Vayelech

Moshe begins this parsha by speaking to the people, telling them that it has come time for him to leave this world & that he will no longer be leading them. ‎He continues that Hashem will take them into the land & destroy the nations that stand before them.  He concludes with חזקו ואמצו, be strong & courageous , אל תיראו ואל תערצו מפניהם , do not be afraid and do not be broken before them, כי ה אלקיך הוא ההלך עמך, for Hashem your G-d - it is He who goes before you , לא ירפך ולא יעזבך, He will not loosen His hold on you nor will He forsake you. 

The חיד"א asks, “why does the posuk start off in plural:  ‎אל תיראו ואל תערצו מפניהם & then end in singular ‎כי ה אלקיך הוא ההלך עמך‏ ? He answers that it's to teach us that when there is complete ‎‏unity among the Jewish people so they were considered all like one, then Hashem will be with us & we will have nothing to fear.  Hashem will be with us & not forsake us. 
 
‎How do we attain this goal? How can we as a people unite so that we will have Hashem on our side & have nothing to fear?

The parsha begins, וילך משה , Moshe went. There are numerous commentaries on why the Torah uses the word וילך , that Moshe went. Eben Ezra says that it teaches us that Moshe went to every shevet to say good bye, to tell them he was leaving this world & not to fear because Hashem would be with them. The Malbim says that Moshe went to each person to get a bracha from them before he passed on. 

Moshe Rabenu, who took us out of slavery, split the sea for us, led us for forty years in the desert, went up to heaven for forty days & nights to get the Torah, this leader, the greatest man to ever live, has nothing better to do than go say good bye to everyone as he's about to enter the next world? He needs a bracha from all the people? 

During World War ‎One, the Chaftz Chaim's yeshiva was forced to move out of Radin & moved to Smilovitz. Then, in 1916, a new refuge was sought as the battle-line drew closer; the yeshiva moved further into Russia, to Shumyatz in the Province of Mohilov and later to Snovsk in the Province of Chernigov, (currently Shchors City, Ukraine). When the Holiday of Sukkos arrived, there was no esrog to be found. Finally, after much effort, they were able to get one set of the four species. After the chazan finished Shemona Esray, he waited for the Chafetz Chaim to take the lulav & esrog before he started Hallel. To his & everyone else's surprise, the Chafetz Chaim just signaled him to start Hallel without taking the lulav & esrog. 

After davening, they went over to the Chafetz Chaim to inquire why he didn't take the lulav & esrog. He answered that it was impossible for everyone to take the lulav & esrog because there were too many people. I, alone, couldn’t take it; who am I that I should merit what no one else does? For just some of the people to take the minim wouldn’t be proper for if someone who didn't get to do it would be upset at me, then I would be transgressing a Torah prohibition. It's better to lose the mitzva of lulav than to hurt someone's feelings. he concluded that hurting others is like playing with fire!

Perhaps Moshe was teaching us this too, he went to the people to say good bye &/or get a bracha from them not because he needed to but rather to make the people feel good about themselves. When people feel good about themselves, they are more peaceful with each other which would be the way to have Hashem with them to protect them. We can learn from Moshe that even if sometimes we have to do something which would be beneath our dignity, if it will make someone else feel good then do it anyway. Even more, learn from the Chafetz Chaim that if doing a mitzva would hurt someone in the slightest, he would pass up the mitva. How much more so do we have to be careful not to hurt someone's feelings. Perhaps this year on Yom Kippur, we should take upon ourselves to be a little more cognizant of other people's feelings. We should not just avoid hurting them but go out of our way to make them feel good. With that, we will ensure that we have Hashem on our side & will be blessed with a great year!‎
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