LAST DAYS OF MOSES

In the last moments of his life Moses summoned the people, not just their leaders. The people consist of fathers and mothers who must have a say in determining the future, young people who have interests and must be heard. In general, the needs of the family, the fundamental axis of the people, must be met. Its strength is the secret of the survival of the Jewish people through the vicissitudes of history. Even the hopes of the Ger, the foreigner who has no roots in the people, had to be met. On numerous occasions, the Torah emphasizes that we were foreigners, different, without relatives in Egypt.

In a way, this is the lot of many people who feel that they are foreigners in their own land, when they cannot identify with the values that govern society. Perhaps due to the derisory number of members of the Jewish people, each one must be counted and assert his contribution to the collective, but, in reality, the same concept is valid for the rest of Humanity. Progress is a function of inclusion, participation and cooperation among the different members and strata of society.

At the same time an important principle was established:  the Brit that was agreed at Mount Sinai and then being reconfirmed had not been established between God and a select priestly group of the people. The Brit between God and theHebrew people was a covenant between God and each individual. Therefore, as we have repeated on numerous occasions, the Ten Commandments were spoken in the singular of the second person. It doesn’t say, “They won’t kill.” It reads, “Thou shalt not kill.” The responsibility for the fulfillment of the Law rests with the individual, parents do not die for the sins of children, nor do children die for the sins of parents.

This message was crucial at the time of the changing of the guard when Joshua assumed leadership after Moses’ death. It went from an individual relationship between the patriarchs and God to a relationship between each member of the people and God. During the residence of the Hebrew people for more than two centuries in Egypt they were able to know directly what the idolatrous cults of other peoples were. Therefore, their commitment to the covenant with the God that had been revealed on Mount Sinai was a conscious act, after having been face to face with the possible alternatives in Egypt.

While Moses was trained in Pharaoh’s palace and began to exercise the leadership of the people at the age of 80, Joshua was a young man who grew up in the bosom of the people. Many people knew him during his childhood and that excessive familiarity presented a problem for the future leader. Therefore, Moses proceeded to the transmission of command to Joshua in the presence of all the people, but not before having written the complete text of  the Torah that he delivered to the Kohanim.

Because Joshua willnot be an arbitrary leader, he will have to abide by the rules contained in the sacred text. Moses commended to Joshua: Chazak ve’emats, “Have confidence in your actions because God will be by your side.” This knowledge of Divine support, the certainty that God will not abandon him even in the moments of greatest difficulty, when the horizon presents only threatening clouds, this security in heavenly protection gave vigor and spiritual strength so that the people could overcome all the obstacles that surely arose during the period of the conquest of the Promised Land.

The Written Torah that Moses gave to the Kohanim had to be read publicly every 7 years in a ceremony called Hakhel, which is mentioned at the end of the book Shemot. In addition to hearing again what God’s Will was, the reading emphasized the common history of the people that went back to the patriarchs and consisted of a renewal of the commitment, of the Brit of the people with God, and of God with His people.

MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 2 POSITIVE MITSVOT

• Deuteronomy 31:12 Gather all the people to hear the Torah readingafter the Sabbatical year.
• Deuteronomy 31:12 Every Jew must write a Torah for himself.

THE PROCESS OF REDEMPTION

Atem nitsavim hayom kulchem lifnei HaShem, “you are all present before God today,” are the first words of our chapters. The “today” refers, according  to Rashi, to the day of Moses’ death  and therefore, these words constitute his last testament. Since the Torah does not assign a specific date to the word “today,” this day could be interpreted as the present for each person. The teaching that follows is that the individual must act at all times as if he were in the “presence” of God. A very appropriate message for the month of Elul, the month preceding Rosh HaShanah and in which this text is publicly read.

On this occasion, Moses renews the Brit, the covenant between God and the Hebrew people. Moreover, it emphasizes the fact that the covenant includes not only those present but also those who are not at that moment: future generations. Again, we have proof of a confusion of the times: the present and the future are combined, parents can assume obligations that compel their descendants. 

Therefore, the tragedies that befall the people are a consequence of their disobedience of the commitment assumed. Disobedience that resulted in the antiquity of the reigning idolatry and that produced the wrath of the one God. The next chapters, Veyelech, describe the Hakhel ceremonythat was performed every 7 years, during which the Torah was given a public reading for the purpose of Lema’an yishme’u ulema’an yilmedu, that its instructions be heard and learned.

This public reading Veyareu et HaShem Elokeichem veshamru la’asot, will produce the fear of God that will lead, in turn, to the fulfillment of all the words (ordinances) contained in the Torah. In this way, the Brit was renewed every seven years, the covenant that God had concluded with the people, according to which God will protect the Hebrews while they will comply with the set of rules contained in the Torah, laws that will ensure their survival on the face of the earth.

On the other hand, misfortune and tragedy will be the product of the breach of Brit. Moreover, Veanochi haster astir panai, “God will surely hide his face,” we will no longer feel His Presence because He will not participate in the unfolding destiny of the people. For the man of faith, this fact may be the greatest punishment, God’s apparent disinterest in his lot. Nevertheless, the Torah offers the resolution of this existential dilemma caused by the “absence of God,” as some suggest happened during the period of greatest darkness that produced the Holocaust in the last century. The resolution of the dilemma consists in the renewed and extraordinary impetus of Torah studythat we have witnessed in recent decades.

According to the Holy Scriptures, the history of mankind has a telos, an ultimate purpose that leads to redemption. Because eventually Veshavta ad HaShem will occur…, “And thou shalt return to God…” Based on these verses, Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin, known as Netsiv, offers an agenda for the process of redemption. The first stage will witness the rebirth of spirituality within the Jewish people, a fact that will be accompanied by a renewed appreciation for the Jew within the peoples of the world. The result of this situation will be a massive return to the ancestral Land. Then, God Himself, will go to the most remote places to bring back the small communities to that same land. 

This event will not be punctual, in the sense that it will affect only the people of those days, but its effect will be lasting for all subsequent generations. According  to the Talmud, redemption will materialize with the reconstruction of  the Beit HaMikdash in Yerushalayim, a fact that will lead to the arrival  of Moshiach, the redeemer who will put an end to the suffering of the Hebrew people and will begin a stage of understanding and peace for Humanity. This messianic stage will propitiate a metamorphosis in the heart of the human being that will lead him to love God, a love that deepens in the land of Israel. Because in the diaspora, even a very religious person cannot attain authentic love for God. Because Ve’atem Hadevekim baHaShem, being “attached” to God can only be realized in the land of Israel.