“I pleaded with the Loard at that time, saying, 'O Lord, You who let Your servant see the first works of Your greatness and Your mighty hand, You whose powerful deeds no god in heaven or on earth can equal! Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good Land on the other side of the Jordan, that good hill country, and the Lebanon.'
…The Lord said to me, 'Enough! Never speak to Me of this matter again! Go up to the top of the hill and gaze about, to the west, the north, the south, and the east. Look at it well, for you shall not go across yonder Jordan.
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These heartbreaking opening verses of this week’s Torah portion - Va'etchanan - continue the theme of Moses' loneliness
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Give Joshua his instructions, and imbue him with strength and courage, for he shall go across at the head of this people, and he shall allot to them the land that you may only see.'
These heartbreaking opening verses of this week’s Torah portion - Va'etchanan - continue the theme of Moses' loneliness. For forty years, Moses repeatedly prayed for the nation, offering to sacrifice himself after the Sin of the Golden Calf and begging for their forgiveness after the Sin of the Spies. Yet, when Moses finally pleads for his own future, the Torah does not mention a single person joining his prayer.
Moses was left alone because prayer speaks in the language of the future, but as I explained last week, while Moses lived in the future, the people lived in the present. When Moses saw a new land and a covenant of justice and blessing, the people only saw a desert, experienced thirst, and craved meat. Because they lacked his vision, they lacked his language of prayer.
When Moses cried out in last week’s portion, "I cannot carry you alone," he was not referring to logistical or administrative difficulties. He was expressing the bitter fear of missed potential. He was like the "lonely bird on a roof" described in Psalms (102:8) - staying awake to guard the future while everyone else slept. Moses was isolated because he was the only one fully grasping the incredible future that was possible and the tragic risk of it being lost.
In response, God does not offer Moses public recognition or a memorial statue to soothe his pain. Instead, God assures him that his vision will survive him: Joshua will lead the people, and they will inherit the Land. The mountain summit becomes Moses' final "roof," a vantage point from which he can view both the physical land and the prophetic future. In Psalms, the bird's loneliness is cured not merely by being seen. But, when its solitary vision transforms into a public, living reality - the desolate ruins of Zion will eventually be rebuilt by God's servants. Same for Moses.
It teaches us that the opposite of loneliness is not simply connection, but rather partnership in hope and actualization. Modern social networks offer fleeting fame, momentary sympathy and a fake feeling of being seen, but they do not build any future. True relief from isolation comes from finding partners willing to take responsibility and walk together toward a reality that does not yet exist but that together you can create. Therefore, the Torah emphasizes that a vast population alone is not the source of value; God chose Israel out of love, not numbers: “It is not because you are the most numerous of peoples that the Lord set His heart on you and chose you, for you are the smallest of all peoples. But it was because the Lord loved you and kept the oath…”.
The opposite of loneliness is not simply connection, but rather partnership in hope and actualization
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Following his personal rejection, Moses does not sink into self-pity. He understands that the people will not take responsibility as long as he continues to lead. Therefore he dedicates his final days to transforming his pain into a Torah that will allow the people to thrive where he will not go with them. He shifts the focus from his solitary burden to their collective responsibility, urging the people to become a wise and understanding nation whose just laws will inspire the world. Although Moses will not build a house in the Land of Israel, his teachings will be inscribed on their Mezuzah adorned doorposts and passed down from generation to generation. The vision transitions from the heavy burden of one prophet to a multi-generational covenant carried by an entire nation.
Both the portions of Devarim and Va'etchanan call upon the people to stop passively watching their leader and start becoming active partners. As the nation grows, old systems are no longer sufficient; the people must mature, take responsibility, and build dynamic institutions that can expand this blessing.
Moses’ loneliness is ultimately an invitation to move from complaining about the present to taking responsibility for the future. As we recall the opening verse of the lamentation of "Eicha" that we read this week on Tisha B'Av: “How lonely sits the city", we must recognize that modern loneliness affects nations and individuals alike. To cure it, we must seek to be true partners and bridge-builders, uniting to carry a shared vision. As Isaiah concludes chapter 40 (the chapter of this week’s Haftarah reading): “...they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”, a solitary leader inevitably grows tired, but strength is renewed when a solitary vision is successfully passed on and transformed into a powerful, shared covenant and dreams.