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VZOT HABRACHA
Rashi points out that the blessings of Moshe to the Jewish people are based upon and mirror those of Yaakov as recorded for us at the end of the book of Bereshith. There are blessings that are eternal and always valid. There are those that are contemporary to the times in which they were given but have little relevance to other times. The blessings of both Yaakov and Moshe are of two individual tribes regarding their locations in the Land of Israel and their individual traits and characteristics as warriors, merchants, scholars, and as part of the national fabric of the Jewish society.
Over the long years of the exile of the Jews and their disappearance from the Land of Israel, these blessings seem to be pure poetry and not related to any reality. However, the words of the Torah are eternal and therefore in our time these blessings have acquired relevance and actuality. We are once again a society of warriors, sailors, scholars, merchants and farmers.
All of the traits that we were denied expression of during our long sojourn in exile have once again come to the fore in our daily lives. So, the blessings of Moshe have immediate and deep meaning to our generation and to the society in which we live. Perhaps this is part of the connection to the past, which is indicated in the introduction of Moshe to his blessings, a connection not only to the blessings of Yaakov but also to the original Jewish settlement in society that inhabited the Land of Israel millennia ago.
Part of the blessing that Moshe has bequeathed to us is the fact that even though no person is replaceable, still no person is indispensable. If there is any one person about whom the Jewish people would feel that they could not do without it certainly would be Moshe. Nevertheless, though his influence and teachings remain with us thousands of years after his death, the Jewish people have continued throughout human history.
The reality of human mortality is coupled with the miracle of Jewish eternity. All of us live on through the future success and development of the Jewish people. Those who are attached to the Jewish people, heart and soul, unconditionally so, are attached to an eternity that is not subject to the nature of human mortality. This is because of our attachment to the God of Israel Who has proclaimed that “you who go out attached to the Lord your God are all still alive even today.”
That is the point that Moshe wishes to impress upon us in this final chapter of the Torah. Moshe lives on through the Torah that he taught us and through the people of Israel that he helped form and lead during his lifetime. This great idea of comfort and eternity is truly the great blessing that he bestowed upon us. All of the other detailed blessings, important and vital as they are, are nevertheless only corollaries to this great blessing of eternity and continuity.
Chag sameach
Rabbi Berel Wein
