VOLUME 122 NUMBER 8
Elul 22, 5786
September 4, 2026
Parshios Nitzavim-Vayeilech
Candlelighting Time 7:08
The Torah states that Moshe ‘went’ and then spoke to the nation. However, it is not clear where did Moshe go? Rav Shlomo Kluger presents a fascinating explanation which will serve us well in 2026. At the end of his life, Moshe no longer has the faculty to disseminate Torah as he had done before. The wellsprings of Torah no longer flowed through his mind and did not guide him as before. Certainly, a difficult time for Moshe who had conveyed the entire Torah to the people as he had received it on Mt. Sinai. Perhaps Moshe’s decline not only affected his wisdom but impacted his impetus to serve Hashem as enthusiastically and eagerly as he had done before. To clarify that Moshe still performed mitzvos in the same capacity as before, the Torah states that he went, meaning that he continued to ascend the ladder of excitement of doing a mitzvah and therefore there was ongoing surmounting the challenges of life that might interfere with this incredible motivated individual. As his life came to an end, he no longer merited that he could gather the nation together for any kind of community assembly. This is what the Sages seem to teach us since he no longer merited having the trumpets available to him. But Rav Kluger has a different take on what is meant that the trumpets were withheld from him. The ability to rally the people is only appropriate when one rules over the masses. However, Moshe now was removed from that kingship and therefore the trumpets with which to convene the multitudes were removed from his service. How should one feel after being in the upper crust of the nation and then now lowered to the status of one of the many. However, the Midrash is teaching us that Moshe was not fazed by this change of personal lifestyle. Although Hashem had eliminated his leadership role, still Moshe had a job to do on the individual level and that was to continue serving Hashem without Torah but just with mitzvos.
Perhaps reflecting upon the situation that Moshe was subject to will provide us with inspiration. There could be a feeling that if one is not able to study Torah either as he used to or maybe this person did not have the background that others do and is mystified by the Torah and its teachings then he is not qualified to perform mitzvos. That should not be a stumbling block which will convince the person that he is not really on the level to serve Hashem. Maybe this person will think to himself that without background or some degree of Torah study I can’t truly serve Hashem properly. This is what Moshe taught us in his last days as the leader of this special nation. Intellectual faculty is not a requirement for doing mitzvos. Of course, we will admit that one who has amassed Torah knowledge can theoretically serve Hashem better than another whose lack of Torah knowledge will hamper his intimate relationship with Hashem. Let that deficiency not block one whose ambition is to serve Hashem. We are not judged by what we can’t do but rather by what we can do and therefore should do. Even though perhaps one should contemplate improving the way he serves Hashem by joining classes that will enhance his understanding of the Torah, nonetheless everyone has the ability to reach out and find Hashem in his own very special way.
A BYTE FOR SHABBOS
The last mitzvah in the Torah is to write a sefer Torah. Right after we read that Hashem will ‘turn his face’ away from us when do not serve Him properly we are given this mitzvah. Torah has the ability to sustain us even in the worst of times.
CHOFETZ CHAIM
GOOD SHABBOS
