| The Portion of Devarim The Sting of the Bee The Book of Devarim (Deuteronomy) is also known as "Mishne Torah" (the repetition of the Torah) because Moses, in his farewell address to the people, reviews all that has transpired since the exodus from Egypt to the rapidly approaching day when the Children of Israel will enter the Promised Land. Among the events that Moses recalled was the sin of the spies, which was then followed by the sin of those people who insisted on going forward despite the Lord's clearly stated prohibition "do not go up and do not fight" (Deuteronomy 1;42). Moses describes the latter's encounter with the Amorites and the expected result. "And the Amorites, dwelling in that mountain, came out towards you and pursued you as bees do…"(ibid 1;44). As we know, when bees swarm and sting human beings the bees then die. While the Amorites won the battle and blinded the Israelites eyes, as bees do, their victory was short lived, as it is written "And I destroyed the Amorites…(Amos 2;9). An allusion to this is found in the accompanying picture where we see two prongs emanating from the letter "ayin" (the Hebrew word for eye) in the word "ta'asenah" (as bees] do", symbolizing first victory and then defeat. (Rokeiach on the Torah)
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