By Rabbi Elisha Herb<\/p>\n<\/div>\n From the top of Mount Pisgah, Moshe surveys \u201cthe good land that is beyond the Jordan, that goodly hill-country and the Lebanon.\u201d (Deut. 3:25) The land on which he would never set foot; the land that had been the collective Israelite destination for forty years; the land of their ancestors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Now 120 years old, Moshe entreats God to allow him to cross over.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Surely, this cannot be all that Moshe seeks. For from the plains of Moab, all of Israel can see the \u201cgoodly hill-country\u201d of which he speaks. But Moshe also asks to see \u201cthe Lebanon.\u201d And, concealed in Moshe\u2019s petition, is the wish to see fulfillment of the blessings of peace in the land after all the seven nations have been vanquished, and Israel, living in harmony with each other and God, live in peace and security on the land (Lev. 26: 3-13). \u201cYou have begun to show your servant our greatness and your strong hand \u2026\u201d As if to say, \u201cYou have only begun to show me. But I want to see the full fruition of the promises; I want to guide Israel in the observance of the \u2018statutes and the ordinances\u2019 (Deut. 4:1) so that it may be well with them. Moshe asks to live beyond his 120 years and beyond the sharp physical boundary God has laid for him. But on the surface, he asks only to see the land.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Moshe\u2019s question angers God. \u201cRav lakh<\/em>! Let it suffice for you!\u201d God answers in wrath. \u201cDo not speak to me of this again!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rashi, our beloved teacher and study partner, who lived in France in the 11th\u00a0century, writes of this phrase,\u00a0rav lakh:\u00a0<\/em>\u201cMuch more than [the Holy Land] is kept for you; vastly abundant is your treasure.\u201d Rashi\u2019s comment is most likely a reference to the world to come, to life after death. But it may simultaneously be read, \u201cThe abundance which you have already experienced, which you already have, is more than sufficient for you.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rabbi Shefa Gold writes in\u00a0Torah Journeys\u00a0<\/em>that God says, \u201cRav Lakh!\u00a0<\/em>You have so much! Stop fixating on what you want!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Her careful reading of this phrase,\u00a0rav lakh<\/em>, echoes it\u2019s use in\u00a0Parashat Korach<\/em>\u00a0when Korach, leading a rebellion against Moshe, says, \u201cYou have (too) much!\u201d \u2013 implying an excess of power and status. Moshe, responding to Korach and his rebels, says \u201cYou have so much.\u201d (Num. 16:3, 7) \u00a0Korach was, after all, one of the Levites, the tribe chosen by God for a particularly high status among the tribes of Israel. Moshe thus responds, \u201cWhy do you want more power than you already have?!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n One of my teachers in my shul in Oregon, similarly heard resonances in Esau\u2019s words to Jacob. \u201cI have an abundance, my brother. Let what you have be yours; [I do not need your gifts].\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Like Korach, Moshe wants something more and is dissatisfied with having to let go, with having to die on the other side of the Jordan. But, as my teacher at the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College, Rabbi Ebn Leader, says, \u201cMoshe\u2019s Torah does not end in the promised land.\u201d Moshe\u2019s Torah ends on the other side of the Jordan, with his death. And then it is rolled all the way back to \u201c\u2026 at the beginning \u2026.\u201d (Gen. 1:1) where we begin again. This is a bitter pill for Moshe. And indeed, letting go of your aspirations, your children, and your very life is often a distressing for all of us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cYou have so much! Do not speak to me of this again,\u201d God responds to Moshe\u2019s plea. And yet God, in his love for Moshe, relents a bit. Moshe ascends the peak of Pisgah from which he miraculously beholds the Land \u201c\u2026 westward and northward, and southward and eastward\u201d (Deut. 3:27). Rashi cites a tradition that from this vantage point, Moshe saw the whole of the land, not only in space but throughout time. Rabbi Shefa Gold writes of this perspective that Moshe \u201c\u2026gets a clear view in all directions so that he might see and know that he has already arrived. The promise has already been fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The art of letting go of our expectations is most dramatically seen in \u201ccrossing over\u201d into death. Rabbis Joel Baron (also a graduate of Hebrew College\u2019s Rabbinical School) and Sara Paasche-Orlow delve into this subject in\u00a0Deathbed Wisdom of the Hasidic Masters.<\/em>\u00a0One of the key lessons they learned in writing this book is the lesson of gratitude, in seeing the abundance of one\u2019s life, when passing on into death. Dying gracefully requires recognizing the Grace that exists in one\u2019s life: \u201cI have so much.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The stories of the deaths of some of the Hasidic masters recorded in\u00a0Deathbed Wisdom<\/em>\u00a0relate that \u201cR. Zusha of Plotsk, just before he dies \u2026 quotes, \u2018I will arise at midnight to thank you\u2019 (Ps. 119:62) \u2026 R. DovBaer of Mezritch expresses his gratitude with a joy-filled heart that affirms his trust in God. R. Aaron of Staroselye dances and celebrates life up until his final moments. R. Shmuelke of Sasov sings out his praise of God.\u201d (Deathbed Wisdom,\u00a0<\/em>196)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Legend has it that King Solomon had a golden ring on which was inscribed, \u201cThis, too, shall pass;\u201d This, too, shall cross over. This discipline of remembering the ephemerality of our lives, and each moment, is a practice that allows us to see that the promise is already fulfilled. The world to come is flowing into the world even now, at this moment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Rabbi Elisha Herb serves the community of Temple Beth Sholom in Salem, Oregon. A 2016 graduate of the<\/em>\u00a0Hebrew College Rabbinical School<\/a>, he is also a wilderness river guide for the Four Corners School of Outdoor Education in Monticello, Utah.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/img.huffingtonpost.com\/asset\/5981fb3815000084208b4bcd.jpg?ops=scalefit_820_noupscale\")
Parashat Va\u2019etchanan\/Shabbat Nachamu, Deuteronomy 3.23-7:11<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n