Parshas Va'eschanan (5785) "E'ebrah Na Ve'er'eh" - Why Did Moshe Want to Enter Eretz Yisroel?

00:00 Chassidim tell a story from the days of the Rebbe Maharash, who lived in Lubavitch. In those days, there were also periods when fewer chassidim came from the surrounding areas. Some families in Lubavitch earned their entire living by providing lodging for chassidim. Lubavitch was a small town, a little village, and there was a great deal of poverty there. Many families depended for their livelihood on the chassidim who came to the Rebbe. The chassidim would come to the Rebbe, stay at the inns, and pay for their lodging. These were like small hotels; people had their own little inns, and that was how the Jews of Lubavitch lived. There was a period when fewer chassidim came, and many of the Jews who depended entirely on them became very poor. Their situation grew even worse. Once, a chossid who lived in Lubavitch came to the Rebbe Maharash. What was more, he did not live very close by. He had a small house some distance away, outside the town, outside the village. So when chassidim arrived in Lubavitch, fewer people came to him. First they looked for lodging close to the Rebbe’s court, within the Rebbe’s four cubits, as the saying goes. Yes, but someone who did not have so much money would go farther away.

01:31 It was hard for him to earn a living because he did not live so close. And especially when fewer people came, his place was practically empty, and sadly, he faced difficulties day after day. The chossid came to the Rebbe Maharash and said, “Rebbe, things are very difficult. I have nothing to give the children to eat. People aren’t coming; they aren’t here, they aren’t here, they aren’t here, they aren’t here. How will I support my children?” The Rebbe Maharash told him, “Don’t worry. G-d willing, a large group will arrive for this Shabbos. They will stay at your house, and G-d willing, it will bring you income, a livelihood.” The chossid was very happy to hear such a blessing. He went home and told his wife they needed to buy groceries, meat, and rolls. He bought on credit, because he had no money. He bought what he could and began preparing everything they would need, relying on what the Rebbe had said: a large group of guests would arrive for Shabbos. Thursday morning came, then Thursday night and Friday morning. Meanwhile, no one had arrived; the place was empty. He kept going outside to see whether perhaps they had come. But it was still quiet; there was nothing to be seen. Friday morning came, then Friday afternoon, and it was still quiet. No one had come, no one

02:59 was in sight, no one was headed his way. The chossid saw how things stood and ran back to the Rebbe’s court to find out what was happening. He had prepared everything, borrowed money, and bought on credit. Who was going to come? What would happen now? He still saw no salvation. When he reached the Rebbe’s court, the Rebbe Maharash happened to be sitting on the veranda. The veranda was in a raised part of the courtyard, and the Rebbe was sitting there. Yes, it was a beautiful, sunny day, and the Rebbe sat in his courtyard looking out through the window. The chossid approached him, so confused, so despairing, and so poor, and cried out, “Rebbe, Rebbe! They aren’t coming. No one has arrived yet. What will happen? I prepared and prepared. The Rebbe said they would come.” The Rebbe Maharash stood up and looked. Yes, like a person gazing into the distance, he looked and looked and looked, and the Rebbe Maharash said, “Don’t worry, they will still come.” Yes, be calm; go home. G-d willing, it will be as the Rebbe said, and you will have a joyful Shabbos. The chossid heard this, went home, and waited to see what would happen. They waited until just a few minutes before Shabbos candle-lighting. Any moment now, any moment now, any moment now, any moment now, the holy Shabbos

04:29 was already descending. The chossid went outside again, and still there was no salvation. But then, just minutes before Shabbos, he suddenly noticed something: he was standing there when he heard a commotion, and the horses and wagons of an entire caravan came racing toward him. They arrived at the last moment, came to him and to the Rebbe, and said, “We’ve arrived late, but we have to find a place for Shabbos. Do you have room for us to stay?” The chossid welcomed them with a broad smile and great joy. He opened his home to them; he had food prepared, beds, and everything the whole group needed. And Boruch Hashem, they had a very joyful Shabbos and spent Shabbos together with the Rebbe. They had songs to sing and things to say. They farbrenged, ate and drank, and rejoiced greatly. After Shabbos, when the group went on its way, the chossid returned to the Rebbe to thank him for the great miracle that had happened. He said, “Rebbe, it was truly a wonder! There weren’t any [unclear], and suddenly the Rebbe made sure a group like that arrived a minute before Shabbos.” The Rebbe Maharash said, “There was no great wonder here. I was simply sitting on the veranda. When you sit somewhere higher up and the sun is shining, you can see farther.”

05:54 When you are somewhere higher up and the sun is shining, you can see farther. So I was able to see much farther, and I saw that they were coming. That was the Rebbe Maharash’s answer. Among chassidim, this story and this saying remained: when you stand on a summit, when you are somewhere higher up and the sun is shining, you can see much more deeply and much farther. And in today’s parsha, we find Moshe Rabbeinu asking Hakadosh Boruch Hu to let him enter Eretz Yisroel. Moshe Rabbeinu says to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “I pleaded with Hashem at that time, saying: Hashem Elokim, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness.” Moshe Rabbeinu asks Hakadosh Boruch Hu, “Please let me cross over and see the good land”—he wants to enter Eretz Yisroel. He wants to be in Eretz Yisroel. [unclear] he asks. And Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells him, “Do not speak to Me again about this matter.” I do not want to hear you ask again; do not pray about it again. You will remain here. Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells him, “Go up to the top of the summit,” “and see with your own eyes”—I will show it to you, but “you will not cross this Jordan.” You cannot enter Eretz Yisroel. There are entire discourses about his remaining there. It is known that Hakadosh Boruch Hu told Moshe Rabbeinu that he needed to remain with his generation. When Moshiach comes, Moshe Rabbeinu will enter Eretz Yisroel together with all the Jews. What was all this about—Moshe Rabbeinu

07:55 asking Hakadosh Boruch Hu to enter Eretz Yisroel? That is the question. The Gemara actually asks this question. The Gemara in Sotah asks: What drove Moshe to enter Eretz Yisroel? “Did he need to eat its fruit? Or did he need to enjoy its bounty?” Did Moshe Rabbeinu want to enter Eretz Yisroel to eat its fruits, to enjoy the beauty of Eretz Yisroel? The Gemara says: no. He wanted to fulfill the mitzvos that depend on the Land. Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to fulfill the mitzvos that depend on the Land. Moshe Rabbeinu’s whole life was “Remember the Torah of Moshe My servant.” He lived with Torah and mitzvos, and he deeply longed to enter Eretz Yisroel so that he could fulfill the mitzvos that depend on the Land. That was his whole world, all his strength, all his vitality, his very foundation; it was who he was. And the Master of the World told him that he could not do so. But here another question arises. What is the question? We see that the verse says something different. The verse says, “Please let me cross over and see.” It does not say, “Please let me cross over and fulfill its mitzvos.” It says something else. There is one word in the verse: Moshe Rabbeinu asks, he wants to see. “Please let me cross over and see the good land”—he wants to see the land. What is the significance of seeing the land here? Why does the verse say “see”? And not only that: when Hakadosh Boruch Hu told him that he would not see the land, what does the verse say? Hakadosh Boruch Hu told him, “Do not speak to Me again”...

09:34 “Go up to the top of the summit and see with your own eyes.” In other words, Hakadosh Boruch Hu told him that he would indeed see it. On the one hand, Moshe Rabbeinu wants to enter Eretz Yisroel in order to see it, and Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells him: no, you will not enter. But on the other hand, Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells him: you will indeed see it, but from afar. “Go up to the top of the summit and see with your own eyes.” You want to see? You can see, but from afar. What is the significance of seeing it from afar? Following this, we find that when the whole [unclear] between Hakadosh Boruch Hu and Moshe Rabbeinu continues, it says, “And now, Yisroel, listen to the statutes and the judgments.” Here it does not say “see”; here it says “listen,” to hear. And later in the parsha: “Hear, O Yisroel, Hashem is our G-d, Hashem is One.” The Alter Rebbe explains that in these verses we find the entire purpose Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to accomplish by being in Eretz Yisroel. Moshe Rabbeinu’s entry into Eretz Yisroel, for which he prayed 515 prayers, was for the sake of “and see.” Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to bring about a way of seeing G-dliness. There are two levels in serving Hashem. There is serving Hashem through sight, and there is serving Hashem through hearing. There is serving Hashem by way of hearing: understanding, comprehension, study, prayer, contemplation, and coming to an understanding of G-dliness. And there is serving Hashem through sight. A person does not merely understand; he sees. There is clarity in it. It is pure, it is clear, it is

11:20 Seeing. When a person hears about something, it is new to him. He has not seen it. He does not know what it is. He cannot see it. It is something new, something he finds implausible; he has no connection to it. Someone comes and tells him something new so that he will know that such a thing exists. At first, it does not sink in. Something a person has never seen, has no grasp of, and does not know—he has to bring it into his understanding. He has to think about it, with one explanation and then another and another, until he understands: Ah, it could be so. But that understanding is always something new. It is something added on; it is not the person himself. He knows his understanding can always change. Perhaps he did not understand correctly; someone comes with objections, refutes his understanding, and says: You did not understand; you understood it the wrong way. Then he understands it differently. There can be changes, there can be weaknesses, until it may stop altogether and the whole thing falls away. Why? Because that understanding never became one with the person in the first place. It is something added on, something new. Seeing brings clarity. Seeing brings certainty. When a person sees something, he has no doubt. As the Gemara says, when a person has seen something, it is certain to him. It cannot be otherwise for him. That is why “a witness cannot become a judge.” Halachah says that a person who was a witness, who saw it, cannot

12:46 be a judge. A judge must be able to hear both sides. When a person has seen something himself, there are no two sides: it is this way and no other. I saw it myself. And the emphasis is: I myself saw it—myself; it became mine. When I myself, within myself, have no doubt, it becomes mine, part of my reality. And so it becomes something self-evident. It cannot be otherwise. It is not something new or something added on. It is me myself. It is this way and no other. In serving Hashem, these are two entirely different ways of serving Hashem. The usual way is hearing. A person lives in the world. What does he see? Physicality. He sees inanimate things, plants, animals, people; he sees a world. He sees the world, touches the world, feels the world. Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. A person has a physical life. That is what he sees and what he feels. G-dliness is somewhat distant, something separate, something far away from him. I can learn about it and understand it, but it is not me myself. So there can be changes, forgetfulness, doubts, and so on. Seeing, by contrast, means that something is self-evident. If a person sees, he has no doubt. Moshe Rabbeinu [unclear]. The level of Moshe Rabbeinu is the level of

14:13 seeing. Moshe Rabbeinu’s way of serving Hashem was seeing. The verse says, “He saw the first portion for himself.” This is said about Moshe Rabbeinu. The Sifrei, in Parshas Vezos Haberachah, explains that it refers to Moshe Rabbeinu: he saw. His connection to G-dliness was through seeing. About Moshe Rabbeinu it is said: “When Moshe was born, the entire house was filled with light.” From the moment Moshe was born, that light, that clarity of vision, was his level. He wanted to bring the Jewish people to that level too. At Matan Torah, they had already experienced it. In one of the parshiyos it says, “Hashem spoke with you face to face.” At Matan Torah, the Jewish people saw G-dliness. This instilled in them a simple certainty and a simple faith in their relationship with Hakadosh Boruch Hu: it could not be otherwise. But Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to enter Eretz Yisroel and make this the reality in the world, the way of life. Had Moshe Rabbeinu entered Eretz Yisroel with the Jewish people, their service of Hashem would have been through seeing from the outset. That is why the sefarim say that had Moshe entered Eretz Yisroel with them, there would have been no destruction and no exile. For when one’s service is through seeing, it cannot be otherwise. There is no room for doubt. One serves with certainty. The perception of G-dliness is clear and open; it cannot be otherwise. It cries out, “The whole earth is full.” The reality of the world cries out G-dliness. One thing: “You have been shown to know.”

15:37 “That Hashem is G-d; there is nothing else besides Him”—seeing. One sees these things clearly. But the time for that had not yet come. Here Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells Moshe, “Do not speak to Me any more about this matter.” It will come in its time. Your request will be fulfilled. Moshe prayed; surely it will be fulfilled. Yes, surely. The Torah does not tell us stories about Moshe Rabbeinu that never came to pass. It tells us this because Moshe Rabbeinu’s request is a genuine request, and it will be fulfilled—but not now. And in the haftorah, the haftorah of “Comfort, comfort My people,” it says, “A voice calls: In the wilderness, clear the way for Hashem,” and later, “The glory of Hashem will be revealed, and all flesh together will see that the mouth of Hashem has spoken.” When Moshiach comes, these things will be seen. Eyes will open, and people will see Hashem’s glory in the world. “All flesh will see”—physical flesh will see G-dliness. Serving through seeing is the service of “No one will teach his fellow anymore” in the time of Moshiach. As is well known, the Alter Rebbe cites the teaching that Moshiach will teach Torah to the entire world. And the question arises: the entire world—how is that possible? Moshe Rabbeinu, Avraham Avinu, and even the lowliest person, the simplest of the simple, will all sit together and learn Torah from the same Moshiach—how can that be? The Alter Rebbe says in Likkutei Torah, Parshas Tzav, in the maamar for the last day of Pesach, that the revelation of “No one will teach”—Moshiach will teach Torah through seeing. Everyone can see. With hearing, there are differences. One person absorbs

17:16 more and another less; one understands and another does not. But everyone can see. “No one will teach his fellow anymore, for they will all know Me,” and the revelation will be through seeing. Moshiach will show G-dliness to the Jewish people, and it will therefore be self-evident to every Jew. The revelation will be “They will all know Me.” Moshe Rabbeinu wanted to bring this about immediately, already now. To this Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells him: “No, the time has not yet come. There must be work; there must be work through hearing, through one’s own effort. One must arrive at it through hearing.” That is why He then says, “And now, Yisroel, hear.” The service must be through hearing, from below upward. But what does that mean? It will come through one’s own work. This is the path of the Jewish people: it is something new to them, and the work must come through their own effort. [unclear] A Jew must serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu specifically through his own effort, not as a gift. But Moshe Rabbeinu asked for and wanted this too—not only in the future, but now as well. And that is what the parsha says: Hakadosh Boruch Hu tells Moshe Rabbeinu, “Go up to the top of the summit and lift your eyes,” and shows it to him. The Rebbe says, and Chassidus explains, that Moshe Rabbeinu brought about, in an encompassing way, that even now a Jew can come to see G-dliness. And from time to time, every Jew has moments when he has light. The truth shines. He hears the truth. The truth sinks in. He only catches a glimpse from the side, and—ah—it is certain to him; it cannot be otherwise. There are such moments, sometimes on Rosh Hashanah, on Yom Kippur,

18:52 [unclear] there is a desire, there are special lights. [unclear]. And what does wondrous Divine providence mean? Even on an ordinary day, yes, when there is another instance of Divine providence without end, one can see the truth of G-dliness. Then it is a matter of seeing. Moshe Rabbeinu wanted every Jew to have [unclear] that certainty, that clarity—that a Jew, even now, can attain this connection with G-dliness. And of course, this must come through studying the inner dimension of Torah, where there is this matter of seeing. But how can one see G-dliness? Through studying Chassidus. The more one studies Chassidus, the more one can come today to see G-dliness in the truth of the world that Chassidus reveals to us, through the power of Moshe Rabbeinu and the extension of Moshe in each and every generation. In this way, one can come to a connection with Hakadosh Boruch Hu and with G-dliness through seeing. As we heard from the Rebbe several times in the later years, the Rebbe said several times: “Jews, open your eyes and see G-dliness in the world; see that Moshiach is already here.” The words “open your eyes,” this matter of seeing—that is Moshe Rabbeinu, and Moshe Rabbeinu in our generation, who wanted the Jewish people to have a connection to this way of serving. When we rise a little, become a little more refined, cleanse ourselves a little, and the sun of the inner dimension of Torah shines, then

20:14 we can see further as well. We can see how the revelation of Moshiach is already present in the world, and preparations are already being made for Moshiach to come soon. Especially now, [unclear] Tisha B’Av, and we are already approaching 15 Menachem Av, when “there were no days as joyous for Yisroel as 15 Menachem Av.” In other words, the true and complete revelation can already come before our physical eyes, immediately—“Comfort, comfort My people, says your G-d,” and “The glory of Hashem will be revealed, and all flesh together will see that the mouth of Hashem has spoken.” Amen, may it be so.