Let me go over, I pray You, and see the good land that is beyond the Jordan (Deut. 3:25)
The Torah portion of Va'etchanan, literally "and I besought the L-rd," contains the Ten Commandments. According to our Sages, Moses prayed no less than 515 times to be allowed to enter the Land of Israel. The connection between the two is that when the Jewish people keep the Ten Commandments, it hastens the time when Moses' request will be granted in full, and all Jews will enter the Land of Israel with Moshiach. (The Lubavitch Rebbe)
Let me go over...and see the good land (Deut. 3:25)
Why did Moses ask to "see the good land"? If G-d would permit him to enter the Land of Israel, wouldn't he automatically "see" it? The point, however, is that a person should always pray to be shown only the positive aspect of things. With these words, Moses was asking to see the inherent goodness of the Land of Israel. (Ohel Torah)
Go up to the top of Pisgah...and behold with your eyes (Deut. 3:27)
Had Moses actually entered the Land of Israel it could never have been conquered or destroyed. Even the "air" that Moses could see from a distance always retained its holiness, even after the destruction of the Holy Temple, as our Sages said, "The air of the Land of Israel makes one wise." Moses' looking at the land caused a lasting spiritual impression. (Der Torah Kvall)
And you shall teach them diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them (Deut. 6:7)
If you will teach your children Torah, "you will speak of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way," i.e., you will always have something in common to talk about. By contrast, if your children are taught only secular wisdom to the exclusion of Torah, they will sit at your table like strangers, and you will struggle to find a topic of conversation. (Beit Yitzchak)
Reprinted from the Parashat Va’etchanan 5761/2001 edition of L’Chaim,
