Oneg Vezos Habracha

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‫הריני בא ללמוד תורה לשמה לעשות נחת רוח לאבינו שבשמים‬

‫בס"ד‬

‫פרשת‬ ‫וזאת הברכה‬ ‫כ"ג תשרי תשע”ט‬ 22

ND

SEPTEMBER 2018

‫יב‬:‫לד‬-‫א‬:‫ דברים לג‬:‫קריאת התורה‬ NORTH WEST LONDON’S WEEKLY TORAH & OPINION SHEETS A Torah publication that enables local Rabbonim and Avreichim to share their insights and Divrei Torah on a variety of different levels, to provide something for everyone

‫ופרוש עלינו סכת שלומך‬

Wishing all our readers and all of Klal Yisroel an enjoyable Yom Tov

Rabbi Alan Wilkinson

Rabbi, Great Ormond Street Hospital. The author can be contacted at genesisasw@gmail.com

The last words…

W

hen I was growing up I was a voracious reader with eclectic tastes, extending way beyond the backs of the cereal packets that my parents placed before me. I always enjoyed reading and buying books, much to the delight of my local seforim store. Whatever we read, the temptation to discover ‘the end of the story’ can be overwhelming. I frequently succumbed but it never ruined my enjoyment of the book. I think it was Rabbi Fischel Schachter shlita who explained this appropriately: ’we know everything ends with a tekiah gedolah but we don’t know the exact nature of the shevarims and teruahs in the middle.’ The end of v’zos habrocha itself merits careful consideration. ‘Ool’chol hayod hachazako ool’chol hamorah hagodol asher asoh Moshe l’eynei kol Yisroel’ ‘and by all the mighty hand and awesome power that Moshe performed before the eyes of all Yisroel “. According to Rashi the phrase “and by the mighty hand” alludes to the receiving of the Torah by Moshe’s “hand”; according to the Ramban and the Ibn Ezra, to the wonders performed at the yam suf; and according to the Sforno, to a series of nissim including krias yam suf, the opening of the earth to swallow Korach , and the miracle of the mon. According to Rashi the phrase “and awesome power” refers to the nissim performed in the midbar; according to the Ibn Ezra, to krias yam suf; according to the Ramban, either to the krias yam suf or to ma’amad har Sinai; and according to Sforno, to ma’amad har Sinai. With the final words of the Torah we have less agreement in understanding. Sforno

NOW IN THE FOLLOWING PLACES

interprets the words “before the eyes of all Yisrael” as referring to the rays of light that emanated from Moshe’s face following matan Torah. Ramban understands the phrase as reflecting back upon all the nissim in which Moshe played a role. Rashi, however, has a very different approach. “’Before the eyes of all Yisroel’: [This phrase alludes to the fact that Moshe’s] heart moved him to shatter the Tablets of Testimony before their eyes, as the text states, ‘and I shattered them before your eyes.’ According to Rashi, the last words of the Torah refer to Moshe’s smashing the luchos, upon witnessing the chet ha Egel. Rashi concludes his remarks by quoting the gemora that Hashem retroactively agrees with Moshe’s dramatic act. When Hashem informs Moshe that He will inscribe the second tablets with the words that were on luchot harishonim asher shibarta, “the first tablets that you shattered,” the Rabbis explain Hashem’s response to be Yiyasher kochacha she’shibarta, “You are to be congratulated for having shattered them.” Moshe achieved so much and yet Rashi says the luchos being destroyed are his primary legacy. Whilst there are several ways to understand this interpretation one approach is that we are to remember and relate to Moshe as a human being. By emphasizing Moshe’s mortality the Torah allows us to learn lessons that we can apply to our own lives. Our own challenges and specific to us, our shevarims and teruahs, have different sounds. We are, however, still expected to act in accordance with the Torah. the decisions to be made are difficult and complex. According

Parshah to Rabbi Shmuel Goldin ‘’the Torah therefore focuses in the end on the single most important independent act performed by Moshe during his leadership career: a non-miraculous act, a voluntary step taken when he stands alone, without guidance from Hashem, with everything hanging in the balance.’’ Bereishis starts with Hashem and the Torah ends with man, challenging us to recognize that the value of Torah depends upon us. It is not, chas v’sholem, to be read as a story. The Torah requires that its lessons and laws shape our lives and guide our actions. One aspect of this can be found just a few pesukim earlier: ‘ V’lo kom novi od b’Yisroel k’Moshe’ The Rambam in Hilchos Teshuva, however. writes that everyone has the capability to become as great a tzaddik as Moshe. Moshe cannot be equalled in prophecy, but he can in other areas. How? The Torah characterizes Moshe as an ‘eved Hashem’. Radak defines eved as a servant, one who has no property rights, one who has no right of ownership. In that sense, Moshe was a true eved. His energies, his senses, his intellect, were all dedicated to Hashem. This quality of total dedication is demanded of each individual Jew, each according to his ability. According to Rabbi Elchanan Wassererman in Kovetz Maamorim ‘this is what the Rambam had in mind when he said that everyone has it within himself to become a tzaddik like Moshe Rabbeinu. If he devotes all his modest energies and abilities to the service of Hashem, then, in his own humble way he can become an eved Hashem, just as Moshe was. ‘’ A challenge indeed.

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