“THE INCREDIBLE DEPTH OF TORAH”
"ולא נתן ה' לכם לב לדעת ועינים לראות ואזנים לשמוע עד היום הזה"
"AND THE L-RD DID NOT GIVE YOU A HEART TO KNOW, AND EYES TO SEE, NOR EARS TO HEAR, UNTIL THIS DAY…OBSERVE, THEREFORE THE WORDS OF THIS COVENANT AND DO THEM…(Dvarim 29:3)"
These psukim relate Moshe Rabbeinu's final discourse before his death, which he delivered at the culmination of forty years in the מדבר. Moshe tells Klal Yisroel that they had "no heart to understand, no eyes to see, nor ears to hear, until this day." Rashi explains: “No man can thoroughly understand the knowledge of his Rebbe, nor the wisdom of his studies, until forty years had elapsed. Therefore, Hashem would not be strict and exacting with them “until this day”. But after the forty years had elapsed, He would then be strict and exacting.”
Rashi is thus saying that when Moshe Rabbeinu told Klal Yisrael that until that time had transpired they had no heart, eyes or ears, he was in essence declaring that they, were nisht kayn mentchen, non entities. Hashem could not be strict with Klal Yisoel, nor hold them fully responsible to observe the words of His Torah, because forty years had not as yet elapsed. But now after forty years had in fact elapsed, they would be fully capable of grasping the wisdom of Hashem’s Torah. Hashem would therefore be exacting with them, and would hold them fully responsible to observe and fulfill every word of the Torah.
This is mystifying. Who were these people who could not grasp Hashem's Torah during forty years in the desert? They were the דור דעה, the greatest and most spiritually elevated generation that had ever lived! They were a generation that was privileged to walk through קריעת ים סוף, wherein the simplest maid servant was privy to visions of prophecy beyond that of the holy prophet Yechezkel. They were a generation where suckling infants pointed towards Heaven and declared, "זה קלי ואנוהו, This is my G-D and I shall glorify Him." This was a generation where each and every person was privileged to actually hear the words of הקדוש ברוך הוא, Himself, reverberate through the very fiber of their beings as Hashem began expounding the Ten Commandments at Har Sinai. They were a generation where men, women, and children attained the highest spiritual levels of prophecy.
How then, could Moshe Rabbeinu possibly state that such extraordinary people were incapable of fully understanding Hashem’s Torah? Moreover, how could he state that this דור דעה had neither hearts, eyes, nor ears, in essence, labeling them “Nisht kayn mentchen”
, virtual non entities?
Furthermore, who taught the Torah to this דור דעה? It was none other than Moshe Rabbeinu himself, the greatest of all Rebbeim. It was he who was privileged to hear the Torah directly from the Almighty Himself, the very source of all wisdom and understanding. Moshe proceeded immediately to teach the Torah to the דור דעה firsthand. How, then, could the דור דעה, students par excellence, studying under the Rebbe par excellence, the greatest Rebbe of all time, be incapable of grasping Hashem's Torah?
We glean from here the incredible depth and profundity of Hashem's Torah. Even the most exceptional students studying under the greatest Rebbe were incapable of comprehending the ultimate depth of their Rebbe's teachings. Only after they matured as a result of four decades, a veritable lifetime, of spiritual growth in the Midbar, were they fully capable of grasping their Rebbe's teachings of Hashem's Torah.
How fortunate are we to have the opportunity to study Hashem's Torah. How blessed are we to be able to delve into its myriad intricacies, secrets and beauties. How privileged are we to be able to immerse ourselves in its never ending waters. There is no greater wisdom in the entire creation than the wisdom of Torah. How much must we dedicate ourselves and exert our energies toward acquiring its knowledge.
May we all be zoche to immerse ourselves totally in the study of Hashem's Holy Torah. Amen!