Parashat Vayeilech 5782

by Rabbi Margie Cella

Moses is now 120 years old; God has told him he will not cross over the Jordan. Joshua will lead them in his place, and God will go with them as they enter the land, destroying the nations before them. Moses exhorts them not to be afraid (chizku v’imtzu, the plural form of our Torah Fund theme). Moses calls Joshua to him, charging him in the sight of all the people to lead the nation in his stead.

The text then tells us that Moses wrote this Torah and gave it to the priests; he instructed them to gather the nation once every seven years, on Sukkot, to read it, making sure it was passed on to the next generation.

God then commanded Moses and Joshua to come to the tabernacle together so that God could officially give Joshua his charge; Moses also charged him once again, this time with the words now familiar to us: hazak v’ematz – be strong and courageous. We can only imagine the weight of the awesome responsibility that was being placed on Joshua’s shoulders. Like Joshua, we, too, need to be strong and courageous as we pass on our Jewish values to the next generation.

God instructed Moses to write one last poem and teach it to the nation; this poem will stand as a witness against them in their future, when they turn away after other gods. Finally, Moses gave the Torah to the Levites, telling them to place it in the ark along with the two sets of tablets.

The parashah ends with Moses reading this newly-written poem to the people. The words of this poem appear in next week’s parashah, Ha’azinu.