When life comes alive: The surprising Torah perspective on a life truly lived

Deuteronomy 31:1-30

In Moshe Rabbeinu’s parting words to his beloved people, he tells them (Deuteronomy 31:2), “I am one hundred and twenty years old today, I can no longer come and go.” At face value, it seems that Moshe was telling them that his strength had left him; he no longer had the stamina to lead them. The Talmud (Sotah 13b) challenges this interpretation based upon the Torah’s testimony about Moshe at the time of his death: (34:7) “His eyes did not dim and his vitality never left him.” If so, then what did Moshe mean when he said, “I can no longer come and go”?

The Talmud states that Moshe was indicating that the wellsprings and gates of Torah wisdom that he had always found access to had been blocked off from him. He was no longer able to “come and go,” meaning to participate in the “give and take” in the study of Torah.

This sounds rather strange. The Torah testifies that Moshe was fresh and full of energy even on his final day, so how can it be that he couldn’t access the vast troves of Torah knowledge that he had labored to acquire and teach over the course of his 40-year career? Moshe was the person who learned the Torah directly from G-d himself!

A most unusual gift
The Sifsei Chachamim commentary on Rashi (Deuteronomy 31:2) offers a fascinating explanation as to why Moshe was denied access to Torah wisdom on that day. He writes, “in order that he should not be pained about his eminently decreed death, therefore, the wellsprings of wisdom were blocked off from him. For Moshe, who lived only for wisdom, was now at peace with his death, for without wisdom why should he live?” Moshe Rabbeinu lived a life so infused with electrified joy and meaning through his connection with Torah wisdom that the thought of death was too much for him to bear. This “blockage” was a special gift that Moshe received from G-d on that day, allowing him to make peace with his death. This is what Moshe Rabbeinu taught his people, and it is a theme frequently found in the Torah.

Life for all
In the Torah’s instruction about setting up cities of refuge for the unintentional murderer, it states (Deuteronomy 4:42), “He should flee to one of these cities and live.” From the words “and live,” the Talmud (Makkos 10a) extrapolates a rather curious law: “It was taught, a student who is exiled (for unintentional manslaughter to a city of refuge), his teacher is exiled with him. As it says, ‘and he will live.’ This means that something should be done for him so that he should have life.” In what way, however, does exiling his Torah teacher with him afford him any more “life” than he already has? Rambam (Rotzeach V’Shmiras Hanefesh 7:1) cites this law and reveals the rationale of this teaching. He explains that for those who study Torah, life without Torah study is considered lifeless. Rambam reveals that not only Moshe Rabbeinu, but anyone who becomes a student of the Torah and applies oneself to its study, will find that one is not really alive without being able to study Torah. To this end, the Torah requires that his Torah teacher or an entire academy be exiled with their teacher, in order that he can continue to live, even while in exile.

These are two strong examples — Moshe at the end of his life and a Jew sent to a city of refuge — where one sees that connecting with Torah wisdom is profound and allows one to truly live. PJC

In memory of my teacher Rabbi Doniel Lehrfield, whose life was a testament to the ideas expressed in this d’var Torah.

Rabbi Moshe Levy is the dean of the Kollel Jewish Learning Center. This column is a service of the Vaad Harabonim of Greater Pittsburgh.