V'Zot HaBerachah

The Torah's final portion: "This is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death." It opens with the LORD coming from Sinai, dawning from Seir, appearing from Mount Paran — a King in Jeshurun, with the Torah Moses commanded "a heritage for the congregation of Jacob." Then tribe by tribe: Reuben — "let Reuben live and not die"; Judah — brought to his people, his hands contending for him; Levi — Your Thummim and Urim, teaching Your ordinances to Jacob and Your Torah to Israel, incense and whole offerings on Your altar; Benjamin — the beloved of the LORD dwelling securely, "between His shoulders He dwells."

Joseph's is the fullest — his land blessed with the precious things of heaven and the deep, of sun and moons, of the ancient mountains and everlasting hills, the favor of Him who dwelt in the bush; the myriads of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh. Zebulun rejoices in his going out and Issachar in his tents, drawing from the abundance of the seas; Gad, enlarged, dwells like a lion and chose the first portion for himself; Dan is a lion's whelp leaping from Bashan; Naphtali, sated with favor, possesses sea and south; Asher, most blessed of sons, dips his foot in oil, his bars iron and bronze — "as your days, so shall your strength be." The blessing crests beyond the tribes: "There is none like the God of Jeshurun, riding the heavens to your help... the God of old is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms... Happy are you, O Israel! Who is like you, a people saved by the LORD?"

Then Moses goes up from the plains of Moab to Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah opposite Jericho, and the LORD shows him the whole land — Gilead to Dan, Naphtali, Ephraim and Manasseh, Judah to the western sea, the Negev, and the plain of Jericho, city of palms, as far as Zoar: "This is the land I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob... I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross over there." And Moses the servant of the LORD dies there, in the land of Moab, at the mouth of the LORD, and is buried in the valley — "and no man knows his burial place to this day." He was a hundred and twenty years old; his eye was undimmed and his vigor unabated. Israel weeps for him thirty days. Joshua son of Nun is full of the spirit of wisdom, for Moses laid his hands on him, and Israel listens to him. "And there has not arisen a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face — for all the signs and wonders... and for all the strong hand, and all the great terror, that Moses did in the sight of all Israel."