In the introduction to the words Moshe spoke to the nation shortly before his death, the Torah tells us that they were said “after he smote Sichon and Og” (D’varim 1:4). Rashi explains why Moshe waited until after Sichon and Og were defeated before beginning his rebuke: “Moshe said, ‘if I rebuke them before they enter part of the land, they will say ‘what does this one (Moshe) have on us (that he can rebuke us)? What did he do for us? He is only doing this to be quarrelsome and to find an excuse for his inability to bring us into the land.’ Therefore, [Moshe] waited until he brought Sichon and Og down before them and had them take over [Sichon and Og’s] land, and then he rebuked them.” There is much to discuss about this Rashi in order to better understand what he is trying to say.

Rav Yitzchok Sorotzkin, sh’lita (Rinas Yitzchok III) asks how this Rashi, which says that until Moshe defeated Sichon and Og the nation didn’t think he had done anything for them, can be reconciled with Rashi’s comment regarding Moshe’s death (32:48), which occurred “in the middle of the day” to counter the blustering comments of the nation, who said they wouldn’t let Moshe go up Mt. Nevo to die because of all he had done for them — including taking them out of Egypt, splitting the sea, bringing them food and drink, and giving them the Torah, all of which were done well before Sichon and Og were conquered. Did the nation recognize all that Moshe had done for them or not?

Although Rav Sorotzkin leaves his question unanswered, there are numerous reasons why these two comments are not mutually exclusive. First of all, it would not be going out on a limb to say that not everyone in our wonderful nation has the same mind set. There very well could have been a contingent of people who didn’t think Moshe did much for them, while there were others who were very appreciative of all he had done for them. Therefore, Moshe wanted to wait to rebuke the nation until even those who hadn’t been appreciative would be (especially since they were likely the ones who needed the rebuke the most), while G-d was showing those who were appreciative all along that they couldn’t prevent Moshe’s death. Secondly, not everyone Moshe was addressing had been around when he did all of the things listed. Those who were now the “elders” were younger than 20 when the nation left Egypt, but many were born in the desert, and knew no other existence. Without having experienced hunger and thirst soon after leaving Egypt, the younger generation didn’t experience the “benefit” of receiving miraculous food and drink the same way the older generation did. Therefore, it could have been those who hadn’t been slaves in Egypt and who took this food and drink for granted that Moshe was concerned about, while it was the older generation that would have done whatever they could to prevent Moshe’s death. (Bear in mind that Rashi’s first comment was about Moshe’s perception of what the people were thinking, while his second comment was about what they were really thinking.) Additionally, the list of things Moshe did for them only includes fixing problems (ending slavery, being saved from the pursuing Egyptians, providing food and drink, and providing a necessary framework for society); the reluctance to being rebuked was attributed to not being given anything above and beyond their basic needs, and by conquering Sichon and Og the nation took over all of their stuff. (B’er BaSadeh makes a similar point, framing it as a comparison between providing things that were only needed after they left Egypt and were in the desert with being given something they wouldn’t have had even if they were still in Egypt; baruch she’kivanti, sort of).

Another point that shouldn’t be lost is that Rashi’s focus (here) is not whether or not Moshe did anything for them, but whether his rebuke would be perceived as a defense mechanism for not having brought the nation into the Promised Land. The 40 year journey in the desert was supposed to lead to getting their own homeland, and until that happened, it would be difficult to accept criticism. Which leads us to two other questions: (1) Since the point Rashi (and the Sifre) is making is that until they entered the land any rebuke Moshe gave would be dismissed as blaming them for not accomplishing the mission instead of accepting the blame himself, why even mention that Moshe hadn’t done anything for them? (This aspect is not included in the Sifre.) And (2) if the issue was entering the Promised Land, how did conquering Sichon and Og take care of this? Moshe still couldn’t enter the Promised Land!

[Although it is possible that this is why Rashi added the part of needing Moshe to have done something for them, as it was accomplished when he conquered Sichon and Og, this would mean that rather than Moshe showing he could bring them into the land, conquering Sichon and Og provided enough of a distraction to make them forget that he couldn’t. This seems to be how Midrash Lekach Tov understands it, but, as we shall see, is not consistent with the Sifre, which not only doesn’t mention Moshe having to do something for them, but indicates that conquering Sichon and Og did address the perception that Moshe was unable to conquer the land.]

A Midrash is quoted in Otzer HaMidrashim (attributed to Midrash Tanchuma and indicated as Rashi’s source) that only mentions Moshe not having done anything for them, with conquering Sichon and Og and enriching the nation by giving them the spoils of the war taking care of this concern. (I guess the spoils from Egypt and from the sea didn’t count.) I haven’t been able to find this Midrash (if anyone knows where it is, please contact me at RabbiDMK at Yahoo dot com), and am puzzled that the Sifre isn’t quoted there at all. Nevertheless, if Rashi had such a Midrash (and the same idea is expressed in Midrash Aggadah, even though it is not the same Midrash as quoted in Otzer HaMidrashim), he could be combining it with the Sifre. The question still remains, though, why he felt the need to use both, especially since the focus of one is the nation’s perception of Moshe’s inability to bring them into the Promised Land, which was (somehow) taken care of when he defeated Sichon and Og, while the focus of the other is whether he did anything for them, which was accomplished by giving them the spoils of the war.

Elsewhere (Bamidbar 21:31), Rashi tells us that the nations in Canaan depended on Sichon to prevent Israel from conquering their land. Based on this, Sifsay Kohain and Oznayim LaTorah say that once Moshe was able to conquer Sichon (and Og), there was no longer any thought that they wouldn’t be able to conquer Canaan. This is borne out by the wording of the Sifre, which equates the ability to conquer the land (i.e. Canaan) with the ability to defeat Sichon and Og. [It should be noted that in the first printing of Rashi, rather than saying “part of the land” (or “the edge of the land”), Rashi just says “the land.” It is likely that since Moshe never conquered “the land,” only Sichon and Og, the word “part of” was added. However, if conquering Sichon and Og was tantamount to conquering the land (since they were its gatekeepers), such a change is unnecessary.] However, the question still remains as to why Rashi added onto what the Sifre said, and included Moshe’s concern that the people will say he didn’t do anything for him.

When discussing the rebuke Moshe was about to give the nation, Rashi tells us about various things Moshe did so that his rebuke would be most effective. It was done in front of the whole nation so that no one could say if they had been there they would have refuted what was said (1:1), he waited until he was about to die (1:3; several reasons to wait until then are referenced), and he waited until he defeated Sichon and Og. It could be argued that the most important factor for effective rebuke is whether the rebukee perceives it as an attack or as constructive criticism, and that the best way for it to be taken as constructive criticism is for it to be clear that the rebuker has the best interests of the rebukee in mind.

Although Moshe had done a lot on behalf of the nation, everything he did could be attributed to his own needs/wants (and unfortunately often was). He could have taken the nation out of Egypt because he wanted to be a leader, and needed to have people to lead. [We may know that he was reluctant to be a leader, and was punished for his over-reluctance (losing the High Priesthood), but no one else was there with him at the burning bush when he tried to turn the job down.] He had to split the sea, or the Egyptians would have taken away the people he was leading. He had to feed them, not only to maintain the people he was leading but to stop them from complaining. But once he was going to die, did it really matter to him personally whether the nation made it across the Jordan River? Moshe knew that once the nation saw that he set things up for them even after he died, they would realize that he was doing everything for them, not for him, and his criticism would be taken more seriously. (Getting them the spoils of war wouldn’t hurt either, especially since his Tribe couldn’t share in those spoils.)

When it came to preventing Moshe dying, it didn’t matter as much whether the things Moshe did was for selfish reasons or for altruistic reasons; many effective leaders are selfish while benefiting their people. When it came to having his rebuke accepted, however, it made a big difference. Therefore, Moshe was concerned that the people would brush off his rebuke by rhetorically asking what he had done for them, i.e. how do they know whether it was for their benefit to pay attention to his rebuke — maybe his rebuke was meant to put the blame on them for not reaching the Promised Land. By waiting until after he conquered Sichon and Og, when it became clear that they would make it to the Promised Land, this alternate motive for rebuking them was removed, as was any doubt as to whether Moshe had their best interests in mind.

The focus of the Sifre is Moshe’s concern about the nation dismissing the rebuke as a means of deflecting his inability to get them into the Promised Land. Other Midrashim focus on Moshe’s concern that the nation take his rebuke as constructive criticism. Rashi included both of these concerns to explain why Moshe waited until after he defeated Sichon and Og before rebuking the nation.