Happy Endings
Happy Endings
Parshas Haazinu
Rabbi Aron Tendler
On Yom Kippur we read the story of the Ten Martyrs. Rabbi Akiva was among those ten great personalities who died sanctifying G-d's name. The Talmud in Berachos 61b relates that as Rabbi Akiva was being tortured to death, his students saw him reciting the Shema with joy, seemingly oblivious to the pain he was enduring. The incongruity of the moment was so apparent that even Tyrnus Rufus, the Roman commander who had ordered the execution, asked Rabbi Akiva how he was able to laugh in the face of such horrendous torture. Rabbi Akiva's students, who were equally amazed at their teacher's endurance, understood the moment to be far more profound than mere stoic courage and endurance. They asked their beloved teacher, “Is the Mitzvah of reciting the Shema incumbent upon an individual under such dire circumstances?" Rabbi Akiva explained. “The Torah commands us to love G-d with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our belongings. All my life I wondered whether I would ever fulfill this Mitzvah of loving G-d with all my soul. Now that I have been granted the opportunity of loving G-d with my very life, should I not do so with joy and exultation?"
As a nation that has survived millennia of persecution and suffering, we have a fascination with how our heroes have died and how one should die. In the aftermath of the Swiss Air tragedy, a Talis was found floating in the ocean. Tragically, Mr. Klein, a "frum (observant)” man, was a passenger on that fateful flight, and it was his Tallis that had been recovered among the wreckage. Mr. Klein's children confirmed that their father never placed his Talis and Tefilin through the regular baggage service but always carried them with him on board. The problem was that it was nighttime when the flight crashed into the Atlantic and the Talis, which is usually not worn at night, should have been enclosed in its zippered velvet “zekel bag" which was inside a zippered plastic cover. How did Mr. Klein's Talis get out of its bag? The children surmised that in the six minutes before the crash, when the passengers knew that the plane was in trouble, their father, knowing that the situation was serious took out his Talis and put it on. That is the way a true “Eved G-d – Servant of G-d" prepares for possible disaster – wrapped in his Talis and immersed in Tefilah - prayer. It is fair to assume that Mr. Klein's final words, like Rabbi Akiva's, were “Shema Yisroel...”
Moshe Rabbeinu said this week's Parsha in the final hours of his life. Moshe knew that he was about to die, and the final two Parshios of the Torah, Haazeinu and Zos Habracha, record his last words, thoughts, and feelings. So, how did Moshe die? The final moments were recorded in the Medresh as “the kiss of G-d." However, far more fascinating than his actual death were the moments preceding that final kiss.
In last week's Parsha, Vayelech 31:2, Moshe said to the Bnai Yisroel, “I can no longer come and go, and G-d has told me that I am not to cross over the Yarden." Rashi explained that Moshe was physically capable of coming and going as well as crossing over the Yarden. As the Torah attests (34:7) Moshe was 120 years old... his eyes had not weakened and his vigor had not diminished.” The meaning of Moshe's words, “I can no longer come and go,” was, “I am not capable of leading you across the Yarden into the Promised Land because G-d did not give me permission to do so.”
My Grandfather ZT'L asked, if Moshe was physically capable of coming and going but would not do so because G-d had not given His permission, why didn't Moshe simply say, "I can't lead you because G-d did not give me permission” Why did he say, “I am not capable of coming and going?”
My Grandfather ZT'L's answer illuminates Moshe's unique attitude at the time of his death. Moshe was able to come, go, and cross over the Yarden. He was the picture of health, and he had the same prodigious strength as when he was in his prime. The reason Moshe said that he was not able to come and go is that he was not able to go against G-d's wishes. His understanding of G-d's mastery over every atom of the universe made it impossible for Moshe to not listen to G-d's commandments. For Moshe, not listening to G-d was tantamount to drinking poison or putting his hand in fire. The same natural aversion we would have to drinking poison or grasping a red-hot iron was the degree of Moshe's aversion to not listening to the commandment of G-d.
Moshe may have been the only person in the world to have been granted power over the Angel of Death. My Grandfather explained that Moshe did not have to die. He was given free will over death! However, because G-d commanded him to die, Moshe willingly and joyfully ascended Har Nebo.
As Rashi explains in Zos Haberacha 34:1, “To ascend Har Nebo should have required many steps but Moshe jumped them all in a single bound." For Moshe it was a last opportunity to do the will of G-d, therefore, he ran to do it!
So, how does such a man prepare for death? This week's Parsha is a glorious symphony of joyous exaltation. Moshe sang forth his love for G-d, his love for his nation, and his love for G-d's Torah. Moshe's strong voice must have enveloped the Bnai Yisroel in an uplifting embrace of intimacy and hope. As the Jews faced Moshe's eminent death and struggled with their own fears of abandonment and loneliness, Moshe's harmony and melodies reached in to the depths of the nation's heart and soul with love and longing.
So, how did Moshe prepare for death? Moshe Rabbeinu sang a song of creation and renewal, truth and hope. Moshe called upon heaven and earth to witness the triumph of divine justice over mortal man. Moshe sang forth a challenge to his people to rise above their own limited mortality and become greater than the angels. “...It is the name of G-d that I proclaim, Ascribe greatness to our G-d!" (32:3) So, how did Moshe prepare to die? He prepared himself wrapped in love, longing, obedience, happiness, joy, and song.
