"And Moses went up from the plains of Moab unto mount Nebo" etc. "And the LORD showed him all the land" etc.
God showed Moses the whole land of Gilead etc. and said: "This is the land...you have seen it with your eyes, but you will not cross over into it." (
Deut 34,
4) If this was intended as a consolation, why did God arouse Moses' grief at not having realised what he had been allowed to view? Our sages, who were keenly aware of this, interpreted the first verse in the chapter, i.e.
"vaya-al, he ascended, as emphasizing that Moses, as distinct from other mortals, always ascended. Jewish history knows of many ascents and descents. The statement describing Moses as being shown the land, must be understood as a vision into time, into the future, not as a vision into space.
"You will not cross over into it," means it is impossible for one lifetime to span the untold generations that God showed the mind's eye of Moses.
Verses 4-8 do not appear in the order in which one would have expected them. If we were to write this paragraph, we would write verses 5-7-6-8 in that order. The verse giving Moses' age at death immediately prior to the verse reporting Israel as mourning him, indicates that Moses died while in full possession of his youthful vigour. Therefore, the people concluded that Moses' departure from the scene was meant as a punishment for them, since they would henceforth be deprived of his leadership. We find a very similar description in Samuel II chapter thirty five, when the death of Avner is recorded. There too, the people felt that his death was a punishment for them. Our sages have expressed the idea on several occasions that Moses' departure was even a cause for "grief" in the celestial regions, since Moses could no longer be active on behalf of programs of Divine origin. The important factor for all who suffer a bereavement to keep in mind is, that the departed has joined the ranks of those enjoying eternal life. This is the reason we celebrate Simchat Torah on the day when Moses achieved that status. Completion of the Torah was the completion of Moses' lifework. (see chapter 82 re Moses' merit vis a vis other prophets)
Neilat Shearim
The Sifri in Deut 33,29, describes Israel as enquiring from Moses what future reward God had in store for them. Moses' reply was the verse "hail to you Israel, who is like you a nation helped by the Lord?" Since olam haba is not like anything that can be experienced in this world, and all the pleasures, satisfactions and even ecstasy in this world are as nothing compared to what will be experienced in the hereafter, Moses was not able to describe that world except in the most general terms.
It is a well known fact that a period of motion is usually followed by a period of rest. The Sabbath at the end of six days of creative activity, during which something had been created out of nothing, was such a period of constructive rest, tachlit. The purpose of all creative activity had been to attain this goal, the Sabbath. Once completed, the universe could be shown to have been a successful creation only, if it were able to function on its own, without constant directives from its Creator. Moving into a new home, living in it, testifies that the building process has been completed successfuly, even though already during the various stages of erecting the structure there may have been many moments of satisfaction, pride, and sense of achievement for the builder.
Death represents the successful completion of life, since the latter is a state of inertia vis a vis the state of motion called life. Though we have a tendency of viewing death as the opposite of life, because it is a state of inertia, it is nevertheless what life had aimed at since birth. When Solomon describes the day of death as superior to the day one is born on, (
Kohelet 7,
1) this is to be understood within the framework of life and its accomplishments. When life is lived correctly, death is but the ultimate purpose of life. Eternity, infinity, are not part of the brief alliance between body and soul commonly known as a "lifetime." Solomon's statement in the very same verse that "better a good name than good oil," should be understood in a similar vein. A good name is an ultimate achievement. Material goods along the way are only fleeting satisfactions, transient successes. The period we spend on earth as "Adam," partially adamah earth, is transient; it is only a preamble to our achieving our real tachlit purpose in the hereafter.
Since the Torah has been given to us to ennoble our lives on this earth, a superficial evaluation would lead us to believe that when studying Torah there must also be a definitive goal, one that is capable of being achieved even if it does take a long time and prolonged effort to achieve that objective. More profound thinking, however, will show us that precisely because it is divinely revealed, it does not conform to earthly considerations. An objective yardstick by which one can measure achievements cannot be applied to Torah study. This is what the Psalmist had in mind, when he proclaims in Psalms 119,96 "for every purpose I have seen an end, (limit) but Your commandments are very wide ranging indeed." (endless) Attainment of final mastery of Torah is not given to any human being to achieve, nor do the six hundred and thirteen commandments encompass all that is expected of the Jew in order to refine him into the ideal personality. Most commandments have many sub categories, and even in the attempt to fulfill a single commandment such as "love your neighbor as you do yourself," there are innumerable ways of observing that commandment.
The variety of ways of pious conduct by individuals mentioned in the Talmud, demonstrates that it simply is not given to one person to fulfill all possible permutations in one lifetme. Performance and study of each of the sections brings its own reward in terms of happiness, enlightenment etc., but the impact of Torah in its totality is infinitely greater, and even different conceptually. The reward for fulfillment of each mitzvah may vary from "gold" to "fine gold," but the reward for the totality of observance is eykev rav, is so great that it cannot be defined in terms which our imagination understands. Similarly, when the Mishnah in Peah 1,1, promises dividends in this world for certain types of good deeds performed, whereas the "capital" is reserved for the world to come, the concept is identical with that expressed by the Psalmist. A study of the expressions used by our ancestors when blessing their children, or Israel as a whole, reveals that the change in the wording used reflects the ongoing and ever increasing closeness that existed between the various recipients on the one hand, and God on the other, just as already Abraham, Isaac and Jacob had different conceptions of mikdash the holy sanctuary, Abraham calling it "mountain," Isaac "field" and Jacob "house," respectively, there has been dynamic progress towards an increasingly intimate relationship between Israel and God. The uniqueness of this relationship is seen when Moses says "hail unto you Israel, who is like you?" Here he had paraphrased the words he had used in the song of thanksgiving after crossing the sea of reeds, when he had sung "who is like You O Lord, amongst the deities?" The reason the Jewish people wanted the reward in olam haba spelled out is, that they felt unless there was such a thing, the advantage of man over other creatures in this universe would not only be illusory, but man would actually be worse off than the animals. This very thought is in Solomon's mind, when he asks "what is man's gain in return for his toil?" (
Kohelet 1,
2) He refers to the comparison with the "inferior" creatures. Torah study and observance, force these conclusions on man. (see chapter thirty three) Moses' reply was that description in detail of that reward would deprive it of part of its value. Whenever we specify something, we give finite limits to the matter thus defined. Therefore, in order to preserve the comprehensive value of the reward, it could only be described as "indescribable."
