וזאת הברכה ✦V’zot Hab’rachah
DEUTERONOMY 33:1–34:12
Moses’ Last Words: A Blessing for Israel
PARASHAT V’ZOT HAB’RACHAH (“this is the blessing”) presents Moses’ poetic blessing of the Israelites (33:1–29), which is followed by a brief record of Moses’ death and a tribute to his unparalleled prophetic stature (34:1–12). As we come to the end of Moses’ life, it seems fitting to reflect back on the epic story of Israel’s unrivaled leader.
Moses’ story begins in the book of Exodus (2:1–22), where we read that a Levite woman and a Levite man (later identified as Jochebed and Amram) give birth to a child whose life is imperiled by the Pharaoh’s decree to kill all Israelite baby boys. Although Moses’ mother initially defies the king and hides her son, after three months she is forced to abandon him, so she places him in a basket floating down the Nile. His sister, Miriam, then watches as Pharaoh’s own daughter rescues and adopts the Hebrew child. At Miriam’s suggestion, the princess hands Moses over to his mother, Jochebed, who nurses him for several years. Thus, it takes the courage, ingenuity, and collaboration of these three women to ensure the survival of Israel’s future liberator and leader.
Although raised as Egyptian royalty, Moses eventually identifies with the plight of his enslaved kin. But when defending a beaten Israelite leads to manslaughter, Moses flees to Midian. There, he marries Zipporah, the daughter of the Midianite priest Yitro, and fathers two sons. Then, while shepherding his father-in-law’s flocks on Mount Horeb (also known as Mount Sinai), he glimpses the Divine amidst a bush that burns yet remains unconsumed. Reluctantly, he accepts God’s call to return to Egypt and rescue his people (Exodus 3–4). With the aid of his brother Aaron, Moses orchestrates God’s signs and wonders and eventually persuades Pharaoh to let Israel go (Exodus 5–15).
The exodus from Egypt leads to a second encounter with God atop the same mountain, where God communicates the precepts by which Israel is to live (Exodus 19–20). The rest of the Torah describes how Moses oversees the construction of the Tabernacle and the ordination of the priesthood and then leads the people on a forty-year trek through the wilderness. Once they reach the plains of Moab, Moses reaffirms the covenant and instructs the people how to live in order to thrive in the Promised Land. For Israel, the wilderness journey will culminate in the entry into the land of Canaan, as recounted in the book of Joshua. For Moses, as we read in this parashah, the journey will end atop another mountain, Mount Nebo, as he surveys the land and dies at God’s command.
Parashat V’zot Hab’rachah is unique in that it is not designated as a weekly Torah portion. Instead, it is read on Simchat Torah, the holiday that marks the conclusion of the annual Torah reading cycle and the commencement of a new lectionary cycle of weekly Torah readings.
The focus of this parashah is on Moses and the tribes named for Jacob’s sons; women are explicitly mentioned only once, in the reference to a mother in 33:9. However, 33:4 states, “Moses charged us with the Teaching [torah] as the heritage of the congregation of Jacob.” Who is “us”? Prior passages in Deuteronomy specify that women were included in the covenant (29:10) and were taught the torah (31:12).
Finally, 34:8 mentions that “the Israelites bewailed Moses” for thirty days. Evidence shows that women were trained as singers of laments and likely would have played a main role in mourning Israel’s most cherished leader.
—Andrea L. Weiss
Outline—
I. THE BLESSING OF MOSES (33:1–29)
A. Prose Introduction (vv. 1)
B. Prologue: God as warrior and king (vv. 2–5)
C. Blessing of the tribes (vv. 6–25)
D. Epilogue: God as refuge and warrior (vv. 26–29)
II. THE DEATH OF MOSES (34:1–12)
A. Survey of the promised Land (vv. 1–4)
B. Moses’ death (vv. 5–7)
C. Mourning for Moses, who is succeeded by Joshua (vv. 8–9)
D. Tribute to Moses’ unrivaled status (vv. 10–12)