Rashi explains that Moshe was buried personally by Hashem. In the Talmud Sotah 14 Chazal remark how the final activity in the Torah is an act of chesed, loving-kindness. They reflect upon the fact that the Torah begins with an act of chesed, Hashem clothing Adam and Chavah, and closes with Hashem burying Moshe. This is why the Torah is referred to as Toras Chesed, the Torah of loving-kindness. The Maharsha explains that Chazal are describing the true nature of Torah as the ultimate source of chesed. Every commandment has its source in the development of chesed.
The Me’il Tzedakkah approaches this Chazal homiletically. The Torah begins with an act of clothing someone and culminates with an act of burial. We are enjoined to “clothe ourselves” with Torah and mitzvos. Thus, when the time to greet our Creator arrives, we will be dressed in the “finery of Torah and mitzvos,” so that we will merit Gan Eden.
The Kalisher Rav, Horav Yecheskel Lipshitz, suggests that this Chazal applies to man’s interrelationship with others. When we enter the world we are dependent upon others to clothe and care for us. When we leave this world, we are once again subject to the “final chesed” of taharha, purification, and burial. The “beginning” and “end” markers suggest that all throughout our lives we are reliant upon others. This awareness should inspire us to think of others, seeking to help them when the need arises.
Horav Yechiel Epstein z.l. asserts that the motivation for imparting chesed should be the Torah and not humanistic instinct. The Torah begins with chesed and closes with chesed in order to teach us that the antecedent for chesed must be the Torah. He mentions an amazing gematria, numerical equivalent. The words ,ukhnd ohsxj and vru, both equal 611. The obligation to perform acts of loving kindness is incumbent upon us only because the Torah requires it of us!
