Of all the deaths suffered during that 38-year period, Moshe’s was the most enigmatic of all. Whatever the ultimate reason for it, the fact is that Moshe died for the sin of the people. In Parshas Dvarim, Moshe rebukes the people, saying that the people were the cause for his being denied entry to the land, b’glalchem. How and why were the people responsible for Moshe’s denial of entry and ultimately his death on the east side of the Jordan River? If Hashem was angry at Moshe, why should they be responsible? And if Moshe’s sin was hitting the rock instead of talking to it, or if it was for some other reason suggested by many Torah explicators, why not overlook it for the great Moshe, the servant of Hashem?
Moshe’s prohibition to enter the land represents the tragedy of the great teacher who is misunderstood or unappreciated by his generation and contemporaries. Moshe was the teacher par excellence of the generation that he delivered from bondage and carried throughout the 38-year sojourn in the desert. Although there were several individuals who successfully reflected and carried on his teachings, like Pinchas, Joshua and Eliezer, why didn’t the entire congregation act as his disciples? If they had Moshe as their teacher, why didn’t they resist the temptations of the prostitutes of Moab and Midyan?
At the golden calf incident, Moshe argued that the people still suffered from slave mentality and needed time to outgrow it. His argument was accepted. The people of the exodus generation were not his disciples, they were the people who left Egypt and had not been trained by Moshe. However the generation that argued with Moshe at Mei Meriva and Shitim ostensibly consisted completely of Moshe’s disciples. When they complained to Moshe at Mei Meriva about having left Egypt, Moshe was taken aback. He was challenged by the generation that he had trained during the long, arduous 38 years of hester panim in the desert. He was shocked that this generation would use the same argument employed by the previous generation that was not trained by Moshe in preparation of entering the land. Moshe realized that if after all this time he could not implant in them faith in Hashem, then he failed. They were no different than their parents, the generation of liberated slaves some 40 years before in Refidim. Even though he never lost faith in the people during their previous crises, including the golden calf and the meraglim, Moshe cried at the episode of Shitim and the prostitutes of Moab. He concluded that he failed as their teacher.
However, Moshe did not fail. Rather, he was at too high a level for the people to understand and appreciate him. That is why Moshe said that he was punished because of the people. Had they understood and appreciated his teachings over 40 years, he would have entered the Promised Land. The seemingly rebellious act of a recently freed slave generation confronted with drought can be rationalized and defended. However, a rebellious act on the part of a generation of his disciples demonstrated that they would not acquiesce to their teacher and retained the same rebellious attitude as their parents.
Despite the fact that he himself did not sin, the teacher is accountable for his students’ deficiency. Just like the teacher must accompany his student who transgressed into exile because the teacher is deemed culpable, so to Moshe was punished in place of the generation. That is why he said it was their fault that he was denied entry, even though they would enter.
Moshe’s failure to enter the land changed Jewish history. Had he entered Eretz Yisrael, the people never would have been exiled. Moshe would have been anointed as Melech HaMashiach and Jewish destiny would have found its fulfillment and realization immediately. The Messianic era would have commenced immediately, and the land would have been endowed with a permanent, irrevocable kedusha that would have been impervious to the legions of Babylon, instead of the temporary sanctity initiated by Joshua.