Vezos Haberacha 5775:         Back to Basics

By Rabbi Joshua (basically known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

Parshas Vezos Haberacha consists mostly of the blessings that Moshe gave to the various tribes of the Jewish people, and to the Jewish people as a whole, before he died. The Midrash Tanchuma to parshas Vayechi notes that the first word of the parshas, “vezos” – and this [is the blessing] begins with a connecting “vav,” linking Moshe’s blessings back to those of Yaakov, and, in turn, to Yitzchok, and then to Avrohom, who passed the blessings he received from God to his son, forming “the origins” of the Jewish nation. These blessings deal with matters in both the spiritual and material realm, and assign the role to be played by each respective tribe in the nation. Interestingly, as a preamble to Moshe’s blessings, we are told, “The Torah that Moshe commanded us is the heritage of the congregation of Yaakov” (Devarim 33:4). What is the significance of this statement in the context of the blessings, and why is the name of Yaakov, instead of Yisroel, and the term “congregation”, used in referring to the Jewish nation as the recipient of these blessings?

Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky, zt”l, in his Emes Le’Ya’akov, explains that this preamble and the term “congregation of Yaakov” distinguish the Torah and the Jewish nation from all other religions and nations of the world. Religion, for other nations, is the province of certain specific people, religious practitioners, who are the only ones who understand the religion. The average member of the religion, however, does not study it, and is not particularly knowledgeable about it. The Torah, however, is given over for everyone in the nation to study. Rabbi Saul Berman has pointed out that this factor distinguishes the Torah from many ancient mystic religions, and is reflected, for example, in the detailed and repeated architecture of the mishkan as presented in the Torah five times between parshas Terumah and parshas Pekudei. According to Rav Yaakov, this characteristic of Torah is implied by referring to it as the heritage of the congregation of Yaakov.  

Another, related characteristic of Torah, adds Rav Yaakov, is that it applies to all aspects of life, both spiritual and material. Other religions, by contrast, are relegated to the spiritual realm, but do not deal with the everyday, mundane aspects of life. Torah regulates and guides all aspects of life, from the time one wakes up in the morning until one goes to sleep at night, and throughout life. The korban shelamim reflects this characteristic of Torah. Parts of the korban are brought up to God, being burned on the altar, while other parts are given to the kohanim, and still other parts are eaten by those who bring the korban. The non-Jew’s concept of religion is totally in the spiritual realm, and so he has no relationship to the korban shelamim, but only to the korban olah.

Linguistically, says Rav Yaakov, the word on which the name Yisroel is based, “sarisa,” refers to Yaakov's battle with sarim – princes (Bereishis 33:29) while the name Yaakov comes from “eikev,” or heel, alluding to all elements of the nations. Speaking of the congregation of the Jewish people, as guided by the Torah, includes all elements of the people, and encompasses all of the different realms to which each prospective tribe is assigned its task in forming that congregation. Following this thought, the connecting “vav” that begins the preamble to Moshe’s blessing connects his blessings to those given by God to Avraham, who planted the roots of the nation that would represent God in all aspects of life.