My Teachers, this parsha filled me with many questions. Now, the parasha presses me to say something about Jewish knowledge.
"(13) Neither with you only do I make this covenant and this oath; (14) [KI] with him that stands here with us this day before the LORD thy God, and also with him that is not here with us this day: (15) ([KI] you know how we have dwelt in the land of Mitzrayim; and how we have come through the nations which you passed by; (16) and you have seen their abominations, and their idols, wood, and stone, silver, and gold, which were among them:) (17) lest there should be among you man, or woman, of family, or tribe, whose heart turns away this day from the LORD our God, to go and serve the gods of these nations..." -- Devarim 29:13-17 (as translated in the Jerusalem Bible, except where I've substituted into the translation the original Hebrew "ki".)
"Ki" has a wide range of possible meanings -- 'because', 'since', 'that', 'when', 'if', 'rather', 'except', 'but', 'indeed', and possibly others. What does "ki" mean at the beginning of (14) and then at the beginning of (15)?
"... 'asher 'einennu poh 'imanu ha-yom" ('... him that is not here with us this day...') may mean 'whoever will come after' (Rashi), or 'whoever came before', or 'whoever came or will come'.
This is one way I read:
(13) Not with you alone do I make this covenant and this oath,
(14) but (ki) with him that stands here with us this day before the LORD thy God, and also with him that is not here with us this day,
(15) since (ki) you have known our dwellings in the land of Mitzrayim and how we have come through the nations which you passed by.
On this reading, HASHEM renews the covenant and oath because you know the enslavement in Egypt; and your knowledge enables the renewal for them not here with us this day. From this we may learn about how our knowledge connects with the previous generations and about how our knowledge connects with the generations to come, b'ezrat HASHEM.
When we know our people's past, we enliven the past generations and the generations enliven us. The covenant, only partially fulfilled in these past times, becomes renewed for our ancestors in our standing before HASHEM our God. When we know their enslavements in the many Egypts, when we take their experiences and wisdoms into our souls, the past generations renew the covenant through us. By remembering the lives of our predecessors, by understanding and honoring their aspirations, we continue their living beyond their lives.
We may learn about the action of knowing. "La-da'at" ('to know') is not only to possess a concept, or prediction, or skill, or intimate, "La-da'at" is also to pro-create. When we know our past, says the parashah, we make a "brit" ('covenant') for the generations coming b'ezrat HASHEM. Knowing is not passive and knowing is not only about what has been. "La-da'at" is not only to have received and not only to presently hold but furthermore "La-da'at" is to transmit into the future, to be making for our children.
May the knowledge of our parents distill within us as the dew, and may we merit wisdom for the sake of the generations to come.
Shabbat Shalom!