DEUTRONOMY XVI:18-XXI:9

THE PROPHECY OF YEARS GONE BYE

The future conquest of the Promised Land required the structuring of governance to administer the emerging nation. Years later, the prophet Shemuel anointed the first king, Saul, to begin the period of the monarchy. The figure of the king served to unify the 12 tribes and turn them into a nation. In this scheme of government, we find the figure of the prophet as an integrating element. While in Egypt the Pharaoh went to his magicians and sorcerers to confirm his actions or to interpret his dreams, as the book of Shemot attests, the Hebrew prophet represented the “conscience” of the collective. The prophet had the authority to admonish even the king and, in this way, could limit his unrestricted power. That is why we find the prohibition against all kinds of sorcery in our chapters.

The Torah commands the selection of a king; however, the prophet Shemuel initially opposed this idea, claiming that the king would demand taxes and become an additional burden on the people. The figure of the king conflicted in some way with the notion that God was the only king whose command had to be obeyed. On the other hand, the person of the Navi, the prophet, is an integral part of Judaism’s teaching that every human ruler must be subject to evaluation and criticism.

This individual never came into conflict with the Deity, because the prophet verbalized the moral imperative that the Torahcommands. Just as the king had to come from the bosom of the people, a fact that in his time limited the authority of King Herod, who was an Ammonite, the prophet also had to be a son of the Hebrew people. He was part of the fundamental leadership of the government. Although the prophet was the mouthpiece of God’s word, as the Gentile prophet Bil’am stated when King Balak asked him to slander and curse the Hebrew people, there is no doubt that each individual leaves the hallmark of his own style and each prophet left an imprint of his personality through his message.

The influence and respect exercised by the prophet led to the falsification of this vocation. The Torah warns that under certain circumstances false prophets may arise who will try to lead the people along the path of disobedience of the Mitsvot. The Torahemphasizes that divine instructions are not passing in nature and can serve as a test of the prophet’s authenticity when he points toa path other than the one traced by God.

In the course of the history of the Jewish people, some false prophets arose who interpreted the Mitsvot as if they were a code of circumstantial ethics, which lacked absolute validity. Perhaps Shabetai Zvi – a character who described himself as the Messiah and produced pain and tragedy for the people who, following his instructions, divested themselves of their possessions in preparation for the revelation of this messenger of God, who would lead them back to the Promised Land – can be considered one of the false prophets.

Why don’t contemporary prophets emerge? According to the Talmud,  with Chagai and Malachí we reach the end of the period of the prophets. It is possible that this argument points to the fact that the Holy Scriptures, together with the explanations contained in the Talmud, constitute a complete and sufficient revelation that allows us to choose the right path, even in the present absence of prophecy.

MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 14  POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 27 PROHIBITIONS

491. ​Deuteronomy 16:18 Appoint judges and officers in every Jewish community

492. ​Deuteronomy 16:21 Do not plant a tree by the altar

493. ​Deuteronomy 16:22 Do not erect an idolatrous pillar

494. ​Deuteronomy 17:1 Not to offer an animal with a blemish, even if it be a temporary blemish

495. ​Deuteronomy 17:10 Abide by the judgment of the Jewish Supreme Court in every generation

496. ​Deuteronomy 17:11 Do not disobey the word of the Jewish Supreme Court

497. ​Deuteronomy 17:15 Appointing a Jewish King

498. ​Deuteronomy 17:15 Do not appoint a Jewish King who is not a native Israelite

499. ​Deuteronomy 17:15 A king should not accumulate more horses than he needs

500. ​Deuteronomy 17:16 Not to reside in the Land of Egypt

501. ​Deuteronomy 17:17 A king should not have too many wives

502. ​Deuteronomy 17:17 A king must not accumulate excess gold and silver

503. ​Deuteronomy 17:18 A king must write a Torah, in addition to the one that every Jew must write

504. ​Deuteronomy 18:1 Levites must not inherit land in the Land of Israel

505. ​Deuteronomy 18:1 The Levites are not to share in the spoils during the conquest of the Land of Israel

506. ​Deuteronomy 18:3 Deliver to the Kohen the shoulder, jaw, and final stomach of an animal offering

507. ​Deuteronomy 18:4 Separating Teruma of the products

508. ​Deuteronomy 18:4 Deliver up to the Kohanim the first shearing

509. ​Deuteronomy 18:4 Kohanim must serve in the Temple according to their appointed guards, and at festival times must serve in unison

510. ​Deuteronomy 18:10 Do not practice divination

511. ​Deuteronomy 18:10 Do not practice witchcraft

512. ​Deuteronomy 18:10-11 Do not use amulets

513. ​Deuteronomy 18:10-11 Do not consult a medium

514. ​Deuteronomy 18:10-11 Do not consult a Yidoni(magician)

515. ​Deuteronomy 18:10-11 Do not attempt contact with a dead person

516. ​Deuteronomy 18:15 Listen to every prophet of the generation, unless he adds to or reduces that which is in the Torah

517. ​Deuteronomy 18:20 Do not release false prophecy

518. ​Deuteronomy 18:20 Do not release prophecy in the name of an idol

519. ​Deuteronomy 18:22 Do not fail to execute a false prophet and fear him not

520. ​Deuteronomy 19:3, 6 prepare 6 cities of refuge

521. ​Deuteronomy 19:13, 21 Have no mercy on the person who deals a fatal blow during a capital trial

522. ​Deuteronomy 19:14 Do not falsely move your boundaries

523. ​Deuteronomy 19:15 Do not judge on the word of a single witness

524. ​Deuteronomy 19:19 To do unto a false witness what he intended to do unto a victim by his testimony

525. ​Deuteronomy 20:3; 7:21 Do not fear the enemy in battle

526. ​Deuteronomy 20:5-7 Anointing the Kohen for war

527. ​Deuteronomy 20:10 Behaving in an Elective War according to the rules of the Torah

528. ​Deuteronomy 20:16 Do not allow any of the 7 nations that inhabited the Land of Israel to live

529. ​Deuteronomy 21:1 Not to destroy fruit trees during a siege, nor to cause useless destruction

530. ​Deuteronomy 21:1 To break the neck of a calf in the riverbed

531. ​Deuteronomy 21:4 Neither plow nor sow in the riverbed where the calf’s neck was broken