On the 3rd April 1968, the day before his assassination, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered a speech where he said: ‘We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.’
His prophecy that day was two-fold. Yes, he said, his people would reach the promised land, but no, he would not be there to reach it with them.
The mountaintop to which Dr. King was referring could have been Pisgah, the mountain which Moses ascends in this week’s Torah portion (Deuteronomy 3:27). Moses led the Israelites from slavery to freedom, out of the land of Egypt and towards the Promised Land. But Moses was not permitted to enter.
Our Torah portion begins with Moses telling the people: ‘I pleaded with the Eternal at that time … Let me, I pray, cross over and see the good land on the other side of the Jordan’ (Deuteronomy 3:23&25). The text makes it clear that Moses remained unhappy with God’s decree that he would not enter into the Promised Land. The one consolation which Moses is offered is to climb up Mount Pisgah and ‘gaze about, to the west, the north, the south, and the east. Look at it well, for you shall not go across yonder Jordan’ (Deuteronomy 3:27).
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Moses both led their people to freedom, both climbed the mountaintop, and both were prevented from reaching their promised land.
The difference between them lies in the way in which they approached their destiny. Moses appeared unable to accept his fate; he was angry with God, with the people and most of all with his situation. Dr. King accepted his fate with grace and dignity; he accepted that the journey to the promised land was about more than any one individual. For Dr. King, guiding his people to freedom took precedence over achieving freedom himself. He did not get there, but through his work and his legacy, his people reached the promised land.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had the benefit of learning from Moses’ example. He could read the Bible and about the Israelite successes both under Moses’ leadership and after his death. He could read about the way in which Joshua continued Moses’ legacy; leading the people into the Promised Land. From the Bible, Dr. King gained an insight into the future, and the fact that the journey would continue without him. And with that awareness, he was able to accept his destiny, and continue to shape the destiny of his people.
Both Moses and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made the world a far better place for future generations. They did not see the full fruits of their labour, but we are able to experience the richness of their legacy everyday.
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