Taking Down Giants

The slave generation was scared of giants. Makes sense – who wouldn’t be worried about potential warfare with people that are more physically powerful? More than once in our Bible do we learn about the Nephilim, Anakim, and Rephaim. These groups were described as being of greater size than the average human being. This week, as we begin the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses reviews the Israelites’ forty years of journeys and adventures that led them to their current position just outside the land of Canaan. Woven into this remembrance are mentions of giants. Yes, literal giants.  

Standing before the people, Moses recounts how 12 spies were sent into the land in order to reconnoiter. The spies came back and spoke about a land flowing with milk and honey but also filled with giants. In Deuteronomy 1:28, we read, “What kind of place are we going to? Our brothers have taken the heart out of us, saying, ‘We saw there a people stronger and taller than we, large cities with walls sky-high, and even Anakites.’” The people wanted to return to Egypt, to slavery, instead of facing these supersized human beings and their similarly sized fortresses. Because of their fears, God became incensed and condemned the slave generation to 40 years of wandering, enough time for them to die out and for a new generation to arise. 

After the forty years passed, just as God planned, the only remaining members of the slave generation were Moses, Caleb, and Joshua. They led the new generation, a generation that battled their enemies willingly. They were not fearful of giants. They destroyed Og, King of the Amorites, a descendant of the Rephaim. He is described in Deuteronomy 3:11 with the words,  “Only King Og of Bashan was left of the remaining Rephaim. His bedstead, an iron bedstead, is now in Rabbah of the Ammonites; it is nine cubits long and four cubits wide, by the standard cubit!” If you’re unfamiliar with a cubit, let’s just say, he was quite a large human being given the size of his bed.

What are the larger than life obstacles in your life? When faced with an impediment, do you act like the Israelites who fled Egypt and lost all hope when just hearing about a challenge? Or do you act  like the Israelites who never knew slavery, willing to go into battle because they believed in the validity of their cause? Often, we are asked to slay giants, metaphorically of course. If we believe in ourselves and our causes, then there is no obstacle too great to overcome. But, the littlest bit of doubt in ourselves will send us fleeing, unwilling to stand up for our beliefs. When a giant stands in front of you, take a deep breath and then move forward with courage. If you don’t, you might find yourself wandering aimlessly in a desert for longer than you expected. 

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DEVARIM SUMMARY FROM THE URJ

• Moses begins his final words of instruction to the Children of Israel, focusing first on recounting their physical journey. (1:1–21)
• Moses reviews the people’s reactions to the negative reports of the spies and the appointment of Joshua to succeed him. (1:22–45)
• Moses recounts that all of the Israelite warriors who left Egypt died, as God had intended, and the people continued their wanderings and defeated their enemies. (2:14–3:11)
• Moses reiterates that the Land of Israel was allocated to the Israelite tribes. (3:12–22)

For more information on this Torah portion go to: 

https://reformjudaism.org/torah/portion/dvarim