Print PDF
By Rabbi Shimmy Sternfield
עלה ראש הפסגה ושא עיניך ימה וצפנה ותימנה ומזרחה וראה בעיניך כי לא תעבר את הירדן הזה (פרק ג’, פסוק כ”ז)
Ascend to the top of the cliff and raise your eyes… and see with your eyes, for you shall not cross the Yardein.
When משה Davened to Hashem that he be allowed to enter ארץ ישראל , Hashem told him, “Do not continue to speak to Me about this matter! Go up to the top of the cliff and see with your eyes, for you will not cross the Yardein.” רש”י explains, that this was Hashem’s response to the prayers of משה . Since משה had used the words, “Let me see the good land that is across the ירדן ,” Hashem granted his request by allowing him to look from afar and see ארץ ישראל from a distance. According to this explanation, the end of the פסוק is saying, “See ארץ ישראל with your eyes from here, because you will not be entering it to see it from within.” The באר יוסף suggests an alternate interpretation based on a מדרש . The מדרש states that, when משה looked from the top of the cliff, Hashem did not only show him the land of ארץ ישראל . Rather, Hashem showed משה what would happen to ארץ ישראל and בני ישראל for all generations to come. “ משה saw the wars יהושע fought with the kings of כנען , as well as the battles of דוד המלך . Hashem showed him the leaders of each generation until the coming of ”.משיח The באר יוסף writes that, if משה saw the leaders of every generation, as it says in the מדרש , he would have also seen that he was not among them once they entered ארץ ישראל ! It could not be made clearer to משה that he was not going to be allowed to enter ארץ ישראל in the end. Accordingly, concludes the באר יוסף , the פסוק may be interpreted, “See with your own eyes that you will not be crossing the ירדן [since you will see that you are no longer present among בני ישראל from that point on].”
וזאת התורה אשר שם משה לפני בני ישראל (פרק ד’, פסוק מ”ד)
This is the Torah that Moshe placed before B’nei Yisrael. The פסוק says, “This- וזאת – is the Torah that משה placed before בני ישראל .” The גמרא states, that this פסוק is the source that the word זאת – “This”- is a reference to the Torah. What connection is there between the word זאת and Torah? In what way does that word in particular represent Torah? Reb Yaakov Kamenetsky, ,זצ”ל gives the following explanation: Included in the seven מצות given to non-Jews is the מצוה to establish a court system, including judges to establish laws and to issue rulings in cases of dispute. Even if these court rulings are not always in accordance with the Torah’s approach to ruling in a דין תורה , nevertheless, they are, from a Torah perspective, binding. Should the court decide that an item belongs to John Doe, a non-Jew who steals that item from John transgresses the prohibition against stealing (another of the seven מצות ) and deserves the death penalty (the Torah punishment for a non-Jew who transgresses any of the seven מצות ). However, nothing about this court system is set in stone. As the world changes, the court system changes as well. New laws are introduced, old laws are abolished, and penalties are adjusted as the court sees fit. Therefore, there is nothing about these rules that is permanent. Torah, on the other hand, is eternal. All laws, procedures, penalties, etc. remain exactly as they were given to us at Sinai. Since Torah can never be altered, one can say, “This is the Torah! This is exactly how it was originally given, and this is how it shall always remain.” Therefore, it is appropriate that the word זאת – “This”- is used to refer to the Torah.
