Parashat Ha'azinu
All The Days Of
Our Lives
Unlike Moses, we
do not know when we will die and should therefore repent every day of our
lives.
By Rabbi Andrea Lerner
The following article is reprinted with permission from Hillel: The Foundation for Jewish Campus Life.
This Shabbat we read Ha'azinu, Moses' last words to the
children of Israel before his death on Mt. Nebo, within view of Canaan, the
promised land. After Moses is finished speaking, God speaks to Moses and says:
Deuteronomy 32:49-52
49. Ascend these heights of Abarim to Mount Nebo, which is
in the land of Moab facing Jericho, and view the land of Canaan that I am
giving the Israelites as their holding.
50. You shall die on the mountain that you are about to ascend, and shall be
gathered to your kin, as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor, and was gathered
to his kin;
51. for you both broke faith with Me among the Israelite people, at the waters
of Meribath-Kadesh in the wilderness of Zin, by failing to uphold My sanctity
among the Israelite people.
52. You may view the land from a distance, but you shall not enter the land
that I am giving to the Israelite people.
Your Torah Navigator
What would it be like if, like Moses, we knew when we were
about to die? Do you think Moses made "teshuvah," repentance,
before his death?
A Word
In the Talmud (Shabbat 153a) it says: "What does Rabbi
Eliezer mean when he says, 'Repent one day before your death.' How can one know
when that day comes? Since no person can know this, one must repent every day
of one's life." Moses was a unique individual, for God told him when and
where he would die.
However, unlike Moses we do not know the date and place of
our death. And so we live life never quite knowing how long we have. It is a
sobering thought. On Yom Kippur we remember something very important, our time
here on earth is so incredibly precious and often so short. Let us remember
this Yom Kippur that each of our days counts. We mortals do not know the date
of our death. Let us use our days wisely, not merely living from one Day of
Repentance to the next. Let us in turn make teshuvah with the people important
to us all the days of our lives.
Prepared by Rabbi Andrea
Lerner, Midwest Director, Hillel's Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning,
University of Wisconsin, Madison Hillel.
Provided by Hillel's
Joseph Meyerhoff Center for Jewish Learning, which creates innovative
educational resources based on Jewish texts and trains Hillel students,
professionals, and lay leaders to infuse Jewish content throughout their
activities. © 2002 Hillel: The Foundation for
Jewish Campus Life.
