“And the Lord said to Moses,
Behold your days approach that you must die.”
[Devarim 31:14]
The absence of any response by Moses to the news of his impending death suggests
a praiseworthy acceptance and compliance on his behalf. However, there is an
interesting Midrash which suggests differently.
“This can be compared to somebody who honoured a king and brought him a gift of
a sharp sword. The king responded, “Use it to cut off his head”. The man replied
“With the very gift that I have honoured you, you will cut off my head?” So
Moses responded to the Almighty – “With the very word that I have praised You
when I said “Behold the heaven and the heaven of heavens belong to the Lord Thy
G-d”, You now decreed my death?” To which the Almighty replied “Do you not
remember that when I sent you to redeem Israel from Egypt you said to me “Behold
they will not believe in me.” Therefore, I now say to you with that very word
“Behold, your days draw near to die.” [Midrash Rabbah].
What then is the message? There is surely more in this Midrash than a play on
words.
Rabbi Baruch Halevi Epstein in his Tosafot Brachah suggests that the Hebrew word
for “Behold” – “Hen”, more accurately means “certainly” or “indeed”. Moses
complained to G-d that it was an additional pain to him to hear his death
announced in such terms. What had he done to deserve this? Was it not a fact
that he had used the identical word to praise G-d?
G-d’s reply is that Moses had used the self-same word in an inappropriate
context, that is, when speaking about Jews and their lack of faith or
observance. There is no certainty when speaking about man and his future. If
indeed there is any certainty about man it is in his very unpredictability. To
claim certainty about man’s conduct contradicts the most basic doctrine of
freewill – the ability to change.
It was this very unpredictability that prompted Hillel to state in Pirkei Avot
“Trust not in yourself until the day of your death.” And by way of illustration,
the Talmud [Berachot 29a] records how Yochanan the High Priest after 80 years of
service in the Temple became a Sadducee.
It was this very unpredictability of man which is the constant source of hope.
Without such a doctrine the Jew would have despaired already at the very
beginning of his exile. As we become attuned to the approaching solemnity of the
period, we become increasingly aware that there are only two certainties in this
world – G-d and death. A Rabbi Norman Lamm is reputed to have said “Without
death, life has no future”.
Rabbi Israel Salanter once said “People question G-d, but are certain of
themselves. They should be certain of G-d, and rather question themselves”.
This is symbolised by the Torah description of the two goats which form the
central part of the Yom Kippur service in the Temple. One is brought into the
holiness of the Temple and one is taken to wander close to a precipice.
Similarly there are two types of Jew who enter the High Holyday period. There
are those who affirm their Jewishness and imbibe the holiness of Judaism; and
there are those who after Yom Kippur continue in their wandering in the
wilderness of society, taking themselves and their families closer to the brink
of catastrophe.
The only difference is that whatever happened to the animals was decided by
lottery –what happens to the Jew is a result of conscious decision – even if
indifference is a form of action.
Many of us feel we have gone on too long to change and that it is too late to
alter course, to steer by a different star, to march to a different drum.
Eli Wiesel in his book Messenger of G-d presents an inspiring thought. Adam and
Eve, unaware of the tragedy that had befallen their sons, came home to find one
son a victim and the other a murderer. What was their response? Did they throw
the towel in and resign themselves to the situation? No – they had another son.
Their greatness was not that they had started a world – it is that they had the
wisdom and the courage to start again.
As we approach Rosh Hashona let us
too make a new beginning for ourselves and our families, renewing the
commitment to G-d, moving further away from the precipice that is the
consequence of apathy and indifference, and nearer to the sanctuary of faith
and its commandments.
