1. "Va'Eschanan el Hashem ba'eis ha'hi..." Why did Moshe choose to daven davka then, ba'eis ha'hi, at that moment? Rashi explains that since Moshe had entered the land of Sichon v'Og, he was already part of the way there into Eretz Yisrael, and therefore he thought he could ask Hashem to let him go the rest of the way. It was an opportune moment to see if he could get what he wanted. Netziv offers a different explanation. Moshe foresaw that the splitting off of the tribes of Reuvain and Gad after the defeat of Sichon and Og and their settling in Eiver haYarden would lead to eventual galus. The only thing that preserves Klal Yisrael in galus in Torah. Therefore, Moshe wanted to enter Eretz Yisrael so that he could help reveal the torah of Eretz Yisrael, which is, as we learned last week, qualitatively different, deeper, more profound, than Torah learned elsewhere.
2. Moshe Rabeinu is nitzchiyus. Moshe Rabeinu brought down the Torah for us from Har Sinai and Torah is ours forever in its same immutable form. Moshe Rabeinu at the beginning of our parsha davened to be able to enter Eretz Yisrael because had he done so then Eretz Yisrael would have been ours forever -- no galus, no Tisha b'Av, game over, complete geulah (see Ohr haChaim 3:25). Why should Klal Yisrael have to wait for geulah? "E'ebrah na v'ereh es ha'aretz…" Rashi says "na" here is "lashon bakasha," like saying please, but, as the Sifsei Chachamim points out, that's not what the word "na" usually means. What it usually means is "now," which is how the Targum translates the pasuk. Moshe said, "We want geulah now!" -- not in a few thousand years. And had Moshe entered the land, then it would have been the geulah right then.
Hashem responded to Moshe's prayers by letting him see Eretz Yisrael. He couldn't physically go there, but he would have a vision of the land, something to carry in his mind and heart. Sefas Emes explains that because Moshe is nitzchiyus, this too became ours forever. Wherever we may be in galus, no matter how long we may be in galus, we will always have in our minds a vision of Eretz Yisrael.
3. The Torah ends its record of Moshe's tefilah and Hashem's response with the pasuk, "Va'neishev ba'gai mul Beis Pe'or." (3:29) The Kotznitzer Magid writes that the Torah is not switching gears here and going from the report of the dialogue between Hashem and Moshe back to a note on geography, where Bnei Yisrael were camped. Rather, this too is part of the dialogue, part of what Hashem said to Moshe. "Va'neishev" -- we sat, in the plural. Hashem is telling Moshe, "Don't think you being left all alone. I am here with you -- va'neishev -- we will together sit here. Just like you, Moshe, are waiting here in galus until the day that you can lead the Jewish people back into the land for a geulah of nitzchiyus, I'm here with you, waiting for that day as well."
Nachamu Nachamu ami... The process of return has started, the revelation of toras Eretz Yisrael grows every day. We need to appreciate the special gift that we have!
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"2. Moshe Rabeinu is nitzchiyus....[had he entered Eretz Yisrael, it] would have been ours forever"
ReplyDeletesuch absolute claims sound idolatrous! maybe a qualification is needed: [for example,] under Moshe, the military conquest of Canaan would have been complete*; the threshing floor David used for an altar would have been land long ago won by the G-d*, rather than that which was recently bought by a man. maybe a temple-- where Hashem chooses to rest His Name --on such land would be less subject to corruption from within and destruction from without. maybe galus would then be a more remote possibility...
*DC, June 28 '19, paragraph 3: "Moshe was a conduit..."
3. "I am here with you"
ReplyDeletethis Sympathy goes a long way-- during his first 40-day summit with Hashem, Moshe's elevated body fed on the Divine word for the breast of the ram (Shemos 29:22, 4th Rashi), whenever it hungered; during the rarefied summit for the second luchos , his flesh was nourished by the Divine, verbal kid, as it was sustained by the Divine, verbal milk (34:26), whenever in need (though these two separately of course)