Parashat Nitzavim – Vayelech

The week we read a double Torah portion, which marks the final section of the book of Deuteronomy, and the Torah. We have reached the last day of Moses’ life, and we read his final address to the people. It is here that the reigns of leadership are passed from Moses to Joshua.

While Joshua was a worthy leader, how can anyone compare to Moses? In comparing the two, the Talmud (and Rashi) describe Moses as being like the sun, and Joshua like the moon. The common interpretation is about the relative luminance of the two; the moon is the brightest item in the night sky, but it pales in comparison to the brightness of the sun. This is not what the intended interpretation. The Talmud was refereeing to the source of the brightness. The sun’s brightness comes from within, but the moon reflects the brightness around it.

The light of Moses -- the greatness of Moses -- was his status as representative of God. With his death that light would be spread out among the people. The only way to get the light to shine forth was when the people gather and form a whole. The light had now become the domain of the entire nation. This is represented by the mutual responsibility, and the spiritual reciprocity which it implies. All future leaders (including Joshua) would reflect that light. You could say that upon Moses’ death, the Jews went from being the people of Moses, to the nation of Israel.

This week’s portion is also significant because it contains the final of the 613 commandments of the Torah; that every Jew should write a Torah for himself. After giving 612 commandments on how to live, and how to bring G-d into the world, we are told that we must each write them down and bring them into our personal lives. The Rabbi’s teach that this commandment can be fulfilled by writing one letter of a Torah scroll, since if one letter in the scroll is incorrect, the entire scroll is invalid. Writing a Torah is a difficult process, one that not every one is trained in, so this mitzvoh can be fulfilled in a different way. By hiring a trained scribe to write the Torah on your behalf (or even one letter on your behalf), you have fulfilled the mitzvoh.

Earlier this year, I sponsored the writing of an aliya in the new Torah scroll that my Shul is commissioning. In such, I have fulfilled this final commandment of the Torah. In contrast, the first commandment in the Torah is to “be fruitful and multiply”, to have children with your wife. This commandment I also fulfilled this year.

As we approach Rosh Hashana, and we reflect on your actions of the past year, I can take pride in the fact that I have fulfilled the first and the last mitzvot in the Torah. With these book ends in place, I anxiously await the opportunity to fill in the intermediate mitzvoth in the coming year

Shabbat Shalom