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Vayelech- Growing with Joy
For this year’s Parsha Lesson I will be focusing on a chinuch (parenting/ educational) lesson that can be derived from the Dvar Torah.
Background
At the beginning of this week’s parsha, the Torah tells us that Moshe ‘went’ and he spoke to the Jewish nation.
The commentators are all bothered- where did Moshe go? The way things generally worked in the desert was that whenever Moshe had something to share with the people they would gather around Moshe to listen to what he had to say. Moshe would not go anywhere, the Jewish people would come to him. So what happened now? Why was Moshe going somewhere to speak with the Jewish people?
The Seforno (R’ Ovadiah Seforno, Born: in the 1470s in Cesena, Italy. Died: 1550 in Bologna, Italy) explains that Moshe went to each of Shevatim (Tribes) in order to comfort them about his death, so that the joy that they were experiencing from the covenant that they had just entered into, would not be diminished.
As we learned in last week’s Parsha, Nitzavim, the Jewish people entered into a new covenant with Hashem to follow His commands and keep the Torah- akin to the receiving of the Torah and the covenant of Mt. Sinai. This was a tremendous spiritual accomplishment and led to the Jewish nation experiencing a tremendously joyous period. It was during this period that Moshe would be passing on from this world.
In order to not disturb, too much, this joy that the Jewish people were experiencing, Moshe went around the camp, to all of the Shevatim personally, to slowly break the news of his impending demise.
Question
Why was this so important? The Jewish nation was comprised of elderly people, adults, many different levels of leaders of the various tribes and courts- great people who were resilient and strong and more mature, cerebral and ‘balanced’ than we can even imagine. This was the greatest generation of Jews ever! And, it appears that the Seforno’s opinion is, if Moshe’s passing would have come at a different point in time there would not be a need for Moshe to go to such great lengths in order to comfort the people.
So what changed now that they were in the ‘afterglow’ of a tremendous spiritual accomplishment? Why is it now imperative for Moshe to busy himself like so in his final moments of life on this world?
Answer
Moshe saw the tremendous spiritual accomplishment that the Jewish people had just attained with this new covenant and Moshe saw as well the joy and ‘high’ that the Jewish nation was on. And Moshe, the consummate, wise, teacher who- more than anyone- understood exactly the nuance of getting through to people and ensuring that that which is being taught would be absorbed and inculcated, knew that the ‘temperature of the moment’ is of critical importance.
The emotion which is associated with spiritual accomplishment and progress is of such utmost importance that for Moshe’s final moments on this world it was worthy for him to comfort and soften the blow of his passing- to great men and women, of the greatest to walk the face of this Earth. Even for these great people, a lessening in the shock and fear which would inevitably follow Moshe’s actual demise, would have a long lasting impact and thereby affect the nation for generations to come.
Chinuch Lesson
How important it is for us parents and teachers to set the right tone when imparting lessons and wisdom! How important it is for us to ensure that growth and development be accompanied by a pleasant atmosphere and warmth! The effectiveness of what we impart will be greatly determined by the environment both before and after our lesson is taught.
If the ‘greatest generation’ needed Moshe to soften the blow and comfort them in order for the accomplishment of a covenant with G-d to be as effective as it could be, how important do you think it is for our children, our students and ourselves to have the proper mood and emotion, accompany our growth ?
Wishing you and your family a wonderful Shabbos!
Rabbi Eli Meir Kramer
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