54: V'Zot HaBerachah
Welcome to TLDR Torah: a synopsis of the weekly parsha based on Robert Alter’s translation, plus a question to spur your Shabbat dinner (or any!) conversation.
Parsha V’Zot HaBerachah (Deuteronomy 33:1-34:12)
TLDR:
We’re here at last! V’zot HaBerachah is the final parsha of the Torah that we’ll read on Simchat Torah, which begins tomorrow evening.
After just reciting one poem in front of the people, Moses begins another. This time, it’s a blessing for each of the tribes, paralleling Jacob’s blessing before his death to each of his sons.
Moses proceeds tribe-by-tribe, starting with Reuben. Whereas Reuben is blessed to simply survive despite its small numbers, Judah is blessed to defend the people against their enemies.
The poem has esoteric references that are hard to understand today without context; for example, it refers to a “hidden chieftain” within Gad, and unknown mountains amongst the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar.
Moses climbs Mount Nebo overlooking Jericho and gazes at the land of Canaan.
Moses dies “by the word of the Lord” at 120 years old in good health and is buried in an unmarked place. The midrash says that he died by the kiss of God.
The people mourn Moses 30 days. While Joshua picks up Moses’ leadership mantel, we’re told that no prophet arose (or will arise) who knew God face-to-face the same way Moses did.
The book concludes with a testament to its own authority, emphasizing Moses’ legitimacy as a prophet “before the eyes of Israel.”
Question:
The final lines of the book are a particularly fitting way to end a narrative that describes the formation of the Israelite people into a nation. How would you have ended it? Would you have wanted to see the people enter the land together without Moses, as if to validate that the people will carry on his legacy? Or is leaving it on a cliff-hanger the point?