A Tale of Three Mountains
Reflections on the role of mountains in Torah and in our lives
Once again, I find myself struggling to wrap my head around Parashas Haazinu. It is heavy, dense, and unrelenting. At the end of the parashah, after the conclusion of the Shiras Haazinu, the Torah tells us that Hashem commanded Moshe to ascend a mountain to gaze upon Eretz Yisrael before his death. Hashem reminds Moshe why he cannot enter the land, though he will be granted the vision of it. The Torah notes that Moshe’s death would mirror Aharon’s, as both were destined to leave this world atop a mountain.
If we were to imagine a final journey in life, few of us would picture a strenuous hike up a mountain. Why was this ascent necessary for Moshe and Aharon as they prepared to die?
To approach this, I think we need to step back and consider the broader role of mountains in the Torah. They seem to rise at every turn. A few examples:
Avraham took Yitzchak to Har HaMoriah for the Akeidah, the mountain that would later become the site of the Beis HaMikdash.
With the destruction of Sodom, its …
