d’var torah
Continue Pursuit of Wisdom
BY RABBI JON CUTLER
“M Parshat Vayeilech
oses went and spoke
these things to all
Israel.” (Deuteronomy
31: 1– JPS translation based on the
Masoretic text.)
“And Moses fi nished speaking these
words to all Israel.” (Deuteronomy
31: 1— Alter translation based on the
Septuagint.) Moses is giving his farewell speech
because he is about to die. He is giving
his fi nal instructions to the people, and
he announces to the people that he will
soon die. He also announces that he
will turn his leadership over to Joshua.

Th e Torah notes that, during these
fi nal days, he wrote down “this
teaching,” referring to the book of
Deuteronomy. He then gives it to the
priests and the Levites for safekeeping.

Th is “teaching,” Moses commands,
should be read every seven years during
the holiday of Sukkot, the seventh year
being the sabbatical year when the land
would be fallow and free from the obli-
gation of working the land.

Th erefore, every Israelite young and
old, women, children, would come
together to learn and be re-inspired by
the “teaching,” the Torah. It was during
the rabbinical period that all fi ve books
of the Torah would be read on a consis-
tent basis – holidays, during the week
and on Shabbat.

Biblical scholars have pointed out that
the verb “Va-Yeilekh,” the opening word
of this week’s Torah portion, is translated
as “And Moses went.” Th is is found in our
Biblical translation. But in the Septuagint
version, it is not written as Va-Yeilekh. It
is written rather as “Va-Yekhal,” which
translates as “And Moses completed
speaking these words.”
It could be that the scribe transposed
the last two Hebrew letters leaving us
with two diff erent meanings, two dif-
ferent verbs. From a practical and liter-
ary perspective, and Moses “completed”
rather than “went” makes more sense.

Aft er all, where was it that Moses
went? Th e Torah doesn’t elaborate.

Commentaries from Rashi and Ibn Ezra
say that Moses went to each tribe to bid
them farewell before he died. He also
wanted to demonstrate that, although
he still had the strength, he was now
no longer permitted to assert any lead-
ership. His authority had been given to
Joshua. So, he went from tribe to tribe
to tell Israel they were in capable hands.

Still the phrase “And Moses went
…,” even with the commentaries, leaves
us questioning. Th e commentaries sup-
ply us with an interesting, homileti-
cal answer to the question: Where did
Moses go? On the other hand, the rever-
sal of two letters might give us a fuller
and perhaps more accurate understand-
ing of what Moses did on the last day
of his life, “And Moses completed and
spoke these things to all Israel,” instead
of reading: “And Moses went …”
But relying on an alternate reading
from the Septuagint doesn’t help either
because the same question can be asked.

What did he complete? Was it the Book
of Deuteronomy?
However, the opening verse in this
week’s Torah reading challenges us into
thinking more deeply about life, the end
of life and the completion of tasks.

I would like to suggest that the open-
ing words, the play between “went” and
“completion,” might be both accurate:
“Went to complete.” In the phrase “went
to complete,” this is a lesson in life.

Moses recognized that his life was
about to end. Before he died, he needed to
complete tasks that were left undone. He
would never be able to fi nish those tasks.

Yet the Torah tells us that Moses was still
trying to attempt those tasks. He was not
as physically able as he once was. He told
the people of Israel that he is not capable
to be active any longer and that he could
not come and go as he did before.

Rather, Moses’ life was coming to
end, but it did not mean it was the
end of his journey. He would always
be present amid his people in the gen-
eration and generations to come. His
words would resound for millennia. He
would always continue to be the teacher
and lawgiver for all those succeeding
generations just as he was during his
40-year leadership of Israel.

Th e opening word “Va-Yeilekh”
teaches us that the purpose of life
is not completion but the need for a
continual pursuit with the result of
leaving behind living thoughts and
vibrant ideas, lessons about life and
walking in the ways of righteousness.

Th is will revitalize descendants and
inspire them.

Moses still lives through the words of
the prophets, the law and the rituals and
wisdom of the rabbis. Moses lives in the
hearts of every Jew who picks up a Torah
and studies it. Th ough he was preparing
himself to die, his “Va-Yeilekh” truly
never ended, and the “Va-Yekhal” was
never really completed. Every time we
read and study Torah from year to year, it
is never “Yekhal,” or completed, because
we are always becoming.

And at the same time, “Va-Yeilekh
— And Moses went” is pertinent. For
in our comings and goings, it is what
we leave behind. As we go through life,
we must face our own mortality. As in
the case of Moses, our sojourn on this
earth is temporary. As such our lives
are never completed. It is a journey.

“It is not your duty to complete the
work (of the world), but neither are you
free to desist from it.” (Hillel trans-
lation) Source: Talmud, Pirke Avot
(Ethics of the Fathers) 2:21, attributed
to Rabbi Tarfon. JE
Rabbi Jon Cutler is co-president of the
Board of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia
and rabbi of Beth Israel Congregation
of Chester County. Th e Board of Rabbis
is proud to provide diverse perspectives
on Torah commentary for the Jewish
Exponent. Th e opinions expressed in this
column are the author’s own and do not
refl ect the view
of the Board of
Rabbis. JEWISHEXPONENT.COM
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