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VZOT HABRACHA
Though the Torah apparently ends on a sad note in its description of the death of our greatest teacher, Moshe, it nevertheless somehow allows Vzot Habracha to be the happiest parsha of the Torah and the Jewish year.
Vzot Habracha is read in the synagogue on the holiday of Simchat Torah, one of the two most joyous days (the other, most naturally, the day of Purim) on the Jewish calendar. The rejoicing on Simchat Torah is occasioned not only because we have lived out the year to successfully complete another cycle of Torah readings, important as that fact alone is. It also represents that in Judaism life is never done with and that the influence of a life and its achievements can continue to be effective for many generations and even millennia.
Moshe’s death, as is the mortality of all of us, is an unavoidable reality. But Moshe’s influence has never waned or weakened, not only concerning his beloved people of Israel but concerning world civilization generally as well. And it is Moshe’s continuing influence that is so joyously celebrated on Simchat Torah.
The unavoidable mortality of Moshe only serves to further highlight his immortal greatness and influence. We are awestruck by the presence in our lives and thoughts of someone who is not physically here and who in fact passed away thousands of years ago. The lasting power of Moshe, which surmounts even his own mortality, is the living testimony to the power of one’s soul to live eternally. And, it binds disparate generations and societies together - which is certainly something to rejoice about.
Moshe distributes various diverse and different blessings to the tribes of Israel. He customizes, so to speak, the blessings to fit the talents and natural inclinations of each of the tribes. He eschews a one size fits all attitude – one that unfortunately is so prevalent in today’s Jewish religious world.
Not everyone can or should be Yissachar, the scholar of the Jewish people, nor need everyone need be Zevulun or Gad, the tribes that provide for the material welfare and security of the Land of Israel and the Jewish people. Just as our father Yaakov blessed each of his sons with the blessing that most fitted the temperament and abilities of that particular child, so too does Moshe follow that example.
Rashi mentions that the parsha begins with a connecting letter “vav” – meaning “and” – because Moshe stated that “I will begin my blessings from where our father Yaakov concluded his blessings.” Moshe does so not only in content and in style but in attitude and application as well.
Just as Yaakov blessed his children individually and no two blessings were the same, because no two of his sons were exactly alike, so too does Moshe follow that example and blesses each of the diverse tribes individually and uniquely. This is the forerunner and inspiration of King Solomon’s adage to educate the young student according to the path and talents of that particular student. Then the blessing and education imparted will also contain that necessary whiff of Torah immortality that is the hallmark of Jewish life throughout the ages.
Chag Sameach
Rabbi Berel Wein
