Mark Twain and Moshe Rabbeinu TB Kidushin 38

Mark Twain’s birth date is November 30, 1835 and he died on April 21, 1910. Although these two dates are not the same, in Twain’s mind they share a commonality. Twain was born shortly after an appearance of Halley’s Comet, and he predicted that he would "go out with it" as well, dying a day after the comet was at its closest to Earth.

Moses was more exacting when it came to his birth and death dates. Everybody knows that he was born on the Adar 7 and died 120 years later on Adar 7. The source of this tradition is found on today’s daf TB Kidushin 38.

“It is taught in another baraita: Moses died on the seventh of Adar, and he was likewise born on the seventh of Adar. From where is it derived that Moses died on the seventh of Adar? As it is stated: “So Moses, the servant of the Lord, died there” (Deuteronomy 34:5), and it is written: “And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days” (Deuteronomy 34:8). And it is written: “Now it came to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of the Lord” (Joshua 1:1), and it is written: “Moses, My servant, is dead; now arise, cross this Jordan” (Joshua 1:2).

“The baraita continues: And it is written: “Pass through the midst of the camp and command the people, saying: Prepare your victuals, for within three days you are to cross the Jordan” (Joshua 1:11). And it is written: “And the people came up out of the Jordan on the tenth day of the first month” (Joshua 4:19). Subtract retroactively from that date, the tenth of Nisan, the last thirty-three days, i.e., the thirty days of mourning for Moses and the three days of preparation before crossing the Jordan, and you learn from here that Moses died on the seventh of Adar.

 

“The baraita continues: And from where is it derived that Moses was born on the seventh of Adar? It is as it is stated: “And he said to them, I am one hundred and twenty years old today; I can no more go out and come in” (Deuteronomy 31:2). As there is no need for the verse to state “today,” since Moses could have said simply: I am one hundred and twenty years old. What is the meaning when the verse states “today”? One can learn from it that Moses was born on that date, i.e., he was exactly one hundred and twenty years old. This teaches that the Holy One, Blessed be He, sits and completes the years of the righteous from day to day and from month to month, as it is stated: “The number of your days I will fulfill” (Exodus 23:26).” (Sefaria.org translation)

There is a tradition that the Hevra Kaddisha, the group of men and women who ritually prepare the body for burial, have a fundraising meal on Moses’ yahrzeit. It is also an opportunity to educate the community of the importance of their work.