Furthermore, Hashem was angry with me for your sakes, and swore that I should not pass over the Yarden, and that I should not go in to that good land, which Hashem your G-d gives you for an inheritance: For I will die in this land; I will not pass over the Jordan. But you shall pass over and possess that good land.
The Ohr Hachaim asks, why does the Torah repeat this point? The possuk already told us in last week’s Parsha (1:37) גַם בִי הִתְ אַנַף ה' בִגְלַלְכ ם לֵאמֹר גַם אַתָּה לֹא תָּבֹא שָּ מָּה – Also Hashem was angry with me for your sakes, saying, "You also shall not go in there.” Why did Moshe repeat the complaint again in this parsha? Additionally, why does the Torah write the word לְבִּלְתִּי twice, as though there were two punishments, one that he wouldn’t pass over the Yarden, and one that he wouldn’t get into that good land?
The Ohr Hachaim explains that Moshe Rabbeinu was doubly punished. Not only was he not permitted to enter Eretz Yisroel during his lifetime, his remains were also forbidden to enter Eretz Yisroel, even after his death. Although Moshe was careful to bring Yosef’s bones through the desert, and Klal Yisroel brought the bones of the other sons of Yaakov with them, Moshe’s final remains were to stay outside of Eretz Yisroel.
Moshe was punished לְבִלְתִי עׇבְרִ י א ת הַיַרְ דֵן – he would not be permitted to cross the Yarden during his lifetime, and לְבִּלְתִּי בֹא אֶל הָאָרֶץ הַטּוֹבָה – his body would not be permitted to enter the good land.
The possuk continues, with a contrast between Klal Yisroel and Moshe Rabbeinu. כִי אָּנֹכִי מֵת בָּאָּר ץ הַזֹאת – for I will die in this land, and he will not merit entering Eretz Yisroel in his lifetime, and in addition אֵינ נִי עֹבֵר א ת הַיַרְ דֵן – I will not cross over the Yarden, even after Moshe’s passing. However וְאַתֶם עֹבְרִּ ים – you shall be crossing, and not only after your deaths, but even in your lifetimes, וִירִ שְת ם א ת הָּאָּר ץ הַטּוֹבָּה הַזֹאת – you shall inherit this land.
Hashem’s anger was ‘for your sakes’, as we see in the Medrash. The Medrash quotes a story with a person who lost coins in a dark place. He knew that he could not ask people to light up that corner just to find some small coins. He took a gold coin and threw it in that corner, and cried out, “Who will help me find my lost gold coin?” People pitied him and brought a torch to light the area and he found his money as well as his gold coin. So, too, when Klal Yisroel had to die in the desert, they may have been forgotten. Now that Moshe’s remains are also in the desert, when Hashem rejuvenates all of the dead and brings them back to life, He will certainly recall Moshe Rabbeinu, and the rest of the generation will come along.
Moshe, and his remains, had to stay outside Eretz Yisroel. This was to benefit Klal Yisroel, ‘for their sakes.’
