Kommentar zu Dewarim 11:30

הלא המה ARE THEY NOT [AT THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN … ]? — He gave geographical indications regarding them (the mountains).

הלא המה בעבר הירדן, at the entrance to the land as soon as you cross the Jordan. This procedure is meant to demonstrate that your settling in this land will not be in an unsatisfactory, inadequate manner, but that it will be either completely successful or the reverse.

אחרי דרך, it looks as if we encounter two successive vowel patterns both pashta, both tone-signs employed as separators, something most unusual. However, if we look closely we will find that the word דרך is accented on the first syllable, so that this results in the word אחרי sounding like an שופר הפוך, a term used in Hebrew grammar for a connecting tone-sign. [Minchas Shay suggests that when reading this line the reader should briefly pause after the word אחרי, in order to achieve the same result. Heidenheim, explaining Rashi, also states that Rashi understands the word אחרי as not belonging to the word דרך following it. Ed.]

הלא המה בעבר הירדן אחרי דרך מבא השמש, “Are they not on the other side of the Jordan, far, in the direction of the sunset.” Moses gave the people a sign by which to recognize these two mountains. If they were to journey in its direction by bearing west they would find them in the land of the Emorite who dwells in the wilderness opposite Gilgal, close to Eloney Moreh.

This provides the landmarks. Rashi is answering the question: The word הלא usually implies a contradiction! For example, regarding Avraham and Sarah it is written (Bereishis 20:5): “Did he not (הלא) say to me, ‘She is my sister’?” But here it cannot be explained to mean that there is a contradiction. We also cannot explain it as in the verse (above 3:11), “Is it not (הלא) in Rabbas of the descendants of Ammon,” where it means to strengthen and reinforce his words. For here it is not applicable to reinforce his words, for it refers to the giving of the blessing and curse. [Therefore] Rashi answers: “This provides the landmarks,” and this is why it is written הלא [as if it said “behold”].

V. 30. הלא המה, weist darauf hin, dass diese Berge nicht unbekannt waren. Die charakteristische Verschiedenheit derselben, sowie der oben erwähnte Umstand, dass sie die erste durch einen Altar bezeichnete Offenbarungsstätte Abrahams waren, und der Name, den die Gegend von ihrer Bedeutsamkeit trug, dürfte sie wohl in der Kunde des Volkes erhalten haben. אחרי דרך מבוא השמש, Raschi bemerkt, dass אחרי durch den Akzent von דרך getrennt und daher absolut als מופלג, als: weithin zu verstehen sei, nicht unmittelbar am Jarden, דרך מבוא השמש in der Richtung nach Westen, also weiterhin nach Westen, wo wir ja auch in der Tat אלוני מורה, das nach Bereschit 12. 6 in der Gegend von Sichem lag, zu suchen haben. מבוא השמש heißt ja auch ganz entschieden — ממזרח השמש עד מבואו — Sonnenuntergang.

אחרי דרך מבא השמש, “behind the way of the going down of the sun.” Rashi’s commentary on this phrase is that the people travelled a tremendous distance on that day. According to the Talmud, tractate Sotah, folio 36, the Israelites on that day, after having crossed the river Jordan, would have marched 60 miles both to and back to Mount Gerizim and Mount Eyval having performed all the commandments they were to perform there, also on that day. They would then have spent the night at Gilgal as detailed in Joshua 8,3035 as well as in Sotah 36. [I am not sure if our author questions the literal meaning of the Talmud concerning this. Ed.]

אחרי [AT THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN,] AFTER — This means: behind the passage of the Jordan much further on in a distance, for that is the force of the expression אחרי, because wherever the term אחרי (in contradistinction to אחר; cf. Rashi on Genesis 15:1) is used it signifies “greatly separated” (Genesis Rabbah 44:5; cf. Sifrei Devarim 56:1; Sotah 33b).

מבא השמש, where the sun sets, i.e. in the west.

Far after the crossing of the Yardein, etc. I.e., the word “after,” is connected to the word, “Yardein,” and not to the words following, “along the route of the sunset.” Rashi states a proof for this: “The cantillation of the passage proves they are two matters, since they are punctuated with two cantillation symbols, etc.”

Im ספרי, und so auch Sota 33 b, differieren ר׳ יהודה und ר׳ אלעור hinsichtlich der Lage der hier bezeichneten Örtlichkeit. ר׳ יהודה begreift sie entfernt vom Jarden in der Gegend von Sichem, wo ja auch in der Tat Gerisim und Ebal liegen. Nach ר׳ אלעזר wäre jedoch die hier für die Segen- und Fluchverkündung bestimmte Örtlichkeit unmittelbar am Jarden gewesen, wobei man sich den Gerisim und Ebal durch zwei künstlich aufgeworfene Erdhügel zu vergegenwärtigen hatte (siehe תוספו׳ daselbst nach dem Jeruschalmi). Nun lautet aber der Ausspruch ר׳ יהודה׳s: הלא המה בעבר הירדן מעבר הירדן ואילך ואחרי דרך מבוא השמש מקום שהשמש זורחת, sowie ר׳ אלעזר׳s: הלא המה בעבר הירדן סמוך לירדן אחרי דרך מבוא השמש מקום שהחמה שוקעת. Nach ר׳ יהודה wäre die westliche Lage durch: abgewendet von dem Osten, nach ר׳ אלעזר die östliche durch abgewendet von dem Westen ausgedrückt. Schwierig bleibt nur, wie מבוא השמש :ר׳ יהודה als מקום שהשמש זורחת, also als מזרח השמש interpretieren konnte, wie Raschi dessen Meinung auffasst, da doch מבוא השמש überall dem מזרח השמש entgegengesetzt ist. Wir wagen daher zu glauben, dass ר׳ יהודה nicht מבוא השמש, sondern דרך מבוא השמש: die zum Westen führende Straße als מקום זריחת השמש bezeichnet. Wenn man den die Ostgrenze des Landes bildenden Jarden überschritten hat, betritt man die nach dem Westen führende Straße. Diese nach Westen führende Straße beginnt natürlich im Osten, מקום זריחת השמש, und אחרי דרך מבוא השמש, und "nachdem" man diesen im Osten liegenden Weg westwärts durchschritten hat, gelangt man zu den Bergen Gerisim und Ebal. Nach ר׳ אלעזר hält man sich aber אחרי: "hinter" דרך מבוא השמש, man betritt diese Weststraße nicht, bleibt von dem מקום שהשמש שוקעת "zurück" im Osten in der Nähe des Jardens. Beide verstehen unter מבוא השמש den Westen, und die Differenz liegt in der Auffassung des אחרי, des entfernt von der Weststraße. Nach ר׳ יהודה lässt man diese Straße im Osten liegen, d. h. man schreitet sie durch, nach ר׳ אלעזר lässt man sie im Westen liegen, d. h. man betritt sie nicht. So dürfte sich eine Schwierigkeit lösen, auf welche bereits מהר׳ש׳א z. St. hingewiesen, und damit auch Raschis Kommentar zum Pentateuch gerechtfertigt sein, und nur eine Nichtübereinstimmung desselben mit dem zum Talmud bleiben, die sich aber leicht dadurch erklärt, dass Raschi seine dort aufgestellte Erklärung deshalb verlassen, weil es doch wenig denkbar ist, ׳ר יהודה habe מבוא השמש als Sonnenaufgang auffassen wollen.

מול הגלגל, “facing Gilgal;” The reason why Moses pinpoints the location is because the chain of mountains is long, and Moses wished to give precise directions.

דרך מבוא השמש [AT THE PASSAGE OF THE JORDAN, FAR DISTANT FROM IT] ON THE WAY OF THE SETTING OF THE SUN — i.e. beyond the Jordan towards the West. The accents in the verse prove that they (the word אחרי and the phrase דרך מבוא השמש) are two unconnected phrases since they bear two separate accents of a different character, viz., the word אחרי is marked by a Pashta (a disjunctive accent), and the word דרך is marked by a משפל (our Yetib), and also has a Dagesh. If, however, אחרי דרך formed one phrase, the word אחרי should be marked by a conjunctive accent, a שופר הפוך (our Mahpach) and דרך by a Pashta, while the ד of דרך would be ‘‘weak” (i.e. have no Dagesh; cf. Rashi on Joshua 7:15).

As indicated by the word “beyond.” Wherever אחרי — “beyond” is mentioned, etc. The word אחרי spelled with a yud refers to a great distance, as Rashi explains many times: “Wherever אחרי is mentioned is refers to a great distance.” It may refer to a time distance, such as regarding Avraham (Bereishis 22:20), “After these things.” Or it may refer to a geographical distance, such as here.

מול הגלגל means, distant from Gilgal (not near Gilgal).

Beyond the Yardein toward the west, etc. I.e., “Along the route, etc.” is an independent statement. It is as if the verse said, “Are they not across the Yardein and far beyond, along the route of the sunset — which is westward.”

אלוני מורה [BESIDE] THE TEREBINTHS OF MOREH — This is Shechem, for it states, (Genesis 12:6): “unto the place of Shechem, unto the terebinth of Moreh” (Sifrei Devarim 56:1; Sotah 33b; cf. Rashi on that verse).

Since they are punctuated with two cantillation symbols: אחרי (far beyond) is punctuated with the pashta symbol. Pashta is one of the cantillation symbols that are called “kings,” and indicate a pause to separate [between this word and] the word following.

While דרך (the route) is punctuated with the mishpal symbol and is dotted etc. The mishpal is what we call the yasiv.

Then אחרי (far beyond) would be punctuated with the meshares symbol — the reverse shofar. The reverse shofar is what we call the mahpach, which is like a shofar. It is called meshares (servant), meaning that it connects the word to the word following. For this reason it is called meshares — because this word serves another word.

At a distance from Gilgal. Rashi is answering the question: Wherever is written מול, it denotes “opposite.” Yet sometimes it is nearby, and sometimes it is at a distance. But the verse gives an additional indication, “next to the Moreh Plain,” which means, “near the Moreh Plain,” we then understand that the word “opposite” here denotes at a distance. For if it were nearby then the verse should say, “Next to Gilgal and the Moreh Plain.”

This was Shechem, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Where do we find a place named Moreh Plain? Rashi answers: “This was Shechem, etc.” Although in Bereishis (12:6) it seems that Shechem and Moreh Plain are two distinct places, nevertheless we must say that because only one arrival is mentioned for both of them, we can infer that they are the same place. For if they were two places, then if Avraham arrived in Shechem he did not arrive in the Moreh Plain. Rather it is the same place. And the verses [in Bereishis] mean the following: “He arrived ... in Shechem, which is the Moreh Plain.” See Rashi’s explanation there.