Keeping In Touch: VeZos HaBerachah

The only one of the weekly Torah portions that is not read on Shabbos is VeZos HaBerachah. This reading is singled out to be read on Simchas Torah, the day on which we conclude the reading of the Torah.

Our Sages state: “Everything depends on the conclusion.” VeZos HaBerachah - “And this is the blessing” - is the conclusion of the Torah. For the Torah is intended to bring blessings to our people as a whole and to every individual in particular. On Simchas Torah, the essential bond between G-d and the Jewish people is revealed. Hence, we read a Torah portion which focuses on the blessings given the Jewish people and the praise of their unique qualities.

The commentaries explain that the term zos, “this is,” refers to something obvious and apparent, something that one can point one’s finger at and say: “This is it.” Similarly, the phrase “And this is the blessing” implies that the blessings which the Torah conveys upon the Jewish people will be openly apparent in the year to come.

We do not merely conclude the cycle of the reading of the Torah on Simchas Torah, we also begin it anew. The last letter of the Torah is a lamed, and the first letter is a beis, spelling out the Hebrew word lev, meaning “heart.”

At the heart of the Torah are the Jewish people, and the Jewish people are the heart of the Torah. As the Zohar states: “The Jewish people, the Torah, and the Holy One, blessed be He, are one.” Our Torah conduct binds us to G-d and enables us to bring out the spark of G-dliness that we all possess in our hearts. This enables the Torah to serve as a medium of blessing, drawing down G-d’s bounty from the spiritual realms into our material world.