Hebrew is a very rich and concise language. Yet, when you scan the 929 chapters of the Tanach (Hebrew Bible) you do not find a Hebrew word for history. It simply does not exist.

Even in modern Hebrew the word for history is simply “historia” clearly borrowing from the English. It is very unusual that the Jewish people who are one of the most ancient people on the planet, who possess a miraculous past yet they have no word of their own for history! Why?

When we think of history, we think of information. I remember back in school when we studied say American history, we had to memorize a lot of information. There were dates, names of people, events, wars, politics etc. Personally, I have always enjoyed studying history as there is so much we can learn from it but it is fairly dry.

The Jewish people don’t have history, they have memory. “Remember the days of old…” is not telling us to memorize historical facts and figures. Memory has color, memory has emotions and memory is what preserves us.

Let’s put it this way. You can tell someone all the facts about your summer vacation with your family—how many days it was, where you stayed, what you did each day etc. but only you can connect to it in a way that no one else can because it is your memory, it is not just history.

Moses is telling the people to remember the past as part of a national narrative that will be more than just history. It should be a memory which they will relate to emotionally with love.

They will relive their memories through the festival and other points on the calendar. They will not be historical holidays but it will be the sharing of national memories.

Moses shares this message on the final day of his life, that is how important it is to future of the Jewish people.