V'Zot HaBracha(Deuteronomy 33-34) A Kiss of Hashem We are
nearing the end, unfortunately, of the Holy Day season. The
final days are Sh'mini Atzeret and Simchat Torah. These are
celebrated as two days outside of Israel, but are combined into
one day in Eretz Yisroel. On Simchat Torah the Torah reading is
the last parsha in the Torah, V'Zot HaBrachah, and the beginning
of the first parsha, Bereishit. Following is from a verse in
V'Zot HaBrachah. "And Moses, the servant of Hashem, died there
in the land of Moab by the word of Hashem." By the word of
Hashem - RASHI: With a kiss. Can you see on what basis Rashi
makes his comment that Moses died by a kiss of God? Hint: Look
at the Hebrew. An Answer: The Torah's Hebrew has the words "al
pi Hashem." This means literally "by the mouth of God." Since
this is an unusual phrase in this context, Rashi interprets
these words to mean "by a kiss." But that cannot be the simple
meaning. God does not have a mouth with which to kiss someone,
obviously. So what might the p'shat