"The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the Congregation of Yaakov." (33:4)
QUESTION: How can we reconcile our pasuk with Rabbi Yosi's statement (Avot 2:12) "Prepare yourselves for the study of Torah 'she'einah yerushah lach' — for it does not come to you through inheritance"?
ANSWER: Torah is indeed the inheritance of the Jewish community at large; however, this does not apply to the individual. He cannot rely on the Torah's inherited dimension, but must study diligently and make every effort to acquire Torah knowledge.
The Gemara (Berachot 57a) says, "Read not 'morashah' — 'inheritance' — but 'me'orasah' — 'betrothed,' " — meaning that the Jewish people and the Torah are betrothed to each other like a bride and groom. What was the intent of the sages in changing the word?
A chatan and kallah during the period of eirusin — betrothal — experience the highest degree of love. It is for this reason that when King Shlomo in Song of Songs portrays the Hashem's love for the Jewish people, he describes it as the love between a chatan and kallah anticipating their marriage.
Perhaps our sages were puzzled by the contradiction between our pasuk and the statement in Pirkei Avot. Therefore, they said, "Read not 'morashah' — 'inheritance' — because Torah is not an inheritance. Read 'me'orasah' — 'betrothed' " — and the Torah is telling us that the inherent infinite love that each and every Jew has for Torah motivating him to be ready to give his life for it, is a quality which is an inheritance of the Jewish people and instilled in the heart of every Jew.
"May Reuven live and not die." (33:6)
QUESTION: Onkelos writes, "Umota tinyana la yamut" — "A second death he shall not die." Everyone dies only once. What is so special about Reuven that he deserves this comment?
ANSWER: The Roman king had seen in the Torah (
Shemot 21:16) that the punishment for kidnapping and selling a person is death. He asked the sages, "If a man is found to have kidnapped and sold one of his brothers of the Children of Israel, what is the law?" They replied, "That thief shall die." The king then declared that the sages' lives were to be taken. And ten sages were cruelly executed in place of their forefathers, Yosef's brothers.
The number of sages martyred was ten because Reuven returned home, leaving only nine brothers present at the sale, so that the tenth sage was in place of Hashem, Who cooperated in the kidnapping by not revealing Yosef's whereabouts to Yaakov (see Bereishit 37:33, Rashi). Hence, all the brothers who were involved in the sale of Yosef died "a second death" through the sages who were martyred. The only one who lived and died, and did not die afterwards "a second death," is Reuven.
"With them shall he gore nations together, to the ends of the land; they are the myriads of Ephraim, and the thousands of Menasheh." (33:17)
QUESTION: Regarding the enemies gored by Ephraim, it says "rivevot" — "myriads" — why regarding the enemies gored by Menasheh does it say only "alfei" — "thousands"?
ANSWER: When Yosef brought Ephraim and Menasheh to Yaakov to be blessed, he positioned Ephraim with his right hand facing Yaakov's left hand and Menasheh with his left hand facing Yaakov's right. Thus, Menasheh would receive the right-handed blessing and Ephraim the left-handed blessing. However, Yaakov maneuvered his hands, laying his right hand on Ephraim's head and the left on Menasheh's (
Bereishit 48:13-14).
In Psalms (91:7) it is written, "One thousand will fall at your [left] side and a myriad at your right." Consequently, since Ephraim received the right handed berachah, he will destroy myriads of the enemies and Menasheh, who was blessed with the left, will destroy thousands.
"Of Zevulan he said; 'Rejoice, O Zevulan, in your excursions, and Yissachar in your tents.' " (33:18)
QUESTION: Instead of "betzeitecha" — which literally means "your going out" — it should have said "bemischarecha" — "your business enterprises"?
ANSWER: Zevulan was a successful businessman and Yissachar was a Torah scholar. They entered into an agreement that Zevulan would support Yissachar and in return Zevulan would receive a share of the merit due to Yissachar for his Torah study. This made Yissachar very happy because it enabled him to study Torah in tranquility. However, Zevulan was distressed because he had to travel throughout the world to do business, leaving him very little time to study Torah.
When the time comes for them to return to their Maker and come before the Heavenly tribunal, Zevulan will be very happy for the royal treatment he will receive in consideration of the Torah study which is credited to him. Yissachar, on the other hand, will be troubled upon realizing that for comfortable amenities in the mundane world, he lost half the credit for his Torah study.
Moshe alluded to this by saying, "Zevulan you will rejoice 'betzeitecha' — 'when you go out' — when the time comes for you to leave this world and enter the eternal world. Yissachar, you too will rejoice, but it will be primarily 'be'ohalecha' — when you sit in your tent studying Torah — but not when you face the reality of the true world where you will only receive partial credit for your Torah study."
"Of Zevulan he said; 'Rejoice, O Zevulan, in your excursions, and Yissachar in your tents.' " (33:18)
QUESTION: Why is the berachah to Zevulan and Yissachar in the same pasuk?
ANSWER: Zevulan and Yissachar established a partnership. Zevulan engaged in business endeavors and supported Yissachar, who devoted his time entirely to Torah study. Yissachar became the prototype of the Torah scholar, and Zevulan the paradigm of the person engaged in financial pursuits. The tradition of this partnership has been continued throughout the years. Wealthy people have undertaken the support of Torah scholars on the condition that the merit of their Torah study be shared by both.
For such a partnership to be successful, it is important that each acknowledge his limitations. The entrepreneur is not to mingle with the Torah study of the scholar, suggesting restrictions as to what he should study, how he should study, and what opinions he should voice. Likewise, the Torah scholar should not take off time from his learning to get involved with the businessman's activities and enterprises.
In view of their partnership agreement, Moshe blessed them together in the same pasuk, but instructed each one to rejoice individually in his respective field.
"Of Gad he said... He dwells like a lion, tearing off the arm and even the head." (33:20)
QUESTION: Rashi explains this to mean that with one swipe of their swords, the mighty soldiers of the tribe of Gad would cut off the head and arm of the enemy.
What is the meaning of such warfare?
ANSWER: In preparing the soldiers for war, the officers would announce, "Who is the man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go and return to his house, and let him not melt the heart of his fellows (20:8)." The
Gemara (
Menachot 36a) says that this refers to one who spoke between putting on the arm
tefillin and the head
tefillin. It is a transgression which makes one unsuitable to be a soldier, and one must return from going to the battlefield.
The tribe of Gad consisted of mighty warriors. This is evident from Yaakov's blessing to them, "Gad will recruit a regiment and it will retreat on its heel," which is actually a prophecy that in their battle to conquer Eretz Yisrael not one of their troops would be missing (see Bereishit 49:19, Rashi).
Cutting off the head and arm with one swipe is testimony to the fact that they did not violate the law of not speaking between putting on the tefillin on the arm and the tefillin on the head, and therefore, they were blessed with the phenomenal strength to destroy the enemy and not lose any troops in battle.
"So Moshe died there... And no one knows his burial place to this day." (34:5-6)
QUESTION: Why is it necessary for the Torah to tell us that "no one knows his burial place to this day"?
ANSWER: It was once common for debates to take place between Catholic theologians and Torah scholars. In the course of these debates, the priests would attempt to question the authenticity of Torah.
Once, such a debate took place between a Catholic priest and the famous talmudist Rabbi Yehonatan of Eibeshitz. The priest asked the Rabbi, "Since many people witnessed the departure from Egypt and the splitting of the sea, I can accept the Torah account of these events as correct, but how can we verify what the Torah says (Shemot 34:25) that 'he remained there with Hashem for forty days and forty nights — he did not eat bread and did not drink water' "?
Rabbi Yehonatan replied, "The last episode recorded in the Torah about Moshe is that he died and no one knew his burial site. If so, couldn't the Torah have written that he never died, and that he went up to heaven and continues to live on forever? Obviously, the Torah has no inclination to falsify or exaggerate, and everything it tells us is the truth."
"He buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab, opposite Beit-Pe'or." (34:6)
QUESTION: Rashi says that Moshe's grave was prepared there from the time of the six days of creation to make atonement for the sin of Pe'or. Why was it necessary to prepare Moshe's grave before Pe'or existed?
ANSWER: The
Gemara (
Avodah Zarah 44b) relates that Rabbi Gamliel was once was bathing in a bathhouse that happened to be in the same courtyard with an idol. He was asked, "Doesn't the Torah say
'v'lo yidbak beyadecha me'umah min hacheirim' — 'No part of the banned property may adhere to your hand' (13:18), which implies that one should distance oneself as much as possible from idols and not derive any benefit from them."
He replied, "The bathhouse was here long before the idol, and since the idol came in to my territory, the prohibition of 'no part of the banned property may adhere to your hand' does not apply."
Since some may wonder how could it be permitted to bury Moshe next to the idol of Pe'or, Rashi explains that his burial place was prepared in that place long before the idol was put there; consequently, it is as though the idol came into his territory and not the reverse.
"He buried him in the valley, in the land of Moab, opposite Beit-Pe'or and no one knows his burial place to this day." (34:6)
QUESTION: The Torah is very precise about the location where Moshe was buried. How is it possible that "no one knows his burial place to this day"?
ANSWER: A small Jewish community in Poland was once looking for a Rabbi. Upon hearing the fame of a young Rabbi who was recently ordained with honors at a prominent
yeshivah, they sent a delegation to visit him and to invite him to become the Rabbi of their community. They were unable to offer him much financial inducement, and knowing that the community was small and that there were very few scholars learned in the Torah with whom he could associate, he declined the offer.
When the delegation sensed its failure to realize its mission, one of the men spoke up and said to the young Rabbi: "Do you know that some of the most prominent Torah luminaries such as the Rambam, Rashi and the Rama are buried in our community?" The Rabbi understood the implication. If he accepted the position he would be successor to a whole galaxy of distinguished Rabbis. Furthermore, after he had lived his life on this earth, his earthly remains would come to repose in the cemetery of the community alongside his distinguished predecessors.
The naive, unsuspecting Rabbi was won over and he accepted the position. It was not long after coming to the community that the Rabbi realized he had made a mistake. His salary was nothing to boast about and not having any learned friends in the community he felt rather lonely. One day, when he was especially lonely, he decided that he would go out and visit the cemetery and see for himself who his great predecessors were. He walked through the length and the breadth of the cemetery examining each monument carefully, but found no names that he recognized.
He returned home and sent for the men of the delegation who had originally visited him. When these men arrived he said to them, "Gentlemen, you will recall that you told me that you have some of the most prominent and distinguished Rabbis interred in your city. Please tell me who these prominent scholars?"
The spokesman for the delegation answered, "Why, Rabbi, in our community you will find Rashi buried. You will also find the Rambam and the Rama interred here." At this the Rabbi became infuriated: "How dare you say these things to me! The Rambam is interred in Tiberias, Rashi is buried in France and the Rama's grave is in Cracow." The spokesman again answered, "Rabbi, do not get angry with us, for we have spoken the truth. You can go to Tiberias and visit their Yeshivoth and shuls and you will see that the Rambam still lives there. He is discussed, his words are studied with the greatest respect. You can go through the Jewish academies of France and you will see that Rashi lives there. Young and old are engaged in studying his words. He is part of the life of everyone who learns the Chumash and the Gemara. You can go to Cracow and you will see that the Rama, the great Rabbi Moshe Isserles, still lives there. The people live by the rulings he set forth in the Shulchan Aruch.
"However, in our community all these great and prominent leaders of the Jewish people are dead and buried. You will not find anyone here, among our young and old, repeating words of the Rambam or of Rashi or of the Rama. It is true, Rabbi, that all these great masters of Jewish law are 'buried' here in this community."
The Torah is telling us that Moshe is buried in the valley, in a place where Torah light does not penetrate, and where Torah enlightenment is altogether absent. He is buried in the land of Moab, among primitive and uncivilized people. He is buried opposite Beit Pe'or — idol worshippers may not have heard of Moshe. However, the Torah tells us, in the Jewish community where children go to Yeshiva and elders study the Torah no one knows his burial place to this day. Although Moshe physically died, he still lives on and will continue to live as long as the Torah is studied.
"And no one knows his burial place to this day." (34:6)
QUESTION: The Gemara (Sotah 13b) relates, "The wicked government [Rome] once demanded of the governor of Beit Pe'or, 'Show us where Moshe is buried.' When they stood above, the site appeared to them to be below. When they stood below, it appeared to be above. They divided themselves into two parties; to those who were standing above it appeared below, and to those who were below it appeared above."
Why was the government so eager to know where Moshe was buried?
ANSWER: This
Gemara can be interpreted as a metaphor for the relationship between the nations of the world and the Jewish people.
Moshe was the one who gave the Torah to the Jewish people, and until this very day it is referred to as Torat Moshe, the Torah of Moshe. It is the spiritual life-source of Klal Yisrael, and throughout the ages, the nations of the world have endeavored to "bury" Moshe — i.e. influence the Jewish people to assimilate and detach themselves from Torat Moshe.
Some have advocated that "the burying of Moshe" can be accomplished through an approach of "amdu lema'alah" — "standing above" — elevating the Jews to high positions, giving them prestige and honor, so that ultimately they will join the secular society and abandon the teachings of the Torah. When this method failed, others tried "amdu lematah" — "standing below" — pushing the Jews downward. They imposed harsh economic restrictions upon them, discrimination, persecution and oppression, anticipating that this would "bury Moshe" — force the Jewish people to assimilate or be physically eradicated. And there have also been advocates of combining the two approaches.
Thank G-d, all efforts have failed and no one has been able to find a way to "bury Moshe" — extinguish the light of Torah from the Jewish people. Jews and Torah are inseparable, and their attachment will be eternally vibrant.
"The Children of Israel bewailed Moshe in the plains of Moav for thirty days; then the days of tearful mourning for Moshe ended." (34:8)
QUESTION: The Gemara (Temurah 16a) says that three thousand halachot were forgotten in the mourning period for Moshe. In an effort to recall the halachot, they asked Yehoshua to inquire [from heaven — see Maharsha] about them. He told them, "Torah is not in the heavens" (30:12), i.e. after the giving of the Torah, all questions about Torah laws have to be decided on earth and not in heaven (see Bava Metzia 59b). They asked the prophet Shmuel to inquire about them, and he told them, "It is written, 'These are the commandments that Hashem commanded Moshe to the Children of Israel on Mount Sinai' (Vayikra 27:34), and a prophet has no permission to add anything new." When Pinchas was approached he replied like Yehoshua, "Torah is not in heaven," and when Elazar was approached to seek clarification, he gave a response identical to Shmuel's.
Why did two of the sages give one response while the other two gave another response?
ANSWER: When the people approached these four with their request to find out the
halachot, their intention was that they do it either by making an inquiry via the
urim vetumim or by using their prophetic powers.
According to the Gemara (Yoma 73b), they would consult the urim vetumim only for a king. Since Yehoshua succeeded Moshe as the king of Klal Yisrael, they thus asked of him to inquire from heaven — Hashem — through the urim vetumim regarding the halachot. Therefore he told them, "Torah is not in heaven." Pinchas was a Kohen anointed for war (see Sotah 43a), and he, too, had the right to inquire through urim vetumim (see Yoma 83b), thus he gave the same reply.
Shmuel and Elazar were not in a capacity which would permit them to inquire via the urim vetumim; hence, the intent of the people who approached them was that they use their prophetic powers to ask about the forgotten halachot. Hence, they responded, "These are the mitzvot...and from this it is learned that a prophet cannot add anything new to Torah."
"Never again has there arisen in Israel a prophet like Moshe." (34:10)
QUESTION: It should have said, "velo yakum" — "there will not arise" — in future tense?
ANSWER: The uniqueness of Moshe's form of prophecy was that while all the other prophets received their revelations while dreaming and lying down, Moshe would be standing upright and alert while Hashem conversed with him (see Rambam,
Yesodei Hatorah 7:6).
With the word "kam" which literally means "standing," the Torah is saying, "There never again will be a prophet in Israel who will receive a prophecy while 'kam' — 'standing'" — similar to the way Moshe received his revelations.
"And by all the strong hand and awesome power that Moshe performed before the eyes of all Israel." (34:12)
QUESTION: On Simchat Torah, as soon as we conclude the reading of Devarim, we immediately start anew from Bereishit, to demonstrate that Torah is like a circle; it has no end and no beginning. To accentuate this, it is customary to connect the final words of Devarim with the first words of Bereishit.
What message can be derived from this connection?
ANSWER: The final letter of the Torah is a
lamed, and the opening letter is a
beit, which together spell the word
"leiv" — "heart." This alludes to what our sages say (
Sanhedrin 106b), "Hashem desires the heart" i.e., righteousness, as it is written, "Hashem sees into the heart" (I Samuel 16:7)
The message implied is that Hashem does not judge people merely by the extent of their Torah scholarship, but rather by the righteousness and devotion to Him that is in their heart.
Alternatively, Rashi explains that what Moshe performed "before the eyes of all of Israel" was the shattering of the Tablets, and Hashem approved His decision. The Gemara (Avodah Zarah 3a) says that at the time of creation, Hashem made a condition that, "If the Jews will accept My Torah, it is good; otherwise, I will return you all to 'tohu vavohu' — 'unformed and void.' " If so, why did Moshe shatter the Tablets and not worry that it would cause the destruction of the world?
The Gemara (ibid.) says that heaven and earth cannot be witness that the Jews observe the Torah because they have a vested interest, as the pasuk says, "Were it not for My covenant (Torah) day and night, I would not have appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth" (Jeremiah 33:25). Tosafot asks, "But why isn't the mere fact of their existence proof that the Jews observe Torah?" Tosafot answers, that heaven and earth exist in the merit of the Jews' consent to accept Torah, as is indicated by Hashem's condition that their existence is contingent "im Yisrael mikablim et Torati" — "if the Jews accept My Torah" — without saying "observe" or "study."
According to the Ba'al Haturim, the word "Bereishit" is an acronym for ba'rishonah ra'ah Elokim sheYisrael y'kablu Torah — "In the beginning G-d saw that the Jews would accept the Torah." Consequently, when Moshe shattered the Tablets "le'einei kol Yisrael" — "before the eyes of the entire community" — he was not concerned that this would affect the existence of the world because "Bereishit" — it will remain in existence in merit of the Jews' original consent to accept the Torah at the time it was offered to them.
Alternatively, Rashi explains the words "le'einei kol Yisrael" — "before the eyes of all Israel" — as a reference to Moshe's shattering the Tablets before their eyes. Rashi also explains that the reason for the Torah starting with the word "Bereishit" is to teach us that the world was created "bishevil reishit" — "for the sake of things that are called 'reishit' — 'beginning.' " Among these things are the Jewish people who are called "reishit tevuato" — "the first of His crop" (Jeremiah 2:3).
While superficially the shattering of the Tablets appears to be a denunciation and an expression of the unworthiness of the Jewish community, in reality Moshe loved Klal Yisrael deeply, as is evident from his pleading with Hashem on their behalf (see Shemot 32:32). His intention with the shattering of the Tablets was not, G-d forbid, to degrade them or hurt them, but on the contrary, to inspire them to do teshuvah which ultimately would elevate them.
To accentuate Moshe's love for Klal Yisrael, the Torah says that the shattering of the Tablets was intended specifically as a message "le'einei kol Yisrael" — "for the Jews to see" — to inspire them to repent. However, regardless of the status of the Jewish community, "Bereishit bara Elokim" — The whole world should know that Hashem loves the Jewish people and only because of "reishit" — "the Jews" did Hashem create the heavens and earth for all to enjoy.
Ha'azinu