Vayeilech begins with the following words: “And Moses went and spoke these words to all of Israel” (Deuteronomy 31:1). Although the Torah describes Moses as having “went,” it is not at all clear exactly where Moses went to and why the Torah even mentions that he went when it could have simply stated that Moses spoke to all the people.
The Ramban comments that Moses went from tribe to tribe bidding them farewell, for he delivered this portion, like the previous one and the next two as well, on the last day of his life. As the PaRDeS system of interpretation demonstrates, every word, verse, story, and commandment in the Torah possesses multiple levels of meaning; here too, “he went” can be understood in many different ways.
The Hebrew word for Jewish law is Halachah. This word literally means walking, going, or progressing. It shares the same root as the word “went” in the first verse. Moses, in addition to acting as God’s agent in redeeming the Jewish people from Egypt, served for the last forty years of his life as the quintessential teacher of Jewish law. He walked with the law and taught the people how to observe the law so that it would become a vehicle for their spiritual growth and advancement.
Now, as Moses was preparing to leave his people as they entered the Holy Land, the Torah states that “he went.” To shed further light on where “he went,” we turn to a statement in the Talmud (Megillah 28b): “All who study Jewish law everyday are assured a place in the World to Come, as it says [in Habakkuk 3:6] ‘The ways of the world [this world and the World to Come] are His’ – do not read it (the word in the verse) as ‘ways’ rather read it as ‘laws.'” According to the Sages, this verse teaches us that the constant study of Jewish law grants one the ability to “walk” and ultimately advance from this world to the World to Come. Halachah, becomes the bridge, as it were, that enables us to cross from this world to the next.
The observant Jewish lifestyle is designed in effect to train us in how to seamlessly make transitions: from night to day and from day to night, from the mundane weekdays to the holy Shabbat and back again, from month to month and year to year, from joy to sorrow, from being single to being married, from being a child to being an adult, and so forth. Rabbi Natan, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov’s foremost student and the transmitter of his teachings, writes on the first page of his book Meshivat Hanefesh that in order to do teshuvah one needs to be proficient in Halachah and a master of the dynamic of “run and return.” In fact, living an observant lifestyle teaches us how to “run and return,” training us every day in how to make the transitions from one situation to another not only with grace but also with trust, with the full realization that God is with us during life’s highs and lows.
After spending one’s life walking with the law, its influence prepares us for the ultimate transitions – from life to death and from death to life after death. As the Jewish people were preparing to cross from one side of the Jordan to the other, from one reality to another, Moses was also preparing himself to cross from life to death, from our physical world to another more elevated spiritual dimension. That Moses makes this transition with vigor and no sense of regret speaks volumes regarding the spiritual level he had attained.
The phrase “And Moses went” also alludes to the very first time God spoke directly to Abraham, the first Jew, when he commanded him: “Go out to yourself (lech lecha) from your land and the place of your birth and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1; see “The Ten Trials of Abraham” for more on this translation of the verse). The Hebrew word for “go” (lech) has the same root as “went” (vayelech), the name of our portion.
The Jewish people’s journey began when Abraham left his familiar surroundings to begin a new life of constant spiritual striving. His personal spiritual quest is implanted in the consciousness of every Jew in each and every generation. Now, at the end of the Written Torah, Moses is preparing the Jewish people to once and for all leave the slave mentality of Egypt behind and enter, both literally and figuratively, the Promised Land and an entirely new level of consciousness.
Just as Abraham’s crossing over the Euphrates symbolized his break with the pagan culture of his time, the Jewish people’s crossing the Reed Sea after leaving Egypt and then the Jordan to enter the Land of Israel symbolized the nation’s leaving the Egyptian mentality behind forever. As the Jews’ many rebellions against God and Moses during the forty years in the desert attest, it was easier to take the Jews out of Egypt than to take Egypt out of the Jews. Moses in his final address to the people is trying to inspire the people to finally rise to the occasion and make this transition.
According to Jewish tradition, God tested Abraham ten times (Pirkei Avot 5:3). In the first test (according to Rambam’s count), Abraham was commanded to leave with his family, possessions, and the “souls he had made [influenced] in Haran” and go where God led him: “Go out to yourself (lech lecha) from your land and the place of your birth and from your father’s house to the land that I will show you” (Genesis 12:1). In Abraham’s tenth, and final trial, God commanded Abraham to take his son Isaac and sacrifice him. Echoing the first test, this command also contains the words lech lecha (Genesis 22:2).
Just as it is virtually impossible to imagine the enormity and the psychological stress of Abraham’s last test, likewise it is impossible to grasp Moses’ feelings as he “went” to take leave of the people he had lead for forty years. Like Abraham, Moses had endured test after test, and even though the people had constantly tried his patience, he defended them – leading them through thick and thin – even when God threatened to destroy them. Despite not being able to fulfill his fervent desire to enter the Promised Land, Moses still took his leave of the people with dignity and complete faith in God.
