Kommentar zu Dewarim 12:20

כי ירחיב וגו׳ WHEN [THE LORD THY GOD] SHALL ENLARGE [YOUR BOUNDARY … AND YOU SHALL SAY, I WILL EAT FLESH … YOU MAY EAT FLESH] — The Torah teaches the proper rule of life — that one should not desire to eat flesh unless he lives amidst abundance and wealth (cf. Sifrei Devarim 75:5; Chullin 84a; see also Rashi on Leviticus 17:13).

WHEN THE ETERNAL THY G-D SHALL ENLARGE THY BORDER. The meaning of this “enlargement” is not like that which he stated, And if the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border⁵⁴Further, 19:8. [by giving you the land of the Kenites, Kenizzites, and Kadmonites] etc. then shalt thou add three cities more for thee,⁵⁵Ibid., Verse 9. for if it were, then meat of desire [meaning a meat meal prepared solely to satisfy the appetite rather than as a product of a peace-offering] would not have been permissible upon coming into the Land [but only after the enlargement of the border, an event that has yet to take place]. But there it is said, When the Eternal thy G-d shall cut off the nations, whose land the Eternal thy G-d giveth thee,⁵⁶Ibid., Verse 1. these being the seven nations that he mentions in all places,⁵⁷See above, 7:1. and then we are to separate three cities [as cities of refuge], and so Joshua did.⁵⁸Joshua 20:7-9. Afterwards he said, when the Eternal thy G-d enlarge thy border, as He hath sworn unto thy fathers,⁵⁴Further, 19:8. this being a reference to the ten nations that were given to Abraham.⁵⁹Genesis 15:19-21. Hence the command to establish an additional three cities of refuge becomes obligatory at the time when we shall have enlarged the border of our Land to include the territory of the remaining three of the ten nations promised to Abraham — the Kenites, Kenizzites, and Kadmonites. But here etc. But here he said, as He hath promised thee, meaning these [seven] nations whose land the Eternal your G-d gives you [now], thus indicating that immediately after they captured and apportioned the Land, a secular meal of meat became permitted to them.
Now, the purport of the expression If the place which the Eternal thy G-d shall choose to put His Name there be too far from thee⁶⁰Verse 21. is not that meat of desire [i.e., meat from an animal that has been slaughtered for food rather than as an offering] is permissible only at a distance from the Sanctuary, for if so, dwellers in Jerusalem would have been forbidden to eat meat of desire. Instead he [Moses] speaks to all Israel, saying to them that “when G-d will enlarge your border and not all of you will be dwelling around the Tabernacle as you are today in the wilderness, unconsecrated meat will be permitted, because it will be impossible for all of you to go from a distant place to the place that G-d will choose and slaughter sacrifices of peace-offerings as much as you wish to eat.”

כי ירחיב…את גבולך, "When G'd expands your borders etc." Seeing G'd had objected to the excessive craving for a meat-diet displayed by the Israelites in Numbers chapter 11 where we were told about thousands dying on that account, such a craving had been taboo ever since. Only meat which had first been hallowed as a sacrifice had been permitted to be eaten by the average Israelite during the last 38 years. At this point Moses justifies the new legislation which sanctions the desire to have a meat-diet by referring to the difficulty of making the meat first a sacrifice and having to travel to Jerusalem to do so. It is assumed that the craving will re-surface as a result of most people living a long way from Jerusalem. G'd specifically sanctions the desire to eat meat with the words: "you may eat meat in accordance with all the desire of your soul."

כי ירחיב, and as a result you find yourself physically a great distance from the Temple.

כי ירחיב, “When He will expand (your boundaries);” Nachmanides makes the point that the term כי ירחיב, in this paragraph is not to be confused with the expression ואם ירחיב, in 19,8, where the Torah foresees further expansion of the Land of Israel [most commentators consider this a post messianic period. Ed.], but in verse 9 there we read –in connection with the establishment of cities of refuge- that more than the original three on the east bank of the Jordan must be added. In that context the meaning of the word is “when,” in the sense of after completion of the conquest. If the meaning of the two expressions were identical, eating meat that had not first been consecrated as an offering would not be permitted for the Israelites until after Joshua had completed the conquest and settled the people on their allocated parcels of land. In chapter 19 the line we quoted must be understood in connection with the paragraph at the beginning of that chapter, a paragraph which discusses changes that would occur after G’d has more or less wiped out the seven Canaanite tribes from the region of the West Bank of the Jordan. The need to establish additional cities of refuge begins only after the people have been settled. Verse 9 there may even refer to the time when the remainder of the ten tribes mentioned in G’d’s first promise to Avraham in Genesis chapter 15 have also been eliminated. In our verse the reference is to the beginning of the conquest, and according to Chulin 17, בשר תאוה, meat of animals that had been slaughtered without having been consecrated as offerings first, became permissible at once, as soon as settlement began. Even though, on the face of it, permission of such meat appears to be contingent on the owner living far away from the Temple, the words כי ירחק ממך המקום, “when the Temple is far away from you,” (verse 21) is not to be understood as actual physical distance of the individual concerned. The Torah means that when the Israelites, instead of living next to the Tabernacle, as they did for 40 years in the desert, will be scattered throughout the Land of Israel, it would not be practical to require them to come to Jerusalem, to the Temple every time they wanted to eat meat.

ואמרת אוכלה בשר, “and you will say: “I want to eat meat;” This verse teaches the lesson that only economically well-situated people should indulge in a meat based diet; this is why the paragraph is prefaced by the words כי ירחיב ה' את גבולך, “when the Lord expands your borders, etc.”

Unless he enjoys expansion and affluence. You might ask: This verse, simply understood, refers to the expansion of borders and becoming distanced from the Land. Why does Rashi deviate from the plain meaning? The answer is: It is written afterwards, “When the place is distant from you, etc.,” which refers to the expansion of borders. If so, what is the meaning of, “When ... expands your borders”? It must be referring to expansion [of possessions] and affluence. And “borders,” refers to fields and vineyards, which is affluence. This explanation is according to Rebbi Elazar ben Azaryah (Chulin 84a).

V. 20. כי ירחיב וגו׳. Wir haben bereits Wajikra Kap. 17, 3 bemerkt, wie zufolge der nach allgemeinster Auffassung als Halacha rezipierten Lehre des ר׳ ישמעאל während der Wanderung in der Wüste und des Zusammenseins des ganzen Volkes im nächsten Umkreis des Heiligtums בשר תאוה, d. i. gewöhnlicher Fleischgenuss von opferfähigen Tieren nicht gestattet war, diese vielmehr als שלמים darzubringen und das Fleisch nur als Opferanteil der Eigentümer genossen werden konnte. Dieser Auffassung gemäß spricht unser Vers denn die Gestattung des בשר תאוה mit der Besitznahme des Landes aus und motiviert Vers 21 die Gestattung mit der nunmehrigen Entfernung vom Heiligtum (siehe ספרי und Chulin 16 b). In eigentümlicher Weise wird aber hier die Gestattung des gewöhnlichen Fleischgenusses, und zwar die ganz unbeschränkte Gestattung: בכל אות נפשך תאכל בשר, doch, wir möchten sagen, dreifach verklausuliert eingeführt: כי תאוה וגו׳ כי תרחיב וגו׳ ואמרת וגו׳, und wird daher Chulin 84 a gelehrt: למדה תורה דרך ארץ שלא יאכל אדם בשר אלא לתיאבון, dass das Gesetz Fleisch nicht als gewöhnliches Nahrungsmittel, sondern als Befriedigung eines besonderen Verlangens voraussetzt, und ergibt sich dort, wie nur mit zunehmender Schwäche der Konstitutionen Fleischnahrung ein tägliches Bedürfnis geworden. In der Tat setzt doch unser Vers selbst bei הרחבת גבול, bei weniger beschränkten Verhältnissen Fleischgenuss nur bedingt durch כי תאוה נפשך וגו׳, und dürfte auch אוה und אות נפש wohl von התאוה sich unterscheiden. Während התאוה überwiegend ein unberechtigtes lüsternes Verlangen ausdrückt, bezeichnet אוה vielmehr in der Regel ein durchaus gestattetes Verlangen, und kann תאוה נפשך und אות נפשך sehr wohl ein vom Bedürfnis erzeugtes und eben das Bedürfnis ankündigendes Verlangen bezeichnen und diese so ausführliche Motivierung des Fleischgenusses gerade mit Hinblick auf die so verhängnisvoll gewordene unberechtigte Fleischlüsternheit bei קברות התאוה gegeben sein.

כי ירחיב, “when He will expand, etc.” the content of this paragraph has already been written in verses 1516 of our chapter. Why was it repeated? The reason is verse 27, in which Moses emphasises that the law to offer sacrificial offerings only in the Temple designated by G-d, i.e. Jerusalem is not affected by the size of country. An alternate interpretation: seeing that the laws Moses speaks about apply daily, he repeats them so that the people will be thoroughly familiar with them.

בכל אות נפשך וגו׳ [YOU MAY EAT FLESH] IN EVERY LONGING OF YOUR SOUL — In the wilderness, however, the flesh of a non-holy animal was forbidden to them as food, unless one first dedicated it to the altar and offered it as a peace-offering (Sifrei Devarim 75:4; Chullin 16b).

בכל אות נפשך תאכל בשר, “you may eat meat to your heart’s desire.” The Torah permits consumption of non-sacrificial meats with the people’s entry into the Holy Land. As long as the people had been in the desert, meat was basically the meat of the peace-offerings.

However in the wilderness, non-sacrificial meat was forbidden, etc. The meaning of בכל אות נפשך (anything you desire), is “any species that you desire,” whether or not you may bring it as a peace offering. This is according to Rebbi Yishmael (Chulin 17b), who expounds the verse, “When ... expands your borders,” refers to the expansion of borders, that is, after they entered the Land. But according to Rebbi Elazar (ibid. 84a) who expounds that [the verse] refers to expansion [of possessions] and affluence, it is not possible to say, “However in the wilderness, non-sacrificial meat was forbidden, etc.” For it simply says, “Anything you desire,” whether after coming to the Land or before coming to the Land. Rashi’s commentary is very difficult [to understand], because first he explains that, “When ... expands your borders,” refers to expansion [of property] and affluence. How then does he reverse himself and explain afterwards that it refers to the expansion of borders? Furthermore, Rashi explains the verse, “Anything you desire,” according to Rebbi Yishmael who says that, “When ... expands your borders,” refers [literally] to the expansion of borders, how then can he explain the verse, “When ... the place is distant from you,” [also meaning] as its borders becoming more distant [i.e., expansion of borders. For this is seemingly redundant.]? (Re”m). But to me it seems: Rebbi Elazar agrees with Rebbi Yishmael that, “Anything you desire,” means that non-sacrificial meat was not permitted to them in the wilderness. For it is written afterwards, “When the place is distant from you ... you may slaughter some of your cattle or your flocks.” And the verse, “When the place is distant,” refers to the expansion of place [i.e. borders], and not according to Rebbi Yishmael who explains it as, “From a place that is distant you may slaughter [non-sacrificial meat] but not from a place that is near, for you may not slaughter non-sacrificial meat in the Temple courtyard.” And the verse, “When ... expands your borders, etc.,” he expounds as, “One should not eat meat unless he enjoys expansion and affluence.” And he agrees with Rebbi Yishmael on one point [that non-sacrificial meat was forbidden in the wilderness], but disagrees with him on another [whether the verse, “When the place is distant,” prohibits the slaughter of non-sacrificial meat in the Temple courtyard]. See Chulin 16b and 84a.

כאשר דבר לך, “as He has said to you (promised);” We find this promise in Exodus 23,31, 'ושתי את גבולך וגו, “I will set your borders, etc.;” [an area far in excess of the Israel of King Solomon. Ed.]

ואמרת אוכלה בשר, and you say: “I wish to eat meat” (other than sacrificial meat) from this verse we see that one should not eat without first having prepared it. [You do not eat meat as you eat an apple or a pear. Ed.]

כי תאוה נפשך, “when you experience a true craving for meat.” The word כי in this verse is used as an alternative for the word אם, “if” or “when.”