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 "At that time I pleaded with G-d saying, O G-d, Lord.please let me cross the Jordan. Let me see the good land across the Jordan, the good mountain"(3:23-25). Moshe Rabbeinu had not yet given up hope of entering the land of Israel. He pleaded, prayed, cajoled, negotiated just so he could enter the holy land in any which way, even as a foot soldier in Joshua's army. If only we had one iota of his feelings! Yet it was to no avail. "But G-d turned Himself against me because of you and he would not listen to me (3:26)." Moshe lays the blame squarely on the Jewish people. This is not the first time Moshe does so. At the beginning of Devarim, Moshe warns the Jewish people not to repeat the sins of the spies and once again delay entry into the land of Israel. After reminding them of the punishment that befell their parents generation - wandering and death - he states "G-d also displayed anger at me because of you and He said, You too will not enter the land" (1:37). Is this not sour grapes? The Torah on four separate occasions refers to the sin of Moshe using such language as "because you believed not in me", (Bamidbar 20:12), "You rebelled against me" (Bamidbar 20:24), "you rebelled against my commandment" (Bamidbar 27:14) and finally "you did not sanctify me in the midst of the children of Israel" (Devarim 32:51). The Torah seems to have made it quite clear that Moshe himself sinned and thus was denied entry to the land. Yet an closer analysis shows us how right Moshe was. Considering the apparent harshness of the Torah in assessing the actions of Moshe Rabbeinu one would expect that his sin be obvious to all. Yet we have no such luck. The commentaries struggle mightily and perhaps even unsuccessfully, to find some wrongdoing when Moshe drew water from the rock in the Tzin desert.
The truth is that Moshe committed no obvious sin. At most a slight indiscretion was done and thus the name of G-d was not sanctified to the fullest degree. And for Moshe, but nobody else, this was inexcusable. Moshe as the greatest human being who ever lived was judged on a much higher plane. And thus G-d comes down hard on Moshe.
In Sefer Devarim Moshe is addressing the Jewish people at large who time and time again had provoked G-d and Moshe. Yet Moshe, defying normal human reaction, continued to give his heart and soul for the Jewish people. He defended them at every turn. And Moshe quite understandably lost his temper once and did something he would later regret. He was after all human. The amazing thing is how seldom he lost his temper. As far as the Jewish people were concerned it was their fault that Moshe would be unable to enter the land. It was their actions that caused him so much grief and brought him to sin, if ever so slightly. They are the ones who must mend their ways.
"Eicha, Alas how can I myself alone bear your trouble your burden and your strife?" (1:12). Rashi in explaining this verse quotes the Midrash which tells us all with which Moshe had to contend. If he arrived to work early the Jewish people would say he had an argument with his family, yet if he arrived late they would say he was busy plotting against us. Moshe gave everything he had for his people and instead of even a modicum of appreciation this is the rubbish he had to contend with. Truly it was the fault of the Jewish people that Moshe could not enter the land. And none other than G-d Himself agreed with this assessment. "G-d said to me you have enough, speak no more to me of this matter." No Moshe you will be able to get your heart's desire. But " Rav lach" , as Rashi tells us, you have a great reward awaiting you in the world to come.
It is bad enough that we sin. What compounds our sin is the fact that our sinning can cause our leaders to act inappropriately. For that we must surely repent. Shabbat Shalom!
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