In this article we will discuss some of the explanations of the Abarbanel on Perashat V'Zot HaB'rakhah. One question that the Abarbanel addresses is why did Moshe Rabenu bless the nation? One reason is that they heard a lot about punishments in Nissabim and Ha-azinu. And while punishments are necessary as a deterrent to man's evil inclination, which is very strong, psychologically, the people also need to hear something uplifting. If one only thinks about the severity of the punishments for violating the Torah, he could get depressed and give up. Therefore people must also focus on the blessing and rewards that come with observing the Torah. A balance is necessary to be able to govern oneself accordingly. Both the deterrent of punishment along with the encouragement one gets from the possibility of blessings and rewards are necessary. How does the blessing work? On one level it is prayer to Hashem on behalf of the nation, but from a prophet it is more than just a prayer. It’s also a foretelling of the future if the recipients remain worthy. So it’s not just an ordinary prayer that might or might not be answered positively, it is also revealing a potential, and therefore also prompting the recipients to prepare themselves to receive the blessing. This is the only time that the Torah designated Moshe, or anyone else, as an איש אלקים, a man of G-d. This was done in order to convey that this was more than just an ordinary blessing. It was a prophetic blessing. The Abarbanel pointed out that Moshe waited until he was about to die before blessing the nation, which is similar to Yiss-haq Abinu who told 'Esav בעבור תברכך נפשי בטרם אמות and to Ya'aqob Abinu who blessed his children right before he died. The Abarbanel explained that as a person gets older, his physical desires wane and he becomes a more spiritual person, becoming a most spiritual person prior to death. Therefore, the power to convey a blessing at that point is greater, due to the higher spiritual level of even a prophet at that time. Similarly the Gemara told stories about Ribbi Eli'ezer HaGadol and Ribbi Yehudah HaNasi who revealed secret wisdom to their students on their death beds. According to the Abarbanel, they were only able to reveal these esoteric teachings at that time due to the spiritual heights that one reaches prior to their soul leaving the body, as one's physicality is at its weakest. In the Abarbanel's opinion this the reason for the Rabbinic teaching of מצוה לקיים דברי המת It's a missvah to fulfill the wishes of the deceased, like we find with Yosef's brothers who told Yosef,אביך צוה לפני מותו, since requests made prior to death were made on that higher spiritual level. The Abarbanel also contrasted Moshe Rabenu's blessing with the blessing made by Ya'aqob Abinu to the brothers immediately before he died. Ya'aqob Abinu's blessing was based on each son's personal character and personality as well as the destiny of his offspring. But Moshe Rabenu's blessing was for each tribe in their future portion in the Land of Israel. Meaning that Ya'aqob Abinu's blessing was for up until Moshe's blessing and Moshe's blessing was from then and into the future from there. Like the Rabbis in Bereshit Rabbah explained; With regards to Ya'aqob Abinu's blessing, the pasuq said: וזאת אשר דבר להם אביהם ויברך אותם And the Rabbi's taught that Ya'aqob Abinu said: עתיד אדם כיוצא בי לברך אתכם וממקום שפסקתי אני הוא מתחיל In the future a man like me will bless you and he will begin from where I left off.
Similarly the Sifre' on our pasuq of וזאת הברכה taught: וזאת מוסיף על ברכה ראשונה שבירכן יעקב אביהם- וזאת אשר דבר להם אביהם ויברך אותם The word V'Zot (And this) adds to the first blessing that they received from Ya'aqob their father who's blessing is also referred to with the word V'Zot (And this). Meaning the common use of the word V'Zot in the description of both blessings, the blessing of Ya'aqob Abinu and the blessing of Moshe Rabenu connect these blessings. Hence the explanation that Moshe Rabinu's blessing was a contnuation of Ya'aqob Abinu's blessing. With this introduction we can understand the first verse of V'Zot HaB'rakhah
וזֹאת הַבְּרָכָה אֲשֶׁר בֵּרַךְ משה A continuation from Ya'aqob Abinu's blessing איש האלקים a prophetic blessing, not just a prayer on their behalf לפני מותו prior to his death when his physicality waned and his spirituality peaked.
The next verse in this 5 verse introduction to the individual blessings stated
ויאמר ה' מסיני בא וזרח משעיר למו הופיע מהר פארן ואתה מרבבות קדש מימינו אש דת למו
Moshe said HaShem came to us from Sinai, shined from Se'ir to us, appeared from the Mountain of Paran. He came to us from tens of thousands of angels, from his right he gave us a religion of fire. According to the Abarbanel "from Sinai" refers to the giving of the Torah. "Shined from Se'ir", refers to Esav's separation from Ya'aqob as the verse reported וישב עשו בהר שעיר "And 'Esav settled on the mountain of Se'ir". "Appeared from the mountain of Paran" refers to Yishma'el's separation from Yiss-haq as after that separation the verse said regarding Yishma'el, וישב במדבר פארן "And he (Yishma'el) settled in the Paran desert." Meaning that each stage of the selection process was a step in Hashem bestowing spirituality upon his nation. And the Abarbanel went on to explain because it says "Shine" for Se'ir because Se'ir is east of the land of Israel and "Appear" for Paran because Paran is south of the land of Israel and the dawn appears at first in the northern part of the sky to people in the south. The verse described the Torah as having been given with Hashem's right hand so to speak, as the tablets were described as having been written with "the Finger of G-d" so to speak. The last point regarding this verse is the description of the Torah as a religion of fire. For the sinners, the Torah is like fire as they ultimately receive severe punishment, but for the righteous, its a religion meaning a fine way of life in this world, as well as a pleasant reward in the World to Come. The introductory section continued with אף חבב עמים כל קדושיו בידיך והם תכו לרגליך ישא מדברותיך Even though Hashem loves all of the nations, His Holy Ones, meaning the Jewish Nation, are in His hands. Meaning that He watches over us very closely, which is referred to as Divine Providence. And when He punishes us, or literally when they are smitten at your feet, meaning when Hashem is not punishing our nation, it is as if we are in His hands; but when our nation is being punished, it is like we are at His feet. But in those difficult times we can raise ourselves up through the study and practice of the Torah as the verse concluded,ישא מדברותיך "he is raised from Your words" This leads us into the next verse which is famous תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהלת יעקב The Torah that has been with us for generations is what has preserved us throughout the exile and is the source of blessing for the Jewish people. The final verse in this introduction is וְיהי בישורון מלך בהתאסף ראשי עם יחד שבטי ישראל Yeshurun is a poetic name for Israel So the verse means Hashem became our king when we gathered together as a nation to receive the Tora., The message is that we are blessed as a nation because Hashem chose to give us the Torah. To the extent that we accept the Torah by studying and observing it, we are blessed!