V'zot Habrachah

We rarely look carefully at this parasha, as it comes in the midst of the Fall holidays - and there is so much else to think about and study.  But let's consider the last Torah reading of the entire year.

Big Idea #1:
The conclusion of a book/story/narrative/movie often attempts to wrap up loose ends so the reader/viewer/listener has a sense of what the whole thing is about.


Some Questions to consider:

• What is there in this parasha that helps you understand the whole of the Torah?
• If you were writing a concluding chapter for the Torah, would it look like this?  Explain your answer.
• In what way are you satisfied or not with this ending?

Big Idea #2:

If you know your life is coming to an end, there are things you might want to do or say that you had not done or said before.

Some Questions to consider:

• What do you think was going through Moshe's mind in this parasha?
• Most people don't know exactly when they are going to die.  What difference does that make?
• Why do you think Moshe said what he did on this occasion?

Big Idea #3:

The Torah as a whole is the foundation of Judaism

• Why is the Torah so important to the Jewish people?
• What does our tradition mean when it says that "the study of Torah is equal to everything else?"
• Professor James Kugel says the following in his book, How To Read The Bible, on page 362:

The Pentateuch was now viewed, as Ben Sira and other sages attest, as nothing less than divine wisdom in written form, one great book of legal and ethical instruction.  As a result, the Pentateuch as a whole came to be radically transformed:  its etiological narratives now became moral exempla, and its ancient laws became an up-to-date guide for daily life today.  Rather than a record of the past, the Pentateuch became, like all wisdom writings, a set of instructions for the present.  

Agree or Disagree:  No matter how you understand the origin of the Torah, whether you believe it was dictated by God to Moshe or written over time by wise people, as Jews its significance is as Kugel states, "a set of instructions for the present."  Whether you agree or disagree, be prepared to support your opinion in a discussion.

Be sure to look at my other post on this parasha to see some more detailed ideas for studying it with your students or study partners.

Hazak, Hazak, V'Nitchazek!!

V'Zot HaBrachah

This parasha, as you no doubt know, is the last segment of the 5 Books of Moses. We have read the entire Torah at this point, and it is really interesting to see how it all ends. Personally this parasha was a welcome relief to me, and not because it's finally over! Let's examine why:

Big Ideas:

• People remember beginnings and endings, often better than what is in the middle
• An author often uses an ending to express a summary of ideas contained within the entire body of writing
• Some people choose to write a document called an "ethical will" for those who survive them
• Endings are often beginnings of something entirely new.

Essential Questions:

1. What appears to be the emotional setting for this parasha?
2. How do the emotions expressed in this parasha compare to those in the rest of D'varim? in the other books of the Torah?
3. Whose voice(s) do you hear in this parasha?
4. This parasha is never read at a regular Shabbat morning service. What is the context for reading this parasha?

Learning Activities: Choose

• Compare and contrast Moshe's blessing with that of Yaacov at the end of B'Reisheet
• Compare and contrast this parasha with the rest of D'Varim.
• Read about Jewish ethical wills here and/or here.
• Read an example of a Jewish ethical will written by a not-yet-mother here
• Read Rabbi Oren Hayon's commentary on this parasha . Explain how you understand this passage in his essay:

"When, at last, Moses dies, his soul departs al pi Adonai, literally, “by God’s mouth” (34:5). Mouth to mouth, the breath of Moses is drawn in and subsumed into the breath of God. God tenderly inhales Moses’s final breath and then pauses. As we begin our cyclical reading of Torah once more, God exhales, filling Adam’s nostrils and giving life to all creation."

from Moses's Death,God's Breath, Oren J. Hayon.

Assessment Activities: Choose

• How did this parasha affect your understanding of Moshe? of B'nai Yisrael? of the Torah?
• Illustrate your understanding of this parasha, either in words or pictures.
• Explain what it means to you to begin immediately re-reading the Torah after you have just finished it.
• You read an ethical will written by a women whose child was not yet born. She explains that she will update it as time goes on. Even though you will probably live a very long time, try to write a first draft of your own ethical will. Who are you writing it to? What will you say? Explain when you think you will want to update it and why.