Drawing Strength from the Final Pesukim of the Torah
“The Very Same Ribbono shel Olam”
The story is told that one year, Rebbe Moshe Leib of Sasov saw that his chassidim were downcast following the exalted and joyous days of Simchas Torah as they anticipated the long, cold winter ahead. Addressing his chassidim he said, “The same Ribbono shel Olam of חוננתנו אתה is the same Ribbono shel Olam of בחרתנו.” אתה
That is, the very ahavas Hashem that we feel in these elevated and exalted days, when we live with the feeling of being chosen and desired by Hashem, continues for every single day of the year, throughout the long winter days and nights! Perhaps we switch the words of our tefillah, but He is the very same Ribbono shel Olam, and we can be close to Him always.
The words of the tzaddik constitute a major yesod in Yiddishkeit, and we must study and contemplate it, so we can indeed take the warmth of the Yamim Tovim with us throughout the winter months.
Where Does It End?
The final pesukim in the Torah aren’t merely the ending of the Torah; they represent strong yesodos that can accompany us always. They speak of the passing of Moshe Rabbeinu and the succession of Yehoshua, and the Torah eulogizes Moshe Rabbeinu as being the greatest Navi of Klal Yisrael in history.
There are a number of questions about this ending of the Torah: The Torah begins with ברא, בראשית the Creation of the world... Adam, Noach, Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov... the descent to Mitzrayim, exodus from Mitzrayim, kabbalas haTorah... finally arriving at the Ever HaYarden after forty long years of travails and nisyonos... and then the history abruptly stops?!
For the true ending, we must look at the Haftorah of Vezos HaBerachah, where our history continues in Sefer Yehoshua—delineating the time from the entry into Eretz Yisrael under the leadership of Yehoshua until the building of the Beis HaMikdash. But the Torah itself doesn’t relate this. However, we know that תמימה, ה› תורת the Torah of Hashem is perfect. Why wouldn’t it relate the end... when the Yidden finally make to Eretz Yisrael and settle there?
Ending on a Sour Note?
Another question that comes up is that the Torah ends with the passing of Moshe Rabbeinu and his inability to enter Eretz Yisrael—a sorry saga.
Moshe Rabbeinu was the loyal shepherd who accompanied his flock through thick and thin over the decades in the Midbar. He consistently saved them in difficult situations, and in the end, he was punished with banishment from the Holy Land, a seemingly painful ending. And with this, we complete the Torah and proclaim Chazak, Chazak, V’Nischazeik! Is this the impression with which we want to end?! That things didn’t go well?! That Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t merit what he so very much wanted?
The holy Torah was written by HaKadosh Baruch Hu with utter clarity, so it can’t be that this is the simple way to understand the ending. There certainly must be a deeper understanding and a lesson for us to learn from this—as the word “Torah” suggests, it is to teach us something.
How Does It Fit In?
A third question is: How does the saga of Moshe Rabbeinu’s passing fit into the broader scheme of the Torah? We know that the events recounted in the Torah are there for a purpose. We know that the Torah should really have begun with the mitzvah of Rosh Chodesh—but it is also important to learn from the אבות. מעשי If so, what can we learn from these final pesukim that recount the passing of Moshe Rabbeinu, and how do they fit into the theme of אבות, מעשי which are instructive to us throughout the millennia?
The Three Questions:
- Why aren’t we told the end of the story: how the Yidden entered Eretz Yisrael?
- Why do we end with the very painful saga of Moshe Rabbeinu’s passing and banishment?
- How does this story fit into the Torah? How is this story instructive to us?
Moshe Rabbeinu Reached the Pinnacle of Creation
Face to Face
To answer these questions, we must learn the final pesukim with the commentaries, for here lie tremendous yesodos that can accompany and inspire a Yid throughout his life. They are a eulogy for Moshe Rabbeinu which, if we learn it properly through the perspective of the Ramban and Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, answer all our questions.
The pasuk tells us, פנים, אל פנים ה› ידעו אשר כמשה בישראל עוד נביא קם ולא never again has there arisen in Yisrael a prophet like Moshe whom Hashem had known face to face. The Ramban explains that the greatness of Moshe Rabbeinu was that not only did he himself attain the level of knowing Hashem face to face; he also elevated Klal Yisrael to that level at Matan Torah! Although it was not on the same level that he himself had attained, the phrase of פנים אל פנים can be applied to Klal Yisrael because Moshe Rabbeinu elevated them to this level.
The Greatest Praise Is to Elevate Klal Yisrael
The following pasuk speaks of the wonders and miracles that Moshe Rabbeinu performed. Here, too, the Ramban explains that the greatest miracle of all was to elevate Klal Yisrael to the level of פנים אל פנים at Matan Torah. As the Torah eulogizes Moshe Rabbeinu, it states: Do you know what Moshe accomplished?! He took the Yidden and elevated them closer to the Aibishter!
Of all the lofty levels that Moshe Rabbeinu attained his life—this is what the Torah finds to be the greatest praise. That when the Yidden were preparing to receive the Torah, and they needed to be at an elevated level for this, it was Moshe Rabbeinu who raised them up. He uplifted his flock so they could hear and internalize the words of אלוקיך. ה› אנכי
The Incredible Bitachon in the Merit of Moshe Rabbeinu
This is the definition of a leader who has executed his mission to perfection. Is it a miracle that Moshe Rabbeinu drew down the mahn for forty years? No. The real miracle is that he raised the level of Klal Yisrael’s bitachon in HaKadosh Baruch Hu so that they deserved the “bread from Heaven”! Until this day, when we study the המן פרשת in order to attain our own shefah from Shamayim, we recite the words and contemplate the incredible bitachon that Klal Yisrael had in the Midbar—as a result of Moshe Rabbeinu’s influence.
Chazal tell us, המן, לאוכלי אלא תורה נתנה לא The Torah was given only to those who ate the mahn. This means that Klal Yisrael in the Midbar were on such a lofty level that they merited to receive the Torah—for a person can receive “bread from Shamayim” only if he is on high level of bitachon. This is what the Yidden attained in the Midbar.
The Proper Outlook Regarding a Great Person
With this yesod—Moshe Rabbeinu’s incredible accomplishment in elevating the Yidden—we can very well understand these final pesukim in the Torah, how they illustrate the greatness of the Yiddishe kinder, and the incredible accomplishments of their loyal leader, Moshe Rabbeinu.
Let us take as a mashal people who are distant from Torah and mitzvos, secular people who write about the passing of a great person. They will usually write that he passed away at this hospital, from that complication, and left behind this many children. They tend to emphasize the peripheral and insignificant details about the person’s life—leaving out the most crucial aspects of his life’s accomplishments—because they don’t grasp the ikar. What does it matter in which hospital he was niftar and from which illness? You don’t understand who this person was! His greatness is that he was able to infuse G-dliness into so many Yiddishe hearts!
The more a person is preoccupied with peripheral details, the more he reveals that he doesn’t have an inkling of who his subject is nor of the great void that was left by his passing. And even among people who do understand, there are varying levels... and those who really “get it” will focus on the tzaddik’s ability to elevate Yidden from the depths to the highest levels.
Fulfilling His Mission to Perfection
When the Torah eulogizes Moshe Rabbeinu, it brings out the perfection of his fulfillment of his life’s mission. He experienced the greatest possible success that a person could have on this earth. He received a mission to tend to his flock, the Jewish People, and he accomplished this mission in the most perfect way possible!
“But,” one may object, “he didn’t get to go into Eretz Yisrael!”
This was not part of his tachlis! According to many sefarim hakedoshim, that was always the plan. For the good of the Jewish People, as well as Moshe Rabbeinu himself, he was never meant to go into Eretz Yisrael. But often, it is “clothed” in an inyan of a cheit מריבה) (מיand as a punishment. But in reality, it was all part of Hashem’s plan that Moshe would never enter Eretz Yisrael.
The Faithful Shepherd in Mitzrayim
Moshe Rabbeinu was chosen by HaKadosh Baruch Hu to lead the Yidden during their darkest hours—the era of Mitzrayim, when they were completely lost and downtrodden. After 210 years in galus, even their grandfathers didn’t remember the taste of freedom!
The Yidden in Mitzrayim were in a similar situation to the one we find ourselves in today... in which the galus is part of our lives. Of course, we yearn for Mashiach, but we no longer live with the bitterness of galus and the yearning for Mashiach. This is what they experienced in Mitzrayim—and much worse, because Klal Yisrael suffered greatly during that time. And Moshe Rabbeinu would go from one Yid to the next, strengthening them. He would tell them that there’s a Ribbono shel Olam, and that they should daven to Him. “He promised us that He will take us out of here,” he would say.
Dedication in the Desert
The same continued in the Midbar. Moshe Rabbeinu continued to lead them with such loyalty and dedication, preparing them to be worthy of kabbalas haTorah, as well as afterward for forty years, through thick and thin... constantly elevating them and uplifting them, despite the lows to which the constantly descended.
The True Mark of a Leader
And the Torah testifies: Do you know what the true mark of Moshe Rabbeinu’s success as a leader?
Sometimes, when we speak of the greatness of tzaddikim, we speak about their lofty levels. Here we speak about their warmth in a Shabbos. About another, we speak about a tremendous nisayon that he overcame in his youth, when he was in the depths of darkness—which propelled him to greatness and madreigos in later years.
Regarding Moshe Rabbeinu, the Torah tells us that the pinnacle of his greatness was his uplifting his flock. He elevated them so they would be worthy of kabbalas haTorah. He brought them to a level of אל פנים פנים! He infused them with such bitachon to merit to the mahn for forty years, and he brought them to Ever HaYarden so they would be able to enter Eretz Yisrael!
The Mesirus Nefesh of Shattering the Luchos
Moreover, the Torah tells us that when Klal Yisrael was in the direst situation—a moment when their entire future was at stake—Moshe Rabbeinu shattered the Luchos with utter mesirus nefesh. The Midrash tells us that if he hadn’t broken the Luchos, there wouldn’t have remained even a remnant of Klal Yisrael, R”l.
Moshe Rabbeinu didn’t know whether he was doing the right thing. He didn’t get any confirmation from Above whether to take this drastic step. He risked everything, and in this way rescued them from the abyss, bringing them back from the brink. He thus saved the future of Klal Yisrael... and he was validated when Hashem told him ששברת. כח יישר
These Pesukim Are the Greatest Expression of Success
In light of this, we come to understand how the final verses in the Torah are the highest praise of a mission perfectly executed, the pinnacle of success reached. Moshe Rabbeinu succeeded in doing the right thing—regarding Hashem and regarding his beloved flock—even when he wasn’t explicitly told what to do, because he grasped the greatness of the Yiddishe kinder and how much Hashem loves them. Thus, he instinctively knew what to do in order to bring them back into Hashem’s graces.
This is the epitome of “the great miracles” that Moshe Rabbeinu performed. In all the pesukim, there is not one tone of bitterness to suggest that Moshe Rabbeinu’s life did not end on a positive note, chas v’shalom.
He indeed did not enter Eretz Yisrael, because this was not part of his tachlis, his ultimate purpose. This belonged to Yehoshua, because it was part of a new era—an era in which Yiddishkeit was no longer being built... it was a continuation of the foundations that were laid by Moshe Rabbeinu. Yiddishkeit was no longer being built when the Beis HaMikdash stood, and Klal Yisrael sat “each under their grapevine, and each under their fig tree.” This was the continuation... when the Jewish People were being led in a calm and serene manner. The true building of Klal Yisrael as a Jewish Nation took place in the Midbar, through all the nisyonos and challenges that they endured!
The Torah doesn’t recount the entrance into Eretz Yisrael, because this is already the reward, the prize that Hashem gave to those who are close to Him! But this isn’t the tachlis of fulfilling and keeping the Torah! The true success, and the tachlis of the Torah, is when Yidden fulfill the Torah—and it is this that Moshe Rabbeinu succeeded in doing with Klal Yisrael. Everything else is secondary.
