1)

Who buried Moshe?

1.

Rashi #1: Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu buried him.

2.

Rashi #2 (citing R. Yishmael): He buried himself. 1


1

Because "Oso" is equivalent to 'es'Atzmo'. Rashi: This is one of the three places where R. Yishmael interprets 'es' in this manner. Refer to Vayikra, 22:16:2:1* & 34:6:151:1.

2)

How could Moshe bury himself?

1.

Seforno: Refer to 34:6:151:1.

2.

Oznayim la'Torah (citing the Yad Moshe on the Midrash Rabah): What the Midrash means is that he entered his grave and died there - in the same manner as the generation that left Egypt during the forty years in the desert. 1


1

Oznayim la'Torah: Since he took them out of Egypt, as a result of which they ended up dying in the desert, he opted to die in the same way as his flock. See Oznayim la'Torah.

3)

What is the significance of the fact that Moshe was buried 'opposite Beis Pe'or'?

1.

Rashi: This location was designated as Moshe's burial plot from the six days of creation 1 to atone for the sin of Ba'al Pe'or.

2.

Targum Yonasan: So that, whenever Pe'or raises its head to remind Yisrael of the sin of Ba'al Pe'or, it looks down on to the location of Moshe's grave and withdraws.


1

Rashi: See Avos, 5:6.

4)

What are the implications of "ad ha'Yom ha'Zeh"?

1.

Rashi (in Bereishis 22:14): It implies that all future generations who read the current Pasuk, it will still be true then.

5)

Why was Moshe buried in Chutz la'Aretz?

1.

Rosh (citing Devarim Rabah, 2:9): It was so the dead of Chutz la'Aretz will live

QUESTIONS ON RASHI

6)

Rashi writes that Hashem buried Moshe. Why does the Torah tell us this?

1.

Sotah 14a and Targum Yonasan: Bearing in mind the Pasuk in Re'ei, 13:5 "Acharei Hashem Elokecha Teilechu" - 'Go in the ways of Hashem' 1 we learn from here that it is Mitzvah to bury the dead - 'Hashem buries the dead; you too, should bury the dead!' 2

2.

Sotah 9b: To teach us that Hashem rewards Midah ke'Neged Midah (measure for measure) - Yosef merited to bury his father - and he was the greatest of his brothers - he therefore merited that Moshe, the greatest man in Yisrael, took his bones out of Egypt; 3 and Moshe in turn, therefore merited to be buried by Hashem Himself.


1

Sotah 14a: It cannot be taken litrally, since in Va'eschanan, 4:24, the Torah describes Hashem 'a consuming fire'.

2

Sotah 14a: And by the same token, Hashem clothes the naked (when He made for Adam and Chavah tunics of skin and clothed them) - so too should you clothe the naked; Hashem visits the sick (when He appeared to Avraham in Elonei Mamre) - so too, should you visit the sick; Hashem consoles the mourners (when, following Avraham's death, He blessed Yitzchak) - so too, should you console the mourners; Refer also to 13:5:5:1 and note. Targum Yonasan adds that Hashem also taught us a. Hachnasas Kalah, when He married Adam to Chavah, and b. to feed the hungry - when He fed Yisrael Manna from heaven.

3

Rosh: Rather than taking the spoils of the Egyptians.

7)

Rashi writes that Moshe buried himself. But he died at the top of the mountain and was buried in the valley?

1.

Seforno: This opinion must hold that his Soul was detached from his body and performed the burial.

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