Parashat Devarim opens by naming the places where Am Yisrael were with Moshe Rabbeinu: אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים אֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר מֹשֶׁה אֶל־כׇּל־יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן בַּמִּדְבָּר בָּעֲרָבָה מוֹל סוּף בֵּין־פָּארָן וּבֵין־תֹּפֶל וְלָבָן וַחֲצֵרֹת וְדִי זָהָב (Devarim 1:1). These words say that these were the places Am Yisrael were at the time.
But Rashi says they weren’t there: לֹא בַמִּדְבָּר הָיוּ אֶלָּא בְּעַרְבוֹת מוֹאָב (Rashi, Devarim 1:1). They were in Arvot Moav, a different place, not in all those places named here. Those were in the past, not the present, when Moshe Rabbeinu is now talking to Am Yisrael. So why does the Torah write it this way?
Rashi explains that the purpose is that Moshe Rabbeinu was giving them a rebuke for what they did in those places. “Bamidbar,” in the desert: he rebuked them, says Rashi, for what they said: בִּשְׁבִיל מַה שֶּׁהִכְעִיסוּהוּ בַּמִּדְבָּר שֶׁאָמְרוּ מִי יִתֵּן מוּתֵנוּ. They complained to Moshe Rabbeinu, we wish we would die. When did they do that? In the desert. So Moshe Rabbeinu now reminds them of that and rebukes them for that time. And that’s what is mentioned here in the pasuk: all the places for which Moshe Rabbeinu rebukes them.
Why Say They Were There?
But then a question comes up. Why does the Torah need to put it in such a way, saying that Moshe Rabbeinu and Am Yisrael were there at the time? The Torah should have said very clearly that Moshe Rabbeinu is rebuking them for past events that happened previously.
And here comes an answer that we all need to emphasize and understand. When Moshe Rabbeinu rebukes Am Yisrael, he practices something very important. It says in the Mishnah in Avot, perek beit: וְאַל תָּדִין אֶת חֲבֵרְךָ עַד שֶׁתַּגִּיעַ לִמְקוֹמוֹ (Avot 2:4). Do not judge a person until you come to his place, until you’re in his shoes. Which means, if you didn’t go through his challenges, don’t judge him. And if you don’t judge him, you don’t rebuke him for things that you don’t understand.
Every Person Has Challenges We Have No Clue About
It’s easy for us to see a person do something that doesn’t look correct to us, and right away we judge him in our heart and feel that he’s wrong: he shouldn’t have said that, he shouldn’t have done that. But if we realized all his challenges, all his hardship, whether it’s a hardship in the family, in health, in finances, in the job, whatever he goes through in his life, we have no idea. Every person goes through many challenges that we have no clue about. And when we meet such a person, right away it’s easy for us to judge him and rebuke him.
That’s what Moshe Rabbeinu does here. Before he comes to rebuke Am Yisrael, he puts himself in those places where Am Yisrael were. That’s what it says here: he was there. Not physically, but emotionally and mentally. He put himself in that place and felt each and every person in Klal Yisrael. He felt his challenges; he felt his hardship.
And now, when he comes to give them the rebuke, it’s a totally different rebuke. It’s not a rebuke that comes to tell them how wrong they were; rather, he comes to help them change their ways, improve their ways, because he understands them now very, very well. When you understand a person, you approach the whole scenario in a totally different light.
This is what we learn here. Moshe Rabbeinu was there at the time, not physically, but he was there with them, and so he was able to guide them correctly.
Shabbat shalom.
Based on Rabbi Shay Tahan’s class “Devarim. Rebuking With Wisdom.” (Parashat Devarim): watch the class.
