פרשת פינחס תשי"ח - ראיית משה את הארץ

And the LORD said unto Moses: ‘Get thee up into this mountain of Abarim, and behold the land which I have given unto the children of Israel.

And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered;

Go up this Mount "Eivarim." The name of this mountain is "Mount Nevo," as it is explained in [the Torah portions] Ha'azinu and V'zot Haberachah, but it is called "Mount Eivarim"--"Mount of the Crossings"--because it is at the crossing of the [River] Jordan. And, there is where they will cross into the Land of Canaan, as it said there (in Ha'azinu and V'zot Haberachah), "...which is on the banks of the Jordan...," and there they crossed the Jordan, as it is said, (Joshua 4:19) "...And the people went up from the Jordan and camped in Gilgal on the eastern border of Jericho...." And, it was not a mitzvah that the Holy One, blessed be He, commanded him (Moses) to do now, because if so, he would have been required to go up there immediately. But rather, the reason for "go up Mount Eivarim and see the Land..." was because He (God) commanded him, "To these the Land is to be allotted..." (Numbers 26:53). Let it be known that you will not apportion the Land with your own hand, but rather you will go up to the top of Mount Eivarim before the people Israel travels from the land of Moab, and you will die upon it and nothing of the Land will reach you but the sight [of it]. And similarly, "Take Joshua..." (Numbers 27:18): When your day comes, you will take Joshua and fulfill that which is written [in Numbers 27:22] that tells that Moses did so with a full heart - and this is the action that will be recalled (Deuteronomy 31:7) at the time of Moses' death, when the poem was said, "he and Hoshea son of Nun."

Take to yourself. Due to Moshe’s honor, Hashem told him to do it by himself, and to testify about Yehoshua’s completeness, to honor him from now on so that Bnei Yisroel will treat Yehoshua with honor.

And when thou hast seen it, thou also shalt be gathered unto thy people, as Aaron thy brother was gathered;

because ye rebelled against My commandment in the wilderness of Zin, in the strife of the congregation, to sanctify Me at the waters before their eyes.’—These are the waters of Meribath-kadesh in the wilderness of Zin.—

Then shall they cry unto the LORD, But He will not answer them; yea, He will hide His face from them at that time, According as they have wrought evil in their doings.