Parasha: Vayelech · Aliyah: Fifth (Hod)

הן קרבו ימיך למות, "Behold, your days are drawing near to die, etc." The reason for the word הן here is to justify Moses' having said that he had reached his 120th birthday on that day. Our sages in Rosh Hashanah 11 mention that by the word היום in verse 2 Moses meant that he reached the age allotted to him. As a result, G'd's word came to him saying: הן, "you are correct," the time has come for you to die. The reason G'd said קרבו ימיך (pl.) instead of saying קרב יומך, "your day has arrived (sing.)" may be understood in the same vein as Genesis 47,29 where we have explained this wording.

Another intention of the Torah for using the expression הן קרבו, may be as follows: "The days which are yours have approached; these days are the ones on which parts of your soul are approaching." This is the mystical dimension of Psalms 104,29: תוסף רוחם יגועון, "when You take away their breath they will perish." In my commentary of the Ari Zal on this verse on page 391 of my commentary on Jacob's impending death, I have explained all this in detail. The approach of the different parts of the soul making up the composite of one's soul, spell the imminence of physical death. The verse in Psalms then has to be translated as: "when all the parts of their spirit come together their bodies will die."

והתיצבו באהל מועד, "and stand both of you in the Tent of Meeting, etc." This is the first instance where G'd commands Joshua to display a symbol of his new authority in Moses' presence. G'd did this by giving both Moses and Joshua simultaneous instructions using the plural התיצבו. We have explained this word as meaning "being appointed" in connection with Deut. 29,12. The word has a similar meaning in Samuel I 13,14 where Samuel tells King Saul ויצוהו ה׳ לנגיד על עמו, that in His heart G'd had already appointed someone else as leader of His people. This was some time before G'd ordered Samuel to anoint one of Yishai's sons as king. G'd's words to Joshua "for you will bring the children of Israel to the land, etc." (verse 22) are interpreted in Sanhedrin 8 as another such appointment of Joshua to a position of authority.

וקם העם הזה וזנו אחרי אלוהי נכר, "and this nation will arise and stray after idols, etc." How can Moses describe such a deviation as a קימה, "a rising," instead of as a ירידה, "a descent, a degradation?" Perhaps we may relate the description וקמו to 32,15 where Moses described the Israelites as first waxing fat and as a result "kicking." Up until that point Israel had been referred to as "Yeshurun." At this point Moses pointedly speaks about העם, the common people rising. The coarsening of the Jewish people was due to their material blessing which G'd had showered upon the nation deserving of the distinctive appellation "Yeshurun."

Another meaning of the verse is that not only the generation Moses describes in our verse will worship idols but also the following generation. We find in Judges 2,11 that after the death of Joshua and his generation, the Israelites began to worship the Baal. This is what G'd had predicted in our verse when He said to Moses that after he would die this people would rise and stray after alien gods.

ועזבתים והסתרתי פני מהם, "and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, etc." The meaning is that if G'd were to allow Himself to dwell on the troubles which will befall His people, His mercy would be stirred and He would banish His anger. This is why He informs the people in advance that if they were to turn to idols, He, G'd, would turn His face away from them so as not to be tempted to show them compassion.

ואמר ביום ההוא, "and the people of Israel will say on that day, etc." They will be intelligent enough to conclude that all the troubles which suddenly overtook them must be due to G'd having deliberately left their midst. Had G'd not abandoned them it would be impossible that He would tolerate such treatment of His people. Compare what the prophet said in Judges 10,11. We gain the impression from there that G'd Himself had become fed up with the sufferings His people had to endure.

ואנכי הסתר אסתיר פני ביום ההוא, "But I will surely hide My face on that day, etc." The difficulty in this verse is that G'd is portrayed as hiding His face after the Israelites have already confessed their sins, and have acknowledged that their troubles were due to G'd having turned His back on them. If all our verse wanted to do was to provide us with the reason why what happened so far had occurred, there is no need for this. We already know that G'd turned His face away as a result of the Israelites flirting with local deities! Moreover, why did Moses repeat the mention of G'd hiding His face, i.e. הסתר אסתיר? Another thing which is puzzling is why Moses used such a long-winded expression as על כל הרעה, followed by כי פנה אל אלוהים אחרים.

The fact is that our verse does want to provide a reason for G'd's turning away His face. Someone might say that G'd had not judged the Israelites fairly, G'd forbid, for the prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah 27,8: "assailing them with unchained fury." Sanhedrin 100 states that "man will be measured by the yardstick he himself applied in measuring others."

G'd will certainly apply fair yardsticks when judging the Israelites. At first glance it might appear as if turning His face away from the Israelites results in their being punished over and above what they deserve, as the Judge deliberately ignores what happens to them. Perhaps this is what our verse means when writing "is it not (only) because my G'd is not in my midst that all these troubles have found me?"

To ward off such an interpretation of the previous verse, the Torah writes: ואנכי הסתר אסתיר פנים, "and I am surely going to turn away My face;" I am legally entitled to turn away My face from them. This is why G'd had to repeat the word. ביום ההוא, "on that day." On the day they stray after alien gods. The reason the Torah wrote על כל הרעה אשר עשה, is "on account of all the evil it (Israel) has done." This is best understood in light of Chulin 5 that "anyone who admits that idols are independent powers has in fact denied the entire Torah." G'd explains that as soon as the people turned to idols they had in effect turned away from the whole of the Torah, i.e. from G'd. As a result, even if as a result of G'd's turning His face away from them the Israelites would be afflicted with all the curses of the world this would be no different than measuring them with the yardstick by which they themselves had measured others..

Remember that just as the blessings and rewards G'd has promised are meant for the performance of a string of commandments, etc., so curses and punishments are administered in respect of a string of violations of G'd's commandments. As a result, if someone either transgressed all the commandments bar idolatry, or only committed idolatry, he is deserving of all the punishments as commission of idolatry is considered as equal to committing all other violations. No wonder then that G'd hid His face from His people.

ועתה כתבו, "And now write, etc." G'd says to Moses: "and now," although Moses could not delay by a single day seeing he was going to die on this day. G'd meant for Moses to write this down before he would command Joshua what is written in verse 23. Although the instruction to call Joshua and to give him certain instructions had preceded the command to record this song, G'd wanted the song to be recorded first.

You will find that Moses complied with these instructions as we find in verse 22 that he wrote down the song and taught it to the Israelites. Only in the verse following did G'd give His instructions to Joshua to bring the Israelites across the Jordan, to be strong, etc. Normally, we would have expected G'd to complete all His various instructions and only then to write down this song (Haazinu) and to teach it to the people. Seeing that G'd did not want the normal procedure to be followed, He wrote the word ועתה, "and now."

ולמדה, שימה בפיהם, "and teach it and place it in their mouths." G'd commanded three separate commandments here. 1) To write down the song; 2) to teach it to the children of Israel so that they would understand it. [as one has to teach any poem. Ed.] 3) To "place it in their mouths," i.e. to teach them how to read it correctly.

Moses carried out all three instructions as the Torah recorded (verse 23) "Moses wrote the song. 2) He taught it to the children of Israel. 3) Moses said in the hearing of the entire congregation the words of the song (verse 30)." He read it to them in such a way that they would know how to read it properly in the future. This is the meaning of the words שימה בפיהם.