Devarim 33: Moshe's Time to Bless

At the end of his life, Yaacov was given the opportunity to bless his 12 sons. At the time, his family was just that- a small family living in a strange land. Now Moshe is given the opportunity to bless Yaacov’s twelve sons. Only this time, they are no longer a small family- but a large nation. A few thoughts on each blessing:Reuven: Moshe lists him first as he is the first born of Yaacov, but the blessing itself is vanilla. Reuven is small, I hope he does not die. Perhaps Moshe still harbored resentment against Revuen for requesting to stay outside the land of Israel when Moshe was not able to enter the land. At least Moshe’s blessing is not negative like Yaccov’s.יְחִי רְאוּבֵן וְאַל־יָמֹת וִיהִי מְתָיו מִסְפָּר (Deut. 33:6)Yehuda: Listed second, even though he is the third son. This is symbolic of his future role as the leading tribe of Israel. Unlike Yaacov, however, Moshe does not provide any monarchial symbols. This is also stark given Levi’s extended blessing about their future role as priests and caretakers of the Mishkan. Perhaps this juxtaposing belies Moshe’s concern that the people will turn towards a Monarchy and away from the Temple as the center of authority.שְׁמַע ה׳ קוֹל יְהוּדָה וְאֶל־עַמּוֹ תְּבִיאֶנּוּ יָדָיו רָב לוֹ וְעֵזֶר מִצָּרָיו תִּהְיֶה (Deut. 33:7)Shimon: Moshe does not give Shimon a blessing, many commentator’s believe this is likely because of Shimon’s involvement in Baal Peor.(no verse)Levi: Moshe’s personal tribe gets one of the longest blessings. The blessing is focused on Levi’s role in the Mishkan and as teachers of the Torah. A cynical view would be that Moshe shows favoritism to his own tribe, but it is also not surprising that the tribe closest to Moshe is the most personal.תֻּמֶּיךָ וְאוּרֶיךָ לְאִישׁ חֲסִידֶךָ… יוֹרוּ מִשְׁפָּטֶיךָ לְיַעֲקֹב וְתוֹרָתְךָ לְיִשְׂרָאֵל (Deut. 33:8–10)Benjamin: Listed out of order chronologically but perhaps listed thematically after Levi as the Temple will eventually be in Benjamin’s territory.יְדִיד ה׳ יִשְׁכֹּן לָבֶטַח עָלָיו חֹפֵף עָלָיו כָּל־הַיּוֹם וּבֵין כְּתֵפָיו שָׁכֵן (Deut. 33:12)Yosef: The longest blessing for the largest double tribe. Moshe blesses Yosef’s vast territory for a bountiful harvest. There is also a references to the famous blessing of Yaacov placing his hands on the heads of Ephraim and Menashe. Moshe doubles down on that blessing and charges that it shall continue to rest on the head of Yosef.Zebulon and Issachar: Listed together as they were with Yaacov. Zebulon was the master of oceanic commerce, while Issachar stayed in their tents studying the Torah.Gad: Moshe pays homage to the excellent warriors that come from Gad that will assist in the conquest of Canaan. This blessing matches the one given by Yaacov as well. As one of the tribes outside the boundaries of Canaan, Gad needed to be strong as the first line of defense.Dan: Dan’s blessing is interesting. Thematically, it matches Yaacov’s. Both use animal imagery of attacking stealthily. But Moshe uses a lion similar to Yaacov’s blessing of Yehuda. Perhaps this is foreshadowing the great warrior Judge Shimshon that will come from Dan.Naftali: Naftali’s blessing is also straightforward. Moshe wishes that Naftali is able to conquer the lands allotted to the tribe near the sea and south. Normally, in Biblical context, the Hebrew word “yam” means west as the Mediterranean was in the west of the land. Here, though, yam refers to the Kinneret lake in the north east of the country right next to Naftali’s lands.Asher: Later in the books of the Prophets, Asher mostly takes a backseat role. The tribe does not take an active role in any of the major campaigns of their brothers and struggles to conquer their own territory. On these facts alone, one would assume they were a cursed group. But both Yaacov and Moshe give them high praise. Perhaps this high praise provides some softening tones to the seemingly negative picture painted by the Prophets.