The End of the Torah - ‫סוף התורה‬

Why end with the ‫ וַּיָמָת ׁשָם מֹׁשֶה עֶבֶד־יְהֹוָה ּבְאֶֶרץ מֹואָב‬  ‫ה‬ 5) And Moses, YHWH’s servant, died there in
death of Moshe? Isn’t the land of Moab by YHWH’s mouth, 6) and He
that sad? ‫ וַּיְִקּבֹר אֹתֹו בַּגַי ּבְאֶֶרץ מֹואָב‬  ‫ ו‬:‫עַל־ּפִי יְהֹוָה‬ Why mention this? Is it
buried him in the valley in the land of Moab
‫מּול ּבֵית ּפְעֹור וְֹלא־יַָדע אִיׁש אֶת־ְקבָֻרתֹו עַד‬ opposite Beth Peor. And no man knows his to point out that Moses
didn’t die of old age or
‫ ּומֹׁשֶה ּבֶן־מֵאָה וְעֶׂשְִרים ׁשָנָה‬  ‫ ז‬:‫הַּיֹום הַּזֶה‬ burial place to this day. 7) And Moses was a
illness, but rather be-
‫ וַּיִבְּכּו‬ ‫ ח‬:‫ּבְמֹתֹו ֹלא־כָהֲתָה עֵינֹו וְֹלא־נָס לֵחֹה‬ hundred twenty years old at his death. His eye
cause God had decided
Important verse, #9: Three was not dim, and his vitality had not fled.
points are made: ‫בְנֵי יִׂשְָראֵל אֶת־מֹׁשֶה ּבְעְַרבֹת מֹואָב ׁשְֹלׁשִים‬ 8) And the children of Israel mourned Moses in it was his time to go?
Joshua was full of the ‫ וִיהֹוׁשֻעַ רוח‬  ‫ ט‬:‫יֹום וַּיִּתְמּו יְמֵי בְכִי אֵבֶל מֹׁשֶה‬
(And what more did he
the plains of Moab thirty days. And the days of
have to live for after the
‫חכמה‬, BECAUSE ‫ּבִן־נּון מָלֵא רּוחַ חָכְמָה ּכִי־סָמְַ מֹׁשֶה‬ weeping the mourning of Moses, ended. 9) And
children of Israel went
Joshua son of Nun was full of the spirit of
Mosees had laid his hands ‫אֶת־יָָדיו עָלָיו וַּיִׁשְמְעּו אֵלָיו ּבְנֵי־יִׂשְָראֵל וַּיַעֲׂשּו‬ into the land without
wisdom because Moses had laid his hands on
on him (smicha, like what ‫ וְֹלא־ָקם נָבִיא‬ ‫ י‬:‫ּכַאֲׁשֶר צִּוָה יְהֹוָה אֶת־מֹׁשֶה‬ him?)
him, and the children of Israel listened to him.
rabbis get when they’re ‫עֹוד ּבְיִׂשְָראֵל ּכְמֹׁשֶה אֲׁשֶר יְָדעֹו יְהֹוָה ּפָנִים‬ Really? Did Elijah talk
And they did as YHWH commanded Moses.
ordained) with God face to face?
‫ לְכָל־הָאֹתֹת וְהַּמֹופְתִים אֲׁשֶר‬  ‫ יא‬:‫אֶל־ּפָנִים‬ 10) And a prophet did not rise again in Israel like
The people LISTENED to Moses, whom YHWH knew face-to-face, 11) with
him (Joshua). That’s
‫ׁשְלָחֹו יְהֹוָה לַעֲׂשֹות ּבְאֶֶרץ מִצְָריִם לְפְַרעֹה‬
all the signs and the wonders that YHWH sent
important for the ‫ּולְכֹל הַּיָד הַחֲזָָקה‬ ‫ יב‬:‫ּולְכָל־עֲבָָדיו ּולְכָל־אְַרצֹו‬ him to do in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh and to The very last verse in the
continuation to the next ‫ּולְכֹל הַּמֹוָרא הַּגָדֹול אֲׁשֶר עָׂשָה מֹׁשֶה לְעֵינֵי‬ all his servants and to all his land, 12) and with
whole Torah is about the
book, Joshua. ‫ּכָל־יִׂשְָראֵל‬ all the strong hand and with all the great fear
They (the people) did as that Moses made before the eyes of all Israel. great things that MOSES
Translation by Richard Elliott Friedman did. Wow. What do you think
God commanded Moses.
“We should appreciate the significance of the Jewish practice of returning The character of Moses continues to
immediately to Genesis 1 anew after completing the reading of Deuteronomy. It fascinate those who search for the
conveys the point, with each new reading of the Torah, that the Torah (and the entire secrets defining human greatness. Was
Bible, as well) is a whole, that our concern is with the totality as well as the individual it his humility, compassion, moral sensi-
bility, defense of his people, organizing
vs. 10: JPS trans- parts. That may seem obvious, but it is easy to lose sight of because we are used to
skills, ability to accept criticism, anger,
studying the text in small units. The weekly reading is only a few chapters. Then the
lation says “sin- articulation of law, formulation of
rabbi is constrained by time to comment on only a small portion of that reading. monotheism, belligerence under attack,
gled out” for the Both the Christian and the Jewish sermon are thus limited to a small corner of the vindictive punishment of enemies, po-
word ‫ידע‬ tapestry... We would do well to learn from Rashi who never lost sight of the whole litical leadership, or some special combi-
while making comments on the parts. His commentary implicitly reminds us at its nation of all those traits? No one an-
outset that the word (‫[ תנך )תורה נביאית כתובים‬TaNaKh- Torah, Nevi’im/Prophets, swer or theory seems to satisfy our
Ketuvim] stands for a whole-composed-of-parts, because in commenting on Gen 1:1 curiosity. Perhaps that alone is a clue to
Rashi brings in citations from all parts of the Bible. (Richard Elliott Friedman his greatness. There is a mystery resid-
ing in the human soul. It is beyond our
understanding. We barely sense it or or
comprehend its power. We encounter
and know its presence in the lives fand
unique contributions of human beings
who, like Moses, are said to have
Adam Stein - Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies, American Jewish University (Fromerly University of Judaism) - afstein@mac.com known God “face to face.”