Machshavot HaLev - Yeshivat Lev HaTorah

207
בלה תובשחמ
would not be effective and he would need to repeat the lesson. If that is the case,
what good would it do to give the rebuke shortly before his passing – then his first
and only rebuke would fall on deaf ears and he would not even have the option
of following up!
The Ketav Sofer answers that Moshe had learned from Yaakov Avinu that proper
timing when rebuking someone is of paramount importance. If the recipient of
the rebuke is enjoying a state of calm and success in his life, he will have little
impetus to internalize the rebuke and it will slide off of him like water off a duck’s
back. If, however, the recipient is confronted with upheaval or even the possibility
of something that threatens his security, the rebuke he receives is absorbed. That is
why Yaakov Avinu waited for his last day to rebuke his sons: the great impending
loss of their revered father and the transition into a new and unknown status
quo opened their hearts and minds to his words. So too, Moshe Rabbeinu knew
that the Jewish People had been enjoying such a level of comfort and security
under the clouds of glory that they would hardly be open to his rebuke. At the
plains of Moav, with the magnificent era of Moshe Rabbeinu’s leadership about
to end, and the imminent wars of conquest waiting for B’nei Yisrael just across
the Jordan River, the time was ripe to lay their faults and shortcomings at their
feet and beseech them to examine their ways. This, the Ketav Sofer concludes, is
the Yalkut’s point when it cites here the verse “Yeshurun will grow fat and kick.”
During their journey in the desert, Yeshurun had been too comfortable and
rebelled at being rebuked. Moshe understood that now, as their world was about
to be overturned, the time was ripe for them to take stock and raise themselves to
the standard Hashem held for them.
As we remember the travails that we as a people have experienced in our history
leading up to Tisha B’Av, let us too take stock and open our hearts to the loving
rebuke of Moshe Rabbeinu and the other prophets who believed in our ability to
strive for the standards of conduct Hashem has for us.