More than Meets the Eye

It can occasionally be a pretty frustrating experience for a parent to go grocery shopping with their young children. As the parent makes their way through the aisles that contain candy and other sweets, the child may ask or even cry for the treat that the parent may deny. The parent may even wish that there were no aisles in the store that created such havoc if only the grocery industry would cooperate. It's a whole other story for a parent to take a child into a candy or ice cream store, and the child continues to ask for a treat, and the parent denies him, which seems to be unnecessary cruelty. Why take the kid into a candy store if you are not going to allow him to buy anything? Wouldn't it be better for the parent not to take the kid into the candy store to begin with? I think about this question as I read our parsha Va'eschanan once again this year. Moshe is delivered the greatest disappointment of his life when G-d tells him with certainty he will not be able to enter the Land of Israel. Moshe's greatest aspiration in his life was to enter Israel, and he continued to rally the people not to give up hope of entering the Land despite numerous setbacks. To say it was a disappointment to Moshe is an enormous understatement. G-d does offer a caveat to Moshe. Although he couldn't physically enter the Land, Moshe is instructed to go to the border and stare wistfully into the Land of Israel. To me, that sounds unnecessarily cruel! If he is not able to enter the Land, what's the point of Moshe going to the border and looking in? I read a fascinating insight from one of the commentaries, the Kli Yakar on the Parsha. He writes that there are two aspects to the Land of Israel; the physical aspect and the spiritual aspect. The physical are the natural wonders that Israel is blessed with, from the Dead Sea to Ein Gedi and everything in between. The fruits and vegetables are blessed with a taste of freshness and deliciousness! While those traits are indeed special, natural wonders are hardly unique. There are numerous locales all over the world that boast breathtaking natural resources. However, another aspect of the Land of Israel that makes it unparalleled to any place in the world is its spiritual dimension. As the Torah states, the presence of G-d manifests itself in the Land of Israel in a more compelling and intense manner than any other place in the world. For this reason, different religions have longed to attach themselves to the Land of Israel and claim it as their own, as its spiritual richness is attractive and causes envy among the nations. In the final moments of his life, G-d told Moshe that although he would not merit to physically enter the Land, he would be able to savor some of its spiritual richness by looking into it at the border. This last gesture was no small comfort to Moshe, who was only interested in entering the Land of Israel for its spiritual blessing. As Israel and the Jewish People fight an existential war, it's essential to understand what the fight is really about. Our adversaries are claiming that Jews have no physical nor spiritual claim to the Land of Israel. Our Parsha reminds us what is really at stake. Have a Peaceful Shabbos, Rabbi Yaakov Fisch