MOSHE DID NOT DIE

It appeared to us that Moshe had died because we were struck by the perception of lacking the presence of Moshe Rabbeinu and we were confronted by his absence. However, Moshe experiences life, in virtue of the spiritual height he had attained. * Moshe Rabbeinu did not die. Rather, he ascended and serves Above. * Source materials compiled by Rabbi Shloma Majeski. Translations are in bold. Underlining is the author’s emphasis.

Translated and presented by Boruch Merkur

Having concluded the section on, “Yaakov Avinu lo meis – Yaakov Avinu did not die,” Likkutei Mekoros now focuses on the Gemara (Sota 13b) that ascribes eternal life to Moshe Rabbeinu: “Lo meis Moshe – Moshe did not die.” The Gemara first discusses at length details of Moshe Rabbeinu’s passing, then abruptly presents an alternate view:

Others say: Moshe did not die [based on the following exegesis]. In one place it is written, “And he died there” [the full verse reads, “And Moshe, servant of G-d, died there, by the mouth of G-d, in the Land of Moav” (D’varim 34:5)]; in another place it is written, “And he was there [on Mount Sinai] with G-d (forty days and forty nights. He did not eat bread, nor did he drink water, and he wrote upon the tablets the words of the covenant, the ten proclamations)” (Shmos 34:28). Just as at Mount Sinai he was standing [before G-d] and serving [Him – although he was utterly removed from worldly concerns, such as eating and drinking, Moshe still was not dead, rather] so too here [at the end of Moshe’s one hundred and twenty years of life] he stands and serves.

Rambam cites this Gemara in his Preface to the Mishna, Seider Z’ra’im. There Rambam outlines the manner whereby Torah was originally taught. Every Mitzva that G-d commanded the Jewish people was taught to Moshe, fully elucidated and explained. He, in turn, taught the law to Aharon, and then to him again along with his children. From there, Moshe again taught the law to Aharon and his children along with the seventy Elders, and then with all of the above together with the masses, the general public. Thereafter, an extensive procedure of review began, as Rambam describes.

Moshe Rabbeinu would teach first the law in this manner and then the relevant explanation, which was also given to him from the Alm-ghty Himself at Mount Sinai. Rambam continues:

And it happened that on the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, Rosh Chodesh Shvat, Moshe gathered the people and told them: “The time of my death has arrived. If there is anyone among you who heard a law but has forgotten it, come and ask me and I will explain it; if there is one who has encountered a doubt, having a question, come forth and I shall respond to it, “ as it is said (D’varim 1:5), “Moshe took upon himself to expound this law, saying…” Thus, the Sages say in Sifri (Parshas D’varim), “Whoever forgets a single law should come forth and review it; whoever can provide commentary, let him come forth and present his commentary.”

The people learned clearly stated laws, conveyed orally by Moshe Rabbeinu, and they studied the accompanying explanations that entire time, which was from Rosh Chodesh Shvat until the seventh of Adar.

Prior to his death, Moshe began to write Torah scrolls. He wrote thirteen Torah scrolls, all of parchment, from the Beis of “B’reishis” [the first word of the Torah] to the Lamed of “l’einei kol Yisroel” [the last words of the Torah]. He gave a scroll to each shevet, in order that they should conduct themselves in accordance with it and follow its statutes. Moshe gave the thirteenth seifer to the Leviim, and he told them “Take this book of law” (D’varim 31:26).

Afterwards, Moshe ascended the mountain at midday, on the seventh day of Adar, as tradition specifies. Then the event took place which we, from our perspective, call death. It appeared to us that Moshe had died because we were struck by the perception of lacking [the presence of Moshe Rabbeinu] and we were confronted by his absence. However, Moshe experiences life, in virtue of the spiritual height he had attained. Thus, they say of Moshe (Sota 13b): Moshe Rabbeinu did not die. Rather, he ascended and serves Above.

These matters, however, require extremely lengthy explanations, and this is not the appropriate forum for that discussion.