There are many unique feature about Moshe’s death – but none is the subject of so much discussion as his anonymous burial place. Abarbanel takes this already strange episode even further by suggesting that there was actually no burial altogether. Rather, he posits, Moshe’s body simply returned to its basic elements, without having to first decompose. But we need not go that far to see that the Torah is clearly trying to get our attention here.
Many claim that the anonymity of Moshe’s grave was intended to prevent it from becoming an object of worship. Given the subsequent treatment of other gravesites at different points in history, this was no negligible danger. But as with most things, there are different ways to accomplish the same goal. God could have simply put Moshe’s grave in a place that could not be reached, such as in the depths of the sea. Alternatively, He could have had Moshe simply rise into the sky like the prophet Eliyahu. Hence it appears that there was something particularly fitting about concealing Moshe’s tomb.
I believe that the key to Moshe’s burial lies in the manner in which he lived his life. As I discussed in greater detail in Redeeming Relevance in the Book of Exodus, Moshe was called upon to be a different – really a unique – type of leader that was not totally of the people. This was central to his singular role as intermediary between God and the Jews. And in this case, being unique also meant being lonely. It would naturally follow that what was imperative in life would also be imperative in death.
True, Moshe had a family, yet his connection to his wife and children was more a formality than anything else. This is brought indelibly home by his solitary final scene, so much in contrast with Aharon’s burial, accompanied by Moshe, his master, and Elazar, his disciple, as it was. We read that he died “by the mouth of God” and that “he/He buried him.” While some claim that Moshe buried himself, the more obvious reading of this is that God buried him. In either case, it is clear that Moshe died alone with God, in contrast not only to his brother, but to almost everyone else mentioned in the Tanach, as well.
It was not enough for Moshe to die by himself, however; his separation from family and nation had to be total, even after his death. And so his burial spot would need to be hidden from all. This also takes us back to Redeeming Relevance in Exodus, where we pointed out that the Torah’s message was partially directed to all the nations of the world. That being the case, there was a need for its transmitter to transcend his origins and natural allegiance to the Jewish people. And this universal facet of Moshe’s identity was apparently so central that it would need to be perpetuated. Had Jews known where Moshe was buried, there is very little that could have prevented it from becoming a Jewish shrine.
But rather than a Jewish shrine for Moshe, it is his very separation from them the Jews that needed to be enshrined. Of course, it would be – and still is – painful for the Jewish nation to part from Moshe, forever. Be that as it may, for the Torah to effect its full potential on mankind, the Jewish people must always know that Moshe was not entirely of their nation.
