Va'etchanan 5772

This week’s parsha opens with Moshe (Moses) telling the people that he beseeched G-d to change His decree and allow Moshe to enter the Land of Israel. “I entreated (va’etchanan) the L-rd at that time saying…please let me cross over and see the good Land that is on the other side of the Jordan…” G-d answers but does not withdraw the decree. “Speak to me no more regarding this matter. Go to the top of the hill and lift your eyes westward and northward and southward and eastward and see with your eyes, for you shall not cross the Jordan.”

What can we learn from Moshe’s fervent prayers and from G-d’s answer?

Rashi notes that the Hebrew word va’etchanan is derived from the Hebrew word chein (to find favor) and from chinam (free). He writes: “Even though the righteous may base a request on the merit of their good deeds, they request only a free gift of the Omnipresent. Because G-d said to him [Moshe, in Shemot/Exodus 33:19], ‘I will favor when I wish to favor.’” Explain Rabbis Yisroel and Osher Anshel Jungreis, even if we are undeserving, we beseech G-d to find favor with us and grant our request as a free gift.

Rabbi Aryeh Leib Lopiansky remarks that the gematria (numerical value) of va’etchanan is 515 and that Moshe prayed to G-d 515 times (twice on 15 Av, then three times a day for 171 weekdays from 16 Av until his death on 7 Adar.) From this we learn the value of persisting in our prayers.

Does G-d always answer our prayers? Write the Rabbis Jungreis: “G-d does respond to all sincere prayer, but the manner in which He does so is His to choose, for only He knows what is to our benefit. So let us always approach G-d in prayer and trust Him to lead us on the right path.”

“Ours is a generation that is short on patience but long on expectations. If we feel that our prayers have gone unanswered, we are quick to give up in frustration and self-righteous indignation. Yet prayer is the only solution. Let us not forget that when problems overwhelm us, it is only G-d who can help.”   

Ultimately, G-d does not allow Moshe to cross over to the Land of Israel, but in His chein, kindness and graciousness, He allows Moshe to see the entire Land. The Midrash says that G-d also shows Moshe all of the events in Jewish history that will occur after his death. Perhaps this helps Moshe to understand why G-d cannot allow Moshe to lead the Jewish people into Israel.

Writes Rosally Saltsman in Parenting by the Book (Targum Press, 2003): “Many times we cannot give our children what they want. But instead of saying an unequivocal no, we can sometimes give our children part of what they want, just as G-d let Moshe see the Land. We can find creative ways of giving our children at least some of their heart’s desire, not because we have to give our children everything they want, but to show that we empathize with them and that their needs are important to us.”