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Orchard of Delights Vayeilech
we forcefully arouse ourselves from below to proclaim the following £They Went Both of Them TogetherThey Went Both of Them TogetherThey Went Both of Them Together
three verses at the end of Neilah: ££
Hear O Israel, God our God, God is One.
Blessed is His Kingdom forever and ever. When Isaac and Abraham walked to the place where the offering
was to take place the Torah states that “they went (vayeilchu,
God – He is God.
from the same root as the name of this portion, Vayeilech) both of
All our prayers are lifted to the heights of heaven by Yom Kippur’s them together” (Genesis 22:6). The Torah recounts that when Isaac
final shofar blast, even those prayers which we cannot manage to noticed that his father had a knife and wood but no offering, he asked
express in words. May we all experience God “raining down” His where the offering was. Abraham responded: “God will provide for
grace upon us from above. Himself an offering, my son, and they went both of them together”
(Genesis 22:8). The commentators point out that Isaac understood
his father’s subtle hint, “God will provide the offering – my son”; the
offering would in fact be Isaac. Despite this, the Torah emphasizes
£The Existential State The Existential State The Existential State that both were wholly committed to carrying out God’s command
by immediately repeating the words “and they went both of them
££
of Being Aloneof Being Aloneof Being Alone together.”
The phrase “he went” (Vayeilech) appears in our portion twice.
Once at the beginning, as discussed in the previous section, and once
“God alone leads them, and there is no foreign god with Him” when Moses went with Joshua to stand by the Tabernacle where
(Deuteronomy 32:12). The literal sense, the peshat, of the first part God revealed Himself to them. As they stood there, God revealed
of this verse teaches that Israel’s fate is not determined by the to them that the Jewish people would rebel in the future, and He
stars (astrological predictions) but by God alone, as the Talmud taught them the song Ha’azinu, the contents of which make up the
reiterates: “There are no predetermined heavenly influences upon next portion.
Israel” (Shabbat 156a; see too “Why God Took Abraham Outside” Earlier in Vayeilech, Moses once again publicly embraced Joshua
in Lech Lecha). The second part of the verse repeats a theme found as his successor and invested him with the full authority that had
throughout the Torah: God is one and unique and there are no other been his own for over forty years. There is a beautiful parallel
gods.
between the united stance of Abraham and Isaac at the Akeidah,
When the punctuation of the first part of the verse is altered slightly, notwithstanding the difficult challenge ahead, and the way Moses
it can be read as follows: “God is alone, He leads them.” This reading embraced Joshua, even though Joshua was replacing him. Indeed,
of the text allows the first part of the verse to complement the second the Torah emphasizes Moses and Joshua’s unity by employing the
part, as both emphasize God’s uniqueness and “aloneness,” in the singular form of the verb “went” in the phrase “they went.”
sense of God being essentially above and beyond any comparison or The mutual respect and affection Moses and Joshua shared also
description that the human mind can grasp.
provides us with another important lesson about leadership. Most
In the next and concluding portion of the Torah, Vezot Haberachah, leaders openly or secretly resent giving up the reigns of power and
there is another verse that contains the exact same Hebrew word for have a difficult time stepping out of the limelight. Likewise, many
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