Why Was Moshe Punished? (Devarim 1:37)

Hi Rav in this weeks Parsha Devarim 1:37 Moshe says that he wasn’t able to enter the land (בגללכם )because of bnei yisroel. But the reason he wasn’t able to enter the land was in Bamidbar 20:8 whereby he hit the rock, which was his own action, not involving bnei yisroel?

Shalom!

Thank you for your question.

There is indeed much discussion and commentary on exactly why Moshe was banded form entering Eretz Yisrael.

As you note, the most famous reason given for Moshe being banned from the Land was because he hit the rock for water instead of speaking to the rock as he was told to do. If he would have spoken to the rock the people would have learned, “If a rock, which neither speaks nor hears nor is in need of sustenance, obeys the word of God, how much more so should we."

The Rambam says that Moshe’s sin was in the fact that he got angry and called the people “rebels.” According to this approach Moshe’s sin was that the people may have concluded that anger is acceptable, or that God was angry with them, which He was not.

Abarbanel writes the Moshe’s punishment was the result of having sent the spies.

In the above examples, there is room for the “blame game” and to suggest it was "because of Bnei Yisrael."

Another, lesser-known interpretation as to why Moshe was forbidden to enter the Land can be found in the Or Hachaim Hakadosh where he writes that if Moshe would have entered the Land, he would have built the Beit Hamikdash. If Moshe would have built the Beit Hamikdash, it would have never been destroyed because anything that Moshe participated in or built became “permanent” and could not be destroyed. As such, when Hashem would get angry at the Jewish people, He would be forced to kill them in place of “killing” the Beit Hamikdash. As the prophet says, “G-d’s anger was poured out on the wood and stone [i.e. on the Beit Hamikdash and not so much on the people].” It is explained that if Hashem would not have been able to destroy the Beit Hamikdash, then He would have destroyed the Jewish people.

So this is a very good answer as to why Moshe could not enter the Land of Israel “because of Bnei Yisrael” – it was in order to save them!