the opening verse of the Ten Commandments and the beginning of the Book of Deuteronomy. He reasoned that although the order of the words is reversed (in the Decalogue it is ha’d’varim elah, and in Deuteronomy it is elah ha’d’varim), the words spoken by Moses at the banks of the Jordan River were equivalent to those uttered by God at Sinai, but with a significant difference in each set’s impact.
"The Children of Israel responded to God’s words at Sinai by proclaiming, “na’aseh v’nishma, we will obey and we will hearken.” Yet but forty days later the community violated this oath of allegiance in its worship of the Golden Calf while chanting, “This is your God, O Israel, who brought you out of Egypt.” (Exodus 32:4).
This is in stark contrast to Moses’ exultant proclamation following his words, “And ye, who cleave to the Lord, your God, are alive at this day” (Deut 4:4). God’s response was thus to open the Book of Deuteronomy with "These are the words that Moses spoke," rather than the usual formula of “God spoke to Moses, saying…..”
"The implication of R. Ishmael’s teaching is that God’s words spoken directly to the people did not have as lasting effect as those of Moses. The medium of the human element was essential if the community was to be brought closer to God. A sense of oneness with the Almighty can never come about through fiat be it from God or any human source."
In different terms, success didn’t really come until there was human buy-in. God’s attempt to instill obedience lasted only briefly with the Israelites. With only God’s commands and with little human validation, God’s authority was easily rejected. When Moses delivers God’s word however, things are different. Moses is speaking in human terms, face to face. The value of this kind of interaction is shown in the results.
The economy is now dictating major change in the way Jewish organizations are structured. Massive downsizing is becoming the norm. Resources are being collapsed. People are losing their jobs. Constituents are learning to expect a different kind of service.
Under the best of circumstances, change is hard – we all know that. When we control the change it’s a lot easier to accept. When we’re on the receiving end, the way it’s presented can often mark the difference between success and failure.
The midrash gives us a strong clue on how to present change. Change from the top and the top alone may, at first, be greeted enthusiastically. But unless the stakeholders are somehow involved in the process, that enthusiasm is not likely to survive.
We know we must change. If nothing else, many of our governance and delivery systems are arcane and sloppy. How we communicate that change can make all the difference in the world.
