Moshe’s-final-days
-hebraicstudies.net-
Please do NOT visit this site on שַׁבָּת - Shabbat or on the מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts!
Re Tanakh versions:
Throughout
this site I may use any of three versions of the Tanakh: 1. “Jewish Publication Society” (JPS-1917), 2. “Mechon-Mamre.org” (MEC), and 3. “Sefaria.org” (SEF), three brilliant versions, However, the
JPS-1917 is my preferred version!
Colour coded
details of our beloved TaNaKh:
1. Torah =
History & Law, 2. Nevi’im = The Prophets. 3. *Ketuvim = all other Writings.
*The Ketuvim - Includes, Poetical
books - Psalms, Proverbs, Job, the Megillot, or
Scrolls - Song of Solomon, Ruth, Lamentations of
Jeremiah, Ecclesiastes, and Esther, prophecy of Daniel, and history
of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles I & II.
Please Note: Some alterations
or (additions) have been made relating to ‘Names’ and ‘Attributes’ of אֱלֹהִים - Elohim (God), having been corrected like it once was pre
the “Masoretic Text”.
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Remember the following truth from our beloved Torah!
“Ye shall NOT ADD TO THE WORD which
I command you, NEITHER SHALL YE DIMINISH FROM
IT, that ye may keep the commandments of אֱלֹהֵיכֶם יְהוָה - the LORD your Eloleichem,
which I command you”. Davarim - Deuteronomy 4:2. (JPS-1917).
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With Rabbi, Dr. Reuven Ben Avraham-Goossens, PhD.
Perhaps, more frightening than death it-self is the thought that we will find ourselves begging for our lives just before the end.
In fact Moshe (Moses) stood before אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, pleading for his life. With misty eyes and tears of supplication dotted with desert sand, Moshe asks אֱלֹהִים - Elohim for just one more thing: to enter the Promised Land with the Israelites, and to allow his body and heart to touch the earth on the other side of the Jordan. And only then would he depart like any other:
“And I besought יְהוָה - the LORD at that time, saying: ‘O אֱלֹהִים יְהוָה - LORD Elohim, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness, and
Thy strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth,
that can do according to Thy works, and according to Thy mighty acts? Let me go over, I pray Thee, and see the good land that is beyond
the
However אֱלֹהִים יְהוָה - the LORD Elohim ignores his pleas and He commands Moshe to be silent:
“But יְהוָה - the LORD was wroth with me for your sakes, and hearkened not unto me; and יְהוָה - the LORD said unto me: ‘Let it suffice thee; speak no more unto Me of this matter’”. Deuteronomy 3:26.
He tells Moshe to go up and look to the north, east, west, and south. He makes Moshe painfully witness his terrible punishment of reaching the edge of the promise without actually fulfilling it:
“Get thee up into the top of Pisgah, and lift
up thine eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold
with thine eyes; for thou shalt not go over this
When reading the commentaries with, “If it were not written, it could not be said”, for we would be referring to certain matters that appear in the Torah that are so severe that it is hard to accept or believe they were written. This holds true for the above story where Moshe pleads for his life, gets down on his knees, and begs to reach the Promised Land, but אֱלֹהִים - Elohim does not relent.
After Moshe’s hopeful begging, אֱלֹהִים - Elohim silences him, refuses his request outright, and forces him to re-experience his unbearable punishment, namely, to die and not reach the Promised Land, even in his final days and last requests for mercy.
I was asked many years ago, “If you could
change the ending of one book, which would it be?” Of course I always gave the
same answer: the ending of Davarim - Deuteronomy, related to Moshe’ death. I
would have loved to have seen absolution and for אֱלֹהִים -
Elohim to allow Moshe to enter the land so his aching
feet could feel the refreshing cool waters of the Jordan, the sweetness of the
date honey, and the bitterness of the olive. To allow him to fill his lungs
with the air of the land, feel the beads of sweat on his back in
In a way Moshe continues to live within our
beloved Torah to this very day. His death was not the conclusion of the story,
but the birth of the greatest, most compelling story ever, being the birth of
the Torah, the Torah of Moshe, who was our teacher. It became the amazing,
undying creative work that contains our people’s story, our people’s book, and
the Torah that lives with us, forever intertwined with eternity! Moshe’
receiving of the Torah at
Moshe Rabeinu somehow managed to live within us. His life and words from אֱלֹהִים - Elohim through Moshe given us life, and so much more! Our lives perpetuate his memory, as it so clearly states in the following verses.
“Behold, I have taught you ‘statutes’ and ‘ordinances’, even as יְהוָה - the LORD my אֱלֹהִים - Elohim commanded me, that ye should do so in the midst of the land whither ye go in to possess it … the day that thou stoodest before יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ - the LORD thy Eloheicha in Horeb, when יְהוָה - the LORD said unto me: ‘Assemble Me the people, and I will make them hear My words that they may learn to fear Me all the days that they live upon the earth, and that they may teach their children’”. Deuteronomy 4, verses 5 & 10. (JPS-1917 version of the Torah).
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Please Note: “hebraicstudies” links are located
down the page!
This site was originally created, for those who desired to return to our blessed and wonderful faith. Thus be wise and work on your faith and pray at least two or three times a day (if possible) and always seek our beloved אֱלֹהִים - Elohim’s guidance, for His love is always with us, especially when we seek Him, blessed be He! However this site has become very much a teaching site with hundreds of studies!
Remember what אֱלֹהִים - Elohim, blessed be He, said the following through a number of
our prophets...
“The More Torah,
the More Life”,
For Elohim is the One who gave us our ... “Life!”
May the שָׁלוֹם - Shalom =
Peace of צְבָאוֹת- יְהוָה= the LORD
of hosts, be with you, and please always uphold our blessed שַׁבָּת - Shabbat,
as well as the מוֹעֲדִים - Mo’a’dim - Feasts, and
continue saying your daily תְּפִלָּה - Tefeelah’s - Prayers and
regular בְּרָכָה - Be’ra’chah’s - blessings before
food and drinks, etc!
שָׁלוֹם
עֲלֵיכֶם - Shalom Aleichem - Peace be with you!
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