Righteous Vision

Please let me cross (the Jordan). Let me see the good land across the Jordan, the good mountain and the Lebanon.     Deuteronomy 3:25

            Thus Moses pleaded with God.

      The Kotzker Rebbi (1787-1859) notes that Moses’ phrasing seems redundant, for if he crosses the River Jordan, and enters western Eretz Yisrael, he will certainly see the Land. The Kotzker explains that Moses’ intention is to “see” the Land in its internal - spiritual dimension. It is possible to walk the length and breadth of the Land of Israel without ever seeing her. Even one who is involved in the study of Torah and fulfillment of mitzvot must pray that he be privileged to see the internal – spiritual Land.

            Two verses later, we read God’s response to the Master of all Prophets:

Climb up to the top of Pisgah, and lift up your eyes westward, and northward, and southward, and eastward, and see with your eyes; for you shall not go over this Jordan.                                                                         Deuteronomy 3:27

         Here, as well, there are seemingly unnecessary words. As Alshikh phrases it, among the questions he raises on the verse: “Who does not understand that he (Moses) will see the Land only with his eyes?” What does the Torah add by including the words “see with your eyes?”

         Alshikh answers that the Torah stresses that Moses actually saw the Land with his own eyes, and not merely in a prophetic vision. Many of our classical commentators (among them, Abravanel, Or haḤayyim and Malbim) follow this approach. (Or haḤayyim [who died in 1743] adds that the words preclude the possibility that Moses used “the wisdom that allows bringing nearer that which is far away by visual means,” that is, Moses did not see the Land through a telescope!)

            It is perfectly clear that vision such as this, being able to see the entire Land of “four hundred parasangs” (a unit equal to approximately four kilometers [2.5 miles] square) [Otzar haMidrashim 366], cannot be natural. Indeed Rabbi Eliezer [Yalkut Shimoni, vaEtḥanan 823] states “(God) gave Moses eyes the ability to see from one end of the world to the other. (And so we see that righteous people have the ability to see from one end of the world to the other.)” That being the case, the question arises: why did God instruct Moses to ascend to the top of Pisgah? Surely, Moses would have been able to benefit from this super-human vision even if he were standing in a plain, or even in a valley. Alshikh explains that in order to benefit from this exceptional visual acuity, Moses himself had to act, to do his part, and only then would God bestow upon him the ability to see the entire Land.

            Concerning Rabbi Eliezer’s comment, Rabbi Kook related that during his enforced stay in London (during the First World War) he often visited the National Art Gallery and was especially impressed by Rembrandt’s use of light, which reminded Rabbi Kook of the Sages’ saying that when God created light it was so strong that one could see from one end of the world to the other, but G-d was afraid that the wicked might abuse it. What did He do? He reserved that light for the righteous (tzadikim) when the Messiah should come. Rabbi Kook concluded his comments on Rembrandt by saying: “But now and then there are great men who are blessed and privileged to see it. I think that Rembrandt was one of them, and the light in his pictures is the very light that was originally created by God Almighty.”

            If Rembrandt was gifted with the primal power of vision, it is not surprising that the Master of all Prophets was.

            The story is told that a man once came to the great kabbalist Rabbi Meir Abuḥatzeira and tearfully sought his help in locating his son who had disappeared. Rabbi Meir entered into a trance and drew a street map of London, marking a particular building and informing the father that his son will be found there. Indeed, Rabbi Meir was correct. Rabbi Meir’s attendant asked him if he had ever been to London, to which the rabbi answered in the negative. The attendant then asked Rabbi Meir to explain how he could have drawn the map for the father. Rabbi Meir answered, “we in the Abuḥatzeira family have always been most careful in the matter of purity of sight, and therefore, we have retained a portion of the primal vision of Adam. Thus, I was able to see the son in that house in London!”