"And this is the blessing that Moshe, the man of Gd, blessed the B'nei Yisrael before his death" (Devarim 33:1). The rabbis explained, "What does it mean 'before his death?': The Angel of Death approached to take him but Moshe pushed the angel down so that death was before (or in front) of him. It was then that Moshe spoke the blessings" (Midrash Rabbah 11:5). The Malbim explains that when death is near, the tzaddik keeps his presence of mind. He is able to purify himself in these final moments, making this the best time to give a blessing: held in the body by a hairsbreadth, his words span from eternity to this world.
These blessings which are part of the Torah are beyond time and their being spoken continues even now. Every one of us can focus on how he can make his life a vessel to receive their light (Shem MiShemuel). Through this we can strengthen ourselves. As it says, "Hear, Lrd, the voice of Yehudah and bring him to his people, let his hands be numerous for him and be a help against his adversaries" (Devarim 33:7).
V'Zot HaBrachah
Reb Shlomo Minyan HarNof
(R. Raphael, email: [email protected])
Shining Blessing Into The Vessels
In parashat Netzavim we saw that entering the holy covenant means being ready in openness to hear Hashem speak. To reach this we have to stand in His presence, completely willing to do for Him. But much of the time we find it difficult to make this connection from where we are. We don't know how to bring out in action our desire to be close to Hashem. And this is doubly frustrating, since experience tells us that the most fulfilling times in our lives are when we see a clear purpose and we find within ourselves the abilities required to fulfill it.
The first step in opening is to touch within ourselves our desire for holiness. Focused on this desire we can build and develop those aspects of self that will enable us to bring our unique good out into the world. It's important in this process to meet the people who can help us on our way, receiving from them what we are meant to receive. In its most potent form this is the notion of receiving a blessing, and the greatest blessing comes from the tzaddik, someone who has clarity and devotion to Hashem so that he can help us make the inner connection to finding our purpose in the world.
But we also need to be cautious: a person can get so hungry for meaning that he adopts ways or goals that aren't really his. This happens when we lose touch with our innermost will, our real joy for life which is our highest spiritual root, as it says, "Hashem breathed a living soul into man" (see Bereshit on creation of man). And breath, when it is breathed into something, comes from the inside depths of the Giver, a symbol for His will, deep desire and joy. So we need to make sure that we remember our joy because this is where we come from.
These two are like husband and wife: purpose and joy. Sometimes they seem to contradict each other, which is the aspect of an "ezer k'negdo," a helpmate that stands in opposition. But we are meant to have both. So when there is contradiction between joy and purpose one of the sides needs to go to a deeper level. The person, at that point, needs to search out genuine aspects of joy in the purpose he has found for himself. Or, the other way around, he needs to take the joy that he finds in living and make it more purposeful.
This is connected to the power of blessing. Because blessing, brachah, builds a vessel that gives form (purpose) to the simple light of Hashem that is coming down to us. And the light of Hashem is coming from the highest possible place connected to the pure joy or desire of Hashem for Creation. But our task is to give it form; we need to make our lives a vessel because there is no lasting place for joy in this world without purpose. And this is the greatness of the tzaddik when he blesses, that he connects the letters of our lives with the Gdly light or desire that shines from above. He takes the vessel that is there within and helps us form it in such a way that it can fill with this light because he can see how the vessel is meant to receive the light. And this is why the task of all of us is to move closer to the tzaddik whose words speak to us in our time (and also the tzaddik within ourselves - the yetzer tov). In this way we can draw down the greatest joy that there is because we give it an expression in this world by finding purpose in our lives.
And this is related to Moshe seeing in the final moments of his life into the Promised Land. For even though he was not permitted to go there, his seeing was a kind of blessing. This is because the eyes take in everything in an instant, and Moshe saw both the potential of the Land below and the light that can enliven it from above. The seeing of Moshe Rabeinu connects these two: Hashem's deepest desire for the world with the future of the Jewish people and nation. And this is why Moshe was not permitted to enter the Land - Hashem wanted the rectification towards the holy to be made from the ground up, by the nation of Yisrael continually "creating" itself in attachment to Hashem. And this self-creation is, paradoxically, our greatest act of participation with Hashem's will. Moshe makes the connection for us only by way of a makif, his blessing surrounds the Land with intention and direction like the air we breath. It hovers between heaven and earth, and is there for us to draw on. But we have the greatest latitude to give shape to our lives so that we can come, through our own efforts, to draw down His holy joy and desire.
In finding our way we need to shed the external layers we have taken on. We need a way to touch the core of our being. This is the deep source of vidui. And one way to begin to find our own relationship to Hashem is through the inspiration of the words and deeds of the tzaddikim, those who give themselves to Hashem in completeness, connecting heaven and earth, living Hashem's will in this world. Those who express true purpose in all the various deeds of their lives reach completeness because they have set aside anything "other." To stand in the presence of a tzaddik then, is to experience our own lack, those aspects of our lives which are blocking the light of Hashem's purpose that we have the potential to live in this world. That is why vidui is connected to the tzaddik, as he is the living example of straightening the crookedness so the vessel can receive the light. And even though the purposefulness that is within each of us is unique, since the tzaddik receives from the highest light of Hashem we can have a sense, in his shining out, of the light above that is meant for us to receive. May it be His will.
A Fiery Religion On The Inside - On The Outside - "Her Ways Are Ways Of Pleasantness"
"Gd came from Sinai and shone forth to them from Seir; He beamed from Mt. Paran and He came from the holy myriads. He brought to them, from His right hand, the fire of a religion. There is love for the nations but Your holy ones are in Your hand. They follow Your footsteps and uphold Your word" (Devarim 33:2-3).
Seir is the dwelling of Esav, the twin of Yaakov, while Paran is the place of Yishmael, so that all the descendents of Avraham are mentioned here (Ramban). Yisrael is unique. It is the only nation that can embody the Torah of Hashem, Who is called a consuming fire, without being destroyed.
Rashi says, "When the Torah was in front of Him it was black fire on white fire and He gave to Yisrael tablets which were written with His right hand." The source for this is the Jerusalem Talmud, where it's written, "'The Torah Hashem gave Moshe is rooted in white fire engraved from black fire, it is fire, mingled with fire, hewn with fire, given with fire.' As it says, 'From his right a fiery law to his people'" (Shekalim 86a).
The phrase "aishdat mi'yemino," a fiery law from his right, means the inclusion of strictness (fire) in kindness (right); the reconciliation of opposites in the Torah. And the Baal HaTanya explains that the Torah is the aspect of (black) fire which stands for the power of limitation or constriction. The Torah takes the infinite light (white fire) of Hashem and confines it to commandments which can be carried out in the world of limitation. This is one of the aspects of the mitzvot that they have physical measure, for example, tefillin or mezuzah. But even the spiritual commandments, to love and fear Hashem, are all done in a way of measure and not in a mode of infinitude. (Igeret HaKodesh 10)
Moshe, True Prophet For All Seasons
"There did not arise in Yisrael another prophet like Moshe whom Hashem knew face to face; Moshe, for whom Hashem sent all the signs and the wonders amidst the land of Mitzrayim, Paroh and all his servants and all the land; and Moshe, whose strong hand displayed all the great sights (or fearsome acts) before the eyes of all Yisrael" (Devarim 34:10-12). Rashi says that Moshe's "strong hand" represents his receiving the tablets of Torah. The "great and fearsome acts that Moshe did before the eyes of Yisrael" refers to when Moshe followed his heart and broke the original tablets of the law in front of Yisrael. There is a hint at Hashem's support for this when He says, "the tablets that (asher) you broke." This is interpreted (Tractate Shabbat 87): "Moshe, your action exemplifies the power of truth (yasher kochecha)."
The Maharal explains this interpretation of Moshe's "great and fearsome acts." After the sin of the Golden Calf, Hashem wanted to pluck Yisrael from this world. Moshe's power was that he judged Yisrael himself by breaking the tablets. Through his truthfulness he wrested Yisrael from the grasp of judgment and eventually they merited to receive the second tablets while the remains of the first were preserved in the ark within the Holy of Holies.
To Know But Not To Touch - Yearning And Blessing
"Gd showed (Moshe) all the Land�I have let you see it with your own eyes, but you will not cross (the river) to enter it." It was there in the land of Moab that Gd's servant Moshe died at Gd's word. Gd buried him in the low place of Moav opposite Beit Peor. No man knows the place that he was buried even to this day (Devarim 34:1,6).
Hashem showed Moshe the peaceful times that would be in the land as well as future times of crises. (Rashi)
"Hashem showed him�the most remote sea (yam)." The Malbim says he showed him the end of days, reading these words as "final days" (yomim). Hashem revealed to Moshe the whole world from the moment of creation to the resurrection of the dead.
The Ramban says that Moshe had the greatest love for Yisrael. When Hashem showed him the Holy Land, how it was filled with so much good, it brought a tremendous joy to Moshe, which was a source of blessing for Klal Yisrael.
The Marasha says that Moshe's gaze conferred blessing, making it such that the atmosphere surrounding the Land brings enlightenment.
Moshe is buried in the gorge of Peor which indicates a place of absence, like the tzaddik who is empty of self before Hashem. As it says in Yeshaya 40 about the times of Mashiach, "All the valleys (lowly places) shall be lifted up." "In the land of Moav" where David HaMelech is from, the aspect of malchut, Hashem's rulership revealed in this world. And Moshe attached himself to the highest possible aspect of Hashem. He made the work of his life to utterly give expression of Gd's will for the world. And this is why it says, "No man knows where Moshe is buried." Not even Moshe! Because he gave himself totally, negating himself to the One that has no beginning nor end. In his death he became like the serafim, the fiery angels that run back and forth to Hashem, burning up out of existence and being recreated continuously. (Lekutei Moharan 4:9)
Mitzvot
According to Sefer HaChinuch there are no commandments in parashat V'Zot HaBrachah.
At A Glance
Reading Through - Beginning With The End
"All the awesome sights that Moshe displayed to the eyes of Yisrael�'Bereshit bara'�With the first was everything created" (Devarim 34:12 - Bereshit 1:1). The Torah of Moshe can bring a person to the awe of seeing that everything was created through Hashem's word. He can understand that from Hashem comes beginning and ultimate power, touching the moment of "bereshit," the instant of His utter humility, the moment from which all of creation springs.