Myśl Żydowska do Powtórzonego Prawa 3:26

It is well known that one who wishes to correct another who has gone astray in some respect can do so in two ways. First, he can apprise him of his wrong and reprove him concerning it never again to repeat it. For so long as one averts his eyes from his sin it is impossible for him to repent of it, just as the sick man who does not acknowledge his illness cannot be cured. This is the intent of David's statement (Psalms 51:5): "For I know my offenses and my sin is constantly before me." This is the first way. The second way is to apprise him that great eminence awaits him, that for all his wrongdoing he is still beloved and desired by the one who wishes his closeness. In these two ways Moses corrected Israel. First he opened with words of chastisement, apprising them, in brief, of all their past wrongs. All of this is included in the section "These are the words." After this, so that they not lose hope and despair of coming to cleave to the Blessed One in their shame before Him over all their wrongdoing, he informed them in this parshah that they are still desired by the Blessed One — even more so than he, the patriarch of Torah, wisdom, and prophecy. And he demonstrated this to them, showing them that because he had gone astray in a certain matter and had slighted the honor of Israel — though they had gone astray in the same matter — still, the L-rd did not wish to forgive his sin. This is the intent of the verse (Deuteronomy 3:26): "And the L-rd was angry with me for your sake, and He did not listen to me." And in [the section] "These are the words" it is written (Ibid 1:37): "And the L-rd was also angry with me because of you, saying: 'You, too, shall not come there.'" The meaning of these two verses is not the same. In (1:37) "These are the words," Moses, correcting the Jews by rebuke, as I have written, says to them: "And the L-rd was also angry with me because of you, saying." That is, you caused evil not only to yourselves but also to me, for because of you, as a result of your conduct, the L-rd was angry with me. All this by way of rebuke for their sin. But here (3:26) this is not the intent. Rather, correcting them by way of apprising them of their eminence and of the great love that the L-rd has for them, he informs them that the L-rd did not accept his petition for the sake of Israel's honor. For there is a great difference between (1:37) "because of you" [biglalchem] and (3:26) "for your sake" [lema'anchem]. Add to this the fact that in the first case biglalchem refers to the arousal of the anger, in which Israel was certainly a contributing factor, whereas in this case lema'anchem refers to the reason for Moses' prayer not being heard and the Blessed One's unwillingness to forgive him. This is the intent of the homily in Yelamdeinu: "'Vayitaber with me for your sake' — How is 'Vayitaber' to be understood? R. Yehudah and R. Nechemiah differ on this, one seeing the meaning as 'And He was filled with [evrah] wrath against me,' and the other as 'He made me as a pregnant woman [ubárah] who cannot sit down because of her fetus [ubaráh].' The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses: 'You will serve as an example for future judges — that men not come before judges for judgment and be cursed by them!'" And in Sifrei (on Deuteronomy 3:26) it is written: "'And the L-rd said to me: "It is enough for you."' He said: 'Moses, you will serve as an example for future judges. They will say: "Now if G-d did not forgive Moses, the wisest of the wise and the greatest of the great, because he said: 'Listen, now, you rebellious ones,' and it was decreed that Moses not enter the land of Israel, then those who delay justice and those who pervert justice, how much more so!"'" Our sages thus make it clear that the meaning of this verse is that the Holy One Blessed be He did not accept Moses' prayer for the sake of the Jews' honor.

R’ Elazar said – prayer is greater than good deeds, because no one was greater in good deeds than Moshe our Teacher and nevertheless he was only answered through prayer, as it says “It is enough for you, speak no more to me of this matter…” (Devarim 3:26) [Berachot 32b]
There are two aspects to the precious nature of the righteous soul: good deeds, which are the offspring of the righteous (See Rashi Bereshit 6:9. Also Yishayahu 3:10, with Kiddushin 40a) brought about through the soul’s activities, and the precious, lofty and treasured nature of the refined soul itself, crowned by the acquisition of good traits and true conceptions. And when such a soul orients itself in prayer toward a specific thing, the blessed G–d decreed (See Tehillim 148:6) that prayer succeed according to the extent of her value and merit. And R’ Elazar’s words teach that the treasured fineness of the great soul rises above the preciousness of its circumstantial good - the good actions which are as chance occurrences in comparison to the pure and clarified soul itself. But that which the weight of good actions could not effect, comes about through the value and merit of the preciousness of the holy soul in its own right. The proof is from Moshe our teacher, whom none surpassed in good deeds. All his good deeds were insufficient to nullify the decree against him, but prayer would have worked. G–d had to declare “speak no more to me,” (Dev. 3:26) implying that additional speech would have been more effective than actions. And this is why in the next line we find “Go up to the top of Pisgah…” (Dev. 3:27) Just as, if through additional prayer Moshe had attained all his request it would have surpassed the bounds set by the weight of his good actions, so too that portion of his request which was fulfilled was through the power of prayer - which comes from the essential treasured nature of the soul and its inner composition, elevated beyond its circumstantial expressions. This is because the revelation of the preciousness of the soul through her inner treasured nature, and not only through her circumstantial expressions, comes through refined prayer, which is called pouring out of the soul: “…and I have poured out my soul before G–d.” (Shmuel I 1:15)