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September 24, 2021 / 18 Tishrei 5782 / V’zot Habrakhah

Hol HaMoed Sukkot

Moses as our Mirror

The entire Torah begins with a step-by-step description of the creation of the world and closes with a moving account of Moses’s death. The rabbis structured the Torah reading cycle in such a way that V’zot Habrakhah – the last of the 54 parshiot (textual divisions) of the Torah – is not read as part of the regular Shabbat cycle, but rather only on the morning of Simhat Torah. Sadly, most people do not attend synagogue on Simhat Torah morning so never have the opportunity to hear Deuteronomy 34 chanted.

Then Moses climbed Mount Nebo from the plains of Moab to the top of Pisgah, across from Jericho. There the LORD showed him the whole land—from Gilead to Dan, all of Naphtali, the territory of Ephraim and Manasseh, all the land of Judah as far as the Mediterranean Sea, the Negev and the whole region from the Valley of Jericho, the City of Palms, as far as Zoar. Then the LORD said to him, “This is the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob when I said, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ I have let you see it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it.” And Moses the servant of the LORD died there in Moab, as the LORD ordained. He buried him in Moab, in the valley opposite Beth Peor, but to this day no one knows where his grave is. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were not weak nor his strength gone. The Israelites grieved for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days, until the time of weeping and mourning was over. Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on him. So the Israelites listened to him and did what the LORD had commanded Moses. Since then, no prophet has risen in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face, who did all those signs and wonders the LORD sent him to do in Egypt—to Pharaoh and to all his officials and to his whole land. For no one has ever shown the mighty power or performed the awesome deeds that Moses did in the sight of all Israel.

An interpretive reading of this moving passage reveals some profound life truths that include, but are not limited to:

• Most of us may be fortunate enough to glimpse the fruits of our life-labors (our proverbial “promised land”), but not experience their enduring impact.
• Moses dies “al pi Adonai – with God’s kiss or by God’s word.” As much as we like to imagine that we have control over matters of life and death, only God knows when our souls enter and leave this world. In that sense, we all depart “al pi Adonai.” The fact that we have agency to decide how we respond and react to the daily events confronting us reflects our ongoing partnership with God.
• We are meant to see ourselves at every stage of Moshe's story, from birth to death. When we die, the awesome things we did, the serious mistakes we made, the love we shared, the people we helped or hurt, and the personal relationship we have with God will never again be duplicated because each of us is totally unique.
• God buries Moses in an undisclosed location so that the people he left behind and their descendants could not turn Moses into a stand-alone deity.  He was God’s exceptional partner and an extraordinary human being, with “human” being the operative word.  We can all strive to be God’s partner as modeled by Moses.
• Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy are often referred to as “The Five Books of Moses,” because he is the central figure that drives the narrative of God’s relationship with the people Israel. Without him, there is no story. Like all of us, Moshe's life is a complex weave of failures, successes, controversies, losses, competition, exasperation, forgiveness, and growth experiences - each stamped with God’s imprimatur. Like Moshe, every person leaves this world bequeathing to our heirs some kind of “torah” (instruction manual). As in Moshe's case, it is usually a combination of “what constitutes a life well-lived” and “mistakes not to repeat.”
  
  

At this time of year, our celebration of new beginnings interfaces with the sober recognition that everything living will eventually die. It is a miraculous cycle embedded into the DNA of creation. That is why the rabbis did not make it possible for us to read V’zot Habrakhah as a stand-alone parashah on a Shabbat. Had they done so, the ever-unfolding story of God and the Israelites would feel as if something had come to an end, even if only for a week. Instead, on Simhat Torah - the very day we read of Moses’s touching death - we set another Torah next to it on the lectern and RIGHT AWAY begin reading the story of creation. 

Today – at this moment in time – Moses is long gone and we are the lead characters. That is a big responsibility we can either accept eagerly, reluctantly, avoid all together or assume in moderation. Every day we have the chance to ask ourselves if the choices we are making in the present are worthy of being recorded in the Torah of Now as well as in the grand scheme of the Torah of our Lives. They are daily miracles that attend us if we allow ourselves to see them.

Moadim l’simha and Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Marcia Tilchin

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