Saying farewell is never easy, all the more so for people who have been together for many years, through thick and thin, and have developed a strong relationship.<\/p>\n
This week\u2019s Torah portion, Devarim, commences Moses\u2019 farewell speech to the Jews. Can you imagine how difficult it must have been for Moses to bid farewell to the nation that he had led for so many years, after having gone through so much together? After having experienced some of history\u2019s most monumental events and some of history\u2019s greatest trials, I\u2019m sure it wasn\u2019t easy, to say the least. Nonetheless, after G-d informed Moses that his end was near, he stepped up to the podium and took up the challenge. He gave a farewell speech over the last thirty seven days of his life. He spoke words of blessing, encouragement, rebuke, and reviewed the entire Torah, some of which the Jews had already learned, while some laws were taught for the first time.<\/p>\n
Several sentences into his speech, Moses offers a blessing to the Jewish people. He says: \u201cMay G-d the Lord of your fathers add a thousand-fold more like you and bless you as He spoke to you\u201d (Deuteronomy 1:11). On the surface, it sounds like a beautiful blessing. But upon further scrutiny, the wording seems a bit perplexing. Moses begins with his own blessing that the nation be multiplied by a thousand-fold, and than concludes by saying that G-d will bless the Jewish people \u201cas He spoke to you.\u201d What blessing of G-d was Moses referring to?<\/p>\n
Rashi (1040-1105), the classic commentator, fills us in on some dialogue. Moses blessed the Jewish people by saying, \u201cYou should multiply a thousand fold,\u201d to which the Jews responded, \u201cThat\u2019s it? Only a thousand-fold? G-d promised Abraham that we would multiply like the dust of the earth (Genesis 13:16). Moses, why are you shortchanging us?!\u201d Moses replied, \u201cThe blessing of a thousand-fold is my personal blessing, but G-d will definitely keep His blessing.\u201d Hence, the conclusion, in Moses\u2019s wording, \u201cand bless you as He spoke to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
This leaves us with the question of what Moses was adding with his own blessing \u2013 if you were blessed to be a billionaire and I then bless you to be a millionaire \u2013 what have I added?<\/p>\n
Rabbi Moshe Sofer, better known as the Chasam Sofer (1752-1838), offers a fascinating interpretation of what went on here. Moses wanted to test the Jewish people. What was their outlook on having children? Did the Jews view having children as simply an extra pair of hands around the house, or did they view their families as a means to reach a higher spiritual goal? He therefore blessed them, \u201cYou should multiply a thousand-fold.\u201d If their children were just going to be extra help in the home, a thousand-fold would be just enough, and they would be satisfied with this blessing. But if they considered their children in a more spiritual sense, they wouldn\u2019t be satisfied with a cap on the number of children his blessing had to offer.<\/p>\n
Indeed, when the Jews heard Moses say a thousand-fold, they complained, citing G-d\u2019s promise to Abraham that they would multiply like the dust of the earth. They understood that having children is, in essence, becoming a partner with G-d in fulfilling His master plan. G-d created the world to give human beings the ultimate reward that awaits them in the afterlife, in the World to Come, Olam Habah. In order for this plan to follow its course, the world needs to be continually inhabited. What a privilege it is to bring children into this world! Now we can understand why the Jews protested the blessing of a thousand-fold: They did not want to limit their partnership with G-d in continuing to bring His master plan to its maximum potential.<\/p>\n
Rabbi Mayer Erps, TheZone staff<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Saying farewell is never easy, all the more so for people who have been together for many years, through thick and thin, and have developed a strong relationship. This week\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5315,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sfsi_plus_gutenberg_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_show_text_before_share":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_type":"","sfsi_plus_gutenberg_icon_alignemt":"","sfsi_plus_gutenburg_max_per_row":""},"categories":[41,9],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n