It's written in tears

Text study on Moshe and his tears that wrote the end of Torah.

When Moshe was first found floating down the Nile we learn that he was a crying boy, a baby. From the start Moshe is presented to us with tears in his eyes. At the end of his life we experience him with tears in his eyes. These tears humanize a person who feels so beyond our comprehension, a prophet who has a direct line to G/d. Moshes tears offer us a connection to him as crying is a very humanizing act to witness and experience.

שמות ב׳:ו׳

(ו) וַתִּפְתַּח֙ וַתִּרְאֵ֣הוּ אֶת־הַיֶּ֔לֶד וְהִנֵּה־נַ֖עַר בֹּכֶ֑ה וַתַּחְמֹ֣ל עָלָ֔יו וַתֹּ֕אמֶר מִיַּלְדֵ֥י הָֽעִבְרִ֖ים זֶֽה׃

Exodus 2:6

(6) When she opened it, she saw that it was a child, a boy crying. She took pity on it and said, “This must be a Hebrew child.”

Moshe dies and is buried in the 7th to last line of Torah, yet he is the one who wrote the Torah. The Rabbis ask who wrote the last lines of Torah if Moses died?

1. We ask this question too. What immediate thoughts do you have on how the last lines of Torah were written?

דברים ל״ד:ו׳-י״ב

(ו) וַיִּקְבֹּ֨ר אֹת֤וֹ בַגַּי֙ בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מוֹאָ֔ב מ֖וּל בֵּ֣ית פְּע֑וֹר וְלֹא־יָדַ֥ע אִישׁ֙ אֶת־קְבֻ֣רָת֔וֹ עַ֖ד הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃ (ז) וּמֹשֶׁ֗ה בֶּן־מֵאָ֧ה וְעֶשְׂרִ֛ים שָׁנָ֖ה בְּמֹת֑וֹ לֹא־כָהֲתָ֥ה עֵינ֖וֹ וְלֹא־נָ֥ס לֵחֹֽה׃ (ח) וַיִּבְכּוּ֩ בְנֵ֨י יִשְׂרָאֵ֧ל אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בְּעַֽרְבֹ֥ת מוֹאָ֖ב שְׁלֹשִׁ֣ים י֑וֹם וַֽיִּתְּמ֔וּ יְמֵ֥י בְכִ֖י אֵ֥בֶל מֹשֶֽׁה׃ (ט) וִיהוֹשֻׁ֣עַ בִּן־נ֗וּן מָלֵא֙ ר֣וּחַ חׇכְמָ֔ה כִּֽי־סָמַ֥ךְ מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־יָדָ֖יו עָלָ֑יו וַיִּשְׁמְע֨וּ אֵלָ֤יו בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וַֽיַּעֲשׂ֔וּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֛ר צִוָּ֥ה ה' אֶת־מֹשֶֽׁה׃ (י) וְלֹא־קָ֨ם נָבִ֥יא ע֛וֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל כְּמֹשֶׁ֑ה אֲשֶׁר֙ יְדָע֣וֹ ה' פָּנִ֖ים אֶל־פָּנִֽים׃ (יא) לְכׇל־הָ֨אֹתֹ֜ת וְהַמּוֹפְתִ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֤ר שְׁלָחוֹ֙ ה' לַעֲשׂ֖וֹת בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם לְפַרְעֹ֥ה וּלְכׇל־עֲבָדָ֖יו וּלְכׇל־אַרְצֽוֹ׃ (יב) וּלְכֹל֙ הַיָּ֣ד הַחֲזָקָ֔ה וּלְכֹ֖ל הַמּוֹרָ֣א הַגָּד֑וֹל אֲשֶׁר֙ עָשָׂ֣ה מֹשֶׁ֔ה לְעֵינֵ֖י כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃

Deuteronomy 34:6-12

(6) [God] buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, near Beth-peor; and no one knows his burial place to this day. (7) Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died; his eyes were undimmed and his vigor unabated. (8) And the Israelites bewailed Moses in the steppes of Moab for thirty days. The period of wailing and mourning for Moses came to an end. (9) Now Joshua son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom because Moses had laid his hands upon him; and the Israelites heeded him, doing as ה' had commanded Moses. (10) Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses—whom ה' singled out, face to face, (11) for the various signs and portents that ה' sent him to display in the land of Egypt, against Pharaoh and all his courtiers and his whole country, (12) and for all the great might and awesome power that Moses displayed before all Israel.

2. Why would the rabbis want to know if Moses wrote the last lines of Torah or if someone else did? Why would it matter?

רש"י על דברים ל״ד:ה׳:א׳

וימת שם משה. אֶפְשָׁר מֹשֶׁה מֵת וְכָתַב וימת שם משה? אֶלָּא עַד כָּאן כָּתַב מֹשֶׁה, מִכָּאן וָאֵילָךְ כָּתַב יְהוֹשֻׁעַ. רַבִּי מֵאִיר אוֹמֵר אֶפְשָׁר סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה חָסֵר כְּלוּם וְהוּא אוֹמֵר (לא, כו) "לָקֹחַ אֵת סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה"? אֶלָּא הַקָּבָּ"ה אוֹמֵר וּמֹשֶׁה כוֹתֵב בְּדֶמַע (ספרי; ב"ב ט"ו, מנחות ל'):

Rashi on Deuteronomy 34:5:1

וימת שם משה AND MOSES DIED THERE — Is it possible that Moses, died, and then wrote: “And Moses died there”? But, thus far did Moses write, from here and onward Joshua wrote. Rabbi Meir said: But is it possible that the Book of the Torah would be lacking anything at all, and yet it would state before the account of Moses' death was written in it, (Deuteronomy 31:26) “Take this book of the Torah” -? Rather the Holy One, blessed be He, dictated this, and Moses wrote it in tears (Sifrei Devarim 357:28; Bava Batra 15a, Menachot 30a).

בבא בתרא ט״ו א:ד׳

אָמַר מָר יְהוֹשֻׁעַ כָּתַב סִפְרוֹ וּשְׁמוֹנָה פְּסוּקִים שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה תַּנְיָא כְּמַאן דְּאָמַר שְׁמוֹנָה פְּסוּקִים שֶׁבַּתּוֹרָה יְהוֹשֻׁעַ כְּתָבָן דְּתַנְיָא וַיָּמׇת שָׁם מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד ה׳ אֶפְשָׁר מֹשֶׁה מֵת וְכָתַב וַיָּמׇת שָׁם מֹשֶׁה אֶלָּא עַד כָּאן כָּתַב מֹשֶׁה מִכָּאן וְאֵילָךְ כָּתַב יְהוֹשֻׁעַ דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי יְהוּדָה וְאָמְרִי לַהּ רַבִּי נְחֶמְיָה

Bava Batra 15a:4

The Gemara elaborates on the particulars of this baraita: The Master said above that Joshua wrote his own book and eight verses of the Torah. The Gemara comments: This baraita is taught in accordance with the one who says that it was Joshua who wrote the last eight verses in the Torah. This point is subject to a tannaitic dispute, as it is taught in another baraita: “And Moses the servant of the Lord died there” (Deuteronomy 34:5); is it possible that after Moses died, he himself wrote “And Moses died there”? Rather, Moses wrote the entire Torah until this point, and Joshua wrote from this point forward; this is the statement of Rabbi Yehuda. And some say that Rabbi Neḥemya stated this opinion.

3. What were the two options given above of how the last lines of Torah were written?

4. Is one more legitimate than the other and if so, why?

רמב"ם על משנה סנהדרין י׳:א׳:א׳

היסוד השמיני
היות התורה מן השמים והוא שנאמין כי כל התורה הזאת הנתונה ע"י משה רבינו ע"ה שהיא כולה מפי הגבורה כלומר שהגיעה אליו כולה מאת ה' יתברך בענין שנקרא על דרך השאלה דבור ואין ידוע היאך הגיע אלא הוא משה ע"ה שהגיע לו וכי הוא היה כמו סופר שקוראין לו והוא כותב כל מאורעות הימים הספורים והמצות ולפיכך נקרא מחוקק ...

וזה שאומר שכמו אלה הפסוקים והספורים משה ספרם מדעתו הנה הוא אצל חכמינו ונביאינו כופר ומגלה פנים יותר מכל הכופרים לפי שחשב שיש בתורה לב וקליפה ושאלה דברי הימים והספורים אין תועלת בהם ושהם מאת משה רבינו ע"ה וזה ענין ל) אין תורה מן השמים אמרו חכמים ז"ל הוא המאמין שכל התורה מפי הגבורה חוץ מן הפסוק זה שלא אמר הקב"ה אלא משה מפי עצמו מ) וזה כי דבר ה' בזה הש"י ויתר ממאמר הכופרים.

Rambam on Mishnah Sanhedrin 10:1:1

(1168) The Eighth Fundamental Principle is that the Torah came from God. We are to believe that the whole Torah was given us through Moses our Teacher entirely from God. When we call the Torah “God’s Word” we speak metaphorically. We do not know exactly how it reached us, but only that it came to us through Moses who acted like a secretary taking dictation. He wrote down the events of the time and the commandments, for which reason he is called “Lawgiver” ...

Anyone who says Moses wrote some passages on his own is regarded by our sages as an atheist of the worst kind of heretic, because he tries to distinguished essence from accident in Torah. Such a heretic claims that some historical passages or stories are trivial inventions of Moses and not Divine Revelation. But the sages said that if one accepts as revelation the whole Torah with the exception of even one verse, which Moses himself and not God composed, he is referred to in the verse, “he has shamed the Word of the Lord” (Numbers 15:31), and is heretical.

משנה תורה, הלכות תפילה וברכת כהנים י״ג:ו׳

שְׁמוֹנָה פְּסוּקִים שֶׁבְּסוֹף הַתּוֹרָה מֻתָּר לִקְרוֹת אוֹתָם בְּבֵית הַכְּנֶסֶת בְּפָחוֹת מֵעֲשָׂרָה. אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהַכּל תּוֹרָה הִיא וּמשֶׁה מִפִּי הַגְּבוּרָה אֲמָרָם הוֹאִיל וּמַשְׁמָעָן שֶׁהֵם אַחַר מִיתַת משֶׁה הֲרֵי נִשְׁתַּנּוּ וּלְפִיכָךְ מֻתָּר לְיָחִיד לִקְרוֹת אוֹתָן:

Mishneh Torah, Prayer and the Priestly Blessing 13:6

The eight verses at the conclusion of the Torah may be read in a synagogue when fewer than ten people are present. They are indeed all Torah and were related by Moses from the Almighty. However, since, on the surface, they appear to have been recited after Moses' death, the [rules governing them] are different. Therefore, it is permissible for an individual to read them.

5. Why would the Rambam conclude that you could read the last verses of Torah without a minyan?

ספר הזהר, האזינו א׳:ג׳

מַה כְּתִיב. (שם) קַמְתִּי אֲנִי לִפְתּוֹחַ לְדוֹדִי, אָמְרוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעוֹד דַּהֲוֵינָן זְמִינִין לְמֵיעַל לְאַרְעָא, וּלְקַבְּלָא אִינּוּן פִּקּוּדֵי אוֹרַיְיתָא עַל יְדוֹי דְּמֹשֶׁה. מַה כְּתִיב, (שם) וְדוֹדִי חָמַק עָבָר. דִּכְתִּיב, (דברים ל״ד:ה׳) וַיָּמָת שָׁם מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד ה''. בִּקַּשְׁתִּיהוּ וְלֹא מְצָאתִיהוּ, דִּכְתִּיב וְלֹא קָם נָבִיא עוֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמֹשֶׁה. קְרָאתִיו וְלֹא עָנָנִי, דְּלָא הֲוָה דָּרָא כְּדָרָא דְּמֹשֶׁה, דְקוּדְשָׁא בְּרִיךְ הוּא שָׁמַע לְקַלֵיהוֹן, וְעָבַד לְהוּ נִסִּין וְנִימוּסִין, כְּמָה דְּעָבַד עַל יְדוֹי.

Zohar, Ha'Azinu 1:3

...

"A startling reading of this Talmudic description appears in several commentaries: Moses wrote the last words with tears in place of ink. He writes of his own death in invisible ink, which becomes legible only after his death. Suddenly, we see Moses as both writing and not writing his death. He acts, and simultaneously he is affected by his human finitude. He completes his own book, but his mastery is tempered by his sense of lacrimae rerum, "the tears of things." His tears are the very medium of the record, which becomes legible only after he is gone. -- Avivah Zornberg, Moses: A Human Life

6. What is the significance of Moses writing the end of Torah in tears? Why would this be written into the Zohar?

7. What kind of theological implications might this have?

Chel Mandell

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