Hello to you, wonderful land!

In Parshat VaEtchanan, Dvarim 3:25, Moshe pleads with God: “Please, allow me to cross over and see the good land that is across from the Jordan, this good mountain and the Levanon.”

God does not grant Moshe his wish to go into the Land of Israel. Rather, God tells Moshe (verse 27): “Go up to the peak of the Pisgah (cliff) and look around- west, north, south and east- see with your own eyes; for you will not cross this Jordan.”

God showed the land to Moshe from afar.

Rashi quoting the Sifrei comments: You asked of Me: “And let me see the good land”; I will show you all of it, as it is said, “God showed him all the land (Dvarim 34:1).”

In Parshat VeZot HaBracha, Dvarim 34:1-4, we see what happens when Moshe goes up to Har Nevo:

Moshe ascended from the plains of Moav to Mount Nevo, to the summit of the cliff that faces Jericho; and God showed him the entire land: the Gilad as far as Dan and all of Naftali, and the land of Efraim and Menashe; the entire land of Yehuda as far as the western sea; the Negev, and the plain, the valley of Jericho, the city of date-palms, as far as Tzoar. God said to him, “This is the land that I swore to Avraham, to Yitzchak, and to Yaakov, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants’; I have shown it to you with your eyes, but you will not cross over there.”

The concept in our parsha of Israel being the “good land” reminds me of the famous Israeli song “Shalom Lach Eretz Nehederet”, “Hello to you wonderful land” sung by Yehoram Gaon (lyrics by Elan Goldhirsch and melody by Steven Goodman) which describes how there is no place like Israel:

Hello to you, wonderful land!

Your humble servant lifts up a song of praise to you.

Though sometimes I wander on the way,

It is nice to wander, but nicer to come back.

The song lists many of Israel’s beautiful sites including the citadels in Jerusalem, the alleys of the colorful marketplace, the shingled roofs of Givatayim, springtime in Tel Aviv, the Dead Sea across from Edom, Lot’s wife looking out towards Sdom, summertime on the way to Eilat, the blue waters of the Kineret, the mountains of the Galil and the Shomron, the orchards in the Sharon, the Carmel and the sea.

We are lucky that we are living in a time period where we can experience Israel and visit the places that Moshe could only look at from afar. When we are away we often appreciate it more.

May peaceful times come quickly and may we have the opportunity to safely travel and experience our wonderful and beautiful land.