Va’eschanan 3:25 · unit 2

TT #4 · Parashas Va’eschanan · First Aliyah · Passuk 3:25

The Complete Passuk

אֶעְבְּרָה־נָּ֗א וְאֶרְאֶה֙ אֶת־הָאָ֣רֶץ הַטּוֹבָ֔ה אֲשֶׁ֖ר בְּעֵ֣בֶר הַיַּרְדֵּ֑ן הָהָ֥ר הַטּ֛וֹב הַזֶּ֖ה וְהַלְּבָנֹֽן׃

Let me cross over, please, and see the good land that is on the other side of the Jordan, this good mountain and the Lebanon.

Chabad.org — 3:25

Source Citation

Torah Temimah points to the classical identification of “the good mountain” with Yerushalayim (and Lebanon with the Beis HaMikdash), drawn from Sifre and parallel midrashic traditions.

Sefaria — Sifre Devarim (related)

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
הָהָר הַטּוֹב הַזֶּה — זוֹ יְרוּשָׁלַיִם. וְהַלְּבָנוֹן — זֶה בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ.

English: “This good mountain” — this is Yerushalayim. “And the Lebanon” — this is the Beis HaMikdash.

On the daf / in context: The Sifre and related midrashim consistently map the two phrases onto the spiritual center of the Land: Yerushalayim and the Temple. Moshe’s request therefore encompasses both the physical Land and its sacred heart.

Type of Learning

Custom (midrashic identification of geographic terms with Yerushalayim and the Mikdash).

What Is Learned

When Moshe asked to see “this good mountain and the Lebanon,” he was asking to see Yerushalayim and the Beis HaMikdash — the spiritual core of the Land he longed to enter.