Community Magazine September 2011

Dedicated inmemory of Mr. FrankBeda    Would he reveal mystical secrets of Kabbalah? Perhaps a prophesy about the days of mashiah ? Or revelations from the act of creation? When Moshe Rabbenu set out to deliver a final address to the most learned congregation of all-time, it would have come as no surprise if such ethereal topics had been discussed. But in Parashat Nissavim, we find none of these subjects mentioned as Moshe Rabbenu delivers his valediction speech. While none of us today can hope to even come close to the wisdom of Moshe Rabbenu, we know enough to realize that before a person delivers a speech, he needs to know something about the audience. Whenever I accept a speaking engagement, I ensure to get some information about the expected crowd – their background, their level of Torah knowledge, and so on. Quite obviously, my remarks to a group of advanced yeshiva students will be much different than a speech I give to people with limited Torah background. The source material that I use, and the message I try to convey, depend upon the kind of people I am addressing. It is with this basic premise in mind that we expect a Moshe, after having been informed by Gd of his imminent passing, to deliver an appropriate message to the nation, just prior to his departure from this world. But before we evaluate the relevance of Moshes’ message, let us get a sense of whom he was addressing on the final day of his life. A Generation of Miracles We live in a time when Gd’s existence and providence are not readily apparent, when it requires some effort to see Gd’s involvement in the world and in our lives. Not so in the generation of the wilderness. Their entire existence was miraculous. For 40 years, a group of some two million people lived in the desert with Gd providing for their every need. They had food each day, a miraculous traveling well of water and clothing and shoes which never wore out and grew with them. They were surrounded by the “ anane hakavod – clouds of glory,” which protected them from the elements, animals, and enemy attack. This was a generation that saw Gd in everything they did, each and every day. They experienced miracles firsthand on a constant basis for 40 years. This generation was also unique in how they spent their time. They did not go to work, and they did not need to shop, clean or cook. Nor did they go anywhere for vacation. They spent their entire day, every day for 40 years, studying Torah. Moshe Rabbenu taught the men, and his sister, the prophetess Miriam, taught the women. Furthermore, many of the people whomMoshe now addressed were present at the Exodus and the Revelation at Sinai 40 years earlier. The sages teach that every member of this generation achieved an exalted level of prophecy. These were brilliant, righteous people, to whom Hazal refer with the special title “ dor de’a – the generation of knowledge.” They were characterized by their supreme level of knowledge and understanding of Gd and the Torah. So what would we expect Moshe to tell such a noble assemblage of towering scholars in his final address before his death? Chief Rabbis in a Preschool Class Intuitively, we would have expected him to perhaps reveal some sort of profound Torah concepts. This was an “advanced level” group if there ever was one, and we would thus expect Moshe’s final address to center around “advanced level” subjects. But what did Moshe actually say to the people? RAbbi Eli J. MANSoUR iving nder the nfluence L U I 12 Community magazine