Pisqa’ 281
1
“May I, please, cross over and see” (Dt.3:25)?
Is it plausible that Moses begged the Blessed Holy One
for permission to enter the Land?
Now, hasn’t it already been said:
“For you will not cross over this Jordan” (Dt.3:27)?
There is an analogy—
a King had two servants,
and he decreed that one of them
should drink no wine for thirty days.
The servant said:
What?
He has decreed that I drink no wine for thirty days?
I will not taste it for a whole year,
or even two years!
What for? To diminish the force of his master’s decree!
Then the King decreed that the second servant
should drink no wine for thirty days.
The second servant said:
How is it possible for me
to go without wine for a single hour!
What for? To increase the majesty of his Master’s decree!
In just this way,
Moses increased the majesty of the All-Present’s words—
by requesting before Him that he enter the Land.
This is why it is said:
“May I, please, cross over and see” (Dt.3:25)?
2
“This good mountain and the Lebanon” (Dt.3:25).
Everyone called [the site of the Holy Shrine] a mountain.
Abraham called it a mountain,
for it is said:
“On the mountain will HASHEM appear” (Gn.22:14).
Moses called it a mountain,
for it is said:
“This good mountain” (Dt.3:25).
David called it a mountain,
for it is said:
“Who will ascend the mountain of HASHEM” (Ps.24:3)?
Isaiah called it a mountain,
for it is said:
“The mountain of the house of HASHEM” (Is.2:2).
Gentiles called it a mountain,
for it is said:
“Come, let us ascend the mountain of HASHEM” (Is.2:3).
3
“And the Lebanon” (Dt.3:25).
How do we know that
the term, “Lebanon,” implies “the Holy Shrine2?”
For it is said:
“You are as Gilead to me, the summit of Lebanon” (Jer.22:6).
And He says:
“The forest thickets shall be felled with iron,
and the Lebanon will fall to a noble” (Is.10:34).
But why do they call it “Lebanon?”
Because it whitens (malbyn) Israel’s sins,
for it says:
“If your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be whitened (yalbynu) like snow.” (Is.1:18).3