Toward the beginning of Parashat Vaetchanan, Moshe recalls God’s decree that he would perish in the wilderness and not join Benei Yisrael into Canaan: “And the Lord was angry with me because of you, and He swore that I would not cross the Jordan and come into the good land which the Lord your God is giving you” (4:21). Many commentators struggled to explain Moshe’s intent in blaming Benei Yisrael for this decree (“because of you”), and to explain the connection between this verse and the previous verses, in which Moshe warns the people about the lure of idolatry.
The Meshekh Chokhma suggests a particularly insightful explanation. The generation that left Egypt occasionally made the mistake of viewing Moshe as their equal, a perspective which in some instances led them to challenge his authority, as when Korach and his cohorts brazenly declared, “For the entire congregation – they are all sacred…so why do you raise yourselves over the community of the Lord?” (Bamidbar 16:3). The Midrashim also describe how the people looked suspiciously at Moshe and accused him of all kinds of scandalous schemes. They failed to recognize his unique stature that towered over theirs.
With regard to the younger generation, by contrast, a much different concern arose. These people were likely to look at Moshe as a superhuman, God-like figure, seeing how he regularly overturned the natural order. The Meshekh Chokhma asserted that among the reasons why Moshe could not lead Benei Yisrael in their conquest and settlement of Canaanwas the concern that he would be deified. God would have allowed Moshe to continue leading the older generation, despite the disrespect that they showed him on occasion. What He could not allow, however, was for Moshe to lead a generation that would have likely regarded him as a supreme being, as this would have undermined the role Benei Yisrael is to serve as God’s representatives to mankind.
Moshe therefore admonished the people that he was denied entry into Eretz Yisrael “biglalkhem,” because of them, on their account. Once God decreed after the sin of the spies that the older generation would perish in the wilderness, it became necessary for Him to disallow Moshe’s entry into the land, as well, since he could not lead the younger generation.
The Meshekh Chokhma adds that this understanding of the verse may help explain its relevance to the previous verses, which speak of the gravity of idol worship. The decree against Moshe relates to this theme in that it resulted from God’s concern that an idolatrous cult would be formed around Moshe. In the context of the warnings against idolatry, Moshe noted that it was the concern of his deification by the younger generation that necessitated his death in the wilderness and the denial of his request to enter Eretz Yisrael.
Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il