Parshat Devarim: Why Words Matter
It had begun seven years earlier in 1955 in the Saint-Maurice studios in Joinville, a picturesque town in North-Eastern France. The interviewer was a young man in his early twenties, who was about to embark on a directorial career that would eventually crown him as arguably the finest exponent of his craft from amongst his peers. The man he was meeting was a world-famous film director whose very name now represents a classic genre in its own right. So was born the professional and productive relationship between François Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock and it would last until the death of ‘The Master’ a quarter-of-a-century later.In 1962, following 'To Catch a Thief', 'Vertigo', 'North by Northwest' and Psycho, not forgetting his iconic television series, Alfred Hitchcock was putting the final touches to his upcoming film, 'The Birds'.Loved by the public, mocked by the critics, and ignored by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences, Hitchcock was never awarded an Oscar for any of his films, even though five were nominated. He was eventually awarded the ‘Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for 'Services to Motion Pictures' in 1968. His famous acceptance speech consisted of two words which were “thank you”.Truffaut had directed three critically and commercially successful films. As a former film critic himself, he was a huge fan of his interviewee's oeuvre. Whilst in New York promoting his latest film, Truffaut has been disturbed by the dismissive attitude presented to him by American critics who couldn't understand why their French counterparts held 'The Master' in such high esteem. Upon returning to France, he felt that it was his duty to rescue Hitchcock's reputation through a series of interviews where (with his permission) the two would discuss every single film that Hitchcock had made - director to director. Hitchcock agreed and with the presence of Truffaut's confidante, the Francophile interpreter Helen Scott (Truffaut spoke no English), they initiated a series of interviews that began on 13th August, Hitchcock’s birthday.After a week of talking and schmoozing, eating, drinking and smoking cigars, Truffaut had his manuscript 'in the can'. Helen Scott then started transcribing the recordings and, along with Truffaut, wrote the resulting tome ‘Le Cinéma selon Alfred Hitchcock’ which was published in 1966. The book was then translated into English and released as ‘Hitchcock by Truffaut’. A documentary film about both the interviews and the book came out in 2015. I had the pleasure of reading the book recently, as well as seeing the film. Both are thoroughly absorbing, particularly because Hitchcock is possibly my favourite director and I really love his films.However, behind the laudable aim espoused by Truffaut, the project was somewhat flawed due to the language barrier emanating from Truffaut being unable to speak English, a language of which the brilliant and witty Hitchcock used to great effect.As a result, Helen Scott's translation of the original tapes was not wholly accurate. The documentary pointed this out and in fact Hitchcock, who did understand French, was unhappy with the manuscript. Understandably, he withheld his reservations from Truffaut, granted the latter's efforts to engage him. When the English version of the book was finally published, it was a translation of a translation of the original tapes and the book was understandably very different to the transcripts it purported to convey. Its subsequent reputation has not been helped by the availability of the entire set original recordings on YouTube, which prove the point. In fact, I listened to one of these with the book in hand and there were glaring inaccuracies.Despite this, the book is still regarded by critics as being one of the finest ever written about the process of filmmaking and was successful in convincing critics to re-evaluate their view of the director. Forty years after his death, he is now universally regarded as being one of the medium's greatest exponents.However, as far as Hitchcock was concerned, his words mattered - that was the point of the interviews, was it not?Moses, the man who described himself in Shemot/Exodus (Chapter 4.10) as not being “a man of words” was but few weeks away from his one-hundred-and-twentieth birthday – it would also be the day he died.He had overseen many highs and sadly too many lows in his directorship of the Bnei Yisrael. The Torah has described many scenes that could have appeared in Hitchcock movies:• Moses being the archetypal 'man on the run' from Pharaoh after trying to protect his fellow Israelite, resulting in his killing of the Egyptian taskmaster.• The suspense felt by the people as they waited for Moses to descend from Sinai.• The drama of the rebellion initiated by Korach and his cronies and• The constant pressure faced by Moses as a leader in his attempts to lead six hundred thousand leaders!As far as Moses was concerned, the words he was about to deliver before the people were paramount (pun intended) to the effect that they would have. He needed to choose them very carefully as his audience would outlive him and would indeed be the generation that conquered the land to the west of this location. His reputation rested on the three speeches he was about to undertake. The Torah introduces its fifth book (and the name of this week's Parsha) with the following verse:Deuteronomy 1: (1) These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan.—Through the wilderness, in the Arabah near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab, דברים א׳:א׳(א) אֵ֣לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּעֵ֖בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן בַּמִּדְבָּ֡ר בָּֽעֲרָבָה֩ מ֨וֹל ס֜וּף בֵּֽין־פָּארָ֧ן וּבֵֽין־תֹּ֛פֶל וְלָבָ֥ן וַחֲצֵרֹ֖ת וְדִ֥י זָהָֽב׃Our sages take great care to understand the meaning of the phrase, “These are the words that Moses addressed to Israel...through the wilderness, in the Arabah....” because, the immediate verses that follow this, don't actually mention the said words. In the subsequent verses, we are given a history of the Israelites' journey through the desert from Horeb (aka Sinai).It is only when we reach Verse 9, that he says:(9) Thereupon I said to you, “I cannot bear the burden of you by myself.”which is a strong statement. It is as though he is saying that he is not fit to judge and lead them effectively (as per Rashi's commentary).He adds:(11) “May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase your numbers a thousand-fold and bless you as He promised you.”Moses, in these two verses, demonstrates why he is rightly regarded as the greatest leader our nation has ever had. On the one hand, he admonishes the people, whilst with the other, he gives them hope. He gives them the cheshek - the will - to continue from this location, to conquer the land, to bring the lessons that the Torah has taught them into the land where they, as a nation, will be allowed to flourish and grow.Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidism, wrote in his book, Sichot HaRan the following commentary on the phrase: “these are the words”:Sichot HaRan 290:1I heard in his name, that the Rebbe said, “The words spoken by a great tzaddik contain the needs of all Israel. They include what is needed by every single Jew. It is written, “These are the words that Moshe spoke to all Israel” (Deuteronomy 1:1). The words spoken by Moshe were 'for all Israel’. They contained what every single Jew would ever need.”You can be the greatest director in the world and you might even have a fan who himself is recognised as a 'master' in his own right but if your words are mistranslated and then misunderstood, even with the best intention, your words are as false as the accusations levelled against you.The Hebrew for a word is 'davar'.‘Davar’ is used to denote a 'thing' or a 'matter' because words are important, indeed, we are told by our Sages that Gd Himself created the universe through words (And Gd said, "Let there be light and there was light.”)Words are 'things' that construct sentences, which themselves are used to create speeches. A speech without words is nothing. It is silence.Moses' carefully considered words, which we value to this day, had to impact each and every person who was privileged to hear them. They had to be recorded exactly as he had spoken them. They had to be transmitted in a way that they would convey their message and meaning in an identical manner that they had been uttered. It wasn't good enough to have a person who didn't speak the same language writing them down. Our Rabbis state (Tractate Sanhedrin 110a), “Moses and his Torah are true.” Every word he spoke was completely without falsehood because he knew that his words could be misinterpreted and the result could be catastrophic for future generations. “These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel” - for eternity.We are currently in the period of the Nine Days which precedes our saddest annual day, Tisha B'Av, the Ninth day of the month of Av. Our Rabbis tell us that the Second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed because of Sinat Chinam, baseless hatred, caused by the inappropriate use of words, through gossip and malice, anger and arrogance. On Yom Kippur, the majority of the ‘Al Cheit’(‘for our sins’) prayers focus on our misuse of words.For Truffaut and Hitchcock, Moses and his students, we, the Jewish people, words matter because our success and reputation is built on how we choose to use the letters we learn to create the words we construct, to ultimately convey the messages that we wish to share with the rest of the world.Words really do matter.Shabbat Shalom.
It had begun seven years earlier in 1955 in the Saint-Maurice studios in Joinville, a picturesque town in North-Eastern France. The interviewer was a young man in his early twenties, who was about to embark on a directorial career that would eventually crown him as arguably the finest exponent of his craft from amongst his peers. The man he was meeting was a world-famous film director whose very name now represents a classic genre in its own right. So was born the professional and productive relationship between François Truffaut and Alfred Hitchcock and it would last until the death of ‘The Master’ a quarter-of-a-century later.
In 1962, following 'To Catch a Thief', 'Vertigo', 'North by Northwest' and Psycho, not forgetting his iconic television series, Alfred Hitchcock was putting the final touches to his upcoming film, 'The Birds'.
Loved by the public, mocked by the critics, and ignored by the Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences, Hitchcock was never awarded an Oscar for any of his films, even though five were nominated. He was eventually awarded the ‘Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award for 'Services to Motion Pictures' in 1968. His famous acceptance speech consisted of two words which were “thank you”.
Truffaut had directed three critically and commercially successful films. As a former film critic himself, he was a huge fan of his interviewee's oeuvre. Whilst in New York promoting his latest film, Truffaut has been disturbed by the dismissive attitude presented to him by American critics who couldn't understand why their French counterparts held 'The Master' in such high esteem. Upon returning to France, he felt that it was his duty to rescue Hitchcock's reputation through a series of interviews where (with his permission) the two would discuss every single film that Hitchcock had made - director to director. Hitchcock agreed and with the presence of Truffaut's confidante, the Francophile interpreter Helen Scott (Truffaut spoke no English), they initiated a series of interviews that began on 13th August, Hitchcock’s birthday.
After a week of talking and schmoozing, eating, drinking and smoking cigars, Truffaut had his manuscript 'in the can'. Helen Scott then started transcribing the recordings and, along with Truffaut, wrote the resulting tome ‘Le Cinéma selon Alfred Hitchcock’ which was published in 1966. The book was then translated into English and released as ‘Hitchcock by Truffaut’. A documentary film about both the interviews and the book came out in 2015. I had the pleasure of reading the book recently, as well as seeing the film. Both are thoroughly absorbing, particularly because Hitchcock is possibly my favourite director and I really love his films.
However, behind the laudable aim espoused by Truffaut, the project was somewhat flawed due to the language barrier emanating from Truffaut being unable to speak English, a language of which the brilliant and witty Hitchcock used to great effect.
As a result, Helen Scott's translation of the original tapes was not wholly accurate. The documentary pointed this out and in fact Hitchcock, who did understand French, was unhappy with the manuscript. Understandably, he withheld his reservations from Truffaut, granted the latter's efforts to engage him. When the English version of the book was finally published, it was a translation of a translation of the original tapes and the book was understandably very different to the transcripts it purported to convey. Its subsequent reputation has not been helped by the availability of the entire set original recordings on YouTube, which prove the point. In fact, I listened to one of these with the book in hand and there were glaring inaccuracies.
Despite this, the book is still regarded by critics as being one of the finest ever written about the process of filmmaking and was successful in convincing critics to re-evaluate their view of the director. Forty years after his death, he is now universally regarded as being one of the medium's greatest exponents.
However, as far as Hitchcock was concerned, his words mattered - that was the point of the interviews, was it not?
Moses, the man who described himself in Shemot/Exodus (Chapter 4.10) as not being “a man of words” was but few weeks away from his one-hundred-and-twentieth birthday – it would also be the day he died.
He had overseen many highs and sadly too many lows in his directorship of the Bnei Yisrael. The Torah has described many scenes that could have appeared in Hitchcock movies:
• Moses being the archetypal 'man on the run' from Pharaoh after trying to protect his fellow Israelite, resulting in his killing of the Egyptian taskmaster.
• The suspense felt by the people as they waited for Moses to descend from Sinai.
• The drama of the rebellion initiated by Korach and his cronies and
• The constant pressure faced by Moses as a leader in his attempts to lead six hundred thousand leaders!
As far as Moses was concerned, the words he was about to deliver before the people were paramount (pun intended) to the effect that they would have. He needed to choose them very carefully as his audience would outlive him and would indeed be the generation that conquered the land to the west of this location. His reputation rested on the three speeches he was about to undertake.
The Torah introduces its fifth book (and the name of this week's Parsha) with the following verse:
Deuteronomy 1:
(1) These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel on the other side of the Jordan.—Through the wilderness, in the Arabah near Suph, between Paran and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Di-zahab,
דברים א׳:א׳
(א) אֵ֣לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר דִּבֶּ֤ר מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶל־כָּל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל בְּעֵ֖בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן בַּמִּדְבָּ֡ר בָּֽעֲרָבָה֩ מ֨וֹל ס֜וּף בֵּֽין־פָּארָ֧ן וּבֵֽין־תֹּ֛פֶל וְלָבָ֥ן וַחֲצֵרֹ֖ת וְדִ֥י זָהָֽב׃
Our sages take great care to understand the meaning of the phrase, “These are the words that Moses addressed to Israel...through the wilderness, in the Arabah....” because, the immediate verses that follow this, don't actually mention the said words. In the subsequent verses, we are given a history of the Israelites' journey through the desert from Horeb (aka Sinai).
It is only when we reach Verse 9, that he says:
(9) Thereupon I said to you, “I cannot bear the burden of you by myself.”
which is a strong statement. It is as though he is saying that he is not fit to judge and lead them effectively (as per Rashi's commentary).
He adds:
(11) “May the LORD, the God of your fathers, increase your numbers a thousand-fold and bless you as He promised you.”
Moses, in these two verses, demonstrates why he is rightly regarded as the greatest leader our nation has ever had. On the one hand, he admonishes the people, whilst with the other, he gives them hope. He gives them the cheshek - the will - to continue from this location, to conquer the land, to bring the lessons that the Torah has taught them into the land where they, as a nation, will be allowed to flourish and grow.
Rabbi Nachman of Breslov, the great-grandson of the Baal Shem Tov, the founder of Chassidism, wrote in his book, Sichot HaRan the following commentary on the phrase: “these are the words”:
Sichot HaRan 290:1
I heard in his name, that the Rebbe said, “The words spoken by a great tzaddik contain the needs of all Israel. They include what is needed by every single Jew. It is written, “These are the words that Moshe spoke to all Israel” (Deuteronomy 1:1). The words spoken by Moshe were 'for all Israel’. They contained what every single Jew would ever need.”
You can be the greatest director in the world and you might even have a fan who himself is recognised as a 'master' in his own right but if your words are mistranslated and then misunderstood, even with the best intention, your words are as false as the accusations levelled against you.
The Hebrew for a word is 'davar'.
‘Davar’ is used to denote a 'thing' or a 'matter' because words are important, indeed, we are told by our Sages that Gd Himself created the universe through words (And Gd said, "Let there be light and there was light.”)
Words are 'things' that construct sentences, which themselves are used to create speeches.
A speech without words is nothing. It is silence.
Moses' carefully considered words, which we value to this day, had to impact each and every person who was privileged to hear them. They had to be recorded exactly as he had spoken them. They had to be transmitted in a way that they would convey their message and meaning in an identical manner that they had been uttered. It wasn't good enough to have a person who didn't speak the same language writing them down. Our Rabbis state (Tractate Sanhedrin 110a), “Moses and his Torah are true.” Every word he spoke was completely without falsehood because he knew that his words could be misinterpreted and the result could be catastrophic for future generations. “These are the words that Moses addressed to all Israel” - for eternity.
We are currently in the period of the Nine Days which precedes our saddest annual day, Tisha B'Av, the Ninth day of the month of Av. Our Rabbis tell us that the Second Beit Hamikdash was destroyed because of Sinat Chinam, baseless hatred, caused by the inappropriate use of words, through gossip and malice, anger and arrogance. On Yom Kippur, the majority of the ‘Al Cheit’(‘for our sins’) prayers focus on our misuse of words.
For Truffaut and Hitchcock, Moses and his students, we, the Jewish people, words matter because our success and reputation is built on how we choose to use the letters we learn to create the words we construct, to ultimately convey the messages that we wish to share with the rest of the world.
Words really do matter.
Shabbat Shalom.
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