Bar-Ilan University
Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech 5773/August 31, 2013
Parashat Hashavua Study Center
Lectures on the weekly Torah reading by the faculty of Bar-Ilan University in Ramat Gan, Israel. A
project of the Faculty of Jewish Studies, Paul and Helene Shulman Basic Jewish Studies Center, and
the Office of the Campus Rabbi. Published on the Internet under the sponsorship of Bar-Ilan
University's International Center for Jewish Identity. Prepared for Internet Publication by the
Computer Center Staff at Bar-Ilan University.
1032
Moses' Death
By Yair Barkai*
The story of Moses' death in this week's reading has received extensive literary treatment
from tannaitic times through the Middle Ages, in a wide variety of Jewish works.1
The narrative as told in the Bible reveals many gaps, which have been filled in by midrashic
material of the Sages in various periods and by extensive discussion of Jewish [and Christian]
philosophers, as well as Bible commentary up to our day. The reason for Moses' death, the
way in which he died, the type of burial he received and other topics are treated with a
*
Dr. Yair Barkai heads the Lifshitz College of Education, Jerusalem. The article was written in memory
of his father, who passed away on the 13th of Tishre.
1
Rellah Koshelevsky, in "Midreshei Petirat Moshe Rabbeinu," in Encyclopedia shel ha-Sippur ha-
Yehudi, Bar Ilan Publishers, Ramat Gan, 2005, p. 135, notes that there are eighty-nine versions of this
story. The theme is common even in Christian, Islamic and Ethiopian tradition.
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variety of approaches, sometimes surprisingly inconsistent one with another. In the present
context, we cannot cover all the themes but shall focus on a number of them. 2
Moses' burial
Deuteronomy 34:5-6 says:
So Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of Moab, at the
command of the Lord. He buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, near
Beth-peor; and no one knows his burial place to this day.
The text seems to be about a person dying in the natural way of all flesh, and even Moses'
burial is described as being natural, although closer examination raises some questions.
Rashi comments:
He buried him [Heb. oto]—the Holy One, blessed be He, Himself. Rabbi
Ishmael says, he buried himself, and this word, oto, is one of three cases of
et with a pronominal suffix which Rabbi Ishmael explains thus (as being
reflexive and not accusative pronouns). Similar to it is (Num. 6:13) "On the
day that his term as nazirite is completed, he shall bring oto," i.e., he brings
himself. Likewise (Lev. 22:16), "And they will burden otam with iniquity of
trespass." But did others burden them (the priests) with that iniquity? The
meaning is that they burdened themselves.
Near Beth-peor—His grave was in readiness there ever since the six days of
Creation, to atone for the incident regarding Peor. This was one of the
things that were created at twilight on the eve of the Sabbath.
Rashi (relying on Sifre, Naso 32) presents the uncertainties that arise when one tries to
discover who it was that buried Moses. Both suggestions make us wonder, but leave it clear
that his burial occurred in an unnatural way.
The place of his burial
The same goes for the place where Moses was buried. At first sight the Torah appears to
give us precise information, but Rashi's commentary (based on Sotah 14a, and Mishnah Avot
5.6), makes it clear that we are not dealing with a physical location that can be identified,
2
A detailed discussion of the full gamut of subjects can be found in Jacob Blidstien's book, Etzev Nevo,
Tevunot Publishers, Herzog College, Alon Shvut, 2008.
2
notwithstanding Ibn Ezra's commentary on this verse: "It is quite clear that where Moses
died, there he was buried."
Sforno3 hints at the difficulty in the text:
If he buried himself, as some of the Sages say, this was done by his noncorporeal soul, for he died on the summit of Pisgah, from where he could
see the promised land, as it is written (verse 5): "So Moses…died there," but
his burial place was in the valley.
In other words, if we accept the interpretation that says he buried himself, then his burial
could not have been natural.
The following midrash illustrates the difficulty in identifying the place of burial (Sifre
Deuteronomy 357, s.v. "ve-lo yada"):
No one knows his burial place—some say that even Moses did not know his
burial place, as it is written: "And no one (ish) knows his burial place"; ish
refers to none other than Moses, as it is written (Num. 12:3): "The man (ish)
Moses was very humble". The Roman emperor even sent two army units,
charging them: "Go and see where Moses is buried." They went and stood
up above and saw it down below; then they went down below and saw it
above. So, they split up, half above and have below; those above saw it
when they looked down, and those below saw it when they looked up.
Hence it is said, "no one knows his burial place."
As is characteristic of the Sages' homilies—expressing abstract ideas through a concrete
story and leaving the reader to draw the abstraction—the place of Moses' burial being
unknown expresses not only the humility that characterized him in his life and, as it turns
out, also in his death, but also the miraculous element in his burial [perhaps buried by the
Holy One, blessed be He?]. It also does away with any spatial conception of where Moses'
remains lie. The spiritual person seeking Moses will see him according to his own elevation,
either on the summit or in the valley, and has no need of a grave.
In Hidushei Aggadot, Maharsha4 notes regarding Sotah (13b, s.v. "kevar shalhah") that
Moses had already undergone a miracle in his lifetime, becoming something spiritual akin
3
Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno, 1473-1550, Italian Jewish Bible commentator.
4
Rabbi Samuel Eliezer ha-Levi Edeles (1555-1631), Poland, rabbi and commentator on the Talmud,
one of the great aharonim (later rabbinic authorities).
3
to an angel, for it is written, "he ate no bread" (Ex. 34:28), and he refrained from women;
therefore, when he died in his body, which was buried, he remained in the spiritual, which is
not restricted in space and has no particular location. Rabbi Hamma added that Moses
himself did not know the location of his grave, for he had become entirely of the spirit and
did not know the location of his body at all, for he had become divested of everything
material.
A reason for this obscurity regarding his burial is presented in Ralbag's5 commentary on the
verses at hand:
This matter was very miraculous. The Torah attempted to elucidate the
place of his burial as much as possible, saying, "in the land of Moab, in the
valley, near Beth-peor," and yet with all this the Holy One, blessed be He,
devised that no one know his burial place, so that subsequent generations
not go astray and worship him as a god.
The explanation given by Ralbag raises a fundamental problem in the way Moses was
perceived in the eyes of the people.6 The people admired their leader, and there was reason
to suspect they might attribute to him a measure of divinity and make his grave [or his burial
place] into a site of idolatry.
The way in which Moses died
Let us take a brief look at the legend presented in Sifre Deuteronomy, par. 301, s.v. "beshanah ahat":
At that moment the Holy One, blessed be He, said to the Angel of Death:
"Go bring Me Moses' soul." He went and stood before Moses and said to
him: "Moses, give me your soul," to which Moses answered: "Where I sit
you have not the right to stand, and you dare say to me, 'Give me your
soul'!" Thus rebuking him, he left in a huff. The Angel of Death went and
5
Rabbi Levi b. Gershon (1288-1344) was a Bible commentator and man of many talents, a scientist,
doctor, mathematician and Jewish philosopher, living in Provence, in southern France.
6
The problem of identity does not begin with his death, for even during the incident of the golden calf
we hear the people saying (Ex. 32:1): "When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down
from the mountain, the peopled gathered against Aaron and said to him, 'Come make us a god who
shall go before us, for that man Moses, who brought us from the land of Egypt—we do not know
what has happened to him." Also cf. Rashi on this verse.
4
reported back to the Almighty. Again the Holy One, blessed be He, said to
him, "Go bring Me his soul."
He went back to where he had been, looked for him but did not find him. So
he went to the sea, and asked, "Have you seen Moses?" The sea answered,
"I have not seen him since the day that he caused the Israelites to pass
through me." So he went to the hills and mountains and asked them, "Have
you seen Moses?" They responded, "We have not seen him since the day
Israel received the Torah." He went to Gehenna and asked, "Have you seen
Moses?" Gehenna answered, "I have heard of him, but I have never seen
him."
He went to the ministering angels and asked, "Have you seen
Moses?" They said to him, "Go look among human beings." He went to the
Israelites and asked them, "Have you seen Moses?" They answered him, "Gd understood his ways and He hid him away for life in the world to come,
and not a living soul knows of him, as it is written (Deut. 34:6), 'He buried
him in the valley.'"
When Moses died, Joshua began to cry out in mourning and remonstrate,
"My father, my father! My rabbi and teacher! My father who raised me! My
rabbi who taught me Torah!" Thus he mourned him for a long time, until the
Holy One, blessed be He, said to Joshua, "Look how you are carrying on
mourning! Do you think you are the only one who suffers the death of
Moses? It is I who mourn his death, for I have been in great mourning since
the day he died, as it is written (Is. 22:12): 'My Lord…summoned on that day
to weeping and lamenting.' However, he was promised to have life in the
hereafter, as it is said (Deut. 31:16): 'You are soon to lie with your fathers and
rise' [a reading of the verse which associates the word kam=arise with the
text that the precedes it, as opposed to what follows: 'and this people will
arise and worship alien gods'—R. R.].
This midrash, too, serves to fill in the gaps resulting from the obscurity of the text regarding
his place of burial and grave site. The response that the homilist puts in the mouth of the
Israelites, "G-d hid him away for life in the world to come," explains that Moses indeed was
not buried, but was hidden away as way his brother Aaron [this is the beginning part of the
legend cited above], was stored away in the heavens. That he was hidden away is expressed
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in the words, "No one knows his burial place to this day," by which the Torah attests that no
one knows where or even how he was buried.
The legend presents Moses as human, but also in his abstract form as belonging to the host
of heaven and not to those who dwell on earth. Therefore all the searching that the Angel of
Death did on earth proved fruitless. Thus the Angel [of Death] in the legend is punished and
limited in what he knows, whereas the "man Moses" is described as a heavenly being who
seemingly does not belong with those living on earth.
Perhaps hiding away is mentioned with respect to Moses because he represents the Torah
[“Moses' Teaching”]. Hence the only ones who could give the Angel of Death any answer
regarding Moses' whereabouts where the Israelites, because his Teaching is not in the
heavens.
Therefore also the Holy One, blessed be He, mourned Moses' death, for the human
representative of the Torah on earth had been sequestered in the heavens. We conclude
with a quote from Maimonides' introduction to the Mishnah, regarding the death of Moses:
"His death was for our sake, insofar as we felt his absence; and his life, for him, was that to
which he ascended."7
Translated by Rachel Rowen
7
Shilat Publishers, Maaleh Edumim, Jerusalem 1997, p. 70.
This exists in English translation,
Maimonides' Introduction to His Commentary on the Mishnah, trans. Fred Rosner.
6