Mission Accomplished

Hi there, hope you've had a meaningful week, and that an uplifting Shabbat awaits you. This week's Torah Portion is entitled "Va'etchanan", which means "And he implored." This refers to the many requests of Moses to G-d to grant him entry into the Land of Israel together with his people. In fact, the numerical equivalent of the Hebrew word Va'etchanan is 515, which our Sages say is the number of times Moses implored G-d to enter the land, but was refused. It was, sadly, not meant to be.
Instead, G-d told Moses to ascend the mountain "Nevo" in the Jordan Valley, adjacent to the Israeli town of Jericho. There G-d Showed Moses the entire land, from north to south. Our Sages say that G-d also showed Moses all of the future events that would happen to the Jewish People in the future; the good & the bad.

After Moses gazed into Israel & the future, it was time for his soul to depart. As sad as it is to lose our great leader, the shepherd of the Jewish People, the description of his death is incredible. The Midrash describes the last day of his life, ending with: '...At that moment, G-d Called to Moshe's soul and said to her: "My daughter, I assigned you one hundred and twenty years in Moshe's body. Now the time has come for you to depart. Emerge and do not delay." She [Moshe's soul] responded: "Master of the Universe, I know that You are the Master of all spirits and the Master of all souls. You created me and You placed me in Moshe's body for 120 years. And now, is there a body in this world more pure than that of Moshe? I love him and I do not wish to depart from him!"
G-d answered: "Emerge, and I shall take you up to the highest of heavens and seat you beneath the throne of My glory, near the cherubs and serafim." Then, G-d kissed Moshe and took his soul with a kiss.'

As fascinating and moving an account this is of G-d & Moses, I think we can also be inspired and learn a few lessons
in our own lives. Generally we look at this life as all that there is. And for good reason! This is all that we see & know, touch and feel. And not only that, but Judaism strongly emphasizes that we live this human life to the fullest, engaging our physical surroundings and uplifting it in the process. But ultimately, we have to remember that we are just visitors. Souls from Heaven on a mission. As sad as death is, it is merely a return; to an even loftier level than where we began. Let's try & live life down here with the constant awareness that we come from up there. And then our life here will better reflect our mission at hand - to make this world a heavenly place.

And may we merit the day when all of those who passed, with Moses at their head, come back to life and lead us all back to the land of Israel, with Mashiach now.

Shabbat Shalom!

-Daniel