Imagine a father wants to rebuke his son for something wrong he had done. He tells his son that he will not buy his sone that delicious chocolate cake with sprinkles that he had promised. But, his father doesn’t stop there. He takes his sone to the store and shows him the exact cake he had promised to buy him, and then tells his son that he won’t get it. Wouldn't this be too much?
We learn in Parashat Chukat that Moshe got punished for hitting the rock and not speaking to it. His severe punishment was that he was denied permission to enter the land of Israel; the land that Moshe had faithfully led all of Am Yisrael to enter since the nation’s birth. But it doesn’t stop here. HaShem also asks Moshe to ascend the mountain and to look at the beautiful view of Eretz Yisrael, despite knowing that he will never get to experience the land for himself. Am Yisrael was very concerned that Moshe Rabbeinu would ascend the mountain and die there, just as it had happened with Aharon Ha Kohen, his brother. Because of this, they tried to stop him from going up.
The Nachmanidies explains that this wasn't really a punishment, but was rather a gift. The love that Moshe Rabbeinu had for the Jewish people was above and beyond any love that we could imagine, so he was extremely happy for Am Yisrael. Knowing this, HaShem sent Moshe to see the land in all of its beauty so that he should be happy for all that his children would be receiving. Moshe Rabbeiu’s love for Am Yisrael is reflected through his search concern for the future leader after his passing. He asked from HaShem that they should have a leader even better than him, and that he should lead in front of them, be with them and be patient with them.
Despite all this, the Nachmanidie’s explanation is a bit difficult, as HaShem asked Moshe to ascend the mountain three separate times. Why would he need to go up three times if it was just so that he should be happy for his people? It seems that this comes to teach us something much more profound.
Perhaps we can explain that the three times that Moshe went up connect the past, present, and the future. We connect to the past, as Avraham was also commanded by HaShem to ascend a high place and to look at the holy land that he is going to give to his descendants. Therefore, HaShem wants to connect this event to the generation that actually entered the land. Even though Avraham went up and saw the land many years before, HaShem wants to close the loop and connect it with Moshe. The present is as the Nachmanidies says, as Moshe can see the fruifull land soon to be gifted to the current generation; Moshe’s precious nation. The future is for Am Yisrael, that whenever they may struggle in their battles against their enemies, they will always remember that their beloved leader, Moshe Rabbeinu, prepared this land for them just by looking at it, as many of us know that you can change someone just by looking at him.