i
God shows Moses the Land from a mountaintop, but does not let him enter it.
Then Moses dies. But his eye was not dim nor his natural force abated to the day of his death.
No human knows where Moses is buried.
*
Moses is strong but his body vanishes.
Moses comes to know the Land but he shall not enter.
In dying, Moses transforms from a man into a potential.
ii
Joshua leads the People after Moses' death.
Joshua, Moses' student: who is full of the spirit of wisdom: for Moses had laid his hands upon him.
*
And the Children of Israel hearkened to Joshua and did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
And Joshua brings the Children of Israel into the Land.
iii
The generations that pass are the strength, the guidance for the generations to come.
The generations that come receive a challenge: who will finish the task of the generations before?
Moses is potential; Joshua and the younger generation make him a reality.
*
In this way death leads into life.
In this way true birth--joining the world--is a moral choice each generation must make.
This piece may be based largely on a thought from Aviva Zornberg. The final line paraphrases a thought of Susanne Antonetta.
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