(10) And Moses instructed them as follows: Every seventh year, the year set for remission, at the Feast of Sukkot (11) when all Israel comes to appear before the Eternal your God in the place that God will choose, you shall read this Teaching aloud in the presence of all Israel. (12) Gather the people - men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities - that they may hear and so learn to revere the Eternal your God and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching. (13) Their children, too, who have not had the experience, shall hear and learn to revere the Eternal your God as long as they live in the land that you are about to cross the Jordan to possess.
(1) Moses went and spoke-a these things to all Israel.
(א) וילך משה כאשר השלים כל דבריו אז הלכו כל הנצבים לפניו והטף והנשים איש לאהליו …ויאמר הכתוב עתה כי משה הלך ממחנה לויה אל מחנה ישראל לכבדם כמי שירצה להפטר מחבירו ובא ליטול רשות ממנו:
(1) And Moses went. When Moses concluded his words, all who stood before him, and the young children, and the women returned to their own tents… And so Scripture now states that Moses went from the camp of the Levites to the camp of the Israelites in order to show them honor, like someone who wishes to take leave of his friend and comes to ask permission of him.
Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch on Devarim 31:1
Accordingly, he did not call all the people to him as he was wont to do when he had to address them in the name of God, but “he went,” he went to the assembled people, in the simplest manner, quite in the way which characterized the most modest of people, to bid farewell to them.
Rav Eliyahu KiTov, Sefer Parshiyot
Moshe went from tent to tent, from family to family, and from tribe to tribe, speaking to each one privately according to their own level of understanding. How well he knew his flock! Moshe went into each tent alone, but upon leaving, he was escorted out by the family. The Israelites were reluctant to say a final good-bye to Moshe. !קָשָה עַלֵיהֶם פְּרֵידָתוֹ “His leavetaking was hard for them.”
(א) וילך משה התעורר לזה…וזה שאחר שהשלים עניני כריתת הברית התעורר לנחם את ישראל על מיתתו כדי שלא יערבבו שמחת הברית הראויה להם…
(1) וילך משה, he was self-propelled…After having concluded the matter of the covenant between God and this second generation of Israelites many of whom had not been born at the time of the Exodus, Moses now proceeds to comfort the people over his impending death. He does so in order that the joy over God having concluded this covenant with them should not be turned into sorrow over the prospect of his impending passing from the scene….
(6) Be strong and resolute, be not in awe nor in dread of them; for the Eternal your God goes with you: God will not fail you or abandon you.
(7) Then Moses called Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel: “Be strong and resolute, for it is you who shall accompany this people into the land that the Eternal swore to their ancestors to give them, and it is you who shall apportion it to them. (8) And the Eternal will go before you. God will be with you; God will not fail you or abandon you. Do not Fear and do not be dismayed!”
(כב) וַיִּכְתֹּ֥ב מֹשֶׁ֛ה אֶת־הַשִּׁירָ֥ה הַזֹּ֖את בַּיּ֣וֹם הַה֑וּא וַֽיְלַמְּדָ֖הּ אֶת־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃…(כד) וַיְהִ֣י ׀ כְּכַלּ֣וֹת מֹשֶׁ֗ה לִכְתֹּ֛ב אֶת־דִּבְרֵ֥י הַתּוֹרָֽה־הַזֹּ֖את עַל־סֵ֑פֶר עַ֖ד תֻּמָּֽם׃ (כה) וַיְצַ֤ו מֹשֶׁה֙ אֶת־הַלְוִיִּ֔ם נֹ֥שְׂאֵ֛י אֲר֥וֹן בְּרִית־ה' לֵאמֹֽר׃ (כו) לָקֹ֗חַ אֵ֣ת סֵ֤פֶר הַתּוֹרָה֙ הַזֶּ֔ה וְשַׂמְתֶּ֣ם אֹת֔וֹ מִצַּ֛ד אֲר֥וֹן בְּרִית־ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶ֑ם וְהָיָה־שָׁ֥ם בְּךָ֖ לְעֵֽד׃
(22) That day, Moses wrote down this poem and taught it to the Israelites…(24) When Moses had put down in writing the words of this Teaching to the very end, (25) Moses charged the Levites who carried the Ark of the Covenant of the Eternal saying: (26) Take this book of Teaching and place it beside the Ark of the Covenant of the Eternal your God, and let it remain there as a witness against you.
(19) Therefore, write down this poem and teach it to the people of Israel; put it in their mouths, in order that this poem may be My witness against the people of Israel.
The choices that we make are the building blocks of the legacy that we leave behind. Moshe took care of all the tasks that God mandated yet, as a great leader, Moshe chose to go further and address the spiritual and emotional needs of the nation. He did not shy away from the emotions of the people. He offered them closure on his passing, and hope for the future.
(1) Moses went and spoke-a these things to all Israel.
אמרו רבותינו זכרונם לברכה אין וילך אלא תוכחה שנאמר לכו חזו מפעלות אלקי'. וכתבו המפרשים משם רבינו בחיי שהלך אצל כל אהל ואהל מישראל. והנה שתים זו שזלזל ח"ו בכבודו ללכת אצל כל אחד אף דהיה מלך ואין כבודו מחול.
P’nai David on Devarim 31:1
Our Sages of blessed memory said that “And he went” is about rebuke, as it says, “Come and see what God has done…”. And the commentators have written, among them Rabbeynu Bachya, that Moses went to each and every tent in Israel. And some say that Moses lessened his honor by going to everyone, even though he was a king, and it is not his honor to lessen.
Going from tent to tent, reaching out to each family personally to say good-bye pierced each person’s heart and left sparks of Moshe within. These sparks are with us to this very day.
(6) God buried him in the valley in the land of Moab, near Beth-peor; and no one knows his burial place to this day.