Shabbos Parashas Vaeschanan - 5780
Shabbos Parashas Vaeschanan - 5780
Rabbi Hal Miller
And command Yehoshua and strengthen him and give him resolve, for he shall cross
before this people and he shall cause them to inherit the land that you will see. [3:28]
There are many parts to this verse, and it seems also to come at an odd point in the
narrative. How do all these things relate to each other?
Rav Hirsch explains that the terms relate to charging Yehoshua with the duties of his new
office and giving him the tools and internal fortitude needed to carry it out. Sifrei tells that
the need for this is because of the intractability and incalcitrance of the people Yehoshua
is to lead.
Given that, the Brisker Rav wonders why Yehoshua would want to accept such a position
at all, seeing as Moshe ended up punished over the things the people did. This ties in the
next portion of the verse, "for he shall cross" and "he shall cause them to inherit". God is
here letting Yehoshua know that he will not be held accountable for what the people may
do wrong, but will be privileged to lead them into the land. The Brisker Rav then asks why
God tells this to Moshe at this point. He explains that when God decrees something harsh
upon a person, that decree could be reversed if the person does something to warrant the
reversal, but when God decrees something for good, it will not be reversed even should
the person no longer deserve it. In this case, the decree that Moshe not be allowed to
enter the land could have been reversed under some set of conditions, but would not have
included Moshe being demoted to second in command. The appointment of Yehoshua was
a positive decree, which would not be reversed, and would prevent reversal of Moshe's
negative decree, which had been reiterated immediately before our verse.
Our verse says of Yehoshua, "for he shall cross" and "he shall cause them to inherit." Based
on the Brisker Rav argument, we can understand the need for the first part, but how about
the second? Rashi says, "if he crosses before them, they will inherit, and if not they will
not inherit." He brings the scenario of the attack on Ai, [Yehoshua 7:5] as proof that when
the people did not follow Yehoshua, they were defeated, and only were victorious when
God fought their battles, which only happened when Yehoshua led.
Yehoshua also organized and ran the lottery by which each tribe and each family within
the tribe were granted their portion in the land. It was not by chance, rather the command
of our verse that gave Yehoshua that authority.