Parshas Vayelech-GROW UP!!!

Parshas Vayelech: Grow UP!!!

Torah Psych101

Dr. Jonathan M. Lasson

My parents and in-laws have commented from time to time that it was not always so easy to get into ארץ ישראל. Nowadays, we can just book a ticket and fly in to ארץ ישראל for a pretty reasonable price. Only certain kids in the 60’s and even into the 70’s had the Zechus of being able to learn in a yeshiva or attend a seminary.

Our most recent trip to ארץ ישראל was not as easy and we were even considering a contingency plan if we could not take this trip. We had to get an "Ishur" (permission from the Israeli ministry), we had to take PCR tests, serology tests, download many documents etc. I wish I could say that I felt for Moshe Rabbeinu who never got to go to ארץ ישראל but I would never Chas V’Shalom profess to be anywhere near the level of a Moshe Rabbeinu. I am sure Moshe would have been more than happy to take a PCR test and apply for an Ishur if that was all he needed to do to go to the holiest of places. But obviously it was not meant to be for Moshe.

This week’s Parsha, as Moshe is nearing his death, we see the acceptance of his fate as he realizes that it will be יהושע and not Moshe who will lead the Jewish people into ארץ ישראל.

Moshe says “לא אוכל עוד לצאת ולבא. וה' אמר אלי לא תעבר את הירדן הזה

“I can no more go out and come in, and Hashem has said to me ‘You will not cross over this Yarden’ “(1)

When I read these words, I feel sad for Moshe. Here I am, fresh back from an incredible trip to ארץ ישראל, a land that Moshe could not enter. It makes myself and I assume many other people wonder the age old question of why bad things happen to good people?

The Gerrer Rebbe (2) offers and idea that I believe puts things into perspective. Moshe understood the concept of growth. Growing is an upward trend. When someone moves to ארץ ישראל, it is called making Aliyah. Going up. Moshe understood this better than anyone. Without the ability to go to ארץ ישראל there was no room for him to grow. He had already reached the pinnacle of spiritual development and development as a leader of K’lal Yisroel. The only way he could grow even further would be to be granted entry into ארץ ישראל where a person can fulfil all of the Mitzvos in the Torah. When he realized he could not do that, he accepted his fate and was prepared to die and pass over the reins to יהושע who would be granted entry. This is perhaps why he said these words in earshot of יהושע. Yehoshua would be the one to usher the Jews into the promised land. Perhaps this is why this week’s Parsha is separate at times and is called וילך.

This concept of growing is such a Jewish concept. If we remain stagnant, we are just living but that is not a true life. People who do not accept the Torah and in fact, reject the Torah because they cannot successfully answer that basic philosophical question of ‘why bad things happen to good people’ usually end up atheists who will try and convince others that there is no G-d. As the Gemara (3) tells us “the wicked are considered dead even when they are living.” They are considered dead because they have not mastered the concept of growth; constant growth. Moshe, on the other hand had mastered the concept. He realized if his inability to enter ארץ ישראל will prevent him from growing further, there was no reason for him to continue living and he accepted his fate. That is a tremendous accomplishment.

This also can help us understand another idea. We are told that the יצר הרע for עבודה זרה was not abolished until the times of Ezra (4) when the Jews were living in ארץ ישראל. Why could it not be abolished before then? In our Parsha, Moshe continues to admonish the Jewish people telling them that they are rebellious and will continuously be rebellious after his death.

כי ידעתי אחרי מותי כי השחת תשחתן וסרתם מן הדרך

“Because I know that after my death, you will surely act corruptly and you will stray from the path.” (5) How could Moshe have known that they will continue to go “off the Derech” after he died?

Perhaps it is because he knew this idea that the יצר הרע will continue to be strong until the Jews are settled in ארץ ישראל. This is why he spoke these words in the presence of יהושע who would lead them into the land.

May we all have the Zechus of not only going, but living in ארץ ישראל and having a true Aliya existence.

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(1)   Devarim 31:2

(2)   Quoted by Rabbi Dr. Abraham J. Twerski

(3)   Brachos 18b

(4)   Sanhedrin 64a

(5)   Devarim 31:29