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ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה...ולכל היד החזקה...אשר עשה משה לעיני כל ישראל

And no prophet has arisen in Yisrael like Moshe… and for all the mighty hand… that Moshe performed before the eyes of all Yisrael. (34:10,12)

Moshe Rabbeinu was the quintessential leader of the Jewish People. His epitaph is stated in the last verses of the Torah, where he is lauded as the greatest Prophet in Yisrael who was the conduit for Hashem’s miraculous signs and wonders, which revealed Hashem in His Almighty power. Moshe displayed his “mighty hand,” the hand that would not brook any impudence from within – any form of deviation that would alienate his people from the truth. Moshe received the Torah from Hashem with his own hands. His hands were unique, representing an individual who had reached the epitome of service to…

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ויקבר אותו בגי

He (Hashem) buried him in the depression. (34:6)

In Sotah 14a, the Talmud notes that the Torah begins with an act of chesed, kindness, and likewise concludes with an act of chesed. The Torah begins with Hashem fashioning kosnos or, garments of skin, for Adam and Chavah. It ends with Hashem burying Moshe Rabbeinu’s mortal remains. It is noteworthy that Chazal select the kosnos or to serve as the example of Hashem’s chesed. What is there about these garments or the act of clothing Adam and Chavah that stands out, making it more prominent than even the entire universe? Olam chesed yibaneh, “The world is built upon chesed/kindness”…

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וימת שם משה עבד ד'

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

In the Talmud Sotah 13b, Chazal describe Moshe Rabbeinu’s funeral: Moshe lay within the Kanfei ha’Shechinah, folds of the raiment of the splendor of the Divine Presence… The angels lamented his loss. Hashem’s “eulogy” for His trusted servant began with the pasuk in Tehillim 94:16, “Who will rise up for Me against the doers of iniquity?” This seems enigmatic. A eulogy begins with and revolves around the most significant virtue, the primary aspect of the deceased’s character, or his most prominent contribution to society. Was this Moshe’s greatest quality? We find Moshe lauded as the most humble of men, the…

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שמע ה' קול יהודה

Hearken, O’Hashem, to Yehudah’s voice. (33:7)

Shimon did not receive an individual blessing. This was the result of the involvement of the tribe of Shimon in the Shittim tragedy, when their Nasi, Prince, Zimri, had illicit relations with Kozbi, the Midyanite princess, and they supported him. Therefore, Moshe Rabbeinu concealed Shimon’s blessing within Yehudah’s by using the word shema, listen. The root of the name Shimon is also shema, hear, as Leah Imeinu said when she named Shimon: Shama Hashem b’anyi, “Hashem heard my affliction” (Bereishis 29:33). Shimon’s tribe received a portion in Eretz Yisrael, but the Torah does not refer to it as “Shimon’s portion.”…

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