Maghen Abraham - Thoughts From Mayer Sasson

''I implored Hashem at that time…. My Lord, Hashem/Elokim, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand, for what power is there… that can perform according to Your deeds and to Your mighty acts?'' (3, 23-24)

One more prayer

We know that Moshe prayed 515 prayers corresponding to the numerical value of ''Vaetchanan''.

So many prayers, that were not answered, should have indicated to Moshe that it is not the will of Hashem that he enter ''Eretz Israel'', so, why did Moshe keep beseeching and entreating Hashem,  in light of the fact that after all Moshe always obeyed Hashem's will?

Furthermore, Moshe knew full well that if he enters ''Eretz Israel'' and builds himself the Holy Temple, he is risking the annihilation of all Israel, as Moshe's trait is known as ''Netzah'' which means Eternity and therefore everything that he will build has to endure and last forever, therefore, when Israel will be sinful in the future, it would be incumbent upon Hashem, so to speak, to direct His wrath towards the people rather than towards woods and bricks, and thus bring extinction upon Israel.

Moshe must have known that and he still implored Hashem to enter ''Eretz Israel''.

In addition, we notice here a duplicity as Moshe mentions the two main attributes of God: Hashem which alludes to the attribute of Mercy and compassion and Elokim which alludes to the attribute of judgement and stringency.

Moshe alludes to Hashem that He can show His greatness on one hand that goes towards kindness, and the strong hand which goes towards restriction.

Moshe asked to cross and see the Good Mountain which is Jerusalem and The ''Lebanon'' which is the Holy Temple which is derived from the word white as it cleansed all of Israel's sins through the sacrificial process.

The Netivot Shalom sheds some light upon those questions and provides needed clarity.

Sometimes there is a decree upon a person that originates from the attribute of judgment in order to reprimand and inflict punishment for reasons known to Hashem, and sometime the decree originates from the measure of Kindness, that although it appears bad and difficult to the bearer but in fact it is for the ultimate benefit and goodness of the person. In the latter scenario the compassion is concealed and not obvious to the person and has a negative manifestation upon which the decree is experienced.

That is the reason Moshe appealed to Hashem and said you Hashem-Elokim can control this structure and therefore you can cause circumstances to be altered as you please whether they are rooted in Kindness or Judgment, You Hashem-Elokim can alter events to such an extent that by supernatural providence You can arrange that Moshe will build the Holy Temple and Israel will still be saved from destruction.

Moshe in fact did not do this for himself as he was a loyal servant and trusted leader of Israel and we know that he prayed for the general sake of the entire nation of Israel to be worthy of the final redemption.

He thought that the time was right and it was a moment of Divine favour once the two most preventive and opposing forces known as ''Sichon'' and ''Og'', that represent on a personal and spiritual level self denial and uncontrolled desires, were removed, conquered and eliminated.

Moshe thought that it was time for the ultimate ''Geulah'' and believed that the creation came into full rectification and that there was no fear the Israel will sin again.

He reckoned that he was the pillar of the Torah as he received it from Hashem and Jerusalem and the Holy Temple are the pillar of worship and the amalgamation of them both will constitute the perfect and final rectification.

The most amazing lesson we derive here is that none of us should ever be discouraged from the process of constant praying to Hashem for our needs to be granted as it is evident by the fact that Hashem was just about to grant Moshe's wish, had he added one more prayer. Hashem would have accepted his plea and therefore Hashem had asked him ''…Do not continue to speak to me in this matter.''

Remember, sometimes just one more prayer is needed....

SHABBAT SHALOM!!