Moses' Death Skirball Arts Beit Midrash Rabbi Dianne Cohler-Esses

Rashi on Deuteronomy 32:50

Just as your brother Aaron died: [God said to Moses:] “Die with the same death that you witnessed and longed for, that Moses removed Aaron’s first [i.e., upper] garment and dressed Eleazar [Aaron’s son] with it. Then, Moses did the same with the second garment, and the third. Aaron then saw his son in his glory [of his new office]. Moses then said to him: ”Aaron my brother! Go up onto the couch,“ and Aaron went up. ”Stretch out your hands,“ and Aaron stretched [out his hands]. ”Stretch out your legs,“ and Aaron stretched [out his legs]. ”Close your eyes,“ and Aaron closed [his eyes]; ”Close your mouth,“ and Aaron closed [his mouth], and he passed away. Thereupon, Moses said, ”Fortunate is the one who dies a death like this!" - [Sifrei 32:49]

Rashi on Deuteronomy 32:51

because you did not sanctify Me: [Says God to Israel:] You caused Me not to be sanctified [see Yalkut , end of Ha’azinu]: I said to you “Speak to the rock” [to provide you with water in the desert (see Num. 20:8)], but instead, they hit the rock, and so, they had to hit it twice [in order to extract water]. Had they, however, spoken to it [as I told them], so that the rock would have given forth water without being hit, the Name of Heaven would have been sanctified, for the Israelites would have said,"If the rock, which is subject neither to reward nor punishment, for if it acts meritoriously [i.e., fulfills God’s will,] it receives no reward, and if it sins [i.e., not fulfilling God’s will,] it is not punished, and yet [without any of these incentives] the rock fulfills the command of its Creator [by producing water when spoken to], how much more so should we [who do have the incentives of reward and punishment fulfill our Creator’s will]!

Deuteronomy 34:5 And Moses… died there: Is it possible that Moses died, and [then] wrote, “And Moses… died there”? But [the answer is:] Moses wrote up to that juncture, and Joshua wrote from then on. Says Rabbi Meir: But is it possible that the Torah Scroll would be lacking anything at all, and yet Scripture states (Deut. 31:26),“Take this Torah Scroll” [and Moses commanded this to the Levites; so, according to the above opinion, is it possible that the Torah Scroll referred to there was an incomplete one, up to the juncture of Moses’s death? This cannot be!] Rather, [continues Rabbi Meir, we must say that] The Holy One, blessed is He, dictated this [i.e., the verse “And Moses… died there”], and Moses wrote it in tears. — [B.B. 15b, Sifrei 33:34

by the mouth of the Lord: [i.e., Moses died] by a Divine kiss. — [B.B. 17a]

And He buried him: i.e., The Holy One, blessed is He, Himself, in His very glory [buried Moses]. — [Sotah 14a] Rabbi Ishmael, however, says that [the words“And he buried him” mean that] Moses buried himself. And this אֶת in the phrase here וַיִּקְבֹּר אוֹתוֹ is one of the three instances of the אֶת in Scripture which Rabbi Ishmael expounded on in this way [i.e., where the suffix attached אֶת is understood to be reflexive, meaning “to himself” , “to themselves” , and so on]. And similar to this case [are the following two instances]:“On the day when his Nazirite vow is completed, he must bring him (אֹתוֹ) ” (Num. 6:13), which means, “he shall bring himself” [i.e., present himself]. And likewise,“And they cause them (אוֹתָם) to bear the sin of their guilt” (Lev. 22:16). Surely does this refer to others causing them to bear that sin? Rather, the verse must mean that they cause themselves to bear the sin. — [Sifrei Nasso 32:124]

At that hour the Holy One blessed be He said to the Angel of Death, "go and bring to Me the soul of Moses". He went and stood before him. Moses said to the Angel: "Where I sit you may not even stand, and you say to me - give me your soul?" He rebuked him and he went out ashamed. The Angel of Death went and brought his reply before the Almighty. God said to the Angel of Death, "Go and bring Me his soul". He went to him, looked for him and could not find him. He went to the sea and said: "Have you seen Moses?" The sea said, "Since the day when he brought Israel across me I have never seen him again!" He went to the mountains and the valleys and said to them, "Have you seen Moses?" They said to him, "Since the day Israel received the Torah on Mount Sinai we have not seen him". He went to the netherworld and said: "Moses - have you seen him?". It said to him: "I have heard his name, but I have never seen him". He went to the ministering angels and said to them: "Moses - have you seen him?". They said to him: "Go ask mankind". He went to the People of Israel and said to them: "Moses - have you seen him?". They said to him: "G-d understood his way, G-d has hidden him away until the life of the world to come, and no-one knows where, as it is written, "And He buried him in the valley". From the moment Moses died - Joshua began to cry, and lament and mourn bitterly, saying: "My father, my father, my master, my master; my father who raised me, my master who taught me Torah", and he mourned him for many days, until the Holy One blessed be He said to Joshua: "Joshua, how long will you continue to mourn, did Moses die for you alone, in fact he died only for Me, for since the day he died it has been a time of great mourning for Me, as it is said: "And on that day the Lord Almighty called for weeping and eulogizing". However he is promised that he will return in the world to come, for it says: "and the Lord said to Moses behold you will lie with your ancestors and[they will] arise"(31:16).

Sifre on Parashat Nitzavim - Vayelech, section 305, (Finkelstein Edition, pp. 323-326 ) it says of the death of Moses: