With the final two parshios of Devarim, not only does the Chumash come to an end, but so does the life of our great teacher, exalted leader, the man-of-G-d, more humble than all other men, known for posterity as Moshe Rabbeinu, Moshe our rabbi. 

At the end of Haazinu, after the Torah records the great song that Moshe teaches the people of Israel - a vision that spans from the beginning of time to the end of days - the parsha ends as Hashem instructs Moshe to ascend to the peak of the mountain and to see the land of Israel - וּרְאֵה֙ אֶת־אֶ֣רֶץ כְּנַ֔עַן (Devarim 32:49). כִּ֥י מִנֶּ֖גֶד תִּרְאֶ֣ה אֶת־הָאָ֑רֶץ וְשָׁ֙מָּה֙ לֹ֣א תָב֔וֹא אֶל־הָאָ֕רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֥י נֹתֵ֖ן לִבְנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל - For from afar you shall see the land, but to there you will not come, to the land I am giving to the children of Israel (v.52).

Despite Moshe’s repeated tefilos to enter the Land, and his deep desire to fulfill the land-dependent mitzvos (Sotah 14a), the Divine answer remained “No.”

At the end of V’zos Ha’bracha, after Moshe blesses the shevatim with individual blessings - following the path of Yaakov Avinu hundreds of years earlier (Bereishis 49) - the Torah records for us the final moments of Moshe’s life.

And Moshe ascended from the plains of Moav, to Mt. Nevo, to the top of the peak that faces Yericho, and Hashem showed him the entire land… And Hashem said to him: זֹ֤את הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נִ֠שְׁבַּ֠עְתִּי לְאַבְרָהָ֨ם לְיִצְחָ֤ק וּֽלְיַעֲקֹב֙ לֵאמֹ֔ר לְזַרְעֲךָ֖ אֶתְּנֶ֑נָּה הֶרְאִיתִ֣יךָ בְעֵינֶ֔יךָ וְשָׁ֖מָּה לֹ֥א תַעֲבֹֽר - this is the land that I swore to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov saying: “to your seed I shall give it.” See it with your eyes, and to there you shall not cross; ‘וַיָּ֨מׇת שָׁ֜ם מֹשֶׁ֧ה עֶבֶד ה’ בְּאֶ֥רֶץ מוֹאָ֖ב עַל־פִּ֥י ה - and there Moshe died, the servant of Hashem, in the land of Moav, by the word of Hashem (34:1-5).

While Moshe does not physically remain with the nation as they cross into the land of Israel under the leadership of Yehoshua, the lessons he taught them - and continues to teach us - remain engraved in the mind and hearts of the nation forever.

At the age of one hundred and twenty years, having led a troublesome and quarrelsome nation for the last forty, condemned to death - and even burial - on the eastern side of the Yarden River, someone else might feel his life to be a failure, dreams unrealized and hopes dashed, frustrated as the nation moved on without him. 

However, Moshe was not someone else. Moshe, as mortal as he was, was a man of G-d, as the Torah itself attests to in the opening words of the final parsha in Chumash: וְזֹ֣את הַבְּרָכָ֗ה אֲשֶׁ֨ר בֵּרַ֥ךְ משֶׁ֛ה אִ֥ישׁ הָֽאֱלֹ-ים אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לִפְנֵ֖י מוֹתֽוֹ, and this is the blessing that Moshe, the man of G-d, blessed Israel before his death (33:1).

He was unlike all other men, and even unlike all other prophets, as Hashem Himself says to Miriam and Aharon: לֹא כֵן עַבְדִּי מֹשֶׁה (Bamidbar 12:7). He was the greatest man, and the most humble of men (ibid., v.3).

And hence, despite what others may have perceived as a failed personal life (chalilah), Moshe’s recognition of his Divine mission in this world means that over the span of his leadership career, he teaches us many lessons, which contain manifold and enduring teachings for the generations.

Moshe demonstrates for us compassion for others who are suffering, even if one himself is not; he teaches us about the faithfulness of a leader to his flock and defending the flock before G-d at all costs; he teaches us that prayer is never wasted, nor is it unheard; he teaches us the grandeur and sweep, the beauty and depth, of the seventy faces of Torah; he teaches us to love, and long for, the land of Israel with every fiber of our being, yet still be the best eved Hashem we can be, even if we do not yet live in said land; he teaches us about the physical and spiritual aspects of avodas Hashem, and the necessity to always strive to go in His ways and never worship foreign powers. He teaches us - repeatedly - that there are consequences to our actions, and that every day, we must choose the right, the good, and the elevated path in life. He teaches us to recognize thine enemy - both from within and from without - and fight for survival when necessary. He teaches us that Torah must be new to us every day and that mitzvos are never outdated or antiquated. He teaches us to have passion in our avodas Hashem, love of our fellow Jew, and belief in oneself. 

In the words of Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks z’l: “What does the story of Moses tell us? That it is right to fight for justice even against regimes that seem indestructible. That G-d is with us when we take our stand against oppression. That we must have faith in those we lead, even if they lack faith in us. That change, though slow, is real. That people are eventually transformed by high ideals even though it may take centuries. That we rarely live to see the full impact of our lives. What matters is to do right because it is right, to be honourable, do our duty, accept responsibility, and blame no one but ourselves for our failures. Nor do we need seek recognition for our success. If we have earned it, it will come, even if we do not live to see it. That is the way of Moses.

“In one of the most powerful statements about him, the Torah states that he was ‘a hundred and twenty years old when he died, yet his eyes were undimmed and his strength unabated’ (Devarim 34:7)… Why was Moses’ strength unabated? Because his eyes were undimmed - because he never lost the ideals of his youth. Though he sometimes lost faith in himself and his ability to lead, he never lost faith in the cause: in G-d, service, freedom, the right, the good, and the holy. His words at the end of his life were as impassioned as they had been at the beginning.

“That is Moses, the eternal symbol of how a human being, without ever ceasing to be human, can become a giant of the moral life by being ‘a servant of G-d’ (34:5). Life is the opportunity to serve. The rest is commentary. Go and do. Go and teach. Go and heal. Go and be a blessing. That is Jewish spirituality, standing on one leg” (Covenant & Conversation, Deuteronomy, p.370-371).

And so, while the five books of Chumash come to a close with the death of Moshe Rabbeinu, the legacy of Torah never ends, for “the righteous, even in death, are called living” (Brachos 18a-b). It is the legacy of Torah, mitzvos and maasim tovim that the tzadik entrusts to us, which remains very much alive, even after his death.

While וְלֹֽא־יָדַ֥ע אִישׁ֙ אֶת־קְבֻ֣רָת֔וֹ עַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה, no man knows his burial place until this very day (34:6), and Moshe’s physical self was taken - and concealed - from us, what has ensured the survival of Am Yisrael throughout the ages is the gift of תּוֹרָ֥ה צִוָּה־לָ֖נוּ משֶׁ֑ה מֽוֹרָשָׁ֖ה קְהִלַּ֥ת יַֽעֲקֹֽב - The torah that Moshe commanded us is the inheritance of the assembly of Yaakov (V’zos Ha’bracha, Devarim 33:4). 

בברכות שבת שלום וחג סוכות שמח