Vezot Ha´brachah 5772 - English

by Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky

B’nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica

A King for Jeshurun

The last parashah of the Torah, Parashat Vezot Ha’Brachah, has the peculiarity of not being read on Shabbat but on Simchat Torah, when we celebrate the ending and new beginning of the ritual reading of the Torah.  Since it is customary to offer an aliyah to all the people present at the synagogue during this holiday, this parashah is usually read several times in a row, until everyone has had the chance to read from the Sefer.  This fact makes Vezot Ha’Brachah a well-known parashah, and many people know it by heart (at least those who usually read from the Torah on Simchat Torah!).

The main part of the parashah is made up of the blessing delivered by Moses, before his death, to the tribes of Israel.  The story ends with Moses’ death, before the conquest of the land of Israel.  The parashah has a poetic style, written in an archaic and very metaphoric language.  These features make the text more difficult, giving rise to more interpretations than usual.

I would like to focus here on one verse in particular, 33:5, which says:  “Then He became King in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people assembled, the tribes of Israel together.”  In order to understand this verse, we must know who is king and who is Jeshurun.  Of course, we should analyze it in its context, so as to offer an explanation in harmony with the rest of the text.  If, at the end, we are also able to extract a lesson, then better yet!

Let’s start with Jeshurun.  If you search for this word in Google, preferably written as Yeshurun, you will notice the number of Jewish congregations named after it.  You will find synagogues called “B’nei Yeshurun,” “Adat Yeshurun,” “Temple Yeshurun,” “Beth Yeshurun,” etc.  Hence, we can deduce that Jeshurun is a very traditional name.

However, in the Hebrew Bible, the Tanach, it appears only four times:  in Devarim 32:15, 33:5 and 33:26, and in Isaiah 44:2, all within poetic frameworks.  From the verse in Isaiah, it would seem that the name Jeshurun refers to the people of Israel, since it is written:  “Fear not, O Jacob My servant, and you, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen.”  In fact, it has traditionally been understood as a synonym of people of Israel.

The root of Jeshurun seems to be yashar, which means righteous, correct, honest.  If this was so, then it would add another element to the story of our patriarch Jacob, whose original name meant crooked or twisted.  After living a deceitful life, the patriarch straightens out his life and is called “Israel”; literally, the one who wrestles with God and prevails (remember Bereshit 32, chapter that includes the dream with the fight against the angel).  Later on, the people acknowledge it, or acknowledge themselves, as Yeshurun, that which is honest and does the right thing.  An example of tenacity and self-improvement.

Other scholars (see, for instance, Menachem Beker in his “Parperaot LaTorah”) explain that yashar applies to the people of Israel, for the Torah is called yashar in Joshua 10:13 (“Is not this written in the book of Jashar?”).  Furthermore, the precepts are also called yashar, as it is written:  “The precepts of the Lord are right (yesharim)” (Psalms 19:9).  Therefore, those who received the Torah and keep its mitzvoth may be called Yeshurun.

Now, we have to define who the king referred to in the verse is.  Though there were attempts to identify this king as Joshua or the Torah itself (see Nechama Leibowitz’s commentary on the subject, in “Iyyunim be-Sefer Devarim”), it seems to be that the only two serious contestants to be crowned in our verse are Moses and God Himself.

When we read the previous verse together with our own, we could gather that it is sensible to think that Moses could be the figure alluded to as king:  “When Moses charged us with the Teaching, as the heritage of the congregation of Jacob.  Then He became King in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people assembled, the tribes of Israel together” (Devarim 33:4-5).  Nevertheless, there is a syntactic inconsistency, since in verse 4 it would seem that it is the people who are speaking in the first person, so it is illogical to think that the people are speaking in verse 5 as well, but now and suddenly in the third person.  Therefore, we have to accept that the speaker in verse 5 is Moses, and it is not acceptable for him to speak about himself in the third person.  Then, it would be reasonable to think that God is the king referred to in verse 5.

Following the context of the previous verses, our verse is telling us that from the time the people of Israel accepted the divine yoke through the Torah in Sinai, God started to reign over the people of Israel.

And to conclude, a message regarding the ending of our verse (“when the heads of the people assembled, the tribes of Israel together”); according to Rashi, from here we learn that God will reign in the benefit of the people of Israel only when the different groups that make it up gather together as one and live in peace.  May God grant that our leaders, “heads of the people,” can set aside their differences, so that feelings of unity and fraternity prevail among the Jewish people.

Chag sameach!

Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky

B’nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica