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HOSHANNAH RABBAH
SIMCHAT TORAH
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL
"Death Don't Have No Mercy In This Land"
shelter all of mankind in His tent of peace. May all of the children of
Abraham, Jews and Arabs, and yes, even Jews with Jews, learn to love
peace and pursue peace. Amen.
SYNOPTIC ABSTRACT:
This is the last portion of the Chumash (the Five Books of Moses). Moses
blesses each of the tribes of Israel individually. But did Moses bless
ALL twelve? When he is through with his farewell blessings, Moses
ascends Mount Nebo, sees the land of Israel from this mountain's top, and
dies. Who buries Moses? If the entire Torah was traditionally believed
to have been given to Moses on Mt. Sinai, did he write the last verses
describing his death as well? Upon Moses's death, Joshua takes over the
reigns of leadership. To learn more, we invite you to read more.
Like Jacob centuries before him, Moses blesses each of the twelve tribes.
Like Jacob, Moses's words are both blessings and prophecies. The Hebrew
word, "v'zot,"(and this) is how Moses begins his blessings. This the same
phrase that Jacob uses to end his blessings (Gen. 49:28). The Midrash
says that this is to show continuity of the people from their earliest
times as individual sons of Jacob to the time soon to come, when they
will enter the promised land and become a nation after wandering in the
desert for 40 years. Moses used this same phrase when he began his
summation of the Torah in Deuteronomy 4:44. Ramban ( Nachmonides of
13th-century Spain) says that this symbolizes that it was the ethics of
Torah that carried Israel through its past journeys, and Torah ethics
will continue to carry Israel through its future trials.
This portion is read on Simchat Torah. As mentioned above, this is the
last portion of the Chumash. As soon as we finish it, we immediately
begin the first book the Torah (Genesis). This symbolizes that our people
can never consider the ethics taught in the Torah to be completed. Our
study, as well as our living ethically, continues year in and year out.
This Shabbat's Haftarah, taken from the first chapter of the book of
Joshua, is the book of the Holy Scriptures that follows Deuteronomy. In
this Haftarah, Joshua solidifies his leadership and the Jews pledge
loyalty to him by saying," all that you have commanded us we will do, and
wherever you send us we will go." This is reminiscent of the words said
by the Israelites in the desert to Moses: "We will do and we will
listen." While the ethics of the Torah are unchanging in a circular
pattern, Jewish history and our adaptation to the times must be linear.
Moses is called "a man of God"(Deut. 33:01). His last act on earth,
knowing that he would die, was to bless his people. Rabbi Yaakov David
says that homiletically, Moses is asking the leaders of the tribes to not
only be strong and wise, but to be honest and kind as well. Moses calls
the Torah a "heritage"(Deut. 33:04). It is to be transmitted from
generation to generation. It is not an inheritance. One can do what one
wishes to do with an inheritance. A heritage is something valuable and
special that is handed down to one's children. The rabbis in Talmud
Tractate Pesachim 49B take the Hebrew word for "heritage," change a
letter and a vowel, and read the new word as "married." The say that
Israel and the Torah are married.
Twelve tribes are blessed by Moses. Ephriam and Menassah are combined as
"Joseph," who was their father but did not have his own tribe. Simeon is
left out. Ibn Ezra, of the 12th-century, says that this is because Jacob
has castigated Simeon in Genesis 49:05 and because the sinners in the
orgy at Baal Peor were Simeonites (Num. 25:03). Ramban disagrees. He says
that the twelve tribes are always listed as twelve. Usually Levi is
deleted, as this tribe is landless. But Moses wished to bless Levi, as
their task of transmitting Torah values was extremely important. He
therefore had to omit a tribe and chose Simeon. He omitted Simeon, as
their population was small. According to the critical theory of Biblical
authorship, Simeon was incorporated into a part of Judah as early as in
Joshua's time (Josh. 19:02). By the time of Deuteronomy's writing after
the return from the exile in Babylon, this tribe was all but forgotten.
Zebulun and Issachar are mentioned together. Zebulun engaged in
successful maritime commerce and supported Issachar, who devoted time to
study and teaching Torah (I Chron. 12:32). Rashi says that this symbiotic
relationship is codified by halakah (Jewish law). A rich man, with no
time for study, can pay someone to study and they both will get "credit"
for fulfilling the commandment to study Torah. In spiritual Jewish
philosophy, this goes against the spirit of studying Torah to make us
better people. We study Torah ethics and do good deeds because it the
correct way to be, and not to garner God's favor.
In Deuteronomy 34:05, Moses dies. There are eight more verses of the
Chumash. The rabbis debate who wrote these. In Talmud Bavli Tractate Bava Batra 15B
there are two opinions: Joshua wrote these eight lines, or God dictated
these words to Moses, who wrote them with tears from his eyes, rather
than with ink. The Vilna Gaon, of 18th-century Lithuania, says both
rabbis of the Talmud are correct. Moses got the entire Torah from God.
The part that had to do with his death came as one long stream of
letters. He says that the Hebrew word "dimah" can mean "tear" or
"mixed-up." The Gaon says Moses wrote the letters, but Joshua made them
into intelligible words. I must inject a personal note here. Whenever I
read about Moses dying, I get tears in my eyes. While alive, Moses is
called a "man of God." When he dies, he is called "a servant of God"
(eved Adonai; Deut. 34:05). In death, he is completely in Heaven's realm
and "control". As a living being, he is a man, able to make choices and
able to make errors.
We are told that Moses dies "by the mouth of God"(Deut.34:05). Rashi says
that this means Moses dies by a divine kiss. The rabbis of the Talmud
discuss all the various ways one can die. They decide that this is the
best of all the ways to die. While the text says that God buried Moses,
some rabbis argue that Moses buried himself. Another tradition says that
Moses's grave was ready for him since the evening of sixth day of the
creation at precisely twilight of the first Shabbat (Pirkei Avot 5:06).
Talmud Bavli Tractate Sotah 13A says that the verse, "and no one knows his burial
place to this day," means that Moses himself did not know where it was.
No one is to know where it is even now, so as not to make it into a
shrine.
Another interesting point is discussed by the rabbis. Verse 34:08 says
that "the children of Israel bewailed" Moses's death. They juxtapose this
with how the Torah says Aaron was mourned. Numbers 20:29 says Aaron was
mourned "by the entire house of Israel." The rabbis say that Moses was
mourned by men to whom he taught the law. The sages say that all the
men, women, and children mourned for Aaron because he taught them love,
kindness and how to pursue peace. Aaron was known to go throughout the
camp transforming friends and families who had disagreements into having
loving and amicable relationships with each other again.
In Tractate Sotah 14a, Rabbi Simlai notes that the Torah ends with an act
of kindness (chesed) of God burying Moses. The Torah also begins with an
act of chesed in Genesis 3:21 when God clothed Adam and Eve. The Talmud
records that chesed is the "founding" principle of the Jewish people and
of what we call ethical monotheism. Abraham's mission was preaching
chesed toward one another.
The Talmud teaches that chesed is associated
with spiritual perfection and is the most important aspect of the Torah.
Chesed is the unifying factor of creation, says rabbi Pinchas Winston.
If one masters the trait of kindness, one masters the traits for building
relationships. Abraham and his original religious philosophy believe that
the world was created for chesed and for loving, kind relationships with
each other. King David reiterated this idea in Psalm 89:03: "A world of
chesed You created."
Imitating God is a higher spiritual experience than doing rituals or
even talking to God, as we learned when we read about Abraham stopping
his conversation with God to care for three strangers. When one makes
chesed a high priority in life, one is doing one's best to resemble God.
God says in Genesis 1:03, "Let there be light (or)." Abraham is called a
"light" in the Midrash. The Midrash also says that,"when Moses was born
he filled the house with light." We know that God calls light, "good." We
know of Abraham's many acts of kindness. But what was Moses's major act
of kindness? Moses, the Midrash says, did a "chesed shel emet" (true
kindness).
While the Jews were busy collecting gold from the Egyptians
just prior to the Exodus, Moses found the coffin of Jacob,which was
buried in the Nile River, and brought it to the surface. He carried it
with him for forty years and instructed Joshua to bury Jacob in Shechem.
Why is this called an act of "true kindness?" The sages say it is an act
that can never be repaid. Because of this one act, the Midrash says,
Moses merited burial by God Himself. It was not due to the teaching of
the 613 commandments. It was not due to bringing Israel out of slavery
and through the desert safely to the banks of the promised land. It was
not due to being "shomar Shabbat" (strictly observant of Shabbat), or
following exacting rituals of the dietary laws. Moses is called a "man
of God," and a "servant of God," and is buried by God because he did an
act of true, unrepayable chesed.
I close this last D'var of the Chumash with a quote about Moses by Elie
Wiesel: "His passion for social justice, his struggle for national
liberation, his triumphs and disappointments, his poetic inspiration, his
gifts as a strategist and an organizational genius, his complex
relationship with God and His people, his requirements and promises, his
condemnations and blessings, his bursts of anger, his silences, his
efforts to reconcile the law with compassion, authority with
integrity--no individual, ever, anywhere, accomplished so much for so
many people in so many different domains. His influence is boundless. It
reverberates beyond time."
Chazak! Chazak! Venitchazeik! Be Strong! Be Strong! And May We Be
Strengthened! Amen!!
Chag Somayach!
Shabbat Shalom.,
RABBI ARTHUR SEGAL
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