Written in Tears: Sukkot/Sh’mini Atzeret/Simhat Torah/V’zot Ha-b’rakhah

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Sukkot/Sh’mini Atzeret/Simhat Torah/V’zot Ha-b’rakhah
Exodus 33:12 – 34:26
Numbers 29: 26-31

The “Season of Our Joy – z’man simhatenu” concludes with a flourish. We finish reading the last section of the Torah and then begin right away, again.

But the conclusion of the Torah’s text seems anything but joyous. The last Torah portion begins: “And this is the blessing that Moses, the man of the Almighty, blessed the children of Israel before his death.” (Deut. 33:1) It concludes with the report of Moses’ death: “And Moses, the servant o the Eternal, died there, in the land of Moab, by the mouth of the Eternal.” (Deut. 34:5) We are told that all of Israel wept over his death for thirty days.  And the last verses of the Torah tell us that, although Joshua faithfully stepped up to lead the people, Moses was uniquely great and irreplaceable. “No prophet has ever arisen in Israel like Moses.” (v. 10)

Our own joy in completing our year-long reading of the Torah pushes the sadness of that ancient, irreplaceable loss into the shadows. How fitting it is that this festival is called the Season of our joy! The small accomplishments of the present cancel the tragedy of Moses’ unfinished life. We read about tears as we rejoice.

Our Sages imagined that the last words of the Torah were even written in tears. They asked how Moses could be the author of the last verses of the Torah, the verses that speak of Moses after his death. One answer offered was that Joshua wrote these last verses. (This is a classic text used in support of the theory of multiple authors of the Torah.) But another view has it that Moses may not have completed his life’s work of bringing Israel into the Promised Land, but he certainly completed his life mission of writing the entire Torah. So how could he write that he died? The answer: “The Holy Blessed One dictated the words to him and Moses wrote them with tears.” (BTBava Batra 15a)

Why did Moses cry? Of course, the simplest answer is that he wept over his mortal failure to go into the land of Israel. But perhaps there are other possibilities. The Torah attests that Moses was more humble than any human being on the face of the earth (Num. 12:3) Perhaps Moses cried because he was compelled by God, against his own modest instincts, to write down the words of praise that conclude our Torah, words that extol Moses as incomparable in his relationship with God and in his contribution to the people of Israel!

Could Moses allow himself to feel the truth of that assessment? When Moses began his work he begged God to appoint someone else –anyone else! – to take the Israelites out of Egypt. Did he now beg God to pick anyone else to write the last words of the Torah? Did he cry because he would rather have not entered into this realm of self-praise? Is that why he cried?

Or, could it be that Moses, as he faithfully took dictation from his beloved God, could finally feel that total love that God had for him? Perhaps, as befits this season, his tears were tears of joy.

Shabbat Shalom v’Hag Same`ah!
Rabbi David Greenstein


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