In Parshas Ha’azinu, we see Moshe making
his final preparations for after his death. This all leads up to the end of the
parsha when Hashem tells Moshe to climb Mount Nevo where he will die. Before he
died, however, he would give his final address to the nation and take his only
living look over Eretz Yisrael.
Rashi points out that while telling
Moshe to climb the mountain, the pasuk uses an interesting phrasing. “וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר
יְהֹוָה֙ אֶל־משֶׁ֔ה בְּעֶ֛צֶם הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה לֵאמֹֽר” “And Hashem spoke to Moshe on that very day, saying” (Devarim
32:48). Rashi explains that this phrase, “בְּעֶ֛צֶם
הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה”, is used as a response from Hashem against challengers. The
first time it’s used in the Torah is in the times of Noach. The people at the
time declared that they would not allow Noach under any circumstances to enter
the Ark. Hashem declared in response that He would bring Noach onto the Ark “בְּעֶ֛צֶם הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה”, right in the middle
of the day, showing that there was nothing they could do to stop it. The second
time it’s used is by Yetzias Mitzrayim. The Egyptians said they wouldn’t let
the Bnei Yisrael out of Egypt no matter what happened. Hashem responded that He
would bring them out “בְּעֶ֛צֶם הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה”
to show the Egyptians they had no chance of stopping anything He wanted to happen.
Continues Rashi, the
same thing happened over here. The Bnei Yisrael declared that they were not
going to allow Moshe to die. So Hashem responded in His typical manner to show
them that there was nothing they could do about it. But this doesn’t make much
sense. Were Bnei Yisrael actually challenging Hashem and saying that they wouldn’t
allow Moshe to die? What a ridiculous notion! It’s one thing for non-believers
to challenge Hashem, but for the Jewish People on the cusp of entering Eretz
Yisrael, that’s absurd!
Rav Chaim Shmulevitz
in his sefer, Sichos Mussar, discusses this question. He brings several
examples from people found in the Torah, including from Moshe himself, that
show that the more effort a person puts into his actions, the more Hashem will
help him accomplish his goals. And if a person is determined and puts in
everything he has, then Hashem will reciprocate and give him everything He has
as well. It follows that nothing is beyond a person’s capacity, because
if Hashem will contribute His efforts then nothing is out of the question, even
the ability to perform miracles.
When Rashi says Bnei
Yisrael weren’t going to let Moshe die, he doesn’t mean that they were going to
block the mountain so that he shouldn’t climb it, he means that they weren’t
going to let him die. They would use their collective powers to accomplish
a miracle; they would learn Torah and daven as a merit for Moshe to allow him
to continue living. (We find a similar idea in the gemarah [Kesubos 104a], when
the students of Rabi Yehuda HaNasi continued praying as a merit for him, he was
unable to die, until a maid of his provided a distraction which caused the
students to stop for a second, causing the merit to cease and he died.)
As we explained, a
person’s efforts are reciprocated by Hashem to the point where they can
accomplish anything, even miracles. When a person owes a strong debt of kindness
(Hakaras Hatov) to someone, Chazal teach us that this debt is so strong their
efforts can actually prevent the person’s death! (This is how Elisha and
Eliyahu were able to bring back to life the children of people they felt
beholden to; their debt was so strong they could control the lives of their
benefactors!) The Bnei Yisrael felt that after everything Moshe had done for
them, they owed it to him to allow him to live as long as possible, maybe even
forever! So when the pasuk says that Hashem told Moshe to climb “בְּעֶ֛צֶם הַיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּ֖ה”, He was actually sort of apologizing to
Bnei Yisrael. Even though in a typical situation, like the story of Rabbi
Yehuda HaNasi, these actions would save Moshe, Hashem changed the workings of
the world and allowed Moshe to die anyway.
Shabbat Shalom!
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