Va-eschanan - 2015

· Hashem brought Moshe to the top of Mount Nevoh on the Eastern side of the Jordon.

· Devarim 3:27 - 'Go on top of the peak and lift up your eyes, westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and behold with your eyes, for you will not cross the Yarden.'

· The Gematria of Ve-eschanan is 515, and the Mefarshim (Midrash Rabbah in Devorim 11:6) learns that Moshe davened 515 different prayers to be allowed to enter Eretz Yisroel.

· Rashi says that Ve-eschanan is one of the 10 Hebrew words for Praying.

· The Gematria of Tefilla is also 515.

· But Hashem did not let Moshe enter Eretz Yisroel.

· Devorim 3:26 - 'But Hashem was angry with me for your sakes, and would not hear me, and Hashem said to me, "Enough for you! Speak no more to me about this matter."

· Why did Moshe yearn so much to enter Eretz Yisroel – that he davened 515 separate prayers to be able to enter Yisroel.

· The next 14 years were very hard – it took 14 years of war to conquer the land

· By that time Moshe would have been 134 years old.

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· Was it to fulfill the Mitzvot that can only be done in Eretz Yisroel?

· Trumah, Maaser, Orlah, Bikkurim, Shmittah.

· Leket, Shichkat, and Peah.

· The Gemorah in Sotah 14a asks this - Why did Moshe Rabenu yearn to enter Eretz Yisroel? Did Moshe say, ‘Many Mitzvot were commanded to Am Israel which can only be fulfilled in the land of Israel. I wish to enter the land so that they may all be fulfilled by me’.

· Hashem said to him, ‘Is it only to receive the reward for obeying the commandments that you yearn? If so, I give you credit for them as if you performed them’

· Is it because of all the Maalot of living in Eretz Yisroel that are spoken of at the end of Massechet Kesubot?

· Kesubot 110b - Whoever lives in Eretz Yisroel may be considered to have a God, but whoever lives outside the Land may be regarded as one who has no God.

· Kesubot 111a - R. Eleazar said: Whoever lives in Eretz Yisroel lives without sin.

· R.Anan said; Whoever is buried in Eretz Yisroel is deemed to be buried under the Mizbeach.

· R. Eleazar stated: The dead outside the Land will not be resurrected.

· R. Abbahu said: Even a Shifchah Canaanis who lives in Eretz Yisroel is assured of a place in Olam Habah.

· R. Jeremiah b. Abba in the name of R. Johanan, whoever walks four amos in the Eretz Yisroel is assured of a place in Olam Habah.

· Kesubot 112a - When R. Zera went up to Eretz Yisroel and could not find a ferry to cross the Yarden he grasped a rope bridge and crossed. A certain Tzadukee sneered at him: ‘Hasty people, you’re always clinging to your hastiness’.

· R. Zera replied ‘The spot which Moshe and Aaron were not worthy of entering, who could assure me that I should be worthy of entering?’

· Was it to help build the Bais Hamikdosh and participate in the Karbonot?

· Moshe was a Levi, and he could sing and watch the Kohanim bring the Korbnot.

· But in the Mishkan he already brought Korbonot.

· Was it to feel the Kedushah and experience the Shechenah?

· He had talked one-on-one with Hashem more than any human being ever had.

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· All of these are possibilities – I would like to suggest the following.

· The answer is all of the above. 

· But in addition the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

· Hashem says in Shemos 19:4:

· "If you will obey Me faithfully and keep My coveneant...
Then you shall be for Me a 'Mamlechet Kohanim v'goy kadosh' [a kingdom of priests and a holy nation].

· To be part of that sublime endeavor is the big picture that ties together all of the other pratim.

· We can be a Mamlechet Kohanim only in Eretz Yisroel.

· The Mitzvot of the Land, the Mailot of the Eretz Yisroel, the Bais Hamikdosh – are all parts of this big overriding vision.

· To be a holy nation, to embody in every detail a holy people in a holy land.

· That can only be done in Eretz Yisroel.

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· We just observed Tisha B’Av last week.

· We mourn the loss of the Bais Hamikdosh, and yearn for it to be rebuilt.

· But is it only a building that we mourn?  Or the Korbonot, or even to experience the Shechenah?

· Of course that is true.

· But perhaps it is the big picture vision that ties it together.

· To be a holy people in a holy land.

· The Bais Hamikdosh and the Mitzvot are essential elements for us to be a Mamlechet Kohanim Ve Goy Kadosh.

· It’s important to remember that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts

· The Bais Hamikdosh, Terumah, Maaser, the Mailot of living in Eretz Yisroel are all important and fantastic.

· But to be a Nation living a life of Kedushah, a Holy People living in a Holy Land.

· This would Mekadesh Hashem, for the whole world to see and understand the meaning and reality of Kedushah.

· We yearn and strive to attain this Madregah in gratitude for all that Hashem has given to us.

· That is certainly a vision and a goal worth Davening 515 times for.