eikev - schar for mitzvos

I really have been very bad with posting divrei torah.

This shabbos, I had the merit to eat shabbos day by prof. aviezri frankael (see here also-  if you scroll down there are torah articles which i highly recommend).  (if you are too lazy to read all the stuff, lets just say this guy dropped out of school after 8th grade, fought in the 1948 war of independence, got a Phd. in math without any high school education, built the first computer in israel, started and developed the bar ilan responsa project, is a brilliant mathematician and talmid chacham.  not a bad resume.)

I'll just say over what he said and connect it to a shiur I heard by R Aharon Soloveitchik (I recommend you listen to the shiur before you read this.)

We  have quoted before the gemara in sotah 14a:
דרש רבי שמלאי מפני מה נתאוה משה רבינו ליכנס לא"י וכי לאכול מפריה הוא צריך או לשבוע מטובה הוא צריך אלא כך אמר משה הרבה מצות נצטוו ישראל ואין מתקיימין אלא בא"י אכנס אני לארץ כדי שיתקיימו כולן על ידי אמר לו הקב"ה כלום אתה מבקש אלא לקבל שכר מעלה אני עליך כאילו עשיתם (sotah 14a)
why did moshe want to go into eretz yisrael?  Did he just want to eat the fruits?  This gemara implies that there is something wrong with that - Moshe rabbeinu shouldn't want to go into eretz yisrael for the gashmius of it's good fruits - rather, he should want to go in to do mitzvos.

(Bihashgacha, I randomly opened a gemara pesachim (8b) and found a similar statement.  א"ר אבין בר רב אדא אמר ר' יצחק מפני מה אין פירות גינוסר בירושלים כדי שלא יהו עולי רגלים אומרים אלמלא לא עלינו אלא לאכול פירות גינוסר בירושלים דיינו נמצאת עלייה שלא לשמה)

So then isn't it strange that we ask G-d in al hamichyah, vihaalenu litochah... vinochal mipiryah vinisbah mituvah - take us to Israel so that we may eat it's fruits and be satiated from the good of the land - the very phrase that the gemara uses disparagingly in moshe rabbeinu's context!  Why, then, do we daven for this?

Truth be told, there is a deah in rishonim, brought down by the tur, to not say this line in al hamichyah because of the very question we just asked - but we do say it - so how do we explain that?

So I suggested to look at the whole phrase in al hamichyah - vinochal mipiryah, vinisbah mituvah, u-nivarech'cha aleha bekdusha u'vtahara - we want to eat the fruits to thank g-d for the land he gave us.  this is the primary kiyum of the mitzvah of vi-achalta visavata u-verachta. The pesukim surrounding this mitzvah are clear that the mitzvah's focus is that G-d is bringing us to a beautiful and bountiful land (=eretz yisrael) so that we can eat, be satiated, and thank g-d for all the good he has given us.  (I have pointed out to many ppl already that lifi peshuto shel mikra, the mitzvah of bentching should only apply in EY.  see the ramban who is dochek because of this.)  If thats your motivation, then its a positive thing to ask for vinochal mipiryah vinisbah mituvah.

There are 2 questions on this, one by me and one by prof. frankael.
me- if I am correct, then couldn't moshe rabbeinu have asked to eat the peiros for the same reason?  (so why am I not correct - I still dont know.  any suggestions are much appreciated)
frankael - in the beginning of al hamichyah, we also reference eretz chemda tova... leechol mipiryah vilisboa mituvah - and there we dont say anything about u-nivarech'cha aleha.  I feel like you could get out of this question, but Prof. Frankael's answer is much better anyways.

So before presenting his answer, lets switch focus for a second to schar mitzvah.  There are many different ways to formulate the question below, but I heard an excellent one thursday night from a friend of mine

Parshas Va'eschanan ends off, וְשָׁמַרְתָּ אֶת הַמִּצְוָה וְאֶת הַחֻקִּים וְאֶת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר אָנֹכִי מְצַוְּךָ הַיּוֹם לַעֲשׂתָם - chazal famously darshen, hayom -- today -- to do the mitzvos, and tomorrow (= olam haba) to get reward.  schar mitzvah bihai alma leika - there is no reward for mitzvos in this world.

parshas eikev begins, "and when you keep the mitzvos, g-d will give you all the good of this world" -  וַאֲהֵבְךָ וּבֵרַכְךָ וְהִרְבֶּךָ וּבֵרַךְ פְּרִי בִטְנְךָ וּפְרִי אַדְמָתֶךָ דְּגָנְךָ וְתִירשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ שְׁגַר אֲלָפֶיךָ וְעַשְׁתְּרֹת צֹאנֶךָ עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ לָתֶת לָךְ: - so what in the world do chazal mean that there is no reward for mitzvos in this world - the torah clearly thinks there is?

(The rambam here addresses this question, and at greater length in his hakdama to perek chelek.  but honestly, I like R Aharon Soloveitchik's answer (which is also based on rishonim) better.)

R Aharon quoted the rashba in his teshuvos (and its already discussed briefly in the ramban al hatorah) to differentiate between a yachid and a tzibbur.  For a yachid, schar mitzvah bihai alma leika - an individual receives justice in the world to come, where he is rewarded for every mitzvah, and punished for every aveirah.  As individuals, we do not merit (except in exceptional circumstances) to see G-d's hand revealed in this world to reward us (or punish us) for the deeds we do.

But that is not the case for a tzibbur.  A tzibbur only exists in this world - as such, it must receive its reward / punishment in this world.   If you look at the promises the torah makes, it is always to the tzibbur - to klal yisrael at large - if we as a nation do good, then we will merit good in this world - and conversely, if we as a nation sin, our beis hamikdash will be destroyed and we will be exiled to suffering.

(This is clearly seen by contrasting between the first 2 paragraphs of shema.  The first, referring to a yachid, has no mention of schar.  Only the second, which as rashi explains, is said to a tzibbur, mentions the rewards we will receive in this world for doing the mitzvos.)

This distinction answers a powerful question:  How can the torah motivate us to do mitzvos by promises of earthly reward - isn't that so lowly, so shelo lishma, to be good just to live an easy life?

But with this distinction, the answer is clear: The torah makes no promises to individuals.  Individuals are expected to live a good life even though they may suffer tremendously in this world.  The motivation of earthly reward that the torah gives for mitzvos is actually selfless - because you don't do mitzvos to increase your own, personal, earthly well-being, but rather, to improve the lot of our people, bnei yisrael.  That is a lofty motivation to do mitzvos - beyond the inherent good within a mitzvah, doing mitzvos is part of what we do as "national service" (and I am not getting into any political discussions right now whatsoever), because when we do mizvos, we help our entire nation, and really, the entire world.

Prof. Frankael used the same distinction to explain our quandary with moshe rabbeinu.  Why was Moshe Rabbeinu not satisfied with the fact that bnei yisrael were going into Israel - why did he himself need to go?  Was it to eat the fruits?  If he cares about his personal gashmius, that would be selfishness.

But when we daven in al hamichya, we are davening for klal yisrael - as a tzibbur, we ask that G-d should bring us all back to the land he promised us, eretz zavas chalav u'dvash.  That's not selfishness - if anything, it's selfless.

Please G-d, we should merit speedily in our days vihaalenu -- all of us -- litocha, vismchainu bibinyanah, vinochal mipiryah, vinisbah mituvah, u'nivarech'cha aleha bekdusha u'vtahara.