Summary of the Parasha

“And this is the blessing with which Moses, the man of God, blessed the children of Israel before his death”. He begins with the revelation: “Hashem came from Sinai… from His right hand a fiery law for them”, and speaks the verse children learn as soon as they can talk: “Torah tzivah lanu Moshe, morashah kehillat Yaakov”, the Torah Moses commanded us is the heritage of the congregation of Jacob.

Then he blesses each tribe: Reuben (“may he live and not die”), Judah (may God hear his voice and help him against his enemies), Levi (the Urim and Tumim, “they teach Your laws to Jacob”), Benjamin (“the beloved of Hashem”, in whose territory the Temple will stand), Joseph (a land blessed with the best fruits of heaven and earth, “the myriads of Ephraim and the thousands of Manasseh”), Zebulun and Issachar (“rejoice, Zebulun, in your going out, and Issachar in your tents”: the merchant supports the one who studies and shares his merit), Gad, Dan (“a lion’s cub”), Naphtali (“satisfied with favor”) and Asher (“may he dip his foot in oil”). He concludes: “There is none like the God of Jeshurun… Happy are you, Israel, who is like you, a people saved by Hashem”.

Moses climbs Mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah; God shows him the whole land, from Gilead to Dan, as far as the sea. Moses, the servant of Hashem, dies there, “by the mouth of Hashem”, with a divine kiss according to our Sages. God Himself buries him, and “no one knows his burial place to this day”. He was 120, “his eye had not dimmed, his vigor had not left him”. Israel mourns him thirty days. Joshua is filled with the spirit of wisdom. The Torah ends: “Never again has there arisen in Israel a prophet like Moses, whom Hashem knew face to face… before the eyes of all Israel.”

It is read on Simchat Torah, with hakafot around the bimah. The honors of Chatan Torah (who completes the Torah) and Chatan Bereshit (who begins it again) are among the most cherished; all the children go up together under a large tallit.

Summary of the Haftara

“Vayehi Acharei Mot Moshe” (“After the death of Moses”)
Text in Joshua 1:1–18

“Moses My servant is dead; now rise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people”. God promises Joshua every place where the sole of his foot will tread, and repeats: “Be strong and courageous… I will be with you as I was with Moses”. “This book of the Torah shall not depart from your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night”. Joshua tells the people to prepare to cross in three days, and reminds the tribes of Reuben, Gad and half of Manasseh of their commitment. They answer: “All that you command us we will do… only be strong and courageous.”

Parasha-Haftara Connection

The Torah ends with the death of Moses; the haftara begins “after the death of Moses”: there is no break. The Torah passes from master to disciple, and the reading starts again at once from the beginning. What Moses began, Joshua continues, with the Torah “in his mouth, day and night”.