<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=windows-1252"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -72.4pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 23px; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">The following is a very interesting question raised many years ago by a <i>Darshan</i></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">. The Bible relates </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">that when Moses died, "He was buried in the valley of the land of Moab over against Bethpeor; and no man knoweth of his </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">sepulcher unto this day." </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">(Deuteronomy, 34,6.)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: -72.4pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 23px; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">The Bible itself gives us specific signs to locate the burial place of Moses. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">It </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">says in the first place that he was buried in the valley. Secondly, it was in the land of Moab, and thirdly it was over against Bethpeor. And yet it concludes that "No man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day." <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span> <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>Does not the second half of the verse contradict the first half?</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; "><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 23px; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; "> This <i>Darshan</i> went on to give a </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">parable. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">He related an interesting story. Many years back, a small Jewish community in </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">Poland was looking for a rabbi. They heard the fame of a young Rabbi who was recently ordained with honors at a prominent Yeshiva. They sent a delegation of three men <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>to visit the young </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">scholar and to invite him to become the rabbi of their community. They were not able to offer him much financial inducement. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">The community was small and the Rabbi knew that he would have there very few scholars learned in the Torah with whom he could associate. The Rabbi was not inclined to accept.<o:p></o:p></span></p><span style="font-size: 12pt; "> When the delegation sensed its failure to realize its mission, one of the men spoke up and said: "Do you know that some of the most prominent sages and rabbis of the world are </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">buried in our community?” The Rabbi understood the implication. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">If </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">he accepted the position he would be successor to a whole galaxy of <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>distinguished rabbis. Furthermore, after he had lived his span of life on this earth, his earthly remains would </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">come to repose in the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">cemetery </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">of the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">community </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">alongside </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">his </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">distinguished </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">predecessors. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">The </span><em><span style="font-size: 12pt; font-style: normal; ">naïve</span></em><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">, unsuspecting Rabbi </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">was won over. He accepted the position. It was not long after </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">coming to this <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>community that the Rabbi realized he made a mistake. His salary was not enough for his basic needs and he felt rather </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">lonely, not having any learned colleagues or friends in the </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">community. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">One day, when he </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">was </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">especially lonesome, he de</span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">cided that he would go visit the cemetery and see for himself who his great <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>predecessors were. He walked through the length and breadth of the cemetery examining carefully </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">each monument and its inscription. He found </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">no </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">names that he </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">recognized. He returned home and sent for the men of the delegation who had visited him in the first place. When these </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">men arrived he said to them, <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>"Gentlemen, you will recall that you said to me that you have some of the most prominent and </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">distinguished rabbis interred in your city. Pray, tell me, who are </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">these rabbis, these prominent scholars?" The spokesman for </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">the delegation answered, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">"Why, </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">Rabbi, in our community you </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">will find Rashi buried. You will also find <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>the Rambam and the Rema interred here." At this the Rabbi became infuriated: </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">"How dare </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">you </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">say these things to </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">me! </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">Everyone knows that </span><span style="font-size: 12pt; ">the Rambam is interred in Tiberias, Rashi is buried in France and the Rema's sepulcher is in the City of Cracow." The spokesman again answered: "Rabbi, you don’t understand. <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Please don't get angry with us for we have spoken the truth. </span><span style="text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">You can go to Tiberias and visit their school houses and synagogues and you will see that the Rambam still lives there. He is discussed, his words are studied with the greatest respect. You can go through the Jewish academies of France and you will see that <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>Rashi lives there. Young and old are engaged in studying his words. He is part of the life of everyone who learns the Bible and the Talmud. You can go to the City of Cracow and you will see the Rema – the great Rabbi Moses Isserles, still lives there. The people live by his rulings set forth in the Shulchan Aruch. <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>However, in OUR community, all these great and prominent leaders of the Jewish people are dead and buried. You will never find anyone here repeating words </span><span style="text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">of </span><span style="text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">the Rambam or of Rashi or of the Rema. </span><span style="text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">So you see</span><span style="text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">, Rabbi, that all these great masters of Jewish law <b><u>are</u></b> buried here in this </span><span style="text-align: justify; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">community."</span><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 6.1pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 20.85pt; line-height: 23px; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">The <i>Darshan, </i>on completing the parable, then went on to explain the Biblical passage that seemed self-contradictory. Where is Moses buried? He is buried in the valley, in a place where light does not penetrate, where enlightenment is altogether absent. He is buried in the land of Moab, among primitive, <span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre; "> </span>uncivilized people. He is buried over against Bethpeor; idol worshippers have not heard of Moses. "And no man knoweth of his sepulcher unto this day."<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 6.1pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: 20.85pt; line-height: 23px; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; ">Anyone worthy of being a <i>ben Torah</i>, knows that Moses is not dead. In the Jewish study halls and the great academies of our people, Moses still lives. And tonight he will give us the holy Torah.<o:p></o:p></span></p><div style="margin-left: 0.7pt; line-height: 23px; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; "> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div style="line-height: 23px; "><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18px; "> </span><br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><div apple-content-edited="true"></div></div><div apple-content-edited="true">
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