Excerpted from Rabbi Shmuel Goldin’s Unlocking the Torah Text – Devarim, co-published by OU Press and Gefen Publishers
Going Somewhere?
Context
As the Torah continues to chronicle Moshe’s activities on the last day of his life, Parshat Vayeilech opens with the statement Va’yeilech Moshe…, “And Moshe went and he spoke these words to all of Israel.”
Questions
In a clear departure from form, the Torah amends its customary introductory statement va’yedaber Moshe, “and Moshe spoke,” with the addition of the phrase va’yeilech Moshe, “and Moshe went.”
Strikingly, however, the text then fails to tell us where this great leader “went.” Where did Moshe “go”?
Approaches
A
Almost all the classical commentaries perceive the same poignant picture emerging from the two simple words va’yeilech Moshe. On the last day of his life, Moshe deliberately and painstakingly walks from tribe to tribe within the Israelite camp in order to inform the people of his impending death and to bid them all a personal farewell.
Each of these commentaries, however, building on the surrounding context, adds a slightly different nuance to this heartrending scene. Some of their comments are complementary, others contradictory. Taken together, however, the poignant observations of these scholars provide a sense of the multiple agendas to be fulfilled and the manifold emotions that must have been felt by Moshe and the Israelites as the moment of their parting neared.
1. Ramban: Once Moshe concludes the public ratification of the covenant with God in the plains of Moav, the people disperse and return to their tents. Moshe then walks from the camp of the Levites to the Israelite camp in order to show the people respect as he prepares to depart from their midst, “as would someone who wishes to take leave of his friend and approaches him to ask his permission to do so.”
2. Ibn Ezra: Moshe walks from tribe to tribe to inform them of his impending death and to strengthen them with his charge to Yehoshua. Alternatively (and preferably, in the Ibn Ezra’s opinion), Moshe personally blesses the people at this time, tribe by tribe, with the blessings later recorded in the final parsha of the Torah, Parshat V’zot Habracha.
3. Sforno: The term va’yeilech is often used in the text to signify “strengthening oneself ” towards the performance of a specific, challenging task. Having concluded the ratification of the covenant, Moshe now “strengthens himself ” towards the task of personally consoling the nation over his imminent death. This great leader does not want the nation’s sorrow over his impending demise to diminish the joy they should feel over establishing a permanent covenant with God.
4. Chizkuni: Moshe goes from tribe to tribe because he no longer possesses the authority to convene the nation in assembly. In fulfillment of the prophetic phrase “and there is no authority on the day of death,” God has commanded Moshe to set aside the chatzotzrot, the trumpets used until now to direct the nation’s movement in the wilderness.
As a result of divine mandate, Moshe’s leadership has already begun to slip away…
(See Bamidbar: Beha’alotcha 4, for a discussion of the fact that the chatzotzrot fashioned by Moshe could not be used by the next generation. These trumpets, alone among the utensils created in the wilderness, had to be made anew in each generation).
5. Rabbi Naftali Tzvi Yehuda Berlin (the Netziv): Throughout Moshe’s years of leadership, God miraculously speaks through him to the people. As part of this incredible phenomenon, Moshe’s voice carries to the entire nation As the end nears, however, Moshe’s heaven-sent powers slowly begin to weaken. Although his words are still divinely inspired, he can no longer physically project those words to the entire nation at once. He is therefore forced to walk from tribe to tribe, in order to share his final messages.
As a result of divinely ordained weakening, Moshe’s leadership has already begun to slip away…
6. Rabbi Shimshon Raphael Hirsch: Moshe deliberately chooses not to use the chatzotzrot to assemble the people. He instead travels to them, “in the simplest manner, quite in the way which characterizes the most modest of men, to bid farewell to them.”
7. Kli Yakar: Moshe wants the nation to understand that his imminent descent from leadership will not be caused by any personal weakening or inability but will, instead, stem from the divine decree prohibiting him from entering the land. This great leader, therefore, walks from tribe to tribe with his customary energy, in order to demonstrate that his personal powers have not waned in the slightest.
8. Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin: Moshe travels from tribe to tribe in fulfillment of the mandate “One may not appoint a leader over the community, unless one consults the community.” As the time comes for Moshe to hand over the reins of leadership to Yehoshua, he feels compelled to obtain the community’s acquiescence.
Moshe does not want to consult with the nation publicly, however, lest an issue embarrassing to Yehoshua be raised. Ever humble in his personal dealings, Moshe also refrains from conducting a public referendum in Yehoshua’s absence. Instead, with great humility, this great leader personally walks from tribe to tribe to obtain their agreement concerning the leadership transition.
In the eyes of these and other commentaries, the phrase va’yeilech Moshe indicates that whether by choice or by force of circumstance, Moshe’s goodbyes to his people become as personal as possible on the last day of his life.
B
Other scholars, however, offer wide-ranging alternative explanations for the enigmatic phrase va’yeilech Moshe. A representative sampling of their thoughts reflects the many lessons, from the practical to the mystical, that can be drawn from this two-word introduction to Moshe’s actions on the last day of his life.
1. Targum Yonatan: The phrase va’yeilech Moshe, “and Moshe went,” must be amended through the addition of the words l’Mishkan beit ulpana, “to the Sanctuary, the house of instruction.”
On the last day of his life, Moshe naturally gravitates to the Mishkan, the symbol of God’s presence in the Israelite encampment. From there, this great leader speaks his final words to the people.
2. Ohr Hachaim: The Torah’s statement va’yeilech Moshe, “and Moshe went,” does not refer to Moshe in a physical sense but, instead, references his spiritual essence.
The Zohar maintains that forty days before a person’s death, his soul temporarily travels from his body in order to discern its eventual place of rest in the heavenly spheres. Due to their heightened spiritual sensitivity, the righteous can detect this phenomenon and they can, therefore, sense when the end of life is drawing near. Moshe, who achieved spiritual heights beyond those of any other mortal, was even able to discern the exact date of his death.
The text therefore states, va’yeilech Moshe, “and Moshe went.” The life spirit that defined Moshe “went” to discern the place of its eventual rest, as is the way of all souls close to death. Sensing this phenomenon, Moshe understood that this was the last day of his life and he began to share his final words with his people.
3. Anonymous sources (quoted in Iturei Torah): Talmudic scholars maintain that an individual should engage in a halachic discussion with his friend as he prepares to take leave of him. By doing so, the rabbis explain, he will ensure that his friend remembers him.
Moshe, the greatest of our scholars, certainly follows this mandate. The Torah, therefore, states, va’yeilech Moshe, “and Moshe departed, through the sharing of halacha.” The term va’yeilech is to be viewed in this context as the root of the word halacha.
4. Early Chassidic sources (quoted in Ma’ayana shel Torah): The closing words of this biblical passage explain its opening. The text thus reads va’yeilech Moshe…el kol Yisrael, “and Moshe went…to all of Israel.”
Moshe entered the heart and spirit of each Israelite. “In the deepest recesses of each Jew, in his blood and in his soul, in all generations and in all times, a spark of Moshe, our teacher, can be found.”
C
Finally, we close with an idea that we have suggested previously in greater depth (see Shmot: Shmot 2, Approaches D, E, Points to Ponder).
A striking textual pattern encapsulates Moshe’s life. The story of this great leader begins and ends with the enigmatic application of the term va’yeilech.
Moshe’s birth is heralded by the statement Va’yeilech ish mi’Beit Levi va’yikach et bat Levi, “And a man went from the House of Levi and he took a daughter of Levi,” anonymously referring to Moshe’s parents, Amram and Yocheved.
And now, Moshe’s impending death is heralded by the statement va’yeilech Moshe, “and Moshe went.”
Together, these statements marking the endpoints of Moshe’s life enable the Torah to subtly convey the remarkable sense of halicha (movement) that characterizes the career of this great leader. Moshe’s continuous spiritual growth and development is captured in the verb lalechet (to go), which encloses his story in the text. At every critical moment of Moshe’s life – when he leaves Pharaoh’s palace to view the suffering of his brethren, when he turns aside to view the burning bush, when he ascends Mount Sinai before God summons him, when he breaks the tablets at the foot of Mount Sinai in response to the sin of the golden calf, when he repeatedly prays to God on behalf of the wayward nation – this great leader seizes the initiative and acts.
Moshe’s final day therefore, is once again marked by the term va’yeilech, connoting the sense of movement that has marked his entire life.
Could it possibly be otherwise?
Points to Ponder
What would you do on the last day of your life?
The very question is, of course, rhetorical. None of us are granted the prescience to discern the exact day of our death.
Nonetheless, the activities of Moshe on the day of his passing provide us with a window into the priorities of this great leader – priorities that might well inform, for each of us, not the day of our death, but the days of our lives.
A powerful yet puzzling passage from Pirkei Avot can perhaps best make our point: “Akavia the son of Mahalalel says, ‘Consider three things and you will never fall into the grip of sin. Know from where you came, and to where you are going and before Whom you are going to experience a judgment and a reckoning…’ ”
At face value, Akavia seems to have the order wrong. Why does this sage speak first of a judgment and then a reckoning? Won’t the Heavenly Court, in each of our cases, perform the necessary reckoning concerning our deeds before issuing its judgment upon us?
A powerfully profound answer to this question was suggested to me a number of years ago. Two verdicts will be eventually handed down by the Heavenly Court upon each of us at the end of our lives.
The first of these verdicts will be immediately determined by God, in consideration of our actions and our activities throughout our stay on earth. The second heavenly ruling, however, will wait for an ongoing “reckoning,” as God determines what happens on earth after we die, as a result of our having lived. Whose hearts did we touch? How many lives did we shape and enrich? What acts of kindness did we perform that made a real difference? What lasting human legacy did we leave behind?
This second “reckoning” continues ad infinitum. Each person that we affect during our lifetime goes on to touch the lives of countless others – individuals whom we never knew and will never know – who then go on to affect still others. This precious personal heritage marks our passage in the world more powerfully than any other phenomenon.
On the last day of his life, the greatest leader our people has known, a man whose countless contributions will shape the world in monumental ways, takes the time to cement his personal relationships with those whom he has encountered during his worldly passage. By doing so, he reminds us of the personal “reckonings” that will determine the true value of our lives, in the fullness of time.
