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Orchard of Delights Vezot Haberachah
elders and your officers – all the men of Israel; your small children, gate of understanding, just before or in the process of his dying by
your women, and your proselyte who is in the midst of your camp, “the kiss of God.”
from the hewer of your wood to the drawer of your water.”
The name of the mountain upon which Moses died, Nevo, has the
According to the fundamental Kabbalistic principle of inter- numerical value of fifty-eight, the same as the numerical value for the
inclusion where all the separate elements of a set are inter-included Hebrew word for “grace” (chen). “Chen” is a very important word as
one in the other, each subset contains all ten of these aspects. For the Torah often relates that Moses prayed to find grace in God’s eyes,
example, in every male there is a female aspect, while in every especially when praying on the Jewish people’s behalf. The sign that
female there is a male facet. Every adult still maintains a positive Moses did in fact find grace in God’s eyes is that He acquiesced to
bit of childlike wonder or, framed negatively, a bit of psychological Moses’ pleas on behalf of the people. (Though, for reasons discussed
immaturity, while all children have the potential to understand above in Va’etchanan, God did not respond to Moses’ pleas to enter
certain matters far beyond their years. All people possess within the Land of Israel.) Here at the end of Moses’ life, we find proof that
themselves leadership potential: the ability to be tribal heads and the he ultimately found grace in the eyes of God, on a personal level as
deep innate wisdom to be elders. The possible combinations, shades, well, as he died by “the kiss of God” on Mount Nevo, a mountain
and degrees of these elements are as numerous as there are Jews. symbolizing the ascent and complete union of the soul with its
These ten divisions allow for balance and harmony when properly ultimate Source.
unified in a holistic personality.
The Slonimer Rebbe often discusses the concept of “all of Israel” in
Netivot Shalom. He explains that the all-inclusive entity comprising
the Jewish people is far greater than the sum of its individual parts. £Before the Eyes of All Israel Before the Eyes of All Israel Before the Eyes of All Israel
Furthermore, he adds that each Jew draws his or her individual ££
connection to God from the collective soul of all Israel. That is why
the concept of community is so important in Judaism. Although a
person does have an obligation to cultivate his or her own personal The Torah’s final verse read as follows: “And by all the strong hand
and awesome power that Moses performed before the eyes of all
spiritual connection to God and Torah, ultimately, the individual
must be connected to “all of Israel.” Israel” (Deuteronomy 34:12). As we have demonstrated throughout
this book, Rashi and the other commentators often seek deeper
After describing how Moses assembled all the people, the Torah meanings in the juxtaposition between two portions as well as in the
recounts why he did so – to establish the covenant between God and juxtaposition of two incidents within a single portion. With this in
Israel once again: mind, many Chassidic commentators take the Torah’s last verse and
connect it to the Torah’s first verse – “In the beginning (bereishit)
In order to establish you today as a people to Him and God created the heavens and the earth” – and read them as one long
that He be a God to you, as He spoke to you and as He sentence: “Before the eyes of all Israel in the beginning God created
swore to your forefathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to the heavens and the earth.” As we noted above, Rashi translates the
Jacob. Not with you alone do I seal this covenant and this letter beit, the “be-” in “bereishit” (“in the beginning”), as “for the
oath, but with whoever is here, standing with us today sake of,” instead of adopting the more usual translation of the beit
before God, our God, and with whoever is not here with as “in” (“in the beginning”). This allows him to explain that God
us today. (Deuteronomy 29:12) created the world “for the sake of the Torah that is called the first
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