One of the problems I've encountered following the exodus of the Children of Israel, is why in the world God is so heavy handed in punishing Moses by excluding him from entering the promised land. Avraham Burg's most interesting commentary on this very problem is noteworthy and thoughtworthy. I include it here in its entirety.
Parshat Ki Tavo: Is Moses God?
The greatest of all prophets hit the strongest empire in the world with strong blows, split the sea, brought down the Torah and stopped plagues. Just like the Jewish people at the time of the golden calf, before entering the land they forgot who is being sent and Who is the sender
One of the most mysterious things in the Torah is the topic of Moses' punishment.
What sin could the greatest of all prophets, have done so as to prevent him from realizing his greatest desire – to enter the promised land?
From the age of 80 to 120, Moses gave it his all. Absolutely everything, day and night. No family life to speak of, no privacy, stinging criticism, non-stop complaining.
So why can't he enter Israel? One answer could be nature: Moses was hardly a young man. Maybe he just gave in to all the pressure, the emotions, the expectation. Maybe his old heart just couldn't take it any more?
As Moses begins his final address, at the beginning of the Book of Deuteronomy, he tells the Jewish people he will not accompany them into the Land of Israel – because of them: And the Lord was angry with me because of you, saying: You will also not go in there (to the Land of Israel) (Deut. 1: 37).
Moses and the rock
So what happened? What did they do and what did he do with them that made God so angry? It couldn't possibly be the age-old answer about Moses hitting the rock, back in the Book of Numbers, in order to provide drinking water for the wandering Jews in the desert.
Okay, it's true that God told him to speak to the rock, and he chose to "speak" with his rod rather than words. But Moses has challenged God a lot more openly, with both word and deed, much more seriously than the rock incident.
Here lies one of the most painful truths in the entire Torah: Moses, and rest of the Jewish people, was punished for making one, critical mistake.
They, and he, thought Moses was God.
For the briefest of moments, they forgot that Moses was just like them – a product of man and wife, Moses, son of Yocheved and Amram - and turned him into an independent god. And for this, there can be no forgiveness. Ever.
Moses-as-God
Where is this written? Some of it can be found long ago, much earlier in the Torah.
Moses goes up to Mount Sinai to receive the Torah. He stays up there 40 days and 40 nights. The preceding days were filled with stunning pyrotechnics – the giving of the Torah.
The entire nation sees the sounds, the sound of the shofar gets stronger and stronger, Moses speaks to God, and God answers. Fantastic. Once-in-a-lifetime.
But at the end of the day, they fail to keep it up. Somehow, they screw up the count, the tension in camp is intense and growing, and a new movement arises to nominate a new god.
Then, they turn to Aaron, Moses' weaker, older brother: "Make us a god who shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we know not what is become of him "(Ex. 32:1).
In other words, the old god – Moses – is gone, and we've got to make a new, physical, and present, one.
They failed to grasp the intangible, superior God standing behind the greatest of all prophets. They forgot to differentiate between the Sender and his agent. For them, Moses was god. This was their sin.
But what about Moses?
It is very difficult to judge a man without having "walked in his shoes," or to understand the inner workings of a person who stood up to Pharaoh, who slammed the greatest empire in the world with painful plagues, split the sea, spoke to God, received the Torah, crossed the desert, sent the spies and stopped the plagues.
No one before Moses could do any of those things. Is it possible that Moses, too, got a bit confused?
Could the voices suggesting Moses was god have penetrated his protective wall of humility and modesty? Is it possible that even he thought he was really God?
And if so, perhaps he was given a punishment equal to that of everyone else?
No one guilty of this sin, of confusing the Almighty God with a human substitute, can come into the Land of Israel, meant to be a place where no individual is worth more than another.
Our land is holy because here, everyone is considered holy, every life is considered holy, and absolutely no one, is allowed to consider himself, or anyone else, a god, worthy of special treatment.
And between the lines, Moses reveals the inner workings of his soul in this week's reading: he turns to the Jewish people and speaks in the present tense: " And Moses called unto all Israel, and said unto them: You have seen all that the Lord did before your eyes in the land of Egypt to Pharaoh, and to all his servants, and to all his land." (Deut. 29:1)
Moses and the Jewish people speak about the invisible God in the third person. And they continue: "But the Lord did not give you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear" (ibid, 3) – once again, God is hidden, and Moses speaks in the third person.
But then, there is a sudden outburst: 'And I have led you forty years in the wilderness" (ibid, 4). I. First person, singular.
And he continues: "Ye have not eaten bread, neither have ye drunk wine or strong drink; that ye might know that I (!!) am the Lord your God (ibid, 5).
It's uncomfortable, to be sure, and this verse is left virtually untouched by almost all biblical commentators, But the basic test is there, in front of our eyes, and almost impossible to refute. Moses says it himself – "I am the Lord."
This is his sin, this is his punishment, and this is one possible explanation for one of the oldest questions in the book.
