After telling the Children of Israel that his many fervent supplications asking G-d to allow him to enter the Promised Land were denied, Moshe finishes his thought by saying “and we dwelled in the valley, opposite Bais P’or” (D’varim 3:29). Rashi tells us that Moshe was telling the nation “you became attached to a foreign deity, [but] nevertheless (quoting the next verse), ‘and now, Israel obey the statutes (etc.)’ and everything will be forgiven for you, [whereas] I did not merit being forgiven (so can’t enter the land).”

Several issues are raised regarding Rashi’s explanation. First of all, when contrasting the nation being forgiven after sinning (and therefore being able to enter the land) with his not being forgiven (and therefore not being able to enter the land), why is Moshe focusing only on the sin of P’or? What about all the other sins the nation committed that didn’t prevent them from entering the land? Secondly, how can Rashi say that the people he was addressing had sinned with P’or if just a few verses later (4:3-4) Moshe tells them that whoever followed P’or was “destroyed by G-d,” but “you, who clung to Hashem your G-d, are all alive today”? Finally, and perhaps most puzzling, is that this thought, that he couldn’t enter the land but they could even though they weren’t more worthy than he was, sounds like “sour grapes.” Why include this comparison when discussing G-d not letting him cross over into the Promised Land?

From Rashi’s wording (quoting the next verse) it is apparent that the nation hadn’t yet been forgiven. By following G-d’s commandments they will be, and thus able to enter the land, but the forgiveness was not yet complete. This is also apparent from Rashi’s explanation regarding Moshe burial place (34:6), “opposite Bais P’or,” as he was buried there so that he can bring continual atonement for the sin of P’or. Obviously, full atonement hadn’t been attained in Moshe’s lifetime, or there wouldn’t be a need for atonement after his death. Additionally, there is an explicit verse in Y’hoshua (22:17) that says that the nation hadn’t yet been purified from the sin of P’or. Therefore, Moshe specifically used this sin when contrasting his not being able to enter the land with their being able to, as they hadn’t been fully forgiven yet were still allowed to enter.

[The Maharai is among the commentators who suggest that Moshe chose this sin precisely because his grave was needed for continual atonement, making this sin at least a partial cause for Moshe’s not being allowed to enter the land. This strengthens the notion that Moshe was blaming them for his inability to enter the Promised Land, which he did on numerous occasions (see 1:37, 3:26 and 4:21). Nevertheless, this need not be “sour grapes,” as Moshe might have done this so that they wouldn’t complain about his not being around anymore to help them, as it was their fault (or for their benefit) that he wasn’t. Nevertheless, Rashi’s wording, which includes Moshe not being forgiven, implies that the comparison was not meant just to blame them.]

The Taz, based on the Talmud (Sanhedrin 61b) differentiating between someone who worships foreign deities superficially (“out of love or fear of another human”) and someone who really believes it has substance, suggests that the verse that says all who followed P’or were “destroyed by G-d” refers to those who really worshipped it, while those who were still alive yet needed atonement had only gone through the motions of idol worship in order to ingratiate themselves to the women of Moav. However, Rashi’s wording, with Moshe saying the nation was forgiven even though they “attached themselves” to P’or, indicates more than just going through the motions. [The same word for “attached” that Rashi uses is the verb used by the Torah to describe what caused G-d’s anger to flare (Bamidbar 25:3) and to describe what the sinners did to deserve capital punishment (25:5). It would therefore be very difficult to say Rashi chose this word to describe a less severe sin than fully worshipping P’or.]

Tzeidah La’derech goes a step farther, suggesting that the ones who were still alive yet needed atonement were those who weren’t involved in the sin at all, at least directly, but shared in the responsibility for not having prevented the others from sinning. Zichron Moshe goes even farther, quoting the Zohar which says it was only the Eirev Rav (mixed multitude of converts who joined Israel when they left Egypt), or the offspring of the Eirev Rav who had married into the Tribe of Shimon, who sinned at P’or. Rather than Moshe saying that the Children of Israel were forgiven for their sin even though he wasn’t forgiven for his, he was saying that the nation wasn’t punished for the sin of the Eirev Rav even though he was punished for what the nation had done. Obviously, these approaches are at least as difficult to fit into Rashi’s wording (which indicates real sinning on their part) as the Taz’s approach. Zichron Moshe’s approach is even more problematic, as he says the nation didn’t need to be forgiven, which is contrary to Rashi’s explanation of why Moshe was buried opposite P’or and to the verse in Y’hoshua.

Perhaps when Moshe said “all who followed P’or were destroyed by G-d” he was referring to the Eirev Rav, as well as to anyone else who wanted to leave the structured, Torah-centered life of the Children of Israel to live a life of complete abandon, represented by P’or. Unfortunately, there were many in the nation who did sin at P’or too, even if they didn’t want to leave the lifestyle completely. They had succumbed to temptation to a degree worthy of capital punishment, until Pinachas’ action caused G-d’s anger to subside, but still needed atonement for their sins. Moshe was telling them that as long as they “kept to the program,” fulfilling G-d’s commandments and not giving in to temptation again, they would be forgiven (at least to the extent of being able to enter the land), even if they still needed atonement.

The question that remains, though, is why Moshe brought this up now, when discussing his inability to enter the Promised Land. I would suggest that Moshe was trying to counter a thought process that might have resulted specifically from his not being allowed to enter the land.

Usually, when the righteous are punished, it sanctifies G-d’s name (see Rashi on Vayikra 10:3); if G-d holds even those close to Him accountable, surely He will hold the rest of us accountable. However, the opposite thought might occur as well; if the righteous can’t escape punishment, how can the rest of us avoid it? (And this is true, but doesn’t exempt us from avoiding sin. Nor does it counter the fact that the more we sin the more punishment we deserve/will get.) As Moshe was preparing the nation to continue without him, he felt it necessary to share with them how much he wanted to go with them into the Promised Land, how hard he begged G-d to let him do so — even to just let him “pass over and see it” (D’varim 3:25). At the same time, he was afraid that when the nation heard that his request was denied, their resolve to follow G-d would weaken, as if even Moshe couldn’t avoid G-d’s wrath, how could they? Therefore, Moshe wanted to tell them two things.

First of all, Moshe told them that the reason G-d didn’t give in was for their benefit (see Rashi on 3:26), whether this benefit was having his burial site be a continual atonement for them, because it made it possible for the Temple to be destroyed so that G-d could take out His anger (so to speak) on “wood and stones” rather than on the nation itself, or because Moshe remaining outside the land made it necessary for him to enter the land after the “resurrection of the dead,” whereby he can lead the rest of the generation that died in the desert in with him. Since G-d’s refusal to let him into the Promised Land was not based on Moshe’s deeds (alone), they couldn’t/shouldn’t apply it to themselves.

Secondly, Moshe wanted to make sure they knew that even if they messed up, G-d would forgive them. Rather than the emphasis being “even though G-d forgave you He refused to forgive me,” Moshe was saying “even though He didn’t forgive me, He will forgive you, as long as you keep His Torah.” There were no “sour grapes” on display; Moshe was simply trying to get the message across that even though he was unsuccessful in his attempt to change G-d’s mind, they would be able to avoid future punishment, by following G-d’s commandments (including repentance if a mistake is made).