From chabad.org: The name of the Parshah, “V’Zot HaBerachah,” means “And this is the blessing,” and it is found in Deuteronomy 33:1.
The Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret Torah readings are from Leviticus 22-23, Numbers 29, and Deuteronomy 14-16. These readings detail the laws of the moadim or “appointed times” on the Jewish calendar for festive celebration of our bond with G‑d; including the mitzvot of dwelling in the sukkah (branch-covered hut) and taking the “Four Kinds” on the festival of Sukkot; the offerings brought in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem on Sukkot, and the obligation to journey to the Holy Temple to “to see and be seen before the face of G‑d” on the three annual pilgrimage festivals — Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot.
On Simchat Torah (“Rejoicing of the Torah”) we conclude, and begin anew, the annual Torah-reading cycle. First we read the Torah section of V’zot HaBerachah, which recounts the blessings that Moses gave to each of the twelve tribes of Israel before his death. Echoing Jacob’s blessings to his twelve sons five generations earlier, Moses assigns and empowers each tribe with its individual role within the community of Israel.
V’zot HaBerachah then relates how Moses ascended Mount Nebo from whose summit he saw the Promised Land. “And Moses the servant of G‑d died there in the Land of Moab by the mouth of G‑d… and no man knows his burial place to this day.” The Torah concludes by attesting that “There arose not a prophet since in Israel like Moses, whom G‑d knew face to face… and in all the mighty hand and the great awesome things which Moses did before the eyes of all Israel.
Immediately after concluding the Torah (the 7th Aaliyah of the reading), we begin it anew by reading the first chapter of Genesis (the beginning of next Shabbat’s Torah reading) describing G‑d’s creation of the world in six days and His ceasing work on the seventh—which He sanctified and blessed as a day of rest.
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1
We find ourselves in the spacious and amazingly well built home of Hillel the scribe. Phaedrus the apothecary has come for an important talk. The actual specifics of the conversation were not given in advance. All that was said was that it was important that they meet and that it might be a good idea to bring the good stuff.
My friend, you protest so much against the creations of the women that make us all crazy. But you are the most dramatic drama llama I have ever had the fortune to meet.
One wonders why you have always tolerated me. Is it only because I’m rich?
You know, I’ve thought of that many times. I know rich people. There is a big difference between a rich person and a poor person. It has to do with freedom of movement and fear. A person with a lot of money is not really afraid of very much. They can afford to pay for other people to do the work for them. The more money they have, the more power they have over others. But you’re an interesting fellow. You’re not rich because of some continuing talent. You’re rich because you wrote the Torah and then they gave you a ton of money to pretend that this stuff they threw on at the end was real.
Yeah, I took the bribe. Thanks for reminding me. It is a great high point of my reasonable life.
No, this is not a problem. I would have done the same thing all day everyday all week every week. Look at the situation. They had you completely stymied in your publishing world. You had no power over your wife who was busy creating this lunatic battle kingdom we have now. It was either die or take a beautiful house in sanctuary. Why would you even consider this to be ethical?
You don’t think ethics matter?
Me? Maybe. But I’m a drug dealer. Most people that come to me just want to escape for a little while. They are not really deeply thinking about things the way you do. And certainly the general population has no interest in being activists. It’s not really that the job doesn’t pay anything and Joshua’s soldiers would smash our heads and hands if they get a hold of us. Usually discretion is the better part of valor. Maybe it’s not a good idea to make so much noise.
Wait a minute. Did you actually answer the question I asked you?
I’m sorry, was there a point to the question itself?
You did it again. I asked you a question and then you said something else. Why do you do that?
It’s less dangerous. You never can tell what somebody’s going to get you to agree to if you’re not paying attention. I was a supplier to a gang of thieves. They never hurt anybody, they just made friends with them and drank with them and took certain substances with them. To them, it was nothing. To the rich traveler, it was the separation of the money from the carrier every time.
Um, do you want me to bring up a question of ethics now?
I didn’t say I went out there and committed the crime. They came and paid the price I gave them and they bought from me just like anyone else. The fact that I kind of know what they were doing with it is separate. But maybe this is the whole thing. Why do you want me to create problems with a client just because the client is criminal? I’m just going to do my job and what happens to the stuff after I sell it is none of my business.
So in theory, when you were young and trying to find a life without too much compromise, you were not going into the drug business?
Listen, what’s this attitude today? What did you want from me anyway?
I guess you’re right. I am kind of sick of drama.
So, what’s the story? Why am I here? What’s the big deal this time?
No big deal. I’m leaving.
You know, it’s a very dramatic and beautiful thing that you say that. But we have been here before and we have talked about this again and again and again. Why would this time be different?
Because this time I know where I’m going. And I know why I’m going there and I’m happy about it. And after that, I’m not really going to worry about much of anything anymore if it’s all the same to you.
I do not understand where this is going or what you are talking about but I’m not going anywhere until I get the story.
Spoken like a true journalist. Well done.
2
Don’t you ever get tired of all of the raving homosexuality inherent in the imagery?
Yeah, I had nothing to do with that hit him in the loins business. It’s a weird thing to think about. I’m not particularly worried about Joshua’s sexuality because this no longer for me to worry about. I don’t know why you think I’m gay with him in the world.
Do you think that it gives you more energy to be gay?
Are we talking about a human being or are we talking about some conquering pain of a king?
I think it has something to do with no one arguing his thinking. If he was married and the woman had any sense of self, she would be tearing up his soul with every decision that she doesn’t like. He would have to filter the entire state through her and that’s a diminishment of power for him. Even agreeing to allow her to talk means that he has to forgo violence. All of this would seem to be the true nature of what it means to be a man. This hyper juiced up non-females version can get a little wacky. This doesn’t mean that I think homosexuality is inherently bad. To each his own. But if we’re talking about leaders and what sorts of decisions they make for people trying to have families and stuff, this is just not correct. It doesn’t fit. Groveling even in playtime is not really the stuff that real masters look forward to.
Interesting. I wonder if this is somehow attached to the vegan meat argument. For people who eat meat, they have that personal violent derangement that goes through them. Because all they ever do is escape, they never build anything useful from themselves. They can’t think straight and they believe that what they look like is more important than who they are to the community. It’s a strange corrupt thing that we do. It’s obnoxious.
So you’re saying that because the carnivore world is kill or be killed, obsequiousness and begging is a part of things?
It could be. Hey, we are in fine form today. What’s the story behind this? Why are we so fluid?
You mean me? Why am I so agreeable and why am I not trying to beat you down?
Sure. We’ve been friends for a long time but I seem to remember that you’ve been fighting the entire time.
Maybe. I never really thought about it I guess.
True to your nature.
That I am.
So what’s the story? Where are we going now? I would be happy to build us another apothecary anywhere where you think one needs to be. I am so rich, I couldn’t fail if I tried.
No, not this time, my friend. I’m afraid this time I have to go alone.
I’m not going to quit until I know. Or even better, I brought the good stuff. Either you tell me the truth, or you will never even know the smell of this stuff.
You drive a hard bargain. One wonders why you care so much.
You mean, are you just a rich guy or are you my rich guy?
You make it sound so romantic.
Hillel, you’re special.
I bet you say that to all the girls.
No. You are in the middle of everything and because of our friendship, I have been in the middle of everything. And I think this thing that you have done is going to be bigger than any of us can ever imagine. Like forever and ever and ever.
Yeah. It would have been nice if all of this had happened when we quit writing the Torah for 40 years. I thought that was about a society of people coming to grips with their appetites and learning to live properly in the world in the eyes of God. Just like they said. Just like we really want it. And all absolutely within the boundaries of the ten commandments. We lived for them! And what did we do? Great fields of wheat rising from the desert. Fruits and vegetables and melons and beans. We felt out of the meat habit because it was just so much more comfortable in the desert without it. But we were good. We were so good at it. And we were so good with each other. Oh my, I so miss living in those days. We were so happy together. We were all spoiled and rich because we were so good at what we were doing. But then we ran into these bastards. These greedy bastards who know nothing of business or human interaction or deal making or land management or anything but money. The scourge of humanity and now we are one of them. They didn’t even ask us what we wanted. They didn’t even remember that we were the children of Israel. We were them and they were us and we were the same people. They were just hysterical for power. They don’t care about people. They only want the money. They annihilated us. They erased our entire history. They told us we were nothing but numbers and soldiers and we had nothing else to do but died for them. Some freedom. Some culture. Some life.
Okay. But, we know this. We’ve been talking about this forever. What’s going on today that makes this all so special? Where are you going?
I’m quitting. I’ve had enough.
3
Seriously freaky imagery.
Yeah, it wasn’t me.
You know, I’ve known about this for a long time but it is true. Knowing you and knowing all of this undercover stuff is really interesting.
Maybe. It used to be about figuring out who he was as a person. This was rather unfortunate because it would have been better had he just been a good water engineer right at the start. But there was some heart. It was that he believed that we should do this as free people. It wasn’t really that we die if we don’t listen although that seems to be how we end up now. In the beginning or at least in his heart, he wanted us to join him because we wanted to as free people.
Which is also kind of sexual deviance. It’s all power. Everything is power.
I’m not sure we’re talking about the same thing right now. But eventually, it is about power. He wanted to be a human but he had too much power and he couldn’t control it. Look at you. You have power. You control substances that people need. They are obligated to come to you. And of course, it’s your business so it’s all your decision. There’s a lot of power there over a lot of people.
Over you?
Don’t know. Hard to say. Good friends or we’re just working each other. Old school or new school? We’re doing it like we did it in the desert or are we just a bunch of desperate thugs working for a stone Mason with serious sexual hangups?
Isn’t it strange that we even have to talk about this?
Now that you mention it, I have wondered once or twice why you never noticed that we have a new style of conversation these days.
Maybe I don’t follow social mores the way you do. What specifically are we talking about?
The competitive juvenile attitude for everybody for everything. That we simply don’t care about each other or give any respect to anyone else?
And?
We didn’t used to do this.
Oh, no, we did. Men are men and women are women and we do what we do so no, we were always playing with each other.
Okay, I agree we played with each other. But there’s a big difference between playing with each other because everyone wants to have a laugh or playing with someone because they are like a mouse and you are a cat. Right now we are practicing brutality. Even cruelty. And it’s strange to be a part of a society that practices this much cruelty considering we didn’t used to.
I see your point. And I agree. We were definitely nice to each other and to our neighbors. We lived happily in a world where we didn’t want problems. What we do now is not really conductive to life so we don’t need to do this kindness anymore.
I’m glad we understand each other.
Phaedrus simply stared at his friend and neither of them fought for a really long time. Understanding is an interesting thing. Sometimes the things we understand are too permanent to be glib with. It was just a textual moment but one worthy of note.
4
Did you ever think of asking for a land grant?
No. I don’t suppose I did.
You were right there.
You have no idea how much those guys paid for those land grants.
I can imagine. Pretty much money runs everything, doesn’t it?
It does in the meat business. It doesn’t in the vegan business. It doesn’t in my world. But then, who am I?
That’s a good question. Listen, maybe we should think about this in a different way. You remember that Nubian we took in last time? You know, the one who danced for you and then talked to you about governing until you fell asleep?
Kamala? Yeah. She was a queen but she lost her crown.
How did that work out? I heard that you were going there to see what the story was.
I did. We did. We went there. I saw everything.
And what? And what did you see? Are you keeping her? Will she be a new addition to a wealthy man’s world?
No. I really like you better as a vegan.
So what? What happened?
We performed atrocities on them. We burned people alive. We raped daughters in front of their fathers and ripped babies from the bellies of pregnant women just to throw them in the fire. Whatever it was about their civilization that might have been special for however long they occupied the state, we turned it into a ghetto. It was nothing now. There was nothing beautiful. They have been enslaved and no longer have any of their own lives left. It was death and we were responsible for it. And completely unnecessarily. We didn’t need the money and we don’t need the slaves. We didn’t need to do any of it and yet we did.
5
No, you definitely didn’t write this.
Thanks. You can tell when they get completely crazy and you have no idea why the imagery they choose is so important. Well, you can put two and two together and figure it out.
Go ahead. Say it.
I can’t. It’s not right.
Since when is not speaking the truth right? Go ahead. Say it. We all see it. We all know what it is. But you are the Torah scribe. Give me the words please.
I really can’t. I’d hate myself if I actually said the word I was thinking of here.
Say it like you mean it.
I also want to say that this word was given to me by someone very close to me. It was amazing how succinct and awesome the word was when she said it. It seemed to explain everything and yet somehow leave an unbelievable feeling that this would be the entire currency of the planet Earth.
You see what I mean? Drama! Until the last day you are alive, you are a drama llama and there is no other way to say it.
Fine. You really want me to say it here? This is kind of a religious text. But you think it might be some kind of mistake to put this in?
How terrible are the words?
Okay. Cocksuckers.
Yeah. I think but pretty much covers it. The world is thick with them.
Can’t throw a rock without hitting one.
Interesting thought when we think about quality of life, don’t you think?
It does get tiring, doesn’t it?
I guess I’m beginning to understand your point of view. When it’s really no more fun, one wonders why we bother to do it.
One does. And listen, here we are. We are going to do the 6th and 7th right now. And then we’re going to start all over again, right? Just like before except now it’s another day. Just like they say, we are in it as a war for resources. Either we get the resources or someone else does. Is this the way of life?
It is if it’s the meat business.
Yeah. They said they are going with the meat business despite that it doesn’t work out nor bring happiness to anyone. Just a bunch of lunatic drug addicts going up and down on an unstable life. No common sense to be found anywhere.
And this house and this power that you have personally? Is it not worth something? Is it worth anything? Is your life worth nothing? Even just to enjoy the wine?
And again there was one of those silences. Sometimes more information goes between people during the silence than during the dialogue. I’m sure it must have felt big at the time. It is a hope it did. It would be a shame if it truly didn’t matter.
6
Tied up in a sweet little bow. Sure, it says in the book that Moses died. Of course. It hasn’t been Moses talking to us in a long time. Moses hasn’t been around since something went wrong in his head and he lay down and never got up. All the rest of this revolutionary coup just went on as per plan and it didn’t trouble them too much having a corpse in the back room.
Sure. Dirty dealings. That’s what we do. That’s what politics is about. Don’t you think that’s the point of the Torah?
That the greatest truth in the whole world is that politics is a dirty business?
Sure. They ask you to believe all kinds of weird stuff. You were there. What was going on in the guy’s head?
It wasn’t really in his head. It was between his legs. He really liked pomegranates. He believed pomegranates helped his venereal disease. Yeah. He really, really, really loved pomegranates.
Well, what now? We are marked. We’re never going to get out of this. These idiots think they have done something to show the strength of their resolve but all they’ve done is tell the world that our people don’t care about them at all and we would destroy them just as easily as looking at them. And yet at the same time, we believe ourselves to be benevolent, just and charitable.
That’s a bit sharp. We always tell people how nice we really are. Everybody wants people to like them. Just because we massacred you and stilled your lives doesn’t mean that we don’t respect love and family and warmth. Anybody can see the correlation there. Oh sure. Let’s talk about all the benevolence that comes from the murderers. Knowing full well that we can simply murder your entire family, look how happy you are to be with us. In fact, let’s have more ceremonies where we all stand around and stare at each other and know what each one is. Let’s make more demonstrations of groupthinking now that we are absolutely sure how wonderful life is being hypocritical murderers.
Look how it tenses you up. Look how attentive you are. Really, I think this is a healthy thing keeping pressure on people from birth to death.
No, it’s not. It’s an exercise and hopelessness. It’s all an exercise and hopelessness now. Before at least we had the seasons. At least we hoped we would have a good year and everyone would be happy and we would have a lot of fun. Now there’s nothing. Not for us and not for anybody. You know you’re not allowed to talk about the amount of violence we use when dealing with potential friends and trading partners along the road? That’s why they closed the newspaper. What we do to other people is out of sight and out of mind and our people just take the riches and continue thinking how kind and wonderful and benevolent we are.
Well no. That’s just war stuff. War is normal and sometimes we go to war and this just happens.
Do you mean that or are you being clever?
I don’t know, Hi. My head hurts. It’s been a long time since I thought anything would come of anything we say. There was a time when the words meant something. And we were publishers of the word. Now I feel like just another drunken bum talking nonsense as a way of filling my day.
I know exactly what you mean. I think of you as a way of keeping busy every day. Sometimes I don’t think of anything but this.
Okay, fine. We’re not friends. I’m just the drug dealer who keeps you limber in a world you don’t want to live in. So what’s the point?
Why does everything have to be pointless? Why must our lives be valueless? Why do we have to live in a world where we are nothing but meat?
Come on, my brother. Let’s go hang out in the kitchen. Maybe you’ll feel better. Maybe we get something nice to eat.
Hopeless. It’s hopeless. They’ve taken everything away. Everything I’ve ever built has been stolen. Everything I ever tried to do has been torn to shreds like it never meant anything. My entire life has been stolen from me and it means nothing to anyone.
Listen, we’ve only got one more Aaliyah left. And you know, you know where we are going. In the beginning. All the children’s stories and we are right back in the garden again. You remember the garden? You remember everything we did in the garden?
Of course I do. I thought we were making a difference.
We did. We did! We did make a difference. You did get him to understand it! You did the job!
And then they stole the book and rewrote the ending and now we are some kind of masters and we agree that chewing on dead flesh is the way we satisfy ourselves. I can’t do this. I don’t want to do this anymore.
Listen, I have this girl. You must see this girl. This girl is like no other girl you will ever see ever in your life. And listen. She reads and writes. She has a full education. She wants to meet you. She is beautiful and she doesn’t work in the trades. She’s not a, you know, like you said. She’s just a teacher and she lives to teach children and help anyone who needs help. She’s really amazingly beautiful. Let me introduce you to her. I really think you two will like each other.
Of course. Of course, of course, of course. You always know what to do. And you know what the good stuff is.
This is why we are friends. We both know what the good stuff is.
For sure, she’s not interested in my money?
Fair’s fair. But you can’t pretend that you’re not rich so it’s hard not to have that in the mix, right?
No. It’s okay. All things are exactly how they should be and I’m not worried about it in the least. Let’s do this, my friend. Tomorrow. Let’s meet tomorrow and we shall have a great day.
You’re not going to go off on a speech about how we are exploiting and degrading women because of their social status? You’re not going to say anything about equality or the slave market generally?
No. No it’s not necessary. It’s really okay. I’m looking forward to this. You say she’s a really good one, yeah?
No, this is the real thing. I think you should meet this woman. I think she’ll change your life.
Sure. I can’t wait. Really, I can’t wait to see what you have come up with.
7
