Torah FeedParashat Vezot Haberakhah
Deuteronomy 33:1 to 34:12, 41 verses. Read on Simchat Torah, the last portion of the Torah.
Updated September 24, 2026
וְזֹאת הַבְּרָכָה
- Book
- Deuteronomy
- Reading
- 33:1 to 34:12
- Verses
- 41
- Position
- 54 of 54
Opening verse
וְזֹאת הַבְּרָכָה אֲשֶׁר בֵּרַךְ מֹשֶׁה אִישׁ הָאֱלֹהִים אֶת־בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לִפְנֵי מוֹתוֹ׃
And this is the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed the children of Israel before his death.
Read the full text from the start of the portion: Deuteronomy 33 in Hebrew and English.
Summary
The last portion of the Torah is read on Simchat Torah rather than on a Shabbat, and the moment it ends the reading begins again from Bereshit. Moses blesses the tribes one by one, as Jacob did at the end of Genesis: Reuben, Judah, Levi, Benjamin, Joseph, Zebulun and Issachar, Gad, Dan, Naphtali and Asher. Then he climbs Mount Nebo, and God shows him the whole land, from Gilead to the sea. Moses dies there at one hundred and twenty, his eyes undimmed, and God buries him in a place no one knows. Israel mourns thirty days. Joshua takes up the leadership, and the Torah closes: never again did there arise in Israel a prophet like Moses.
Key moments
- The blessing of the tribes (33:1 to 33:29)
- Moses sees the land from Mount Nebo (34:1 to 34:4)
- The death of Moses (34:5 to 34:12)
When is Vezot Haberakhah read?
Vezot Haberakhah is the only portion not assigned to a Shabbat. It is read on Simchat Torah, the festival that closes Sukkot, immediately followed by the first verses of Bereshit so that the reading never stops. In the Diaspora, Simchat Torah falls on 23 Tishrei, which is October 4, 2026, and October 24, 2027.