Today's Scripture Reading (February 27, 2025): Deuteronomy 11
If you are a fan of the sitcom "Seinfeld," you probably recognize the phrase, "yada, yada, yada." The phrase was initially made popular by comedian Lenny Bruce in the early 1960s, but it was revived when it became a catchphrase for the cast of "Seinfeld." In Seinfeld, it came to substitute for the middle of the story and mundane or sometimes sensitive details that could be left out. "I got up this morning and it was Thursday, and yada yada yada, here I am at work." Many things happened between "I got up this morning" and "arriving at work," but you can probably fill in the blanks without me boring you with the details.
The phrase is used to summarize the mundane moments of life, but it has also been used to summarize the sensitive moments of life. The phrase has been used in several memes. Many years ago, I remember one of these memes that made fun of Lori Loughlin's legal troubles over the bribes paid, and lies told, to get her kids into the college of their choice. The meme showed Loughlin saying. "So, I'm on 3rd Avenue, mindin' my own business, and yada, yada, yada, my kid gets into USC." Again, you get to fill in the blanks with the details you think are essential.
Deuteronomy uses the word "yada" forty-three times. But it is not used as filler. In Deuteronomy, the word is used to indicate what it is that Israel either knows or should know. Moses stresses that the people should teach it and repeat it over and over again, making sure that this knowledge is placed in the hearts of the people and their children. Teach them well. Make sure that they know.
Here, yada is used in the negative. It isn't what the people know or even what they should know, but what they don't know. Moses's point is that they have traded the God they know (yada) for the foreign gods they don't know (don't yada). The worship of foreign gods would be the initial stage of the curse that God would leave with Israel. The curse was that God was willing to let go of Israel and leave them in the hands of false deities. However, the question that would remain was if Israel had taught the children to know (yada), why wouldn't they follow the commands of the God who divided the Red Sea and allowed Israel to cross on dry ground? This was the same God who had supplied the manna, quail, and even water when it was needed. It was this God who had helped them defeat even enemies who were stronger than they were. This story needed to be taught to the children to ensure they knew (yada). If the children were not taught well, they might follow after gods they did not know. But, if the stories were told, the hope was that the children would follow the God of their ancestors and know, yada, yada, yada.
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Deuteronomy 12
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