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Parashat Vayelech
Deuteronomy 31

Topics (click on any link)
Synopsis of the Torah portion
Spiritual insights into Parashat Vayelech
Key verses
Creative Midrash for Parashat Vayelech


Synopsis                        return to top of page

Consisting of only one chapter, Vayelech is the shortest portion in the entire Torah; it deals with the final preparations of Moses’ death. In the opening scene, Moses is addressing the Israelites explaining that he is too old to lead the people and besides God denied him the privilege of crossing over into the Promised Land. Joshua, son of Nun, has been selected to lead you across the Jordan. You shall not be afraid of the enemy for the Lord your God will be with you, protect you and deliver them into your hands

Moses then commissioned Joshua to take command and instructed him that the Lord is with you therefore do not fear nor be dismayed.  God, then, set down a rule that in every seventh year at the time of the Feast of Booths, Succot, the people shall gather and listen to the entire Teaching, read aloud to every member of the community.

The Lord spoke to Moses telling him that the time has come for him to die. He shall call Joshua to the Tent of Meeting where He will instruct him. God tells Moses that the people will soon forget the Teaching and worship alien gods and I will abandon them. Many misfortunes will befall them. The people will then say because the Lord has deserted us that this misfortune struck. I will remain hidden because of all the evil they have done. God then instructed Moses to write down this poem and teach it to the people, which will serve to remind them of the sin of the alien gods that they are bound to worship.

When Moses finished writing every word of the Teaching, he informed the Levites to place the Teaching beside the Ark of the Covenant. Moses gathered the elders of the tribes and taught them the words of the Teaching because he knew that after he dies the people will act wickedly and disaster will occur for having done evil.

<>Spiritual insights into Parashat Vayelech                        return to top of page
We have reached that part of our story, which entices us to believe that, the Israelites are finally going to cross the Jordan to enter the Promised Land. The problem is that the Torah essentially ends at this juncture and begins again with the return to the beginning Parashat Bereshit, at Simchat Torah. So every year our anticipation of the crossing surges, but we never get there; we start to read from the beginning again. Its sort of frustrating, but isn’t this the way our life works? Each time we think we’re about to make major breakthroughs in some aspect of our lives, we have to start all over again. But each new beginning strengthens us and we follow our paths with more experience and more vigor.

The Torah works that way too. It assumes each time we repeat the cycle of readings we will have grown spiritually a little more. That is the essential quality of evolution, we grow in an ever expanding spiral of mental and spiritual growth with each passing year. The Torah mirrors that growth. Just as the Israelites never really cross the Jordan, we too fall just a little short of our potentials, which gives us the impetus to keep on striving.

As this parashah ends, God tells Moses that when he dies, which is about to happen soon, the Israelites, will return to their old ways and worship alien gods.  Then Gods anger will flare up against them and abandon the people. This comes about as a self-fulfilling prophecy which history bears out. Think of all the exiles and suffering we endured since the Babylonian exile, only to be concluded with the last and most horrific event of all—the holocaust. Do you think that the words of the Torah are truly reflecting modern history?

Key Verses                        return to top of page
This page is not a commentary on the text, but a chance for you to express your own comments and feelings in order to gain deeper insight into your own life.

Deuteronomy 31:6
Be strong and resolute, be not in fear or in dread of them; for the Lord your God himself marches with you: He will not fail or forsake you.
Food for thought:
1. When Moses instructs the Israelites to go forward into battle without fear, who are they afraid of?
2. Are these enemies historical nations or are they symbolic enemies of the soul? Do you think that the Torah contains lots more concepts that are allegorical? Which ones can you think of?
3. What kind of enemies do you think exists in the soul? What enemies exist in your soul?

Deuteronomy 31:16
The Lord said to Moses: You are soon to lie with your fathers. This people will thereupon go astray after the alien gods in their midst, in the land which they are about to enter; they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I made with them.
Food for thought:
1. What do you think God’s statement has to do with our understanding of death?
2. Can you recall the circumstances that made God decide when Moses would die? Is death a physical phenomenon or is it something ordained by God?
3. God also predicts that the people will go astray after alien gods. Did his prediction come true? What are the conditions today that would account for this prediction?

Deuteronomy 31:26
Take this book of Teaching and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God, and let it remain there as a witness against you.
Food for thought:
1. Why did God want this book of Teaching to be placed alongside of the Ark of the Covenant? What was He afraid of?
2. How would you describe the Teaching that Moses had written into the book? Do you think it was the narrative or was it the laws? Or both?
3. Were the laws are ethical or spiritual? Can we live by them today?
4. What do they teach us? What did it teach you? How has your life benefited by the Teachings?

Additional questions to ponder:
1. What is it about the story, a verse, a word that seems to resonate with some aspect of your life?
2. Is there something about the story that rings a bell?
3. Can you recall experiences in your life when you have experienced something similar to this story?
4. How would you describe the characters in the story? Who do you know who's like them?
5. Can you personally identify with any one of the characters in the story? Which one?
6. Can you find a similarity between yourself and all the characters in the story?

Reflections:
The Rabbis of old would meditate on such questions, sometimes for weeks at a time, to help find deeper meaning in the
verses. You may wish to contemplate just one or a few of these questions at a time, rather than tackling them
all. In what ways we any of your responses to the questions personally meaningful?

Suggestion:
Some of the questions here are of a personal nature which in some cases could be emotionally upsetting. If so, try
relaxing your body as much as possible and takes long slow breaths of air. That usually helps to relieve anxiety.
We would like to know if you find this method of Torah study particularly helpful to you. Click here to let us know

Creative Midrash on Parashat Vayelech                          return to top of page
Deuteronomy 31:27
Well I know how defiant and stiff-necked you are even now, while I am still alive in your midst, you have been defiant towards the Lord; how much more, then, when I am dead!
 

The Rabbis of old would create parables, stories and narrative connections around such selected verses. What do you see between the lines, the sentences and the letters. The following questions can provide a launch pad upon which to create your own meanings of the Torah.

What is Moses so concerned about?  What is he afraid of? In what ways have the Israelites been defiant and stiff-necked? Can you recall such incidents? What do you think will happen in the future if the Israelites stubbornly remain obstinate? Has Moses fears come true?  Do you think the history of the Jewish people has been influenced by their defiance towards God? Do you think the Torah is referring only to the Israelites regarding defiance or is it talking about us too? Do you think that resistance and antagonism are common traits among people? Are you defiant at times? How has that paid off for you? Do you think that the defiance of the Israelites will have more serious consequences in the Promised Land than when they were in the desert for forty years?
 

Spend some time thinking about these questions. After you mentally process them for a day or two, it could be helpful to record your conclusions in a journal. It's not important to have correct answers; it's more important to wrestle with the narrative. In time this process can teach you to change many of your unproductive thoughts and beliefs for new ones that work more effectively.