V'Zot HaBerachah — Simchat Torah
„Let not our heart fall within us if, after the toil of many years, we find ourselves standing at the very beginning of the quest for those very matters that...”From Shemonah Kevatzim VIII, 36
"I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there," says the Holy One to Moses on Mount Nebo, as the land to which he led and guided Israel all his life lies spread before him. Moses's role has ended. He takes leave of the people, and Joshua his student will now take up the staff of leadership. The conclusion of the Torah is the opposite of a Hollywood ending. Moses's triumph is not the foot that treads across the crossing of the Jordan, but the heart that yearns and understands that here a role has ended and a new cycle begins without him. From an external view, one might think that Moses circled about for 40 years and did not reach his destination. But in the journey of the wilderness he turned a people of slaves into the people of God and breathed into it a Torah and a spirit of life that would accompany it forever.
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From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.