Jeshurun = upright vs Israel = wrestle

Deuteronomy 33:26-29 – Rabbi Marder is back to lead us to the end…

The last words of Moses….

First he blessed each tribe individually, then he addresses the whole people as “Jeshurun”.

The term is from the root that means ‘straight ahead’ or ‘upright’ which is an honorable term. The previous time “Jeshurun” was used was in relation to the term ‘fat and kicked’
(From Wikipedia: Jeshurun appears four times in the Bible — three times in Deuteronomy and once in Isaiah.)

(Interesting side point that ‘fat and kicked’ was the verse we were on on Nov 3rd before Rabbi Marder left for her sabbatical)

The term ‘Jeshurun’ is interesting to refer to the people as it contrasts with the term ‘Israel’ that also refers to the people. One means ‘straight and upright’ and the other means to ‘wrestle with God’. The contrast is evident but it also is a good description of the many facets of our people.

Moses continues his address to the people with a poetic visualization of God ‘riding through the heavens’. While this is drawn from mythological roots, Moses emphasizes, “THERE IS NONE LIKE GOD”. Which we use in our current liturgy many times, Shema, Mi Chamocha, Ein Kamocha, Ein Kilohenu – to mention a few.

We continued the discussion reviewing the similar images in the Psalms: 68, 18, 29, 90. It is easy to understand from this the vision of God in the sky and relating to those signs of power in nature like earthquakes and thunder storms.

Another note – This is where we start reading on Simchat Torah. … we read to the end of Deuteronomy and immediately begin Genesis.