Parshas va'eschanan - humility and Torah learning

The passuk says in this week’s sedrah (דברים ג', כ"ה)

אֶעְבְּרָה נָּא וְאֶרְאֶה אֶת הָאָרֶץ הַטּוֹבָה אֲשֶׁר בְּעֵבֶר הַיַּרְדֵּן הָהָר הַטּוֹב הַזֶּה וְהַלְּבָנוֹן

[Moshe asked Hashem,] “May I please pass over and see the good land which is on the other side of the Yarden, this good mountain and the לְּבָנוֹן.”

Rashi explains

"ההר הטוב הזה" - זו ירושלים

"והלבנון" - (יומא ל"ט) זה בית המקדש

“This good mountain”, refers to Yerushalayim, and the לְּבָנוֹן refers to the beis ha’mikdash.

According to the Yalkut Shimoni (parshas vayera, 100), the Har Habayis was not originally a mountain.

וירא את המקום מרחוק, מתחלה היה המקום עמוק, אמר הקב"ה אין דרך המלך לשכון בעמק אלא במקום גבוה מעולה ויפה והגביהו הקב"ה, לכך נקרא הר המוריה שמיראתו נעשה הר

Initially the place of the Har Habayis was a depression, Hashem said, “It is not the way of a king to dwell in a valley, rather a king dwells in an elevated, nice and beautiful place.” Therefore, Hashem raised the makom ha’mikdash, this is why it is called Har Hamoriah because it became a mountain through the fear of Hashem.”

• Why did Hashem not make the Har Habayis a mountain initially?

The passuk says in Vayetze (26:17)

וַיִּירָא וַיֹּאמַר מַה נּוֹרָא הַמָּקוֹם הַזֶּה אֵין זֶה כִּי אִם בֵּית אֱלֹקִים וְזֶה שַׁעַר הַשָּׁמָיִם

And he feared and he said, “How fearful is this place, this is none other than the dwelling place of Hashem and this is the gate to shamayim.”

• Why did Yaakov use a double negative to state that this was the makom ha’mikdash (אֵין זֶה כִּי אִם)?

The passuk says in ישעיהו (מא, י"ט)

אֶתֵּן בַּמִּדְבָּר אֶרֶז שִׁטָּה וַהֲדַס וְעֵץ שָׁמֶן אָשִׂים בָּעֲרָבָה בְּרוֹשׁ תִּדְהָר וּתְאַשּׁוּר יַחְדָּו

I will plant cedars in the desert, acacias and myrtles and oleasters; I will set cypresses in the wilderness, box trees and elms as well.

This passuk is paraphrased in דרור יקרא

אֱלֹקים תֵּן בַּמִּדְבָּר הַר הֲדַס שִׁטָּה בְּרוֹשׁ תִּדְהָר

Hashem, place in the desert a mountain, myrtle, acacias, cypresses and box trees.

• Why does דרור יקרא which is part of zemiros for Shabbos, add a request that Hashem should place a mountain in the desert, to the paraphrased passuk?

The Brisker Rov explains as follows:

The gemara says in Nedarim (55a)

אמר ליה לא תיתיב אכרעך עד דאמרת לי פירושא דהדין מילתא מאי דכתיב (במדבר כ"א, י"ח) וממדבר מתנה וממתנה נחליאל ומנחליאל במות א"ל כיון שעושה אדם את עצמו כמדבר שהוא מופקר לכל תורה ניתנה לו במתנה שנאמר וממדבר מתנה וכיון שניתנה לו במתנה נחלו אל שנאמר וממתנה נחליאל וכיון שנחלו אל עולה לגדולה שנאמר ומנחליאל במות

He said to him, “You may not sit down until you have explained the following matter to me. What does the passuk mean when it says וממדבר מתנה וממתנה נחליאל ומנחליאל במות?” He replied, “וממדבר מתנה - If a person makes themselves like a desert, which is hefker for everyone, then the Torah is given to him as a gift, וממתנה נחליאל - and once the Torah is given to him as a gift then Hashem inherits him, ומנחליאל במות  - and once Hashem will inherit him  then he will rise to greatness.”

The gemara means to say as follows:

Normally we understand that if a person wishes to acquire the Torah, they should endeavour to be humble, as the Yalkut Shimoni says (תהילים פרק פ')

מה הגפן הזו יש בו אשכולות גדולים וקטנים וכל אשכול הגדול מחברו נמוך מחברו כך כל מי שגדול מחברו נמוך מחברו

[Why are the benei yisrael compared to a vine? To teach you that] just as a vine has on it large bunches of grapes and small bunches of grapes, and the larger the bunch of grapes is, the lower it hangs; so too anyone who is greater than his friend (in Torah) feels lower that his friend.

However, it is still necessary that talmidei chachamim should be respected and elevated, otherwise no-one would want to learn Torah from them. Therefore, Hashem himself will elevate a person who humbles himself in order to learn Torah, so that the person can be humble and elevated at the same time.

Subsequently we can understand that the reason that Hashem did not initially create the place of the beis ha’mikdash as a mountain was to indicate that if someone wants to reach the מדרגה of כי מציון תצא תורה then they should humble themselves, and not think that they will achieve a high station.

In דרור יקרא, we ask that Hashem should place a mountain in the midbar.

אֱלֹקים תֵּן בַּמִּדְבָּר הַר הֲדַס שִׁטָּה בְּרוֹשׁ תִּדְהָר

Hashem, place in the desert a mountain, myrtle, acacias, cypresses and box trees.

The “mountain in the desert” refers to the passuk which promises that if someone makes himself like a desert in order to acquire the Torah, then Hashem will lift that person up like a mountain. On this mountain different types of trees will be planted, which symbolise the pleasantness whereby people will benefit from he who has humbly acquired the Torah.

This request is specifically made on Shabbos, because on Shabbos we acknowledge that it is not our own striving that brings us success, but rather that Hashem gives a ברכה to people who acknowledge that all of their success in reality comes from Hashem.

The reason that Yaakov used a double negative and said אֵין זֶה כִּי אִם בֵּית אֱלֹקִים is because the בית אלוקים on the הר הבית is not something that you can intentionally come across through your own efforts, but is rather only something that a person can come across, as if by accident, if they entrust their hope to Hashem.