The Unanswered Tefilos of Moshe Rabbeinu
By Rav Moshe Sternbuch
The following was written by Rabbi Daniel Yaakov Travis based on a drasha given by Rav Moshe Sternbuch, Rosh Av Beis Din of the Eidah Hachareidis of Yerushalayim.
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No Admission
“And [Moshe Rabbeinu] beseeched Hashem…” (Devarim 3:23)
Hashem decreed that Moshe Rabbeinu could not enter into Eretz Yisrael. Although Moshe was the eved Hashem par excellence, he did not accept the decree without a struggle. Moshe Rabbeinu offered 515 tefilos in attempt to overturn the verdict, but despite all of his efforts, the decree remained intact.
This whole episode is extremely difficult to understand. Seemingly, such sincere prayer should have produced the desired results, so why was this particular request met with such a strong negative reaction?
Even more astounding is that the Almighty Himself tells Moshe Rabbeinu at a certain point not to say even one more tefilah, for after number 516, He would have had to let him in. If just one more prayer would have caused Hashem to change His verdict, there must have been a fairly strong argument to allow Moshe access to the Promised Land, so why was Hashem so adamant not to grant him this?
And yet another question arises: After telling Moshe that he cannot come into Eretz Yisrael, the pasuk concludes with the word “laimor.” Chazal tell us the presence of laimor indicates that this passage is something that should be written in the Torah. Why was it so important that this command be recorded?
Let us try to understand the deeper message of this difficult parsha.
Living Outside of Israel
“Hashem was enraged against me for your sake…” (Devarim 3:26)
On a number of occasions, Moshe Rabbeinu had protested Hashem's harsh punishment of the Jewish people. At times, the Almighty had acquiesced, and at times not, but we do not find a case besides this one where He was angered by such behavior. What caused Him to get so upset on this occasion?
At this auspicious moment, when the entire Jewish nation were entering the land of Israel, Hashem wished to set a precedent for all future generations. Lest people claim that the Torah can only be kept in Israel, the life of Moshe Rabbeinu would show otherwise. Moshe was the holiest Jew who ever lived, and he never set foot into the land.
For this very reason, Moshe Rabbeinu was buried in front of Ba'al Peor. The Medrash explains that the idol of Ba'al Peor represented the philosophy that a person should blend into his surroundings. They suggested that if a Jew finds himself in a more lenient society, he should drop all previously adhered-to convictions.
Moshe Rabbeinu's burial comes to dispel this erroneous way of thinking. Torah is above time and place, and no matter where a Jew finds himself, In Israel or in a barren desert, a Jew continues to live his life according to the elevated standards that Hashem set for us.
The irreligious Zionists claimed that the most important mitzvah is living in Israel. Jews could remain being mechalel Shabbos and eating pork, as long as they helped build Israel through their labor or contributions. By keeping Moshe Rabbeinu outside of Israel, Hashem intended to show us all that Eretz Yisrael is a means and not an end, thus dispelling this erroneous philosophy, which laid the groundwork for the shemad of millions of Jews.
Don't Stop Davening
Chazal tell us that if a person davens and is not answered, he should not give up – that even if a person does not see results from his prayers, he should still continue. No matter what transpires, a person should remain persistent.
The Almighty told Moshe Rabbeinu that if he offers one more prayer, He will have to give him what he is asking for. Through Moshe's 515 tefilos, Hashem was subtly showing us that even after that many prayers, a person should not give up. At times a person may just need 516 tefilos to be granted his request.
A second lesson that we can extract from Moshe Rabbeinu's prayers is that tefilah should be said b'tachanunuim, from the depths of one's soul. Requests made merely to discharge one's obligation are not considered to be tefilah. Crying out to Hashem with all of one's heart is what brings results.
Torah Leadership
We have offered some answers to the question of why Hashem did not want Moshe Rabbeinu to come into Eretz Yisrael, but another question remains: Why did Moshe Rabbeinu want to come into the land so badly in any case?
Chazal tell us that Moshe Rabbeinu's intentions were to fulfill the mitzvos of Eretz Yisrael. Although this is certainly a worthwhile reason, it is difficult to understand how this would justify putting up such a fight against the Divine decree – especially since in all other cases, Moshe Rabbeinu showed complete and consistent subservience to the Almighty's will.
Am Yisrael is an am kasheh-oref, a stiff-necked people. This attribute manifests itself in two ways: While the Jewish people tend to remain very stubborn before accepting something that is not proven truth, at times they will show the same attribute by refusing to accept Hashem's decrees.
Moshe Rabbeinu knew how difficult it was to lead the Jewish people. Getting them to accept upon themselves many new mitzvos would not be an easy task, and he felt that he was best suited for the job.
For this reason, Aharon did not dispute the ruling of the Almighty that his younger brother should be appointed the position; he understood that he was not as capable as Moshe to lead Klal Yisrael, so he accepted the Divine decree with love.
While Moshe Rabbeinu had great leadership qualities, Hashem did not think that this outweighed the other reasons for refusing him entry into Eretz Yisrael. Instead, the Almighty instructed Moshe to strengthen Yeshua, to teach him and give him all he could; this way, Moshe Rabbeinu's talents would be infused into his faithful talmid, enabling him to perform his challenging task properly.
We might long for the Gedolim of previous generations, saying to ourselves, “If only this Gadol were still alive, life would be different.” In truth, however, Hashem gives every period in Jewish history Torah leadership according to the needs of that time. We must be thankful for the Gedolim of our generation and be happy that the Almighty continues to bestow us with Torah leaders who understand the needs of their respective generations.
(Rabbi Travis is Rosh Kollel of Kollel Toras Chaim in Yerushalayim and is the author of Shaylos U'Teshuvos Toras Chaim and "Praying With Joy – A Daily Tefilla Companion" a practical daily guide to improving one's prayers, available from Feldheim Publishers. Rav Sternbuch's weekly shiurim on the parasha are now available as a sefer entitled "A Voice in the Darkness". For more information about his work contact dytravis@actcom.com.)
