V'Zot HaBerachah: God is the Blessing

“And this is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.” (Deuteronomy 33:1)

We have said that the Creator is the blessing just by the fact that He is God, and all the blessings come from Him because He is good and all kinds of goodness emanate from Him.

The main manifestation of His blessing in His Creation is the Torah, which He bestowed on the children of Israel as the bearers of His goodness. Israel is the focal point, the axis in which God's Love for His Creation is anchored and expanded, as it is written in the Torah itself.

“Indeed, He loves peoples, all His holy ones in Your hand; centered at Your feet, bearing Your words. The Torah that Moses commanded us is [the] inheritance of the congregation of Jacob [Israel].” (33:3-4)

The Torah is our inheritance as legacy and identity for Israel to bear in the world.

We have reiterated time and again that the Torah is Israel's identity, and is our “Constitution” for us as individuals and as a Nation. We are blessed to be granted an identity from the Creator Himself for us to live, to fulfill and to hold as our greatest and most sublime blessing, from which all blessings emanate.

Are we fully aware of our inheritance? Do we really comprehend and assimilate our identity? These are the questions we must ask ourselves as individual Jews and as collective Israel. The answers begin by knowing the One who bestows our heritage and identity, as our highest knowledge of the Creator in our consciousness. This knowledge is the means to receive and live God's blessings, the Blessing He is.

In our individual and collective awareness of God's goodness we indeed are blessed. In this realization we recognize goodness in all that God created, as well as in ourselves, thus we can also be good and do good (see in this blog our commentary on Parshat V'Zot HaBerachah: “The Legacy of God's Love” of September 12, 2010 and “The Blessing of God's Love” of September 10, 2011).

God's blessings are as multidimensional as human consciousness is, and for Israel our multifaceted identity is comprised by twelve qualities, traits, talents and skills destined to bring up their highest potentials in contrast to the lowest potentials represented by the negative aspects of consciousness. In this context we understand and assimilate the blessings Moses gave to the Tribes of Israel before his death.

Let's recall that in our daily Jewish prayers, we bless the Creator for His blessings to Israel.

“Grant peace everywhere goodness and blessing, grace, loving kindness and compassion to us and unto all Israel, Your people. Bless us, our Father, all of us as one with the Light of Your face; for by the Light of Your face You have given us, Lord our God, the Torah of life, and love of kindness, and righteousness and blessing and compassion and life and peace; and may it be good in Your eyes to bless Your people Israel at all times and in every hour with Your peace. Blessed are You, Lord, who blesses Your people Israel with peace.”

No wonder this is the blessing to close the amidah, the standing prayer before God, because it encompasses all the blessings Israel receives from Him. We must remark that peace also comprises God's blessings for Israel. We have mentioned that the word shalom means much more than peace. It also means eternity, totality, wholeness, and completion in time and space. These are also the meanings of olam, usually translated as world or universe.

Let's note that the qualities indicated in this blessing -- goodness, grace, loving kindness and compassion-- are some of God's attributes revealed to Moses (Exodus 34:6-7), and contained in the Torah as God's instruction to Israel. Let's be aware that we received these blessings in order to be these blessings.

Let's bear in mind, soul and heart that there is no point to be blessed if we don't become the blessing. As we said above, the greatest blessing is God's Torah as our inheritance, legacy and identity.

We have to become and manifest who we are, our Essence and true identity which encompass the attributes the Creator wants us to integrate in every aspect of our life. These are Love's ways and attributes as the material manifestation of God's Love for us and all His Creation.

The most refined qualities with the highest potential for goodness are the foremost blessings.

“And of Levi he said: 'Your Tumim and Urim belong to Your loving kind man [the High Priest] (…). They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob, and Your Torah to Israel; they shall place incense before You, and burnt offerings upon Your altar. May the Lord bless his army and favorably accept the work of his hands; strike the loins of those who rise up against him and his enemies, so that they will not recover'.” (Deuteronomy 33:8,10-11)

The priesthood is the guardian and protector of our inheritance, legacy and identity as the qualities that sustain the awareness of our permanent connection with God.

“And of Joseph he said: '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 thorn bush. May it come upon Joseph's head and upon the crown of the one separated from his brothers'.” (33:13-16)

In order to fully assimilate this blessing, we must recall Joseph's story and what he became for his brothers and the rest of his family.

Joseph represents the redeeming Love that transforms, unifies and harmonizes the negative lower aspects of consciousness such as jealousy, hatred, envy, resentment, remorse, judgment, distrust, fear, cruelty, indolence, indifference, negligence, violence and destructive thoughts, emotions, feelings, passions and instincts. Joseph represents the power of Love as wisdom, understanding, knowledge, truth, prevalence, honor, righteousness, and regency.

These traits are the blessing of life, as the land in which we dwell every moment; and they represent the sweetness from the highest levels of consciousness as the dew and rains from Heaven which are the contentment of the Provider of all blessings, the One who dwells in His own fire, His own Love.

As we receive the blessing and become the blessing, we realize our gratitude to God and we thank Him for the inheritance He has bestowed on us. This realization is the meaning of Judah, which means I will thank [God] because in our gratitude to Him we fulfill the destiny He wants for us.

“May this [also be] for Judah. And he [Moses] said, 'O Lord, hearken to Judah's voice and bring him to his people; may his hands do battle for him, and may You be a help against his adversaries'.” (33:7)

Judah's leadership as regency gathers and unites all Israel to fight the battles to enthrone the Divine Presence in the material world, and make all peoples know that God is King over all His Creation.

We must honor God's blessing by honoring the Torah as our eternal inheritance, legacy and identity.

“This book of the Torah shall not leave your mouth; you shall meditate therein day and night, in order that you observe to do all that is written in it, for then will you succeed in all your ways and then will you prosper. Did I not command you, be strong and have courage, do not fear and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” (Joshua 1:8-9)

Parshat V'zot HaBeracha: The Blessing of God's Love

Our sages remark that this is the only verse in the Torah where Moses is identified as the man of God, with its implications particularly related to his blessing to Israel as a nation.

"(…) Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death" (Deuteronomy 33:1)

They also note that he gave not only one blessing but many, and question why the first words of this portion (V'zot habrachah, "And this is the blessing") refer to one. One of the answers is that Moses wants to encompass one blessing for one Nation, as if both are part of the same united Israel.

Being the man of God, Moses is the messenger of the Creator to deliver His blessings to Israel. Thus Moses' blessing and God's blessing are the same in these final chapters of the Torah. After all, for the last forty years of his life Moses certainly was the messenger and deliverer of God's legacy to Israel, the Torah, including His blessings.

In this sense, these blessings encourage us to emulate God's ways and attributes through His Torah and commandments, as Moses did for us with his actions; teaching us to be also men of God, the people of God.

Moses' blessings to the tribes are not meant to be individual blessings but one single blessing for the whole nation. We have to emphasize this because there are no divisions in Israel's identity but unity in our multifaceted diversity.

We are merchants and Torah scholars as well as warriors and priests; leaders and shepherds as well as masons and silversmiths; judges and undertakers, artists and scientists; rich and poor as well as dreamers and storytellers.

We are all facets of the same identity directed to honor God's love, by being and manifesting love's ways and attributes in this world. This is how we defeat the negative thoughts, emotions, feelings and passions represented by the "nations" that we conquer in order to dwell in the promised land, the land of Israel.

The foremost manifestation of God's love in the world is His Torah (teaching, instruction), the ways and means to make His love tangible in the material reality.

"(…) from His right hand He presented His fiery Torah to them [Israel]" (33:2)

This verse is translated in a clarified fashion from the original Hebrew version interpreted as "from His right hand, fire [turned into] teaching for them", where "fire" and "teaching" are tied up in one.

The reference to fire is important because this is the most essential element that represents divine action, fire as the symbol and means of the transforming dynamics of God's love.

Fire appears in many passages not only in the Torah but in the entire Hebrew bible in transcendental moments like the first encounter of Moses with the Divine Presence, the column of fire that protected and guided the Israelites during their journeys into the desert, and the fire that consumed the offerings in the Tabernacle and Temple of Jerusalem.

We said in other commentaries in this blog that fire is more than a material element or a catalyst to transform matter from one state to the other. It also bears and sustains life, and protects life with the proper intensity.

These qualities are analogical to divine love as godly fire, as the dynamic and transforming force that not only moves the whole universe but also sustains all things, including changing their existence toward levels and dimensions beyond our grasp.

That power is the Law, the Torah, the teaching that harmonizes our lives in consonance with the will of the Creator, which is God's love revealed in the material world as love's ways and attributes.

We must understand fire as the symbol of love in its transforming and elevating qualities towards our closeness with the Creator, as well as the purifying element that refines our thoughts, emotions, passions and instincts for the divine service, through the ways and attributes of love.

This is the divine legacy and inheritance of Israel from the right hand of God, from God's love to us. This is the greatest blessing that precedes the blessings that God gives Israel through Moses in the final verses of the Torah.

Our sages say that God's will is fulfilled by all animal creatures through their instinct, and plants through their function. Only humans fulfill His will out of free will, and Israel as a nation made the choice to do so as the chosen people who received the Torah.

This is our greatest blessing as being able to live in order to proclaim God's love as the only truth amid the fantasies and illusions of the material world.

"Fortunate are you, O Israel! Who is like you, O people whose redemption is through the Lord, the shield who helps you, your majestic sword! Your enemies will lie to you, but you will tread upon their heights." (33:29)

Amen.

Parshat V'Zot HaBrachah: The Legacy of God's Love

“And this is the blessing (v'zot habrachah) with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death.” (Deuteronomy 33:1)

The man of God, who represents our awareness of the Divine Presence in all dimensions of Creation, is the best one to lead us into that awareness. Moses represents the highest level that our intellect can reach regarding the knowledge of the Creator, the one that has everything about Him quite clear in our consciousness, the one that knows the best of the best.

This is the clarity we need in order to fulfill our destiny, and this clarity is the full awareness of love as our true identity. Love as material manifestation of God's love.

“Indeed, You showed love for peoples; all his holy ones [of Israel] are in Your hand, for they let themselves be centered at Your feet, bearing Your utterances.” (33:3)

We are holy when we are in His hands, in humbleness, being and manifesting love’s ways and attributes.

“The Torah that Moses commanded us is a legacy for the congregation of Jacob.” (33:4)

This is the legacy that makes us who we are, our identity as the chosen people. This is our identity as Jews. Choosing differently is not our legacy and this is why we are warned so many times in the Torah against the nations’ idolatry, against believing and following the illusions and fantasies of the material world.

This legacy is also about will and determination to fulfill Israel’s destiny, as Moses stated in his blessing to the tribe of Judah, the one that encompasses all Jews in present times.

“O Lord, hearken to Judah's voice and bring him to his people; may his hands do battle for him, and may You be a help against his adversaries.” (33:7)

Willingness and determination are our attachment to God and when we walk in His ways and manifest His attributes, what could be against? This blessing is about the commitment we make when we individually and collectively embrace the Torah’s legacy.

Moses’ blessing for the Levites reaffirms their role as the higher awareness of our connection to the Creator, hence their guidance of all levels of consciousness from the Temple, the place where we are permanently connected to our Father.

“They shall teach Your ordinances to Jacob, and Your Torah to Israel; they shall place incense before You, and burnt offerings upon Your altar.” (33:10)

The complete awareness of God's ways and attributes in all aspects of consciousness is also the fulfillment of our destiny as His children. 

This highest level was undoubtedly achieved by Joseph, therefore the sweetest blessing is bestowed in him and his descendants, the ones who choose to follow his steps.

“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 land and its fullness, and through the contentment of the One who dwells in the thorn bush. May it come upon Joseph's head and upon the crown of the one separated from his brothers.” (33:13-16)

It is indeed the sweetest blessing of all, the blessing of love bestowed to the purest vessel for love: humbleness. Moses mentions here the bush from where he had to take off his shoes, and it is through the contentment of Love that we face our Creator because in joy is our acknowledgement of His love that created us.

“And to Zebulon he said: "Rejoice, Zebulon, in your departure, and Issachar, in your tents.” (33:18)

Rashi remarks that while Zebulon trades in the seas Issachar learns Torah in the tents, and they help each other. Moses’ blessing to both tribes highlights the cooperation that must prevail among all Israel.

Each tribe is blessed with particular traits and qualities that complement each other in the unity that we must have as one people and one nation. This cooperation is to care for each other, and our diversity must be the foundation of our unity. This is one aspect of the Torah’s legacy that makes us different from the rest of the nations which represent the lower aspects of consciousness and ego’s fantasies: pride, selfishness, egotism, envy, lust, indolence and other negative traits.

Let’s keep in mind that the blessings received by each tribe are the blessings for all Israel because in the blessing of each we are all blessed.

“Jeshurun, there is none like God; He who rides the heavens is at your assistance, and with His majesty, [He rides] the heavens.” (33:26)

The One who created us is also the One who sustains us because His glory covers all creation, hence there is none like Him. The last book the Torah ends reminding us again that it is Moses, our highest awareness of the Divine Presence in all creation, who guards us from falling into the illusions and fantasies that we create for no reason.

Mystic sages say that those are the fantasies represented by the cult of Baal Peor.

“And He buried him [Moses] in the valley, in the land of Moab, opposite Beit Peor” (34:6)

Thus Moses will always remind us not to fall in unnecessary fantasies. It is in the highest level of our intellect that we make a clear difference between ego’s fantasies and illusions, and love’s ways and attributes. Still the choice is only ours.

“And there was no other prophet who arose in Israel like Moses, whom the Lord knew face to face, as manifested by all the signs and wonders, which the Lord had sent him to perform in the land of Egypt, to Pharaoh and all his servants, and to all his land, and all the strong hand, and all the great awe, which Moses performed before the eyes of all Israel.” (34:10-12)

This is the privilege of the humble ones like him: “Now this man Moses was exceedingly humble, more so than any person on the face of the Earth.” (Numbers 12:3), the empty vessel eager to be filled by our Father and be able to see Him and perform His miracles so the rest of our levels of consciousness (all Israel) can see it and learn from Moses, our teacher.