[Par-lite] for Parshat Veetchanan - additional shiur
Menachem Leibtag
tsc at bezeqint.net
Thu Aug 7 15:48:44 EDT 2014
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THE TANACH STUDY CENTER
[http://www.tanach.org]
In Memory of Rabbi Abraham Leibtag
Shiurim in Chumash & Navi by Menachem
Leibtag
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PARSHAT VA-ETCHANAN - shiur
#2
On his final day, why is Moshe Rabbeinu
eager to see
Lebanon?
And when he ascends the mountain for a
final view, why
does God show him a view of Saudia Arabia?
And why do Chazal interpret all of this
as Jerusalem?
In this 'mini shiur', we'll attempt to
answer these
questions as we uncover the very first
'virtual' Jerusalem!
INTRODUCTION
In the opening psukim of this week's
Parsha, Moshe
Rabbeinu begs God to allow him to cross into
the Holy Land
(see 3:23-26). However, note how the manner
in which he
states his request is rather peculiar:
"Let me pass over and see this good land
that is on the
other side of the Jordan, this good
mountain and the
Lebanon" (3:25).
We can understand why Moshe wants to see
the 'good land',
for that seems to imply the Land of Israel -
as it was
described in 'spy-report' by Yehoshua and
Kalev:
"The land that we have passed to scout it,
the land is
very very good" (see Bamidbar 14:7).
[Note also 'asher avarnu'; compare
'evra na' in
3:25!]
But why does Moshe express interest to
see Lebanon as
well? True, Lebanon is located on the
northern border of
Eretz Canaan, but Moshe doesn't ask to see
any of the other
borders. Furthermore, why is Moshe only
interested in seeing
mountain ranges? What about the Negev, the
Shefeila, and the
coastal plain?
In fact, when he is shown the land (as
recorded later on in
Devarim 34:1-4), God shows him the Negev, the
mountain ranges,
and even the Mediterranean. Yet, in those
psukim, Lebanon is
not even mentioned!
In the following shiur, we attempt to
explain deeper
motivation behind Moshe Rabbeinu's request.
A GREAT VIEW
As we all know, God does not grant
Moshe's request.
Instead, he instructs Moshe to climb to the
top of a mountain
to get a glimpse of the land that he is not
permitted to
enter. However, here we find yet another
difficulty. Note
the directions that God tells Moshe to look:
"Climb to the top of the mountain, and lift
up your eyes
to the west, north, south and east - and
see with your
eyes, for you will not cross the Jordan"
(3:27).
Recall that Moshe now stands on Mount
Nevo in the Moabite
Mountains, directly east of Eretz Canaan.
Hence, it makes
sense that he should look towards the west,
and even to the
north and south, for that could be understood
as northwest and
southwest; but why would he look to east?
After all, to the
east, the only area in sight would be wide
plains and desert
areas of modern day Jordan, Iraq and Saudia
Arabia.
So why does God tell Moshe to look to the
East?
The answer can't be that God wanted to show
him the fullest
borders of the Land of Israel, for Moshe had
already seen them
in his battle against Sichon, and
furthermore, Moshe's request
dealt specifically with the other side of the
Jordan.
To answer these questions, we must note
an interesting
parallel between these psukim and similar
psukim in Sefer
Breishit.
THE SAME TOUR GUIDE
In our study of Sefer Breishit, we
discussed the
centrality of Bet El in Avraham Avinu's first
journey to the
Land of Israel.
His arrival in Canaan from Aram climaxed
with his building
of a mizbeiach in Bet El, where he called out
in God's Name
(see Breishit 12:1-8). Similarly, upon
Avraham's return to
Canaan from Egypt, he ascended once again to
his mizbeiach in
Bet El - to call out in the Name of God.
At that same time, Lot had decided to leave
him, choosing
instead the Jordan valley. After Lot's
departure, God
appeared to Avraham once again in Bet El, and
reiterated His
promise that this Land will one day become
the homeland of his
offspring.
However, note the special preface that God
adds to this
promise, and its similarity to our pasuk in
Sefer Devarim:
"And God said to Avram after Lot had left
him: Lift up
your eyes and SEE from the place where you
are - to the
north and south, east and west, for this
land that you
see I will give to you and your offspring"
(see Breishit
13:14-16).
Note how God tells Avraham to lift up
his eyes and look
in all four directions from Bet El, just as
He later tells
Moshe Rabbeinu to look in all four directions
from Har Nevo.
Of course, this parallel could simply be
incidental, for
this is usually the directions that one looks
when he is on a
high place. However, we find one additional
instance where
these four directions are mentioned, and once
again in
relation to Bet El.
THE FIRST BET ELOKIM
Recall when Yaakov Avinu was running
away from Esav on
his way to Aram, he stopped overnight at Bet
El. There, God
appeared to him in a dream, confirming that
Yaakov would be
the inheritor of His covenant with Avraham.
In that blessing,
note how we find once again all four
directions:
"...And your offspring will [numerous] be
like the dust
of the earth, and you spread out to the
west and east,
north and south, and through you will be a
blessing to
all the nations on the earth" (see Breishit
28:10-15).
Here once again we find all four
directions, and in fact
these three sources are the only times in
Chumash where these
'four directions' are found. However, this
source concerning
Yaakov is most significant, for when he
awakes from his dream
Yaakov makes a special promise concerning
this site.
"And Yaakov awoke in the morning and took
the rock that
was by his head and erected it as a
monument and anointed
it with oil. Then he named this spot Bet
El... and he
vowed that when he returns... this monument
will become a
Bet- Elokim [House for God]..." (see
28:18-21).
These psukim establish a connection
between this special
site of Bet El and a House for God - a Bet
Elokim. [In case
you didn't notice, that's why it is called
Bet El.]
This site was destined to house the bet
ha-mikdash - that
would become the symbol of the very purpose
of God's choice of
the Jewish nation. A site where man will be
able to focus on
perfecting his connection [through prayer] to
God.
VIRTUAL JERUSALEM
With this background, we can suggest an
alternate reason
for both Moshe's request and for God's
response.
Surely, Moshe wants to see the land, but
not simply as a
tourist; rather Moshe wants to see the
achievement of the
ultimate goal for Am Yisrael, as reflected in
Yaakov's dream
at Bet El and Avraham's vision from Bet El.
When Moshe
requests to see 'ha-har ha-tov' - the good
mountain (3:25),
one could suggest that he wants to 'see' the
Temple Mount
[note 'tov' in Breishit 1:4,10,12 etc.], and
when he requests
to see Ha-Levanon - he may be hinting not
only to that
northern mountain range, but to the
bet-ha-mikdash that will
one day be constructed from the wood of the
cedars of Lebanon
(see I Melachim 5:16-32!).
In a similar manner, we can now
understand God's response
to Moshe. He instructs Moshe to climb to the
highest mountain
and to look out in all four directions, just
as Avraham Avinu
had done at the dawn of Jewish History.
Moshe wishes to see
the dream of God's promise to Avraham Avinu
fulfilled, and God
allows Moshe an experience that would reflect
its fulfillment.
Moshe looks in all four directions for
God has
'virtually' placed him in Jerusalem. With
that vision, he can
proceed to charge Yehoshua, for he will lead
Bnei Yisrael into
the land (see Devarim 3:28), and it will be
his responsibility
to make Moshe's dream come true.
Not only is this week's Haftara
('Nachamu') most fitting
for the shabbat after Tisha Be-av, so too are
its opening
psukim of the Torah reading form Parshat
Va-etchanan.
shabbat shalom,
menachem
==========================
FOR FURTHER IYUN
A. See Rashi on Devarim 3:25. Note how our
shiur attempts to
explain the pshat of the drash that Rashi
quotes!
See also Chizkuni on 3:25. How is his
peirush different?
How does he explain the connection between
Levanon and the bet
ha-mikdash (based on Yoma 39b!).
B. In your opinion, does Moshe also want to
remain the leader
of Bnei Yisrael, or does he just want to
enter as [sort of a]
'rabbi emeritus', while allowing Yehoshua to
lead the nation?
Which possibility does 3:28 support?
Relate your answer to Bamidbar 20:12 [&
our conclusion in
regard to this topic in our shiur on Parshat
Chukat.]
Does God explain to Moshe why His answer is
no?
If so, what is that answer? [Does it
relate to 1:36?]
If not, can you explain why He doesn't?
C. Note the use of the 'shoresh'
ayin.bet.reish. in both
3:25, 3:26 and 3:28. Does this shoresh have
the same meaning
in each of these psukim, or different
meanings? Explain.
Now read Bamidbar 27:12-14 (see also
27:15-23).
In your opinion, is this the same story
or a different
one?
[How do these two accounts complement
each other?
See Rashi & Chizkuni on
27:12.]
Now, note the name of the mountain that Moshe
is instructed to
ascend - 'Har Ha-avarim'. Note again the
shoresh
ayin.bet.reish!!
What is the 'real name' of this mountain
- see Devarim
32:49! Based on the above questions, why do
you think that
the Torah refers to it as Har Ha-avarim
instead of Har Nevo?
Is there a geographical reason as well
for this name?
See Ramban 27:12.
[Note also the use of ayin.bet.reish. in
Bamidbar 27:6-
11!
Note also the use of verb 'latet' -
to give - both
in 27:7 and 27:12! (cute?)]
Relate your answer to this question to the
above shiur.
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