"And this is the blessing with which Moshe, the man of G-d, blessed the children of Israel"
(Deuteronomy 33:1)
Tishrei 19, 5779/September 28, 2018
"And this is the blessing with which Moshe, the man of G-d, blessed the children of Israel just before his death." (Deuteronmy 33:1)
Thus begins the final Torah reading of the Five Books of Moses, known as V'zot Habrachah, which we will be reading in synagogues throughout the world on Monday morning, which is the holiday of Shmini Atzeret, also known as Simchat Torah. (In diaspora communities Simchat Torah will be celebrated on Tuesday.)
This Shabbat, which falls on the sixth day of the seven day Sukkot festival, we will be reading Torah selections which are relevant to Sukkot. Nevertheless, the Torah reading of V'zot Habrachah is very much a part of the message of Sukkot. V'zot Habrachah records the final act of Moshe, just before he ascends Mount Nevo, where he peers into the promised land that he will never enter into, breathes his last breath, and is buried in the valley below, in an unknown grave.
Moshe's final act, that of blessing his people, is not described by Torah as a commandment. That is, blessing the children of Israel was Moshe's idea. It came from his heart, and as his final act, symbolizing his total commitment to and love for his people. G-d didn't command Moshe to do this, because G-d didn't need to command Moshe. Moshe is described here as "the man of G-d," meaning that Moshe's will and G-d's will were one. Identical.
Torah begins "In the beginning." From chaos and void G-d creates order and light, and fills His world with intention and purpose. The first verses of the Book of Genesis, which we will also be reading on Simchat Torah, immediately after concluding the final verses of Deuteronomy, mark the very beginning of G-d's transformation of infinite endlessness into measurable time and space. With the creation of Adam, the first man, "male and female He created them," (Genesis 1:27) creation is completed and the possibilities and potential seem endless. Twenty six generations later, Torah draws to a conclusion, and its final words seem focused on a solitary figure, Moshe, "the man of G-d." But what about the rest of G-d's creation?
It is a positive commandment for every Jew to write a Sefer Torah, a Torah Scroll, containing the Five Books of Moses. This is an exceedingly difficult task that takes many hundreds of hours and requires great skill and spiritual strength. Many Jews symbolically 'write' a Sefer Torah by filling in a letter in a Sefer Torah that a scribe is preparing, thereby lending their hand, as it were, to the writing of a Sefer Torah. But on a metaphorical level, writing for ourselves a Sefer Torah means to live our lives in the light of Torah's teachings and intentions for us. By living our lives in accordance with Torah we are, in effect, writing ourselves into the Sefer Torah. Writing a Sefer Torah means making Torah relevant to every aspect of our lives by dedicating every ounce of our being to the truth of Torah. At the conclusion of the book, on the final day, then, it is we, not Moshe, whom the Sefer Torah is focused upon. It is we who must look back upon all which we have accomplished and all which we have not accomplished. All the wonder and majesty and limitless potential with which G-d filled His world, comes down to us, and what we have made of it in our lives. G-d created the world not for His benefit, but for ours.
This contemplation of who we are and what are we doing in G-d's world, is central to the entire holiday cycle of the month of Tishrei, beginning with Rosh HaShana, continuing with Yom Kippur and drawing to a conclusion with Sukkot and Shmini Atzeret/Simchat Torah. It is appropriate, then, to wait until Simchat Torah, the final day of the holiday season, to read V'zot Habrachah. It is also appropriate that the deep questions that it contains are still hovering above us as we sit in our frail sukkot, from which we can see through the spaces in our schach (sukkah roofs) the vast world around us.
On Simchat Torah, the reading of the final, solemn words of Deuteronomy describing the death of Moshe, is followed immediately by the reading of the first chapter of Genesis, describing the creation of the world in six days, and the seventh day, the Shabbat, which G-d blessed and sanctified. Having spent twenty two days in deep contemplation of the meaning of our lives, we are not allowed to spend an extra moment in solemnity or, G-d forbid, regret. We have completed our intense spiritual introspection and re-calibration, and we must jump immediately into the challenges and possibilities that await us in the upcoming year. This is why the day is called Simchat Torah, the Joy of Torah. Our final thoughts on the year that has ended must be filled with joy as we look ahead to the year which is upon us.
The final three verses of Deuteronomy begin by telling us that "there was no other prophet who arose in Israel like Moshe... " (Deuteronomy 33:10) Moshe was unique, and no one will ever reach the stature that he attained. But we do share with Moshe our own uniqueness. Pursuing who we truly are and for what purpose we were truly created by G-d, is an expression of writing ourselves into the Sefer Torah, and a goal truly worthy of the beckoning opportunities of the upcoming year. Chag Sameach!
