The Alternative Vision "And this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of G-d, blessed the children of Israel [just] before his death." These are the opening words of the final portion of the five books of Moses, in which Moses blesses each of the twelve tribes of Israel with unique blessings tailored to their respective spiritual mission and portion in the land of Israel. The final blessings of Moses are not merely the parting words from a devoted leader to his beloved people; but rather, they represent a radical shift from the song of Haazinu, the song that G-d commanded Moses to "teach it to the Children of Israel. Place it into their mouths". The song begins with the description of the kindness that G-d bestowed upon the Jewish people in the desert and then turns to the future to describe the blessings G-d will give them in the land of Israel: He made them ride upon the high places of the earth, that they would eat the produce of the field. He let them suck honey from a rock, and oil from the mighty part of the crag. The cream of cattle and the milk of sheep, with the fat of lambs and rams of Bashan and he goats, with kidneys of wheat, and it [the congregation of Israel] would drink the blood of grapes [which was] as the finest wine. (Deuteronomy 32:13-14) The song then turns tragic. The blessing causes the Jewish people to become arrogant, abandon G-d, ultimately leading to a terrible exile. As the verse describes: And Jeshurun became fat and rebelled; you grew fat, thick and rotund; [Israel] forsook the God Who made them, and spurned the [Mighty] Rock of their salvation. (Deuteronomy 32:15) And then, after faithfully relaying to the Jewish people the song of Haazinu, Moses offers an entirely different vision. Moses offers a vision where the Jewish people integrate the bountiful blessings with a deep connection to G-d. As Moses says: "His land shall be blessed by the Lord, with the sweetness of the heavens with dew, and with the deep that lies below, and with the sweetness of the produce of the sun, and with the sweetness of the moon's yield, and with the crops of early mountains, and with the sweetness of perennial hills, and with the sweetness of the land and its fullness, and through the contentment of the One Who dwells in the thornbush {G-d}. (Deuteronomy 33:13-16) In his final words, Moses teaches his people that it is their choice. They can choose to experience alienation from G-d and exile from the land of Israel, or they can create the reality envisioned by Moses, fulfilling the ultimate purpose of creation, creating harmony between heaven and earth. Adapted from the Abarbenel
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