Parashat V'zot Habracha - First Aliyah
Read the biblical text and try to understand it on your own, before reading the commentary.
Moses parts from Israel with a blessing
The aliyah opens at the last moment of Moses as the leader of Israel. Before his death he does not end with rebuke, but with blessing. First he sets the blessing of the tribes within the great story of the revelation of God and the giving of the Torah, and only afterwards does he move on to the individual blessings of Reuben and Judah.
Moses describes the appearance of God from Sinai and his revelation to his people, and connects it to the love of Israel and to the acceptance of his words. The Torah that Israel received is not presented as the temporary possession of the generation of the wilderness, but as the heritage of the congregation of Jacob. It is the thing that binds the different tribes into one community.
After the description of the gathering of the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel, the blessings begin. The first blessing is for Reuben. Moses asks for the continuation of his life and for the survival of the tribe. Immediately after him comes Judah, and for him Moses asks that God hear his voice, bring him back to his people and help him against his foes.
Insights from the aliyah
Moses ends his life with a blessing
After all the struggles, rebellions and rebukes of the years in the wilderness, Moses’ last words to the tribes are words of blessing. On the level of the idea, great leadership knows not only how to warn and correct, but also how to part out of a desire for the good of those it led.
Before the blessings of the tribes comes the Torah
Moses does not begin right away with Reuben and Judah. First he recalls the moment of revelation and the Torah. This places all the differences between the tribes within one shared foundation that connects them.
A heritage is something received in order to be passed on
The Torah is described as the inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. On the level of the idea, an inheritance is not only something enjoyed in the present, but a responsibility to guard it and pass it on whole to the next generation.
Unity does not erase the tribes
On one side, the heads of the people and the tribes of Israel appear together. On the other side, each tribe receives a blessing of its own. This teaches that unity does not require all the parts to be identical, but that each one bring its uniqueness into the whole.
The blessing of Reuben begins with life itself
Before success, wealth or status, the first request is for existence and continuity. On the level of the idea, sometimes the most basic blessing is the very possibility of continuing to exist, to build and to find a place within the people.
Judah also needs his voice to be heard
The blessing of Judah joins together a voice, a return to the people and help against the foes. On the level of the idea, even one who is seen as strong needs his voice to be heard and not to be left alone in the battle.
Strength is not presented as absolute independence
In Judah there appears an ability to act with his hands, but alongside it also a request for help from God. This teaches that human strength and faith are not opposites. A person acts with all his might, and at the same time recognizes that the help does not depend on him alone.
The first aliyah sets the structure for the whole parasha
The opening moves from a general revelation, to the Torah, to the unity of Israel, and then to each tribe on its own. In this way it offers a key to reading all of V’zot Habracha: one people, one Torah, and different tribes, each of which receives a place and a blessing of its own.
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