Torah Portion:Parashas Berakhah--Simchat Torah Portion
Deuteronomy - Devarim (33.1-34.12)
By Nancy Reuben Greenfield
Moses teaches the Israelites a song that will serve as witness for all generations. The song is about how God gives the Israelites a gift by being their God and freeing them from slavery, but that the Israelites reject the Supreme God by worshipping other gods. As a result, many terrible things happen to them. So, the song urges the Israelites to always remember to worship the One True God in order to be a happy and prosperous people. After this song is written down, God tells Moses that it is time for him to die.
Before his death, Moses blesses the sons of Israel, reminding them that God's Teaching is the inheritance for the children of Israel and what unites them.
Moses continues with a message for each of the tribes.
Then Moses says to the people, "There is None like Your God. God guides heavens to help you... God is the support everlasting that raises up all things from the depths. God has driven away the enemy from before you.
Moses went up from the wastelands of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the summit of the high place which lies before Jericho, and God showed him all the land. Then God said to Moses. "This is the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To your descendants will I give it. I let you see it with your eyes but you will not go there.
And Moses, the servant of God, died there in the land of Moab, according to the utterance of God. God buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, opposite Beth-Peor and no one has known his grave to this day.
Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye had not become dim and his freshness had not departed.
The sons of Israel wept for Moses in the wastelands of Moab for 30 days. When the days of weeping in mourning for Moses were at an end, Joshua, son of Nun, was filled with the spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his hands upon him. Then the sons of Israel hearkened to Joshua as God had commanded Moses. And no prophet has arisen in Israel like Moses, whom God permitted to know God face to face.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION:
1. What does it mean for Moses to be a servant of God?
2. Are you a servant of God? Why or why not?
3. Is there a way to become a servant of God? How?
4. Why do you think there has never been another prophet like Moses? Do you think that there will ever be another prophet like Moses? Why or why not?
5. Do we need a prophet like Moses today? Why or why not?
Nancy Reuben Greenfield is a free-lance writer
who lives in Carrollton, Texas with her husband and two
young children. She writes frequently on Jewish themes and
is finishing a book, co-authored with her father, called The
Golden Medina. Nancy hosts a website at www.dfwnet.com/nancy
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