Moses' Final Words Explained - Rabbi Shlomo Horwitz

What’s said in this shiur

The opening of this shiur, in Hidabroot - Torah & Judaism’s own words— taken from the captions, so names and Hebrew terms may be approximate.

You wouldn't believe what I learned about Parshas Devarim. Our parsha opens with a very unusual introduction. Eleh Hadvarim Asher Diber Moshe. These are the words that Moshe spoke to all of Israel. That sounds strange, doesn't it? Every word of the Torah came from God, so why does the Torah suddenly emphasize that these are the words of Moshe? The Dubno Maggid, Rav Yaakov Krantz, quotes a remarkable explanation that he heard directly from his Rebbe, the Vilna Gaon, and I think I found a hint to it in a Rashi. He says that there is a fundamental difference between Sefer Devarim and the first four sifrei Torah of the Torah. Throughout Bereishit, Shemot, Vayikra, and Bamidbar, the Shechinah literally spoke mitokh geron Moshe. Moshe Rabbeinu was not choosing words or even expressing the message in his own style. He was a conduit through which Hashem's exact words were spoken. Moshe had no choice. God gave him those words. But Sefer Devarim is different, says the Vilna Gaon. Here, Hashem first revealed his message to Moshe. Then there was a break. And then he conveyed that prophecy to klal Yisrael, to the Jewish people, in his own language, just as other prophets would do later. Of course, every word was spoken with ruach hakodesh. Every word was divinely inspired and part of the Torah itself. Every word is

Jump to a moment

1. 0:04You wouldn't believe what I learned about Parshas Devarim. Our parsha opens with a very unusual…
2. 0:34Gaon, and I think I found a hint to it in a Rashi. He says that…
3. 1:06had no choice. God gave him those words. But Sefer Devarim is different, says the Vilna…
4. 1:36from Hashem. But the presentation is Moshe's. So what's the difference between the last book and…
5. 2:06much earlier than the Vilna Gaon in Rashi to Megillah 31b. He says that the tochacha…
6. 2:37not Mosha. Mosha is not going to say I'm going to bring a famine, etc. These…
7. 3:09Hashem. That shift in grammar perfectly reflects the Vilna Gaon's explanation. Because in the first four…
8. 3:40Mosha spoke. They're not any less divine, God forbid. Every word of Devarim is also Torah…
9. 4:10enlightening. And I want to wish you all a Shabbat Shalom, a good Shabbos.…

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