VaYamas Sham Moshe Eved Hashem BiEretz Moav (Devarim, 34:5)
VaYamas Sham Moshe. Is it possible that Moshe died and wrote “And Moshe died there”? Rather, Moshe wrote up until this point [in the Torah] and Yehoshua wrote the rest. Rabbi Me’ir says: Is it possible the Sefer Torah [Moshe handed to the Levi’im] was lacking anything? Doesn’t the pasuk say “Take this Sefer Torah”? Rather, Hashem dictated [these final eight pasukim] and Moshe wrote them with tears.
Rashi, Devarim, 34:5
One opinion says Moshe wrote the last eight pasukim of the Torah. The other opinion attributes authorship to Yehoshua. One seems bothered by Moshe’s ability to write about his future – it would be paradoxical for a living man to write of his death, and physically impossible if he were dead. The other seems more perplexed by the notion that Moshe would leave us an incomplete Sefer Torah.
It’s not a very complicated Machlokes. In fact, what bothers me most about Rashi’s comments is how simplistically the two angles are presented. The second opinion suggests that Moshe didn’t have to foresee the future in order to write his Sefer Torah; Hashem could simply dictate the words to him. So why can’t the first opinion accept this argument. The first opinion sees no apparent problem with Yehoshua’s authorship of the final eight pasukim, so why can’t the second opinion take the same approach? At first glance, there’s a heated debate in this Sifri, but at second glance, neither opinion appears to be in discussion with its counterpart!
Let’s first reconsider what question these two opinion’s address. Does the first opinion really have a problem with Moshe writing about his imminent future? Moshe knows he’s about to die, he even said so at the opening of Parashat VaYeilech, so why would it be impossible for him to write “VaYamas Sham Moshe”? Furthermore, only a few pasukim later, we read “Lo Kam Navi Od BiYisrael KiMoshe.” No matter who wrote that pasuk, he certainly would have to know a little about the future to truly assert that no future Navi would ever be as great as Moshe. So how does one take issue with Moshe foretelling his own death and yet see no difficulty with Yehoshua prediction of Moshe’s everlasting legacy?
Maybe we should be a little more careful in our analysis of this Sifri’s question. Rashi writes, Efshar SheMoshe Meis ViKasav VaYamas Sham Moshe, is it possible that Moshe dies and then writes “And Moshe died there”? In other words, Rashi is not concerned how Moshe could have written this pasuk while he was alive. Rather, Rashi’s only concern was how Moshe could write it while he was dead!
Perhaps what’s really bothering these Tanna’im is the tense of the pasuk, the fact that it is written in lashon avar. Had the pasuk said “And Moshe was about to die,” they would take no issue with Moshe’s ability to foresee his imminent death. But because the pasuk is written in past tense, Moshe would first have to die and only then could write about his death from the appropriate chronological perspective. The first opinion is so troubled by the tense of VaYamas Sham Moshe that he concludes the pasuk simply could not have been authored by Moshe; it must have been Yehoshua’s contribution. However, the second opinion (Rabbi Me’ir) is so troubled by the notion of Moshe handing over an incomplete Sefer Torah that he concludes the word VaYamas simply cannot be read literally. It wasn’t that Hashem dictated the words of Torah to Moshe, but rather that He informed Moshe of his nearing death, and Moshe cried over the information. The Gur Aryeh explains that Moshe’s sadness was the first step to his death, and so the pasuk says he “died” there a lesser, somewhat proverbial, death.
At first glance, it is the opinion of Rabbi Me’ir that appears more straightforward and sensible. He reasons that Moshe wrote the entire Sefer Torah, leaving none for Yehoshua to complete, while the Rabanan insist on complicating matters, suggesting that Yehoshua did indeed partake in the authorship of the Torah. But why then would Rashi leave Rabbi Meir’s insight until the end of his comments? Shouldn’t the Rabanan’s obscure approach take a backseat to the simplicity of Rabbi Meir’s? However, the Sifri’s question falls solely on the difficulties surrounding the word VaYamos. It is therefore Rabbi Me’ir’s opinion that contains a far greater stretch, for only one of the two opinions can explain the term VaYamos according to its simple meaning.
On the surface this Sifri clearly comes to discuss the final eight pasukim of the Torah, but perhaps its discussion also helps clarify the final three pasukim. The Torah sensibly should have ended where Sefer Yehoshua picks up, namely with the death of Moshe and the rise of Yehoshua. Yet even after Yehoshua’s establishment as a leader, the Torah takes a step back to inform us:
ViLo Kam Navi Od BiYisrael KiMoshe Asher Yida’o Hashem Panim El Panim LiChol HaOsos ViHaMofesim Asher Shelacho Hashem La’Asos BiEretz Mitzrayim LiFaroh U’LiChol Avadav U’LiChol Artzo U’Lichol HaYad HaChazaka U’Lichol HaMora HaGadol Asher Asah Moshe Li’Einei Kol Yisrael.
(Devarim, 34:10-12)
In other words, the Torah ends with a run-on sentence that returns to the topics addressed in Sefer Shemos, veering as far away as possible from the context of our current parasha. Is this Moshe’s eulogy? Perhaps. Or maybe it is something much more eternally significant than a heartfelt farewell.
When we consider the struggles the Sifri encounters with the word VaYamos, we come to recognize the importance this Midrash places on the Torah’s completion just as Moshe hands the leadership to Yehoshua. If we look through Sefer Devarim, we see that before Moshe could ever teach the Mitzvos that comprise the latter half of the book, he first had to come to terms with the nation, to rebuke and reprove them, and to reach a common ground. He told over the stories of Mitzrayim and the Midbar through his own eyes, and only when the nation could view their history as Moshe did could they also view the Torah as Moshe did.
Rabbi Yehoshua Ben Levi said: When Moshe ascended to the heavens [to receive the Torah], the Malachei HaShareis said to HaKadosh Baruch Hu “Ribono Shel Olam! What is this mortal doing amongst us?!” [Hashem] replied to them, “He has come to accept the Torah.” They said to [Hashem], “The Chamuda Genuza, Your precious [Torah of] secrets that You stored away for 974 generations before the world was created, You now want to give it to flesh and blood?!”… Hashem said to Moshe, “Answer them.”… [Moshe] said, “Ribono Shel Olam, what does it say in the Torah You are giving me?” Anochee Hashem Elokecha Asher Hotzaiseecha MaiEretz Mitzrayim. [Moshe said to the Malachim,] “Were you enslaved to Paroh? Then what is the Torah for you?… What else does it say? Kaveid Es Avicha ViEs Imecha. Do you have parents to honor? Then the Torah is clearly not for [Malachim].”
Mesechet Shabbos, 88b
The gemara in Mesechet Shabbos reminds us that the Torah may be a very holy book, but it is still written from a human perspective. Mohe could not simply hand the Bnei Yisrael a scroll and expect them to follow it, but he couldn’t describe its laws either. Instead, Moshe gave over a perspective of the world, and that perspective was used to build context for our understanding of the Torah, even today.
We all too often consider Moshe’s life a story within the Torah, but perhaps it is really the Torah’s story that is conveyed through Moshe’s eyes. It is Moshe’s viewpoint, from Moshe’s vantage, that is transmitted in the final Sefer of the Chamisha Chumshei Torah. Moshe’s last moments are not only the time that he wrote his Sefer Torah; those very moments capture the perspective with which the Torah is written.
No wonder it is so critical that VaYamos Moshe be written by Moshe himself or just at the moment of his death, for that moment is the only perspective conveyed in the Torah. It is that unsurpassable vantage that gives Moshe the title as the greatest Navi of all time. And it is his story that we follow and live, and his view of the world – past, present, and future – that is transmitted Li’Einei Kol Yisrael.
Chag Kasher ViSamei’ach.
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