Vaetchanan el
A-donai…. E’b’rah-na v’ereh et
ha’aretz hatovah…. Vayitabeir A-donai bi lma’anchem vlo shama eilai vayomer
A-donai eilai rav-lach al tosef dabeir eilai od badavar hazeh.
And
I entreated God…. Please let me cross over and see this good land…. But God was
incensed with me for your sake, and He would not listen to me, and God said to
me, “Let in rest; do not speak to me again on this matter.”
It’s interesting that in the
midst of his dissertation of Israelite history, Moshe shares with the people
this conversation with God.
Between histories of battle and a reminder to stay faithful, Moshe
shares his disappointment at being forbidden to cross the Jordan into the land
of Israel.
Why share this disappointing
conversation, and why here? The Torah, while it may seem so, is not a
contiguous document. Not every
event or conversation immediately follows the one before. There are gaps and missing
information. What then is the
purpose of Moshe sharing his disappointment?
Within our daily t’fillot, and
beyond into the personal prayers we say throughout our day, we ask God for
numerous things. Many of these
prayers are intangible; others are general for the greater community, but some
are very specific. We ask for
specific favours. We make deals to
get what we want.
Sometimes the result is not what
we wished. At the most simplistic
and self-serving, sometimes we still fail the test or fail to get a desired
job. In the worst moments illness persists
or worsens. Deaths occur. Sadness and mourning come.
And all too often, if the result
is not the one for which we asked, we say that God didn’t listen, or God didn’t
answer. What we fail to realize
is, sometimes the answer is no. We
do not often understand the reason, or know if one even exists, so we instead
close our ears to the answer, and blame God.
Here, in the middle of understanding our
history, between those who attacked us, and reminders to follow God, is a
reminder to listen even when we don’t like the answer.
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