Friday, 19 August 2016

Parashas Va ' eschanan

Our Parsha this Shabbos is Parashas Va'eschanan and starts out with Moshe telling us how he implored and pleaded with HaShem to cross the Jordan and enter the Holy Land.
The word 'Va'eschanan,' means 'And I Implored,' which is exactly what Moshe did,begging and pleading with HaShem to enter Eretz Yisroel . Infact,Moshe so desired to enter the land flowing with Milk and Honey , that he implored HaShem 515 times in different ways,hoping that HaShem would change His Mind .We see that Moshe implored HaShem 515 times ,for this number is hidden within the word 'Va'eschanan,' for the Gematriah of this word's Hebrew letters comes/adds to 515 (6+1+400+8+50+50) .Moshe tried his best to persuade HaShem to let him enter Canaan but G-D said 'No.'
On the surface, we can think that here was this very holy man,who,with the help of HaShem , had taken the Children of Israel out of Egypt,led them through the Wilderness for close on 40 years and taught them HaShem's Torah,took their complaints and gave his all, to his people and so, it would seem that he so deserved entry into the destination of the Holy Land he started to lead us to.Yet HaShem said ,'No.'
We would assume, that the very fact that Moshe cared nothing for himself and repeatedly gained forgiveness for the people's actions , that Moshe sure deserved to enter HaShem's Israel.But HaShem said,'No.'
On the surface,this would really look very sad that Moshe , who so deserved to walk on the land , could not do so then . 
Was HaShem not merciful?It would appear so, but again, if one looks deeper at the word 'Va'eschanan,' we see that HaShem was being most merciful.Within the word 'Va'eschanan,' is the word 'Chonein,' - which in Hebrew means 'Merciful.' Thus, by HaShem saying 'No' to Moshe, no matter how many times Moshe implored, it was a totally merciful 'No.' HaShem sees the entire picture.We ,as humans,only see a minute part of things. So often we ask HaShem for things, yet HaShem says 'No.' The question arises then,do we love HaShem enough and have faith and trust in Him enough, to trust that HaShem knows best .If we think logically, that HaShem Created Creation and thus knows all things, then logically, HaShem knows the tomorrow of our wishes and always knows best what is needed for us,even if we don't see it . HaShem is always merciful , even when he punishes .Unlike a human being, HaShem never punishes for His good . HaShem only punishes for our good . We must learn to give HaShem the trust He deserves and take Him saying to us 'No,' as an act of His Love and Direction, for our ultimate Good .
So HaShem in mercy,said to Moshe ,'No.' But what can be merciful about not coming to the land that Moshe acted for HaShem , in leading our people to? The true answer to this - only HaShem truly Knows why He said ,'No.' And that is the lesson , for we need to learn to trust the 'No' without the need for the 'Why.' That is true love and faith in HaShem .But what we can have faith and trust in , is that whatever HaShem Does, is truly for the Good.Only HaShem Knows all things. And we, cannot possible know what G-D Knows .So many things we just cannot know , for only G-D can Know all.
Our Rabbis have suggested various reasons for Moshe not being allowed into the land then.
Moshe,being so holy, would thus be on such a high level, that even the most minute error would effect him.I refer to his anger when he struck the rock.Though this would seem like such a small error.To a holy man of such a high level, like Moshe, even a small transgression is large when considering his holiness.
Also,HaShem has us repent for a transgression now, so we can be cleared of it at the End of Days.
Our Rabbis also suggest that the time for Joshua to take over leadership, had come and so,Joshua too, deserved his time of leadership .
Our Midrash suggests that Moshe could not enter the land ,for according to the Vilna Gaon, if Moshe would have entered the land,him being so holy and he would have built the Beis Ha Mikdash, it would be have been an eternal Temple and G-D would not destroy it ,instead of destroying the people if they sinned (as they did in later years when HaShem was forced to destroy the the Temples instead of the people ) and so , Moshe entering ,would have ended up causing the death of K'lal Yisroel Chas Ve Shalom , which Moshe was not prepared to accept and do and so,Moshe himself had to acknowledge this point. 
There are many other reasons too that could have prevented Moshe's entry into Israel.
To suggest a few, Moshe was so holy that he had reached a stage of deserving to enter Eretz Yisrael spiritually when the End of Days , comes.
Another reason is given and this too, is within the word 'Va'eschanan' which, as I said comes to 515 in Gematriah for, when Moshe passed away, it was on the 7th of Adar of the year 2488 from Creation.If we take into account the number 515 and turn that number into Shemittah years , we get 515 times 7 (a Shemittah is every 7 years and 515 times 7 is 3605 ) thus we get the number 3605 years and if we add this 3605 years to the 2488 years that had passed since Creation (of the year Moshe passed away which was the year 2488) we get to the year 6093 after Creation (2488+3605 =6093) which is the year the present era will end according to Osios D'R.Akiva - The End Of Days' as it is called ,although our sages round off this number to 6000 years after Creation.This 6093 years (rounded off to 6000 years ) is the final cut off date for the End of Days ,but to be exact it is to be the year 6093 .This means that on the year Moshe died, his 515 times that he implored HaShem, he was also actually covering the remaining time till the End of Days , with his holy prayer so G-D could always look toward his prayer and not destroy Creation because of Aveirahs, but let it continue till the End Of Days.
As I said, there are so many deep reasons that we could never imagine for why HaShem had no choice but to bring Moshe to Him , when Moshe's time came .We need to trust HaShem implicitly that HaShem know s why and so, HaShem told Moshe near the beginning of this Parsha ,'Eileh Rav Lach,' - 'It is too much /enough,' for HaShem was also telling Moshe, who so desperately wanted to continue doing the Mitzvos and was worried he could not do those Mitzvas that can only be done in Eretz Yisrael,' that he (Moshe) had done enough to warrant his level of returning to HaShem then and the very fact that he had taught these specific Mitzvot that are only to be done in Eretz Yisroel, will be accounted to him as if he had fulfilled them.HaShem told him, that he had reached the high level necessary for Moshe to come to HaShem and now it was time for Moshe to enjoy his ever so special spiritual reward with HaShem .
Moshe mentions a few times how he was not able to enter the land and one of the very sad things, is that when Moshe said he implored HaShem to enter the land, so should we have done , for Moshe's sake.The people at the time who Moshe had so often prayed for,never realized that they too now should have prayed for him to enter as he so often prayed for us.Our Rabbis say,the people were kept from realizing this as it was ordained that it must be so that Moshe does not enter then,but still,the people should have prayed and implored for him for a change.Let us this Shabbos keep Moshe in our prayers and as he so often prayed for us,let us pray for him.
We all ask HaShem for things at times.And often we think we are not heard.But G-D Hears all yet doesn't always give us what we want.This is a total act of love, for G-D is concerned for our spiritual welfare and so, we need to learn to trust Him and have faith in Him .
Saying 'No,' is not an act of ignoring us.It is an act of love , for G-D alone Knows All things and G-D alone Knows what we truly need.
It doesn't mean we cannot ask.It just means that when we do ask, we must trust with full faith and love in G-D , that He Acts for our best interests of tomorrow and the tomorrow of our tomorrows.
May the time come when we all can witness the beautiful entering of Moshe , finally into the land he so loved and desired to put his physical feet on and may this time come soon when we can all see how right HaShem was and how thankful we will be for each time that HaShem's answer was 'No.' 
Today is the 15th of Av, which was the day the punishment of those that died for the spies report of the land ,stopped taking place.It was also the date that the bodies of those Jews the Romas slaughtered in Betar ,could finally be buried .It was a day of the change of season for wood in the Beis Hamikdash and thus became a day time for us to increase our Torah learning,as we head toward Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur .It became a day of rejoicing and a day for people to meet their Bashert-their intended partner .May all find their true Bashert and may all,finally learn to trust HaShem in all things so that the End Of Days can come soon in our days when we can finally be close with HaShem.
With love to HaShem, I wish HaShem with love, a beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love and to all, a beautiful Shabbos Kodesh with love.

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