Moses' Wish To Enter The Land

Last year I wrote about the Meshech Chochmah, who quoted a contemporary who believed that an interesting aggadata should be interpreted as meaning that there is no commandment for Jews to live and settle in the land of Israel, and how the Meshech Chochmah pushed back against that idea. The aggadata was from Sotah 14b, which states:

 דרש רבי שמלאי מפני מה נתאוה משה רבינו ליכנס לא"י וכי לאכול מפריה הוא צריך או לשבוע מטובה הוא צריך אלא כך אמר משה הרבה מצות נצטוו ישראל ואין מתקיימין אלא בא"י אכנס אני לארץ כדי שיתקיימו כולן על ידי אמר לו הקב"ה כלום אתה מבקש אלא לקבל שכר מעלה אני עליך כאילו עשיתם שנאמר

R. Simlai expounded: Why did Moses our teacher yearn to enter the land of Israel? Did he want to eat of its fruits or satisfy himself from its bounty? But thus spake Moses, 'Many precepts were commanded to Israel which can only be fulfilled in the land of Israel. I wish to enter the land so that they may all be fulfilled by me'. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, 'Is it only to receive the reward [for obeying the commandments] that thou seekest? I ascribe it to thee as if thou didst perform them'; as it is said...

Now, what is the meaning of the Talmud's question, "Why did Moses yearn to enter the land..."? If living in Israel is a mitzvah, that is alone plenty of reason to want to enter the land!

Rabbi Yaakov Kaminetzky asks this question at the very beginning of Parashat Vaetchanan in Emet L'Yaakov. He offers two solutions (both assuming there is, generally, a mitzvah of settling the land of Israel, which would be the obvious alternative):

It is possible that the mitzvah of settling the land of Israel could be fulfilled even at the Jordan crossing [where Moses was at the time]. And perhaps, this is proof that the mitzvah of settling the land of Israel only applies to those who have a portion and inheritance in the land of Israel, and since the tribe of Levi does not have a portion and inheritance in the land, perhaps they are therefore exempt from the mitzvah of settling the land of Israel, and more research needs to be done on this.

Perhaps my grandfather's answer can also provide a very different way to answer this question. From the future full version of Keter HaRachzav, by Rabbi Chaim Zev Bomzer:

I want to share a bit of kabbalah. The Talmud (Sotah 14a) asks, “Why did Moses our teacher yearn to enter the land of Israel? Did he want to eat of its fruits or satisfy himself from its bounty? But so said Moses, 'Many precepts were commanded to Israel which can only be fulfilled in the land of Israel. I wish to enter the land so that they may all be fulfilled by me'. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, 'Is it only to receive the reward [for obeying the commandments] that you seek? I ascribe it to you as if you did perform them'.”

The Meharsha asks: What’s going on? The Mishnah in Avot says that one should not do a mitzvah in order to receive the reward! 

The Chachmei Ha’emet say that at creation, there were 288 nitzotzot - sparks of the Divine Creation which require fixing by our experiences. 202 were amended by the slavery in Egypt, as it says (Exodus 12:38) “And also the erev rav went up with them” - “rav” equals 202, leaving 84 to be recaptured. How is this done? Moses thought he could succeed by entering Israel and being subject to the mitzvot ha’aretz which first required war, suffering, danger of death, etc. Above that would be a sense of surrender to the mitzvot hateluyot ba’aretz.

So this would be the reward for Moses - that the sparks should be collected by his actions. G-d answers, “I want Klal Yisrael to be involved in that tikkun - but you will get credit for your intentions “as if you did them”.

The lesson to be learned: Each of us is obligated to repair the sparks through our sparks and actions, to have the intention to fulfill mitzvot in Israel, and above all, through submission and humility. Love your fellow Jews! Set aside time for Torah! Ensure shalom bayit. Long for the return of the Temple!