Text of the Haftorah of Zot HaBracha – Yehoshua 1

Chazak!

V’Zot Habrachah is the last parashah of the Torah. We read it on Simchat Torah, and just as soon as we finish and say, “Chazak chazak v’nischazek” we take out a different scroll, rolled to the beginning, and start reading Parashas Bereishis.

The haftorah that we read on V’Zot Habrachah does not go back to the beginning. Instead, it goes forward:

וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי מוֹת מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד ה’ וַיֹּאמֶר ה’ אֶל יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בִּן נוּן מְשָׁרֵת מֹשֶׁה לֵאמֹר: מֹשֶׁה עַבְדִּי מֵת וְעַתָּה קוּם עֲבֹר אֶת הַיַּרְדֵּן הַזֶּה אַתָּה וְכָל הָעָם הַזֶּה אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי נֹתֵן לָהֶם לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל  —

After the death of Moshe, the servant of Hashem, Hashem said to Yehoshua bin Nun, Moshe’s assistant, “My servant Moshe has passed away. Now rise and cross this Jordan River, you and this entire nation, to the Land which I am giving to them, to Bnei Yisrael.” (Yehoshua 1:1–2)

  Moshe has passed away and the Torah is complete, but Jewish history is only just beginning. Yehoshua now must lead the Jewish People across the Jordan River, conquer the Land, settle it, and create a society founded on the laws that God gave to Moshe. Moshe was unable to do this, yet Yehoshua, his student, must succeed. Not only must Yehoshua step into the shoes of his teacher, not only must he lead the uncooperative and cantankerous Jewish People into Eretz Yisrael, but he must take the Torah from its theoretical existence in the desert and into the real world of living as a nation. All the many commandments in Sefer Devarim that begin with “when you enter the Land” will now need to be fulfilled. This is far from trivial. The Torah requires the Jewish People to obey their judges, but our judges must never abuse their power. We must respect commercial enterprise, but we must never take advantage of consumers. We must fight wars against fierce enemies, but never degenerate into wanton cruelty. It is no wonder that the most repeated phrase in the haftorah is חֲזַק וֶאֱמַץ, “be strong and brave.” What Yehoshua is asked to do — what the Jewish People are asked to do — is truly daunting.

The haftorah tells us how it can be accomplished:

לֹא יָמוּשׁ סֵפֶר הַתּוֹרָה הַזֶּה מִפִּיךָ וְהָגִיתָ בּוֹ יוֹמָם וָלַיְלָה לְמַעַן תִּשְׁמֹר לַעֲשׂוֹת כְּכָל הַכָּתוּב בּוֹ כִּי אָז תַּצְלִיחַ אֶת דְּרָכֶךָ וְאָז תַּשְׂכִּיל: הֲלוֹא צִוִּיתִיךָ חֲזַק וֶאֱמָץ וכו’ —

The Book of this Torah must not leave your mouth, you must dwell upon it day and night, so that you make sure to do all that is written in it. For only thus will your paths succeed, thus will you prevail. As I have commanded you, be strong and brave . . . (Yehoshua 1:8–9)

It is possible to turn the theory of the Torah into reality, but, in addition to the strength of character required by its execution, it demands continuous dedication to its study. But is this continuous dedication, described as “the Torah must not leave your mouth; you must dwell upon it day and night,” meant to exclude all other endeavors? How will the Land be conquered and settled if all Yehoshua does is study Torah day and night? According to R’ Yishmael, that is not what the Torah expects:

ואספת דגנך, למה נאמר לפי שנאמר (יהושע א) לא ימוש ספר התורה הזה מפיך, שומע אני כמשמעו, תלמוד לומר ואספת דגנך וגו’ (דברים יא) דרך ארץ דברה תורה דברי רבי ישמעאל —

Why does the Torah state, “You shall gather your grain”? Because it also says (Yehoshua 1), “The Book of this Torah must not leave your mouth,” and I might interpret it literally. Therefore, it is also said, “You shall gather your grain” (Devarim 11). The Torah speaks in terms of the way of the world — this was said by R’ Yishmael. (Sifri, Devarim, Eikev 42)

The Torah does not ask of us to do the impossible, only the very difficult. It is impossible to learn Torah all day and never grow anything, or there will be no food to eat. The Torah reassures us that this is not what God expects of us as a nation, and tells us, “You shall gather your grain.” At the same time, if all we do is grow grain, do not learn any Torah, and try to observe it on autopilot based on what we think we already know, then we will fail to live up to its challenging and complex expectations. The Medrash suggests how a balance might be achieved:

רבי יהושע אומר שונה אדם שתי הלכות בשחרית ושתי הלכות בערבית ועוסק במלאכתו כל היום מעלין עליו כאלו קיים את כל התורה כולה וקיים והגית בו יומם ולילה (יהושע א)  —

R’ Yehoshua says: If a person studies two laws in the morning and two laws in the evening, and is busy with his work all day, he is considered as if he fulfilled the entire Torah and fulfilled “You must dwell upon it day and night” (Yehoshua 1). (Medrash Tanchuma, Beshalach 20)

Studying a little bit, but consistently, is sufficient to place the Torah at the forefront of one’s priorities. It is sufficient to make it the arbiter of one’s values and the guide for one’s actions. This level of dedication, which appears to be minimal, nevertheless requires great strength of character and strength of purpose. In order to succeed at the building of a society based on Torah, the haftorah urges Yehoshua: חֲזַק וֶאֱמַץ, “be strong and brave.” As we finish reading the entire Torah, and the new year beckons with its challenge to implement all that we have learned, we all say together:

!חזק חזק ונתחזק

“Be strong, be strong, and let us be strengthened!”