{"id":1242,"date":"2015-08-23T21:08:41","date_gmt":"2015-08-24T01:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/?p=1242"},"modified":"2015-08-23T21:08:41","modified_gmt":"2015-08-24T01:08:41","slug":"silence-and-the-worlds-that-emerge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/?p=1242","title":{"rendered":"Silence, and the Wor(l)ds That Emerge"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"View<\/a>In just weeks, the scroll will be rolled to the last column. We will turn the last page in the Chumash<\/a>. The cycle will end and this year, too, will die.<\/p>\n

Moses ascends Pisgah and looks into the future. I have let you see the land, YHVH tells his prophet. But, YHVH adds: v\u2019shama lo ta\u2019avor<\/em> \u2013 you shall not cross over there. Consider: These are God\u2019s last words to Moses.<\/p>\n

Should we be silent? Moses is.<\/p>\n

The text offers us nothing; not a word attends to the state of Moses\u2019 soul. We read only this, in the very next verse: \u201cSo Moses, the servant of YHVH, died there, in the land of Moab, at the command of YHVH\u201d (Deut. 34:5).<\/p>\n

From a broken heart?<\/p>\n

Torah tells us no more. But we search the white spaces in between the spare, fiery letters. From the silence, come the words — a plethora, in fact. In our legends, in our midrashim<\/a>, in our imaginations: Moses argues, insists, even begs. He is eloquent.<\/p>\n

He quotes Torah against her Creator. Look, Moses says, I suffered through all of Israel\u2019s woes until the Israelites finally came to believe in you, until they finally understood all your precepts and teachings. I worked and took care of them. I taught them Your law. And then, Moses adds, wasn’t it You who said: \u201cYou must pay him his wages on the same day, before the sun sets\u201d (Deut.24:15).<\/p>\n

Do as You tell us<\/em> to do, Moses says. Pay me for my labor. Else You have become a fraud. God does not relent.<\/p>\n

More words, more eloquence. Master of the Universe, Moses says in legend, at least let me enter the promised land as a mere beast of the field, a bird of the sky. I\u2019ll eat grass, drink water as any creature of yours, but, please: A living one.<\/p>\n

Our legends find words in silent places, silent spaces.<\/p>\n

Moses beseeches the world to entreat the Holy One for mercy. We, too, would like to beseech God on Moses\u2019 behalf. We, too, do not want this end. But neither heaven nor earth, nor mountains, nor sea can alter the decree.<\/p>\n

Archangels Gabriel and Michael are sent to take Moses\u2019 soul, but they cannot bear the idea. They resist. Only Samael goes; he had been waiting for the opportunity all along. Moses fights off Samael, but the battle is exhausting. After that final struggle, Moses understands. He must cede the future to others.<\/p>\n

Now, Moses can only beg that he will not die at the hands of the angel of death.
\nThese are the right words. The Holy One promises: Moses will be attended by God, Godself.<\/p>\n

Then the Holy One said to Moses, \u201cMoses, close your eyes,\u201d and he closed his eyes. \u201cPut your arms over your breast,\u201d and he put his arms over his breast. \u201cBring your legs together\u201d and he brought his legs together. Then the Holy One summoned Moses’ soul, saying, \u201cMy daughter, I had fixed the time of your sojourn in the body of Moses at a hundred and twenty years. Now your time has to come to depart. Depart. Delay not.\u201d
\nShe replied, \u201cMaster of the universe, I know that You are God of all spirits and Lord of all souls. You created me and placed me in the body of Moses one hundred and twenty years ago. Is there a body in the world more pure than the body of Moses? I love him, and I do not wish to depart from him.\u201d The Holy One exclaimed, \u201cDepart, and I will take you up to the highest heaven of heavens, and will set you under the throne of glory, next to the cherubim and seraphim.\u201d
\nIn that instant, the Holy One kissed Moses, and took his soul with that kiss.<\/p>\n

There is peace, a transformation, a different world awaiting the soul of the prophet. This year is dying. It, too, will be silent at the end. We long for a new beginning.<\/p>\n

May we will be silent, so that we may find wor(l)ds.<\/p>\n

Let us cross over. Let us live. Transformed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Moses ascends Pisgah and looks into the future.
\nI have let you see the land, YHVH tells his prophet. But, YHVH adds: v\u2019shama lo ta\u2019avor \u2013 you shall not cross over there.
\nThese are God\u2019s last words to Moses.
\nShould we be silent? Moses is.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[311,310,238,312],"class_list":["post-1242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-death-of-moses","tag-legends","tag-midrash","tag-samael"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1242"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1257,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1242\/revisions\/1257"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adrenalinedrash.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}