Parshas Vayelech: Backward Is Forward
The parsha is called Vayelech. Moshe went.
Not a journey, not a long walk. Just stepping up to the podium to face the people.
It’s also Shabbos Shuva, the Shabbos of return: a reminder that sometimes we move forward by turning back.
So we’re going to retrace Moshe’s steps in reverse, like an out-and-back hike where the return shows you what you missed on the way out.
This parsha may be the shortest in the Torah, just thirty pesukim. But in those few lines lies a piercing moment.
At the very end, Moshe tells the people: “After my death, you will surely become corrupt.”
But Rashi notes: “that they did not falter in Yehoshua’s lifetime. From here we learn: a student is like a continuation of the teacher. As long as Yehoshua lived, it was as if Moshe himself was still alive.”
It is almost as if Moshe slips in a wink. On the surface, he warns of collapse. But between the lines, he is hinting: “If you hold onto Yehoshua, you are still holding onto me.”
So how did that actually happen? Because Hashem Himself turned to Yehoshua and said: “חזק ואמץ. Be strong and courageous.” The chain only holds when the next link is given strength to step forward. Yehoshua was not just Moshe’s echo, he was empowered to carry the Torah in his own voice.
But what about us? Yehoshua got both, Moshe’s encouragement and Hashem’s. Do we only get the human “Moshe” side of the charge?
The answer is at the beginning of the parsha. Moshe first turns to all of Israel and says: “ חִזְקוּ וְאִמְצוּ אַל־תִּירָאוּ. Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid.” Then he singles out Yehoshua. And then Hashem speaks to Yehoshua.
The order narrows, but when we read it backwards, it expands again. Hashem’s strength flows into Yehoshua, through Yehoshua back to Moshe, and from there into the entire people.
That means we can claim it too. Hashem’s “Chazak v’ematz” was not locked away for one leader in one moment of history. It was spoken into Yehoshua as the representative of Israel, and through him, it belongs to every Jew.
That is our work. To remember those who came before us, and to pass something on. Even if it’s only one letter, like the Lubavitcher Rebbe said: “If you know only Alef, teach Alef.”
It could be a teaching you received, or even just a thought of your own. A question. A discussion point. An idea. What matters is that the chain keeps moving, from them, to you, to someone else.
Sometimes the shortest parsha, and the fewest words, can carry eternity.
In a world where it is easy to feel small or uncertain, these words remind us: we have already been given permission to be strong.
If you have something to share, I would love to hear it. It can be on the parsha, on Tishrei, or something completely random. Because strength is not only in holding on, it is also in opening up to each other.
Good Shabbos. גמר חתימה טובה. And above all:
That means we can claim it too. Hashem’s “Chazak v’ematz” was not locked away for one leader in one moment of history. It was spoken into Yehoshua as the representative of Israel, and through him, it belongs to every Jew.
That is our work. To remember those who came before us, and to pass something on. Even if it’s only one letter, like the Lubavitcher Rebbe said: “If you know only Alef, teach Alef.”
We’ve all had different teachers. Different rebbis and morahs. We’ve sat in different shiurim, attended different classes, learned in different ways. Some recent, some long ago. Each of us carries something unique from those experiences: our own perspective, our own flavor.
It could be a teaching you received, or even just a thought of your own. A question. A discussion point. An idea. What matters is that the chain keeps moving, from them, to you, to someone else.
Sometimes the shortest parsha, and the fewest words, can carry eternity.
In a world where it is easy to feel small or uncertain, these words remind us: we have already been given permission to be strong.
If you have something to share, I would love to hear it. It can be on the parsha, on Tishrei, or something completely random. Because strength is not only in holding on, it is also in opening up to each other.
Good Shabbos. גמר חתימה טובה. And above all:
חזק ואמץ.
🩵 Berke