BACK TO THE BEGINNING
INTRODUCTION
TO PARASHA
PARASHAT VE-ZOT
HA-BERAKHA BACK TO THE
BEGINNING By Rabbi Yaakov Beasley A.
INTRODUCTION THE UNIQUE HOLINESS OF OUR PARASHA With our parasha, Ve-zot Ha-berakha, we
conclude our study of Sefer Devarim and the Torah. The primary focus of the parasha
is the blessings that Moshe gave to the various tribes before his death and the
description of Moshes final day on earth.
Traditionally, we read this parasha on
Simchat Torah, and we immediately follow it with the first chapter of
Sefer Bereishit. The
legendary Chassidic master R. Tzadok of Lublin notes that our parasha is
never read as a regular Shabbat reading, but is only read as a Yom
Tov reading. He suggests a
fascinating rationale for this. Our
parasha expresses Moshes personal initiative and desire to bestow
blessing on the people.
Hashem did not command him to do so. This parallels the different types of
sanctity that each holy day possesses.
In Chassidic thought, the holiness of Shabbat comes "from above" -
the initiative in providing sanctity comes from Hashem. The holiness of Yom Tov, however,
originates "from below" it is through the actions of the Jewish people that
the day gains it sanctity.
Similarly, Hashem dictated the other sections of the Torah they
came "from above." Therefore, we
read them as part of the weekly cycle, on Shabbat. Parashat Ve-zot Ha-berakha
reflects human initiative, and we therefore can not read it as a regular
Shabbat reading. It remains
outside the weekly cycle of Torah readings. It can only be read alongside the
matching holiness of Yom Tov can we read it. B. THE
BEGINNING AND END OF THE BLESSING A quick glance of Chapter 33, the blessings, reveals
that we can divide the section into three parts: (a) the introduction (v. 1-5),
(b) the blessings to the individual tribes (v. 6-25), and (c) the concluding
remarks (v. 26-29). By placing the
introduction and conclusion side by side, we can see numerous
similarities:
In the introduction, Moshe describes Hashems
appearance before the Jewish people at Har Sinai, when he gave them the
Torah. (Verse 4, apparently spoken
by the people in response to Moshes words, reflects their acknowledgment and
acceptance of this fact). The
varying names of the Jewish people Jeshurun, Jacob, people, and
And he said: Hashem came from
Sinai, and rose from Seir unto them -
Moshe Rabbeinu did not begin by listing the needs of the Jewish people, but
instead began his words with praise of the Holy One
At the end, he returned and
praised the Holy One at the end [of the blessings]. So King David did also
and
Shlomo did also
Similarly, the Eighteen Blessings [of the Amida] that
the prophets established that the Jewish people pray every day begin with the
praise of the Holy One and end with the praise of the Holy One. (Sifrei, Ve-zot Ha-berakha,
343)[1]
Comparing the opening and concluding verses of the
blessing, we see that they revolve around one central theme the relationship
between Hashem and the Jewish people. The introductory verses describe the
relationship as mutual:
Hashem came towards the people at Sinai with love, and the Jewish
people accepted Hashems kingship and commandments. By contrast, the conclusion mentions
only Hashems relationship with his people, revolving entirely around the
secure settlement and dwelling in the
(26) There is none like God, O Jeshurun, who
rides upon the heaven as Your protection, and in His majesty on
the skies.
(29) Happy art thou, O
The parallels between the verses develop the
following idea: Both verses,
directed towards the people, praise God.
In verse 26, the praise is directed to Hashem, while in verse 29,
the praise is directed towards the Jewish people. However, the second praise results
precisely from the fact that the Jewish people are "a
people saved by Hashem," whose majesty provides them with
protection. Praise of
the people and praise of Hashem are
equivalent.
To summarize, both the opening and
closing verses praise God through his relationship with his people. However, while the opening passage
describes Hashems relationship with
C.
STARTING OVER
Upon re-reading verses 27-28, we note the following
literary allusion. While describing
the expulsion of the enemy nations from the
In the beginning of his commentary to the Torah, the
Ramban makes this connection explicitly:
The Torah began with, "In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth." and the entire story of creation through the
creation of man, and stated that He granted man authority over His creatures
The Garden of Eden, the choicest of all of the places on the earth, became the
place for him to dwell, until Adams sin drove him from there
Therefore, it is warranted that when a people sins
constantly, it is driven from its land and another people comes to inhabit the
land, for this has been Gods law in running the world
How much more so with
Canaan, destined for eternal slavery, and is not worthy of inhabiting the
choicest among inhabitable lands.
Instead, the servants of Hashem, the offspring of His beloved, will
inherit it, as it states, He gave them the lands of nations, they inherited the
wealth of people, that they might keep His laws and observe His teachings
(Tehillim 105:44). He
expelled from there those who rebelled against Him, and had his servants settle
there, in order that they know that only through His service will they inherit
it. However, should they sin
against Him, the land will expel them, just as it expelled those who preceded
them
[1] Dr. Benjamin Gesundheit has developed
this parallel further, noting the thematic similarities between the beginning of
Moshes blessing, the praise and acknowledgment of Gods holiness, with the
themes at the beginning of the Amida. Similarly, just as the end of the
blessings here, Moshe aspires toward the safe dwelling of the Jewish people in
their land, the final section of the Amida begins with Avoda,
the desire to see Hashem return to
[2] See Vayikra 26:12, where the
similar term is used to describe the ultimate reward awaiting the Jewish people
should they prove faithful to the commandments. See Rashi ad loc.: "I will walk
with you in the G