Thursday, June 6, 2019

Who Wrote the End of the Torah?

Question of the Week:
 
If Moses received the entire Torah at Mt Sinai, how did it contain things that hadn't even happened yet, right up to Moses' death forty years later?!
 
Answer:
 
That's a great question! Moses didn't receive all five books of the Torah all at once. It was a process of unravelling. 

At Mt Sinai, G-d gave Moses the Ten Commandments along with all the Torah passages from creation up until that point. That included the book of Genesis, and part of the book of Exodus until the description of the revelation at Mt Sinai. Then in the following months G-d dictated to Moses the rest of Exodus, Leviticus and part of Numbers. The rest of Numbers and Deuteronomy were given to Moses in the last year of his life.

Moses wrote down each of these parts of the Torah in small scrolls as they were revealed to him by G-d. Just before he passed away, Moses combined all the scrolls into one, exactly the same as the Torah scroll we have today. 

As for the verses that describe Moses' death, how could Moses himself record his own death? Moses can't write "Moses died" in the past tense! On the other hand, if he didn't, the Torah would be left incomplete. The Torah is the revelation given to Moses, no other. 

The Talmud says Moses wrote those verses with tears rather than with ink. Then his student Joshua filled in the words with ink. But the question remains, if Moses didn't write those words, wasn't the Torah left incomplete? Could it be that the end of the Torah wasn't written down by Moses himself?

The Baal Shem Tov taught that the Hebrew word for tears (Dema) can also be translated as "scrambled". Moses wrote the letters of the verses describing his own death in scrambled form. Because on the one hand he had to write them to complete the Torah, but on the other hand he hadn't died yet. Joshua unscrambled the words after Moses' death.

The holy letters of the Torah contain the story of all future generations. All of our lives are written in the Torah too, but in scrambled form. As we live our life and make our choices, we unscramble our own story.

May we all receive the Torah again this Shavuos with true joy, and internalise its eternal message.

Good Shabbos and Good Yomtov, 
Rabbi Moss

Sources:
Talmud Gittin 60a, Bava Basra 14a
Sefer Baal Shem Tov al Hatorah Vezos Habrocho

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All preparations are now complete, we are ready to pour the concrete walls so we can start on the final level of concrete. 

Shabbat Shalom to everyone, 
Brent


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Friday, 7 June 2019| 4 Sivan 5779
Candle Lighting.................................... 4:35pm
Shabbos Service .................................. 6:00-6:50pm
Kids Program ....................................... 6:00pm
Kiddush sponsored by Simone and Darryl Green in honour of their wedding anniversary- Mazal Tov!
 
Shabbos Day, 8 June 2019 |5 Sivan 5779
Shabbos Service............................ 10:00am-12:20pm
Kids Program .............. ................ 10:30am
Early mincha Followed by Kiddush....12:30pm
 
Candle Lighting ............................. after 5:34pm
 
Shavuos Evening Service..................... 6:00pm
Followed by Dinner - BOOKINGS CLOSED........ 6:30pm
 
Panel Discussion & All Night Learning... 9:15pm-5:00am
 
Sunday 9 June | 6 Sivan| Shavuos, Day 1
Morning Service.....................10:00am
Reading 10 Commandments 
and Ice Cream Party .............. 10:30am
Dairy Kiddush & Farbrengen sponsored by Rabbi Chanoch & Sarah Chanah Sufrin in honour of the birth of their twin girls Raizel & Rivka- Mazal Tov!!
 
Mincha..................................4:45pm
Candle Lighting......................after 5:34pm
Shavuos Evening Service........ 5:40pm
 
Monday 10 June | 7 Sivan | Shavuos, Day 2
Morning Service.....................10:00am
Yizkor-Memorial Service..........11:00am
Followed by Dairy Kiddush
Mincha...................................4:45pm
Shavuos ends & Maariv.............5:34pm
 
Latest Shema this week.............9:24am
 
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MAZAL TOV
Adam and Nicki Ensly on the engagement in Israel of their daughter Hannah Ensly to Yonatan Gefen!
 
HAPPY JEWISH BIRTHDAY
Lilah Hedges..................... 5 Sivan/ Saturday 8 June
Wayne Kaplan................... 6 Sivan/ Sunday 9 June
Nicholas Maksimovich......... 9 Sivan/ Wednesday 12 June
Alison Brown................... 10 Sivan/ Thursday 13 June

CONDOLENCES
Kevin Levine on the recent passing of his father Arthur Levine in South Africa - Long Life.
 
LONG LIFE
Gabor Palanszky for his late sister-in-law Georgina Palansky
Georgina Bat David... 5 Sivan/ Saturday 7 June

Judi Berman and Martine Springer for their late grandfather Hyman (Ray) Segal
Chaim ben Leib... 6 Sivan/ Sunday 8 June

Rob Goldshaft and Richelle Goldshaft for their late grandfather and father Leon Israel Rosenthal, Leib Yisrael ben Shmuel...7 Sivan/ Monday 9 June

Mark Gindin & Faina Strier for their late father Ilya Gindin
Eliyahu ben Mordechai... 7 Sivan/ Monday 10 June

Rosalie Cohen, Gilda Cohen-Shapira and Lee-Anne Whitten for their late husband, brother and father Edward Cohen, Tuvia ben Moshe...8 Sivan/ Tuesday 11 June

Nicholas Levy for his late grandmother, Ruby Levy
Rifka ben Daniel... 8 Sivan/ Tuesday 11 June

Allen Rosenberg for his late wife Anita Louise Rosenberg
Channah bat Laizer... 9 Sivan/ Wednesday 12 June

Abie Greengarten for his late mother Musia Greengarten
Chana Miriam bas Shlomo Halevi... 10 Sivan/ Thursday 13 June

Tina Moddel for her late mother Grace,
Tovah Bat Michael... 10 Sivan/ Thursday 13 June

Jenny Kantorovich for her late grandfather Semion Kantorovich
Shlomo ben Shalom... 11 Sivan/ Friday 14 June

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