"The Torah tells us that upon reaching Hor HaHar, on the boundaries of the land of Edom, Hashem told Moshe to prepare Aharon for death, "al asher m'risen es pi l'mei meriva," (20: 24) because of their failure to obey Hashem at Mei Meriva.
Why does the Torah need to give us the geographical detail that Hor HaHar is on the border of Edom? Rashi explains that it was the fact that Bnei Yisrael came under the influence of Edom which diminished their merits and caused this great tzadik Aharon to be taken from them. The obvious question: the Torah itself tells us why Aharon died -- "Al asher m'risen es pi l'mei meriva" -- because of episode of Mei Meriva, the hitting of the rock. Why do we need another explanation involving the influence of Edom to account for his death?
I think the simplest answer is that Aharon died for the sin of Mei Meriva, but why here and why now? Rashi comes to answer that second question.
Sefas Emes (cited in Mayanah shel Torah) offers another answer that touches on a yesod I thought I wrote about before, but can't find where, so it's good to visit or revisit it. "HaTzur tamim pa'alo" -- G-d's judgment is perfect. If a person commits a crime and is thrown into jail, it's not only they who suffer, but it's also their wife, their children, etc. who suffer as well. There is "collateral damage," if you will, caused by the punishment meted out. Not so G-d's judgment. If a person is guilty of sin and needs to be punished, then Hashem does so in such a way that avoids causing pain to the person's wife, children, etc. who don't deserve it. Everything is precisely measured out and meted out. Aharon had to die because of the sin committed at Mei Meriva, but what did Klal Yisrael do to deserve to suffer the loss of such a tzadik? Why should they have to deal with a tragedy like that? The Torah therefore tells us that Aharon died on the border of Edom, where we fell under foreign influence -- our merits did not measure up, so we deserved to suffer as well." (source:http://divreichaim.blogspot.com/2019/07/hatzur-tamim-paalo-aharons-death.html.) (Not sure if this fits with the Or Hachaim Shelach (14:38) that Hashem may mete out punishment in form of collaterol punishment.)
When Moshe Rabbenu sums up the journey of Klal Yisroel from Egypt to where they were standing about to enter Eretz Yisroel in the beginning of Devarim, he recounts the episode of the meraglim and says that he was also punished due to the failure, גַּם־בִּי֙ הִתְאַנַּ֣ף י״י֔ בִּגְלַלְכֶ֖ם לֵאמֹ֑ר גַּם־אַתָּ֖ה לֹא־תָבֹ֥א שָֽׁם. The question is that Moshe died because for the sin of Mei Meriva in this week's parsha, not because of the meraglim? In addition, where does it mention in Shleach that Hashem was angry with Moshe? (See Ramban, Or Hachaim.) In light of this idea we can understand. The personal sin of Moshe was that of Mei Meriva for which Hashem determined he should die before entering Eretz Yisroel. However, Moshe could not be taken for he was the leader of Klal Yisroel. How could Klal Yisroel lose their leader? However, the seeds of that loss were already planted at the time of the sin of the mereglim. Moshe was the leader for the time of the open miracles. If Klal Yisroel was able to maintain an existence of open Hashgacha, then Moshe could be their leader. However, once they decided to send meraglim, they wanted to go through the conquest of the land through normal means of teva, they rejected the ways of Moshe Rabbenu and were no longer worthy of Moshe's leadership.
In Devarim, Moshe is addressing the source of his loss of leadership. Hashem wasn't angry at Moshe's behavior through the episode of the meraglim, the התאנף is that Moshe was no longer the proper leader for the nation and therefore Klal Yisroel lost him as a leader. It is the Mei Meriva which caused that Moshe himself lost his opportunity to enter the land.
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