V’zos HaBrachah – Page 8 – Peninim on the Torah

אשריך ישראל מי כמוך עם נושע בד' מגן עזרך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5765, V'zos HaBrachah

Fortunate are you, O Yisrael. Who is like you! O people delivered by O Hashem, the Shield of your help. (33:29)

Our salvation is only in Hashem, Who is the Shield of our salvation. This relationship is truly unique; it is one that we must acknowledge and sustain through our tefillos. Horav Chaim Friedlander, zl, explains the nature of prayer as the medium for maintaining our closeness with Hashem and as the vehicle for catalyzing our salvation in times of need. He cites the Midrash that comments concerning Mordechai’s salvation from Haman’s diabolical plan to hang him on the scaffold that he had prepared for him. Suddenly, the tables were turned, and Mordechai was no longer the victim. He was dressed in…

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אף חבב עמים כל קדשיו בידך והם תכו לרגלך ישא מדברתיך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5764, V'zos HaBrachah

He also showed love to peoples, all its holy ones are in Your hands; and Ithey were brought in at Your feet, He would bear Your utterances. (33:3)

In an alternative exposition of this pasuk, Rashi says that the love that Hashem demonstrated is a reference to a time in which Hashem manifests endearment to the nations of the world. He shows them a smiling countenance when He delivers Klal Yisrael into their hands. Nonetheless, “all its Holy ones are in Your hands.” Despite this g’zar din, difficult decree, against the Jewish People, its righteous ones and its good ones have cleaved to Hashem, never once doubting Him. Hashem, therefore, guards them. These deeply committed Jews accept Your decree with love and joy, declaring: Torah tzivah lanu Moshe morashah…

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והם תכו לרגלך ישא מדברתיך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5764, V'zos HaBrachah

And they were brought in at Your feet, He would bear Your utterances.(33:3)

In the Talmud Bava Basra 8a, Chazal interpret this pasuk as a reference to talmidei chachamim, Torah scholars, who cut their feet going from town to town and country to country to learn Torah. Horav Yitzchak Zilberstein, Shlita, relates the story of a certain gadol, Torah leader, who grew up in abject poverty. He was able to continue his Torah studies unimpeded due to his mother’s singular devotion to Torah. Winter cold and frost presented a unique problem for his mother. She had three sons who attended cheder and their shoes were not fit for walking in the cold and…

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תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהלת יעקב

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5764, V'zos HaBrachah

“The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the Congregation of Yaakov.” (33:4)

The Midrash in Sefer Vayikra cites the following story: An illiterate Jew approached Rabbi Yanai with a complaint, “Why are you holding on to my rightful inheritance?” Rabbi Yanai immediately countered, “What are you talking about? I am not aware of anything of yours that is in my possession.” The man did not budge. “You have something of mine!” he screamed. The Tanna had no idea who this man was, let alone that he had anything in his possession that belonged to him. “Do you think that simply because I am illiterate you can take advantage of me?” the man…

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וללוי אמר תמיך ואוריך לאיש חסידך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5764, V'zos HaBrachah

Of Levi he said: Your Tumim and Your Urim befit Your devout one. (33:8)

Moshe begins his blessing by addressing the Kohanim. Then, he speaks to the rest of the tribe. The praises that he sings are truly impressive and certainly warranted. Are we to ignore the fact, however, that the greatest controversy in the history of the nascent Jewish nation was initiated by a member of the tribe of Levi? The machlokes Korach, controversy of Korach, is one of the saddest moments in our history. Moshe Rabbeinu, also a member of the tribe of Levi, seems to have glossed over it. Why? Surely it must have pained him to recall that bitter dispute…

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שמח זבולן בצאתך ויששכר באהליך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5764, V'zos HaBrachah

Rejoice, O’Zevulun, in your excursions, and Yissachar in your tents. (33:18)

arav Chaim Alpandri, zl, distinguishes between the machazik Torah, supporter of Torah, and the lomeid Torah, one who studies Torah. He notes that he who studies Torah receives great reward in Olam Haba, the World to Come. In addition, Torah study protects him from the blandishments of the yetzer hara, evil inclination. An antidote for the yetzer hara, Torah provides a therapeutic bulwark against the yetzer hara’s efforts to sway a person away from Hashem. While the Torah supporter certainly receives his due reward in Olam Haba, he might venture that reward and protection are not synonymous. In other words,…

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וימת שם משה עבד ה'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5764, V'zos HaBrachah

So Moshe, the servant of Hashem, died there. (34:5)

Moshe Rabbeinu was certainly a uniquely gifted individual. In fact, he must have been exceedingly brilliant by anyone’s standard. To have learned the entire Torah in forty days is no simple feat. It required acumen above the realm of an ordinary man. He had this plus the gift of Hashem’s Divine Inspiration. Yet, as Horav Yosef Sholom Elyashiv, Shlita, notes, when the Torah praises Moshe, it only lauds his humility. “Now the man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person on the face of the earth!” (Bamidbar 12:3). Apparently, success in Torah is not measured by the yardstick of…

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ויהי בישרון מלך בהתאסף ראשי עם יחד שבטי ישראל

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5763, V'zos HaBrachah

He became King over Yeshurun when the members of the nation gathered — the tribes of Yisrael in unity. (33:5)

Rashi explains that Hashem is Klal Yisrael’s King in the most complete sense only when the people unite to do His will. Just as achdus, unity, prevailed at Har Sinai when all of Klal Yisrael accepted the Torah, so, too, does Hashem reign only over a nation that maintains a sense of harmony in belief and action. The Navi writes in Melachim I 3:3, “And Shlomo loved Hashem, walking in the statutes of David, his father; only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.” Rashi explains that while Shlomo acted in a manner similar to David Ha’melech, he deviated…

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וללוי אמר תמיך ואוריך לאיש חסידך

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5763, V'zos HaBrachah

FOf Levi he said, ‘Your tumim and your urim befit Your devout one.’ (33:8)

First, Moshe Rabbeinu stressed Levi’s position as the tribe from which the spiritual leadership, the Kohanim, of the nation emanated. Then, Moshe turned to the tribe as a whole, focusing on its bravery and steadfast loyalty in the desert. He then blessed the Leviim as the teachers of the nation. The commentators note the omission of Shimon from the blessings. This is due to the fact that Shimon was severely criticized by Yaakov Avinu for the tribe’s later participation in the worship and consequent moral deviation concerning the Baal Peor idol. The Sifri notes that at one time, Shimon and Levi…

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וימת שם משה עבד ה'

Rabbi L. Scheinbaum In 5763, V'zos HaBrachah

So Moshe, servant of Hashem, died there. (34:5)

According to one opinion in Chazal, the last eight pesukim of the Torah were written by Moshe, but, rather than using ink, he wrote the last words with tears. The Torah comes to an end with the passing of Moshe, the quintessential rebbe of the Jewish nation, the man who dedicated every fibre of his being to Klal Yisrael. This conclusion to the greatest volume that has ever been recorded is written with tears — Moshe’s tears. It is very difficult to accept that Moshe wept over the words, “So Moshe, servant of Hashem, died there.” Our leader led a…

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אשריך ישראל מי כמוך עם נושע בד' מגן עזרך

Fortunate are you, O Yisrael. Who is like you! O people delivered by O Hashem, the Shield of your help. (33:29)

אף חבב עמים כל קדשיו בידך והם תכו לרגלך ישא מדברתיך

He also showed love to peoples, all its holy ones are in Your hands; and Ithey were brought in at Your feet, He would bear Your utterances. (33:3)

והם תכו לרגלך ישא מדברתיך

And they were brought in at Your feet, He would bear Your utterances.(33:3)

תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהלת יעקב

“The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the Congregation of Yaakov.” (33:4)

וללוי אמר תמיך ואוריך לאיש חסידך

Of Levi he said: Your Tumim and Your Urim befit Your devout one. (33:8)

שמח זבולן בצאתך ויששכר באהליך

Rejoice, O’Zevulun, in your excursions, and Yissachar in your tents. (33:18)

וימת שם משה עבד ה'

So Moshe, the servant of Hashem, died there. (34:5)

ויהי בישרון מלך בהתאסף ראשי עם יחד שבטי ישראל

He became King over Yeshurun when the members of the nation gathered — the tribes of Yisrael in unity. (33:5)

וללוי אמר תמיך ואוריך לאיש חסידך

FOf Levi he said, ‘Your tumim and your urim befit Your devout one.’ (33:8)

וימת שם משה עבד ה'

So Moshe, servant of Hashem, died there. (34:5)

YEARS

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