ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף איכה 4:19

(1) When Moses had asked G'd to allow him to cross the Jordan, he wanted to make sure that the conquest of the West Bank would proceed along the same lines, eliminating all survivors who could pose a threat to the Jewish people in the future. (2+3) In Numbers 33,55-56, G'd had warned that His assistance would be predicated on the degree of absolute war Israel would wage against those inhabitants. Had Israel remained under the leadership of Moses after they crossed the Jordan, all the problems that developed later would not have occurred. His request then was not for his own sake, but for the sake of the people. He begged for a continued display of G'ds greatness, His strong hand, His unparalleled Power as displayed in the wars against Sichon and Og. (4) Since the people were not worthy of that degree of success, Moses could not be allowed to cross the Jordan, since G'd could not have denied Moses such a degree of success. However, only the physical crossing was denied Moses, not the view of the country. In order to placate me, Moses tells the people, Hashem told me to ascend the mountain and see the expanse of the land of Israel. Concerning the conquests, however, G'd instructed him to command Joshua, making it plain that Moses had asked for the role of leading the conquest of the land. Moses is told that he should do his utmost to prepare Joshua for his task. G'd would then fulfil what He had promised Moses after the episode of the golden calf, when Moses had stood in the crook of the rock and G'd had assured him "in view of the whole nation, I will perform miracles." In this, G'd had referred to the arrest of the sun and the moon in their respective orbits during the term of Joshua's leadership of the people, as well as other lesser miracles. The people's fear, that if G'd did not respond favourably to Moses' prayer, there would be no chance that He would respond to the likes of them, is put to rest by Moses. He points out that they have survived the anger of G'd on the occasion of the sin at Baal Peor, and that the merit of the multitude in any case is much stronger collectively than that of any individual, however great that individual. This was what had enabled them to survive at that time. Moses points out that their success and survival is not conditional on his physical presence in their midst, but rather lies in their observing the laws that Moses had been teaching them before his death. In the event they had failed to appreciate the connection between the life giving power of observing mitzvot, Moses points out that precisely those of whom it could be said "you who have cleaved to the Lord your G'd" are the ones who are alive and well today. (see commentary chapter 83) In contrast, when one person sins, he may have to pay for his transgression. This is why Moses' sin resulted in his having to die prior to entry into Eretz Yisrael. This was due partly to the fact that Moses' error had had repercussions on the people. "G'd was angry at me because of your words." Even though they were the cause of his error, his personal merit did not suffice to reverse the decree of death against him. At this point, Moses returns to making laudatory comments. He points out that the observance of the commandments by the whole people prior to the sin of Baal Peor was the merit that had enabled the majority of them to escape the fatal consequences of the avodah zarah, that their idol worship would otherwise have had. Only the closeness between you and your G'd that you had established by means of observing mitzvot, enables you to survive to this day." Reminding the Jewish people of the revelation at Mount Sinai, he recalls that at that time they had not seen any visible signs of the deity. Theirs was a different religion; they were not in need of visible symbols of G'd. Visible symbols serve as intermediaries, reduce the closeness, the direct line between man and his Creator. Therefore, apart from the fact that none of them wield independent power, they constitute a downgrading of hashgachah peratit, and in the case of the Jewish people are a form of idol worship. Other nations who have not been the beneficiaries of hashgachah peratit, G'ds direct guidance, may employ these celestial spheres to approach the Creator, but not Israel. It is Israel's function to enjoy the direct guidance of G'd. Moses contrasts the value of the multitude's merit when he says anochi meyt, I am about to die, with ve-attem ovrim, "yet you will cross the Jordan." This merit of the multitude is effective however, only against such sins as do not involve the breaching of G'ds covenant with the people. Since, in the case of the sin at Baal Peor, their idol worshipping had not been due to philosophical religious considerations, but had merely been the by product of the weakness of the flesh, the urge to commit immoral sexual acts with the daughters of Moab, that merit did protect most of them. For all these reasons, the uppermost requirement for survival of the nation is the maintenance of the closest possible relations with G'd. (5) The sequence commencing with the paragraph "when you will beget children" (4,25), describes the never ending loving concern of G'd for Israel as a whole. All the retributions listed in the paragraph serve only one purpose. Israel will be forced to throw itself on the mercy of their G'd for psychological reasons, will repent, hoping for forgiveness. The promise that in such an event forgiveness will be available, is to reassure Israel that they need never lose the special relationship established between them and their G'd during their stay in Egypt and the subsequent Exodus. All punishments will have as their aim what a father aims at when he punishes an errant child. The reassurance that lies in verses 31-40, answers the unspoken question of Israel that if G'd has seen fit to keep His people in exile close to two thousand years already, it is hard to believe that He will awaken one day and restore us to our former glory. Moses says that since G'd is an kel kanna eysh ochlah, a jealous G'd, consuming fire, one could have expected a swift and utter annihilation of the Jewish people once His patience had been exhausted. The reference to the Egyptian experience teaches that after two thousand years of human history G'd had established a special relationship with one people. That had been a first in the annals of mankind. The eventual redemption of the Jewish people, when it comes, will therefore be less astounding than their selection had been in the first place when it had taken place.