“והיו הדברים האלה אשר אנכי מצוך היום על לבבך
רש”י: “אשר אנכי מצוך היום – לא יהיו בעיניך כדיוטגמא ישנה שאין אדם סופנה, אלא כחדשה שהכל רצין לקראתה. דיוטגמא, מצות המלך הבאה במכתב
Rashi: “Which I command you today – They should not be in your eyes like an old diyutgema which a person does not desire, but rather like a new one that everyone runs to read. Diyutgema, a royal decree which comes in written form.”
Rashi writes here that we should always relate to the Torah as being new and fresh, exciting. The problem is that it’s not new—it’s actually very old. Certainly, the Torah is eternal, and as relevant today as it was at Sinai, but in what way is it new? How can we relate to an ancient text, with which we have been familiar our entire lives, as if it was given only today?
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Rashi emphasizes that a “Diyutgema” comes in “written form.” When a decree is delivered orally, of course we run to hear it – this might be our only chance. But when the decree is written, we know we can always read it tomorrow. So even when we do read it, we read with less urgency and focus. If you were to ask a music aficionado which piece of music left the greatest impression on him, he would doubtlessly choose a concert at which he was present. He listened intently because he knew that he will not have another chance. Either he focuses and listens to the concert, or the concert will pass him by, forever.
Such an experience, of listening to something that will only be heard once, is for the most part absent today, in the digital era. Every sporting event, interview, and speech, is recorded, backed up and uploaded to the cloud. Even in the Torah world, every shiur is available for download an hour after it is given; every sefer is available on Otzar Hachochma.
But the Torah is written, and still we are meant “to run to read it”. Why run if we can read it tomorrow? The answer is that even though the Torah will still be here tomorrow, but today’s understanding won’t be. I learnt yesterday, and I learn today, and I will learn tomorrow, but every day brings with it a new insight, a new pshat. And the pshat of today is unique: never before and never afterwards will I possess quite the same perspective. Thus the Torah is both old and new, eternal and ever changing.