Devarim 34: Alls well that ends well

I will admit it. Every year on Simchat Torah I get emotional listening to the last chapter of the Torah. The chapter is both beautiful and mournful at the same time. Moshe—the greatest prophet the world will ever know, a man who spoke face to face with God—is held back just at the last moment before reaching the land of Canaan. One can feel the mixed emotions in Moshe’s heart during verses 1–4 and the description of the land. The Torah lists the areas not by physical description, but by city and tribal name. It is as if Moshe has a chance to see the land as it will be once his people finally fulfill the promise God made to the forefathers.“Then Moses went up from the steppes of Moab to Mount Nebo… and the LORD showed him the whole land… And the LORD said to him, ‘This is the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob… I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not cross there.’”וַיַּעַל מֹשֶׁה מֵעַרְבוֹת מוֹאָב אֶל־הַר נְבוֹ… וַיַּרְאֵהוּ ה׳ אֶת־כָּל־הָאָרֶץ…וַיֹּאמֶר ה׳ אֵלָיו זֹאת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב… הֶרְאִיתִיךָ בְעֵינֶיךָ וְשָׁמָּה לֹא תַעֲבֹר(34:1–4)Moshe dies in the wilderness near Peor.No one knows his final resting place by design. The commentators say that God did not wish for Moshe’s tomb to become a pilgrimage site or even a place of idol worship. The people mourn for him for 30 days and then, the mourning period ends.“The Israelites bewailed Moses in the steppes of Moab for thirty days.”וַיִּבְכּוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־מֹשֶׁה בְּעַרְבוֹת מוֹאָב שְׁלֹשִׁים יוֹם( 34:8)The show must go on and Joshua immediately steps into the limelight. This sudden shift at the end of the book mirrors the fact that Moshe’s burial place is not known, and that Moshe received the same treatment at death as his brother Aaron. Moshe, as great as he was, was no deity. He was God’s humble servant.Deuteronomy ends as a bookend to the previous four books of the Torah. Genesis ended with Joseph dying in Egypt and being placed in a sarcophagus. Deuteronomy ends with Moshe dying and being buried in a secret location.Exodus ends with a description of how the Israelites would travel in the wilderness:“For over the Tabernacle a cloud of the LORD rested by day, and fire would appear in it by night, in the view of all the house of Israel throughout their journeys.”כִּי עֲנַן ה׳ עַל־הַמִּשְׁכָּן יוֹמָם וְאֵשׁ תִּהְיֶה לַיְלָה בּוֹ לְעֵינֵי כָּל־בֵּית־יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּכָל־מַסְעֵיהֶם(Exodus 40:38)Deuteronomy ends with the Israelites at the last point of the journey in the wilderness.Leviticus ends with a summary of the laws given on Mount Sinai when Moshe and God spoke face to face:“These are the commandments that the LORD gave Moses for the Israelite people on Mount Sinai.”אֵלֶּה הַמִּצְוֹת אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה׳ אֶת־מֹשֶׁה אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּהַר סִינָי(Leviticus 27:34)In Deuteronomy, Moshe is up on a mountain again to face God, but this time he will not be coming down.Numbers ends with a similar verse:“These are the commandments and regulations that the LORD enjoined upon the Israelites, through Moses, on the steppes of Moab, at the Jordan near Jericho.”אֵלֶּה הַמִּצְוֹת וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה׳ בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁה אֶל־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעַרְבוֹת מוֹאָב עַל־יַרְדֵּן יְרֵחוֹ(Numbers 36:13)Deuteronomy ends in the same location.“And the Israelites bewailed Moses in the steppes of Moab for thirty days.”וַיִּבְכּוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶת־מֹשֶׁה בְּעַרְבוֹת מוֹאָב שְׁלֹשִׁים יוֹם(34:8)Moshe’s final send off is not about the laws, though; his final send off is a tribute to the miracles that he performed. As we begin the books of the Prophets, God is quick to remind everyone that:“Never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses.”וְלֹא־קָם נָבִיא עוֹד בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל כְּמֹשֶׁה(34:10)