VaYelekh
Devarim 31
Two Farewells that Serve Together
Jenny R. Labendz, 5763
This week's parashah brings us very close to the end of the Torah, the end of Mosheh's life, and the end of Benei Yisrael's time in the desert. It is a very intense time emotionally, filled with serious endings and beginnings, quite apropos of the time of year we read it. I'm struck this year by the different sentiments with which Mosheh and God express closure regarding Benei Yisrael and their future. Look at Devarim 31:1-6 (and focus on v. 6):
| (1) Mosheh went and spoke these things to all Israel. (2) He said to them: "I am now one 120 years old, I can no longer come and go [i.e., be active], and Hashem has said to me, ‘You shall not go across this Jordan.' (3) Hashem your God-He will cross over before you; He will annihilate those nations from before you and you shall dispossess them....(5) Hashem will deliver them to you, and you shall do unto them in accordance with the commandment that I have commanded you. (6) Be strong and resolute, do not fear or dread them, for it is Hashem your God Who marches with you: He will not fail you nor forsake you." | (א) וַיֵּלֶךְ מֹשֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר אֶת הַדְּבָרִים הָאֵלֶּה אֶל כָּל יִשְׂרָאֵל: (ב) וַיֹּאמֶר אֲלֵהֶם בֶּן מֵאָה וְעֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה אָנֹכִי הַיּוֹם לֹא אוּכַל עוֹד לָצֵאת וְלָבוֹא וַיהֹוָה אָמַר אֵלַי לֹא תַעֲבֹר אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה: (ג) יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ הוּא עֹבֵר לְפָנֶיךָ הוּא יַשְׁמִיד אֶת הַגּוֹיִם הָאֵלֶּה מִלְּפָנֶיךָ וִירִשְׁתָּם יְהוֹשֻׁעַ הוּא עֹבֵר לְפָנֶיךָ כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהֹוָה:...(ה) וּנְתָנָם יְהֹוָה לִפְנֵיכֶם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם לָהֶם כְּכָל הַמִּצְוָה אֲשֶׁר צִוִּיתִי אֶתְכֶם: (ו) חִזְקוּ וְאִמְצוּ אַל תִּירְאוּ וְאַל תַּעַרְצוּ מִפְּנֵיהֶם כִּי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ הוּא הַהֹלֵךְ עִמָּךְ לֹא יַרְפְּךָ וְלֹא יַעַזְבֶךָּ: |
Then Mosheh charges Yehoshua, his successor, with encouraging words (vv. 7-8):
| Be strong and resolute...Hashem Himself will go before you; He will be with you; He will not fail you nor forsake you. Do not fear and do not be dismayed! | חֲזַק וֶאֱמָץ...וַיהֹוָה הוּא הַהֹלֵךְ לְפָנֶיךָ הוּא יִהְיֶה עִמָּךְ לֹא יַרְפְּךָ וְלֹא יַעַזְבֶךָּ לֹא תִירָא וְלֹא תֵחָת: |
Mosheh then writes down the Torah and instructs the people in the mitzvah of "Haqhel", a national gathering every seven years on Sukkot, during which everyone - men women and children - is to assemble for a public reading of the Torah. The sentiment is quite touching. After all the turmoil and strain that Benei Yisrael caused throughout their time with Mosheh in the desert, after all that Mosheh worked so hard for them, with such little reward, after all he suffered because of their stubbornness and complaints, his last words to them are words of love and encouragement. One can almost hear Mosheh's voice crack with emotion as he speaks.
But then we hear God's words (vv. 16-21). As you read them, ask yourself: What is the tone of these verses? How can you imagine Mosheh reacting?
| (16) Hashem said to Mosheh: "You are about to lie with your ancestors. This people will then whore after the alien gods of the land in whose midst they are about to enter; they will forsake Me and break My covenant that I forged with them. (17) My anger will then flare up against them, and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, so that they shall be ready prey, and many evils and troubles shall find them. And they shall say on that day, ‘It is because our God is not in our midst that these evils have found us.' (18) But I will still hide My face on that day, because of all the evil they have done in turning to other gods." | (טז) וַיֹּאמֶר יְהֹוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה הִנְּךָ שֹׁכֵב עִם אֲבֹתֶיךָ וְקָם הָעָם הַזֶּה וְזָנָה אַחֲרֵי אֱלֹהֵי נֵכַר הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר הוּא בָא שָׁמָּה בְּקִרְבּוֹ וַעֲזָבַנִי וְהֵפֵר אֶת בְּרִיתִי אֲשֶׁר כָּרַתִּי אִתּוֹ: (יז) וְחָרָה אַפִּי בוֹ בַיּוֹם הַהוּא וַעֲזַבְתִּים וְהִסְתַּרְתִּי פָנַי מֵהֶם וְהָיָה לֶאֱכֹל וּמְצָאֻהוּ רָעוֹת רַבּוֹת וְצָרוֹת וְאָמַר בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא הֲלֹא עַל כִּי אֵין אֱלֹהַי בְּקִרְבִּי מְצָאוּנִי הָרָעוֹת הָאֵלֶּה: (יח) וְאָנֹכִי הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר פָּנַי בַּיּוֹם הַהוּא עַל כָּל הָרָעָה אֲשֶׁר עָשָׂה כִּי פָנָה אֶל אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים: |
God's tone is very different from Mosheh's, and frames Mosheh's departure from the people in an entirely different context. Mosheh, of course, knew that these dangers lurked before the people as they pressed on into Eretz Yisrael without his guidance; he saw how difficult it was for them when he was still with them and certainly could imagine how those difficulties would multiply without him. But even so, that wasn't his chosen focus in his speech. God, however, is not at all shy about expressing these harsh sentiments. God continues by instructing Mosheh to write down this "poem" (a famously ambiguous term: the poem in Parashat Ha'azinu? the entire Torah?) and teach it to all of Israel, so that it will be a witness against them when misbehave in the future. In other words, when they go astray, this will remind them that they are on the wrong path, and it will pull them back, rebuking them and encouraging them towards God and God's Torah.
| (19) Now, write this poem for yourselves and teach it to Benei Yisrael; put it in their mouths, in order that this poem be a witness for Me against Benei Yisrael. (20) When I bring them to the land that I promised to their ancestors, that flows with milk and honey, and they eat and become sated and fat, and they turn to other gods and serve them, spurning Me and breaking My covenant, (21) and the many evils and troubles find them, then this poem shall respond to them as a witness, since it will never be forgotten from the mouth of their offspring. For I know their inclinations even today, before I bring them into the land that I promised. | (יט) וְעַתָּה כִּתְבוּ לָכֶם אֶת הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת וְלַמְּדָהּ אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל שִׂימָהּ בְּפִיהֶם לְמַעַן תִּהְיֶה לִּי הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת לְעֵד בִּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: (כ) כִּי אֲבִיאֶנּוּ אֶל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי לַאֲבֹתָיו זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבַשׁ וְאָכַל וְשָׂבַע וְדָשֵׁן וּפָנָה אֶל אֱלֹהִים אֲחֵרִים וַעֲבָדוּם וְנִאֲצוּנִי וְהֵפֵר אֶת בְּרִיתִי: (כא) וְהָיָה כִּי תִמְצֶאןָ אֹתוֹ רָעוֹת רַבּוֹת וְצָרוֹת וְעָנְתָה הַשִּׁירָה הַזֹּאת לְפָנָיו לְעֵד כִּי לֹא תִשָּׁכַח מִפִּי זַרְעוֹ כִּי יָדַעְתִּי אֶת יִצְרוֹ אֲשֶׁר הוּא עֹשֶׂה הַיּוֹם בְּטֶרֶם אֲבִיאֶנּוּ אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבָּעְתִּי: |
It strikes me that Mosheh and God express two different but mutually important and complementary modes of approaching an end and a beginning. It is important to encourage ourselves and to acknowledge that we have come along way, and to express out loud that we are capable of doing the next task, facing the next frontier. But by the same token, realism is important. It's not all about patting ourselves on the back or skipping ahead, laughing triumphantly, free of fear and self-doubt. (I am exaggerating Mosheh's encouragement, of course.) We need to know that we are still not perfect; we will, in fact, make mistakes, just as we have in the past. Having experienced the growth we have experienced does not guarantee a future free of challenges to which we won't know how to respond. But we don't need to be afraid of that. We will have to arm ourselves with coping mechanisms, reminders of who we are and who we want to be; and we will have to be willing to allow those reminders (the poem, the Torah) to make us feel at times very small and pained at our own failure, but also to feel encouraged that we can correct this mistake, too.
So, too, Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur. This period of time is not designed to transform us suddenly into perfect creatures. We know full well that we will fall next year as we have this past year. But we can take from this concentrated time of teshuvah the dual perspective that God and Mosheh give us in Parashat VaYelekh: Here is the reminder of who I am and who I want to be. I have fallen quite far away, and I have a lot of fixing to do. But I have risen before, and I have grown, and I can do it again now; I am capable and strong, and God will be with me if I am earnest. My path has not been cut off and, thank God, I am still holding the handle of this water ski.
As we recite our selihot, the penitential prayers that we say every day this season, we should make this a time of real work on ourselves and honest appraisal of our failings, but also a period we traverse with a bit of Mosheh's encouragement in our minds as well. This way, we won't be too scared to be really honest with ourselves.
Shabbat Shalom.