Parshat V’Zot HaBeracha: The blessing of all blessings

Moses’ last words to the children Israel come as the spirit of the blessing that encompasses the blessings that he gave them, all inspired by the ones Jacob gave to his children before his death. This spirit is the same that hovered on the face of the waters in the beginning of God’s creation, the one that sustains it towards the final purpose He wants for it.

“Yea, He loves the peoples, all His holy ones. They are in your hand and they sit down at your feet, receiving of your words.” (Deuteronomy 33:3)

God loves His creation for the sake of the goodness that comes out of the sacredness of His love. Hence He loves the peoples as His sacred ones. This verse, as well as the final ones in the Torah, contains prophetic messages and thus we understand that at the “end of times”, also known as the Messianic era, all the peoples finally achieve the sacredness for which the Creator love them.

The second part of the verse can be read, either as the peoples that will be guided by Israel as widely prophesied in the Hebrew Bible, or guided by God’s words which are also Israel’s words that He gave them in the Torah as the law commanded to them.

“Moses commanded us a law, an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob. And there shall be a King in Jeshurun, when the heads of the people were gathered, all the tribes of Israel together.” (33:4-5)

The Torah and its compliance is God’s inheritance to the people of Israel as the congregation of Jacob, which is totally fulfilled when all of their tribes are gathered and united. Only then a King shall reign over Jeshurun as the prophesied name by which Israel will be known, for all of their people will be righteous and straight-forward (Je-shurun, “I will be righteously straight”) under the kingship of the Creator, and through the direction of an also righteous leader known as the Jewish Messiah.

“And Israel dwells in safety, the fountain of Jacob alone in a land of grain and wine; yea, His heavens drop down dew.” (33:28)

Here we realize that when the tribes of Israel and gathered and together as foretold by the Jewish prophets, all following the law that Moses commanded them, their king will come to direct them into the safety that the knowledge of God alone can provide. The latter is the fountain of Jacob that sustains life as the land with the abundant material nurturing (“grain”) and the spiritual joy (“wine”) received as the goodness God provides with the dew from the heavens.

“Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you? A people that has been redeemed by the Lord, the shield of your help, and that is the sword of your excellence! And your enemies shall dwindle away before you; and you shall tread upon their high places.” (33:29)

In the realm of this idyllic destiny foretold here in the Torah and later by our prophets, Israel rejoices in it as the exceptional people chosen to fulfill God’s will for the Messianic times. Thus we realize His final redemption for Israel, when goodness as the shield with which God blesses them, and as the sword of excellence that defeats evil and wickedness from the face of the earth, will direct, guide and conduct all aspects, dimensions and facets of human life.

Once Israel fulfills God’s will to wipe out evil from the world, all the enemies of goodness will disappear, in all their forms and shapes. In this context, all negative traits and trends in human consciousness (represented by heathen “nations”, “peoples”, “kings”, “princes”, “nobles” and “rulers”) will be guided from their “high places” also by the goodness God will reveal in the world through Israel as the chosen people to be the light for the nations. As we have mentioned frequently, this light is the goodness manifested through its just and righteous ethical frame.

This is the blessing that will give birth to all future blessings promised by God when Israel’s tribes are gathered together in order to make goodness the ruling principle executed by the King from whom goodness is manifested in His creation. Only then we will see King David’s prophetic praise to God.

“May God be gracious to us and bless us, may He cause His face to shine toward us forever. That Your way may be known upon earth, Your redemption among all nations. Let the peoples thank You, O God; let the peoples give thanks to You, all of them. May the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You will judge the peoples with equity, and lead the nations on the earth forever. Let the peoples thank You, O God; let the peoples give thanks to You, all of them. [For] the earth will have yielded her produce, and God, our God, will bless us. God will bless us and all the ends of the earth will revere Him.” (Psalms 67)