From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, July 27, 2007 3:39 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Vaeschanan, 5767





                                           What's the Difference?

                        By Rabbi Joshua (differently known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
               

  This week's parsha begins with a description of the prayer that Moshe offered to God, requesting a reprieve from his sentence of dying before the nation entered   Eretz Yisroel. The Torah tells us that God finally told Moshe not to continue with his prayers anymore, and that he will not be allowed into the land. The rabbis tell us the number of prayers that Moshe offered was 415, equivalent to the numerical value of the first word in the parsha, 'vaeschanan', - and I prayed - and that if he would have offered one more prayer, God would have had to answer him positively. That is why He told him not to pray anymore, since it was to the nation's benefit that he not enter the land. A question raised by a number of commentators is, why didn't Aharon also pray to be allowed into the land? After all, the same decree was passed on both Moshe and Aharon, and if Moshe prayed for it to be rescinded, why didn't Aharon do so, as well? Moreover, while Moshe could not be allowed into the land, because if he was, and he would build the Temple, it could never be destroyed, and then, when they would eventually sin, God would take his wrath out on the people, rather than on the structure of the Temple, this factor did not apply to Aharon. In effect, Aharon actually would have had a better chance than did Moshe to have his prayers answered. Why, then, didn't he offer such prayers to God? What was the difference between Moshe and Aharon in this regard?

  Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch, in his Ta'am VeDa'as, raises this question, and explains that Moshe, as the transmitter of the Torah to the Jewish people, wanted to preside over the initiation of the nation to the mitzvos that are unique to Eretz Yisroel, in ordure to assure that they would be properly carried out. Aharon did not share this task with Moshe, and, therefore, he did not feel a need to make a special plea to be admitted into the land. This answer, however, seems inadequate, because Aharon, as the kohein gadol, certainly had a central role in the Beis HaMikdash, the Holy Temple, and all of the special mitzvos that were connected with it. Many of the mitzvos that are unique to Eretz Yisroel, in fact, pertain to the kohanim in general, and the kohein gadol in particular. Why, then, wouldn't Aharon want to be the one who would initiate these mitzvos in Eretz Yisroel, to set the tone for all future kohanim gedolim?


  Rabbi Avraham Korman, in his haParsha LeDoroseha, cites the commentary Mincha Belulah, who says that Aharon did not pray to enter Eretz Yisroel because he did not want it to appear as if he was desirous of the twenty-fours gifts of the kehuna, including terumah, ma'aser, etc., which he would receive there. This answer, however, assumes that Aharon's interest in those mitzvos was the sheer material benefit he would accrue from them. This certainly views Aharon from a negative point of view, and it does not seem possible, that the people, who loved Aharon so much, would have actually suspected him of such an approach, or that Aharon would fear that they would do so. Rabbi Korman himself suggests that Aharon feared that if he would pray to be allowed to enter Eretz Yisroel while Moshe was not allowed to enter, it would appear that he wanted to inherit the mantle of leadership from Moshe after he left the scene. This approach seems more plausible, since we know that a special merit Aharon had was that, rather than being jealous of Moshe for having taken over the leadership of the nation from him, at God's bequest, rather, he was happy for his brother and his achievements. According to Rabbi Korman's approach, Aharon wanted to retain that attitude towards his brother's role until the end, and, therefore, he did not pray to enter Eretz Yisroel. Working with Rabbi Korman's explanation, I would like to suggest an additional reason for Aharon not praying, as his brother Moshe did, to rescind the divine decree, one that will also give us a deeper understanding of why Moshe did pray to rescind it.


  We have already mentioned that according to Rabbi Shternbuch, Moshe asked that the divine decree be rescinded so that he could oversee the implementation of the laws that are unique to Eretz Yisroel. Perhaps we can suggest a different reason for Moshe's prayers, namely, that he wanted to demonstrate to the people his great desire to live in Eretz Yisroel and thereby correct the impression that he had given previously. The rabbis tell us that the reason Moshe did not merit to be buried in Eretz Yisroel, while Aharon did merit to be buried there, is that Moshe did not admit his connection to the land, while Yosef did. When the daughters of Yisro told their father about the person who helped them at the well, they told him that an Egyptian man saved them, and we do not find that Moshe ever corrected that impression. However, when Yosef described himself as a person who had been kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews. Moreover, the Abarbanel, in his commentary to parshas Shelach, writes that the real reason for Moshe being refused admittance to Eretz Yisroel was his role in the sin of the spies, in that he agreed to the mission in the first place. Thus, we find that the divine decree to refuse Moshe admittance to Eretz Yisroel, even to the extent of not being allowed to be buried there, stemmed from a lack of devotion to the land. Perhaps, then, the reason he prayed so fervently to be admitted was in order to correct, in some way, his failing, and thereby impress upon the people how desirous the land really is. Based on this approach, we can better understand why Aharon did not pray to be admitted to the land.


  Rav Dovid Fenstein has pointed out that the divine decree against Aharon basically stemmed from the fact that he was a silent partner to what Moshe did, and did not protest when he failed in his leadership position. Actually, his failure to intervene may be interpreted as a further extension of his acceptance of Moshe taking over the leadership role from him already in Egypt. On that score, then, we might expect Aharon to have a right to ask for divine mercy and consideration, and to be allowed to enter the land. However, Aharon silently accepted his decree, and, in this way, reiterated perhaps the greatest lesson he ever taught the Jewish nation, when Nadav and Avihu died at the inauguration of the mishkan after bringing a 'strange fire' before God. Aharon's response to this profound tragedy was silence, as the Torah tells us, in parshas Shemini, "And Aharon held his peace" (Vayikra 10:3). His silence bespoke a deep faith in God's providence in the world, and, in fact, the rabbis tell us that he received great reward for that silence. Perhaps, then, Aharon did not pray incessantly to have his decree rescinded, even though he may have had more reason to do so than did Moshe, in order to reiterate the lesson he had taught the people when his sons died, that we need to silently accept God's decrees, even when they may seem incomprehensible to us. Moshe, on the other hand, well understood why God had refused him entrance to Eretz Yisroel, and, by praying to be admitted, was trying to repent for his mistakes. Ultimately, God did not accept his prayers, as we mentioned earlier from the midrash, for the future benefit of the Jewish people, when they would sin and be driven from the land which they had been permitted to enter. Tragically, Moshe's efforts to impress the people with the importance of living in Eretz Yisroel did not succeed to the extent of preventing them from being exiled from it.


  May we all soon experience the nechama, the comfort, promised to us by the prophet in this week's haftarah, with the return of all our exiles to the land.




  Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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