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Parashat V’Zot haB’rachah / Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah 5781 — 10/10/2020

Parashat V’Zot haB’rachah / Shemini Atzeret / Simchat Torah 5781 — 10/10/2020

Devarim 33:1-34:12

And this is the blessing, which Moshe, the man of Gd, blessed the people of Israel before his death (33:1)
…the man of Gd. Go and learn how powerfully our Sages, of blessed memory, expounded this phrase (Tanchuma §2), to the point where they asserted that it is along the lines of that which it says (Ruth 1:3), …the man of Naomi [i.e. Naomi’s husband]: the intent is that Moshe would decree and Hashem would carry it out [like a wife who carries out her husband’s instructions]…
…[the blessing was given] before his death – because although Moshe’s worth was great, his spirit and strength were enhanced when the time had arrived for him to be gathered unto his people. [In his commentary to Bereshit 47:9, Or haChaim explained that a person’s soul is composed of a certain number of parts, which equal the number of days of his life. Every day, one part of his soul rises to Heaven, and its spiritual state depends on the person’s actions and accomplishments on that day. As the person’s life draws to a close and he is about to give a reckoning for his actions in this world, all the parts of his soul draw near to him. – Artscroll comment on this passage.]…
The verse can be explained in light of that which [the Sages], of blessed memory, have said (Arachin 17a), “If the Holy One, blessed is He, were to come and sit in strict judgment over Avraham, Yitzchak and Ya’akov, they could not withstand it.” You thus learn that whatever the righteous achieve with their deeds and their efforts in this world, it is only sufficient to prevail as a result of Hashem’s mercy, but not by strict judgment. … Here, though, the Torah informs us that this righteous person (Moshe) put forth immense effort and accomplished good even by the yardstick of the aspect of Strict Judgment, which is alluded to in the Name Elokim [RAR: translated here as “Gd,” but connoting Gd’s aspect of judgment]. Thus it says, the man of Elokim: If Hashem were to come and subject Moshe to strict judgment he would be able to withstand it, since he had marvelously performed what is good and what is upright.

As we prepare to bid Moshe Rabbeinu farewell, Gd, through the words of Torah, gives us a hint of his greatness. As far as I know, Moshe is the only person in Jewish tradition who is called ish haElokim / the man of Gd. To the extent possible for a human being, his individuality was identified with Gd; when he spoke it was almost as if Gd were speaking through him, and when he acted, he carried out Gd’s Will as perfectly as a human is capable of doing.

Gd, as we know, is universal, unbounded by space or time, transcendental to the world yet the basis of all the activity of the world. What does it mean to be totally identified with Gd? When the mind settles down and becomes less and less active, it expands. When the mind is completely settled and inactive, it expands to infinity – since there are no boundaries of thought or perception in such a state, there can be no question of time, space, objects or change. Our consciousness is alone, awake inside itself, beyond individuality. Repeated experience of this silent state of awareness stabilizes it so that it is not lost when our individual self is engaged in activity. We come to identify ourself with this transcendental, universal level of consciousness, and, as it were, watch our individual self acting from this detached platform.

As we continue to progress, our perception becomes more and more refined, until we begin to see the same universality that we identify with inside our own self, to be at the basis of every object of perception. Eventually, this silent, universal basis of our life is known and perceived to be the all-permeating basis of all creation. Our perception of wholeness dominates, both internally, in our own mind and consciousness, and externally, in our perception. I think this is as close to identification with Gd that any mortal can achieve, since we still have an individual body, mind and personality that still has to interact with creation. Our spiritual aspect, if you will, cleaves to Gd, and guides every aspect of our individual, material existence, but that individuality is not swallowed up completely in our universal vision. A candle may not give much light compared to the noonday sun, but it is still there.

Now we can understand something of Moshe’s stature. Since his awareness and perception were grounded in the basis of all creation, he was able to command, with thought (prayer?) or speech and nature would respond. It was as if the vibrations of his awareness, his thoughts, created resonances with the vibratory qualities of whatever it was that he wanted to influence, and shifted nature in the direction he wanted it to go. In terms of more traditional thought, Moshe’s will was so attuned to Gd’s Will, that he “commanded” and Gd carried it out. Further, since all of Moshe’s thoughts are projected from the basis of all creation, they must be in tune with all the laws of nature that structure creation – in other words, they support life in its progressive aspect. Or, since Moshe’s will and Gd’s Will are indistinguishable, it is impossible for Moshe to contravene Gd’s Will, and therefore he can stand up to the scrutiny of the attribute of Strict Justice. (I might point out that there is some disagreement over this point. Some say that Ya’akov lived on the level of strict judgment, and some say Moshe did not – witness the fact that he was not able to enter the Land. And when the Talmud lists 4 who died only because of the decree of death passed on Adam, it includes Ya’akov; Binyamin, Yosef’s younger brother; Yishai, King David’s father; and Chileav, one of King David’s sons.)

I would like to conclude with a personal observation. The body, the material world, is like a crust over the inner, spiritual kernel of life, and blocks the light of the spirit from shining through. When my friend Marie was “saying goodbye to her body” it was as if that crust was getting thinner and thinner and her light was therefore getting brighter and brighter. It was quite palpable, almost startling. In Moshe’s case, even on his 120th birthday his body was strong, yet nevertheless, as his death approached, his spirit shone ever stronger and stronger, until at last, his task completed, he left his individuality behind and merged totally into his Gd.

Chazak, Chazak v’Nitchazeik!

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Commentary by Steve Sufian

Parashat V’Zot HaBerachah and Beresheit

Torah is beyond language, beyond verbal definitions and grammar — it is the fundamental liveliness of Gd. On our level of life, of awareness, the sound value of Torah comes closer to the transcendental and all-pervading quality of Torah.

From this standpoint, here are two sources to listen to the beginning of Beresheit: the first is traditional; the second is creative.

Beresheit 1-8 with cantillation: Very sweet, easy to listen to. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qa_g1QOt9y0

Very lively. Award-winning singer Noa sings Beresheit with Philarmonic Rishon Le Tzion.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYKMWtOlHVE

On Simchat Torah we read the last part of Torah, V’Zot Haberacha, and the beginning of the first part, Beresheit.

Consider Beresheit the seed of Teshuvah — return to Oneness – and V’zot HaBeracha, the last parshah of the Chumash, the fruit: As we read V’Zot Haberacha do we see that the seed has borne its intended fruit?

If we take it on plain level of meaning, no: the children of Israel (that’s not only long time ago but today and in all times) have not yet entered the Promised Land, and Moses, the great leader, never will.

But perhaps we can say that Moses, one of the guests that visits the sukkah during Succoth, has entered Gan Eden, as tradition has it, and so the human race has returned at least a few people to the Gan Eden from which Adam and Eve were evicted: not quite Teshuvah but definitely a return to a higher status.

And later in Beresheit, we see Enoch mentioned as walking with Gd — definitely teshuvah—and Noah as being a righteous person, one who Gd trusts to maintain life on our planet when the rest of humanity, due its wickedness, is destroyed in the flood.

So even early in Torah, taken on the level of meaning, we see examples of the fruit of the seed appearing: people who walk with Gd, who are righteous.

And also, very importantly, Gd’s Torah, One with Gd flowed though Moses — what wonderful Teshuvah! Punctuated by the Word, the Command, the Kiss of Gd’s mouth which Parshah V’Zot HaBrachah tells us Moses was the way Moses died.

By the Touch of Gd is certainly Teshuvah.

Before he died , the man of Gd, the servant of Gd, gathered all the tribes together and spoke to them first as one, as the Children of Israel, giving them the command to obey Torah, then he gave specific blessings to each tribe. This is revealing first unity, then the diversity within the unity. This the action that in its Fullness, restores each individual in a community not only to unity with the community while retaining the special individual role but also, symbolically, to Oneness.

So the Five Books of Moses end with ripe fruit.

Having considered the fruit, let us consider the seed:

Beresheit begins in Hebrew:

“Beresheit bara Elohim et HaShamayim v’et Ha’aretz…”

The way this is commonly translated to English, Beresheit reads: “In the beginning, Gd created heaven and earth… .”

The way the ArtScroll Chumash and chabad.org translate it, it reads, “In the beginning of Gd’s creating the heavens and the earth… .”

This is not only according to scholars more grammatically correct but makes more sense because Gd is without beginning or end, so what does “beginning” refer to? Perhaps any point in the Infinite Vibration of Gd’s Self-Referral Awareness, as Maharishi puts it, is a beginning of detailing further details within the Never-Separated Nature of Gd.

Gd is always One, Unity in Diversity, as it is described in Maharishi Vedic Science, so let’s look at “beginning.”

The best way of looking at the meaning of ‘beginning” is that it refers to any point in the infinite liveliness of Gd — separation and unification are always going on, everywhere and so at any point heaven and earth are always being separated and united.

Within every point is the Whole Unbounded Ocean of Gd and everything is always going on everywhere, in sequence and also in simultaneity. To Gd, Gd is always Totally Present, Infinitely Lively, Infinitely Silent, Omnidirectional, Omnipresent, Omniscient, Omnipotent, Omnijoyful, Omniloving, and so the idea of  beginning is just part of Gd’s “let’s pretend” to be limited.

In addition, Wikipedia notes that not only is “bara” a verb that is only used in reference to Gd but doesn’t mean “create”, it means “differentiate/separate, assign roles to.”  From this standpoint, the heavens and the earth already existed but they were not separated/distinguished/ from each other or given special roles until Gd did so. So Beresheit refers to the beginning of distinguishing “heavens,” the inner, subtle, abstract levels of the details of God, from “earth,” the concrete aspect.

Jeff Benner (ancient-hebrew.org) translates “bara” as “shaped”: from this standpoint, there is neither creating nor separating, there is only refining what already exists.

Rabbi Yitzchak Ginsburgh, in his “Body, Mind and Soul: Kabbalah on Human Physiology, Disease and Healing”, notes that “create” and “heal” in Hebrew have the same root: b-r-a: from this angle, we can say that the beginning of Torah is always the beginning of healing, of Teshuvah, of healing individual humans of their limits and restoring us to our unlimited status as impulses of One and also restoring us to our status as the Full Ocean of One functioning through our individual personalities and bodies.

What a Joy to Be Restored to full memory of the reality that only One exists and we are This!

So creation, healing begins, when Torah, which in its fullness is the fundamental liveliness of Gd, beyond language, beyond grammar, beyond definitions, Gd conversing with Gd, begins to be perceived by individual humans.

And there are surely many more interpretations of “Beresheit Bara Elohim”: our own intuitions will add to the cornucopia.

On the ordinary human level of awareness, this variety of interpretations is consistent with the way we experience life. Again, as Maharishi puts it, “Knowledge is Structured in Consciousness.”  As we rise to higher levels and to Consciousness beyond levels – the Wholeness within which all levels exist — we are able to see the usefulness of each interpretation.

We humans are individual impulses of Gd who pretends to be limited for the fun of playing Hide and Seek, Peek-a-Boo in us, so He, pretending to be we limited souls, can have the fun of seeking as us, and Gd as Gd, can have the pleasure of Hinting and Revealing, through Torah sounds, Torah stories, Torah mitzvah and whatever way He wishes.

In this game, this Game, little by little, and also suddenly, we find as Gd’s Grace Reveals.

Gd dissolves the veils of limits and reveals to us that Gd is All, within us and all around us, everywhere, One without a Second.

And this can happen with any sound of Torah, any word, any parshah, even the last one as we suddenly See and Know the Truth within the Stories.

And because Torah in a written book is only the most infinitesimal aspect of Torah as One with Gd, Torah can hint to us and reveal to us when we’re eating breakfast, walking down a street, snoozing — at any time, any place.

Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge of Good And Evil as well as the serpent, are within us, ready to be clearly experienced as Omnidirectional, All-in-All Points of One, and the duality between Gd and the uncreated creation, is ready to be experienced as the Fun of Gd, always within Gd as One.

So, too, are the all the details of Torah as the Book and Torah as Gd. Beresheit is a good seed that bears good fruit in V’Zot Haberacha.

We do our best to tune to Gd/Torah with “Be still and know!”; with “to love Gd with all our heart, all our soul and all our might”, with “love our neighbor as our self,” as our Self, and as we do we begin to see, hear, taste, touch, smell the Beauty of Gd in every leaf, every sound, every bite of food, everyone and everything — everywhere.

Sukkot/Hoshanah Raba/Shemini Atzeret/Simchat Torah are special times of Joy to make our tuning more charming, delightful, effective.

Very encouraging!

Let’s keep on tuning.

Practice! Practice! Practice!

Baruch HaShem.