Kommentar zu Dewarim 13:9

לא תאבה לו THOU SHALT NOT CONSENT UNTO HIM — i.e. thou shalt feel no longing (תאב) towards him, thou shalt show no affection for him (אהב); This is stated because it is said, (Leviticus 19:18) “Thou shalt love thy fellowman as thyself”; this man, however, thou shalt not love (Sifrei Devarim 89:1).

THOU SHALT NOT ‘THOVEH LO’ — “you shall not ‘long’ for him, nor shall you love him. Because it is said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself¹⁶²Leviticus 19:18. — [it is necessary to caution that] this one [who seeks to mislead you into idolatry] you shall not love.” This is Rashi’s language quoting the Sifre.¹⁶³Sifre, R’eih 89. But in the Gemara the Rabbis have said [in connection with this verse]:¹⁶⁴Sanhedrin 61b. “But [if the one misled] avah (wanted) and consented [to the words of the inciter, although he actually did not worship the idols, the misleader] is guilty” [thus showing that the word thoveh is not an expression of “longing” as Rashi holds, but of “willingness”]. And this is correct, for avah is an expression of “desire,” as it is said, And the Eternal thy G-d was not ‘avah’ (willing) to hearken unto Balaam,¹⁶⁵Further, 23:6. meaning “He did not desire.” So also, he is not ‘avah’ (willing) to perform the duty of my husband’s brother,¹⁶⁶Ibid., 25:7. [this expression being based upon the statement in the first part of that verse], and if the man ‘desires’ not to take his brother’s wife. Thus, thou shalt not ‘thoveh lo’ means [“thou shalt not be willing] in your heart [to give credence to him”], nor hearken unto him by consenting to him, saying “I will do so; I will go and I will worship the idol you mentioned.” And [the inciter] becomes liable to the death penalty because of his [the victim’s] consent. And such is the opinion of Onkelos [who translated]: “Do not accept [the offer] from him.” Now these two prohibitions [Thou shalt not be willing to give credence to him in your heart, nor shalt thou hearken unto him] are like Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor’s house¹⁶⁷Above, 5:18. See “The Commandments,” Vol. II, pp. 251-252. [which prohibits us from desiring what belongs to another], and Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s house¹⁶⁸Exodus 20:17. “The Commandments,” Vol. II, pp. 250-251. [which prohibits us from scheming to acquire it], so that if he desires it in his heart, he infringes the first prohibition, and if he goes on to do as he thought, he transgresses also the second negative commandment.¹⁶⁹Here too, if in his heart he gives credence to the words of the inciter he violates the first prohibition, and if he also consents to worship the idol he infringes the second negative commandment as well.

ולא תחוס עינך עליו, "and your eye shall not take pity on him;" this means that one has to deny the enticer everything he desires or holds dear, even things totally unrelated to what he proposed. The idea is to make him endure suffering. You should not say that there is no point in making this person endure pointless denials seeing that G'd Himself has permitted all these things to be enjoyed by man. Even though the afflictions we speak about affect primarily the soul, they will also have an effect on the spiritually negative mani-festations which have become an inseparable part of this human being. This is the mystical dimension of the whole concept of fasting. Man is to deny himself food and drink in order to weaken the forces of evil within him.

לא תאבה לו, when he suggests that you investigate the truth of his words that a certain form of idolatry is demonstrably effective for its believers, do not assent to listen to him.

לא תאבה לו ולא תשמע אליו, “do not accede to him and do not hearken to him.” Moses points out that both a mere expression to accede to such requests, or even listening to it without protest and giving the impression that you consider such proposals seriously, is culpable in Hashem’s eyes.

Do not be inclined towards him, etc. For this verse cannot be understood according to its simple meaning — “Do not agree with his words, and do not accept them.” For if so, what is the meaning of, “Do not view him compassionately ... for you must certainly execute him, etc.” He is about to be executed! Does the verse need to warn, “Do not agree with his words, and do not accept his words to serve other gods”?

V. 9. לא תאבה לו ולא תשמע אליו: der Verführung nicht in Wort und nicht in Tat Folge zu geben. ולא תחום עינך עליו (siehe zu Bereschit 45, 20): dich nicht durch den Wert, den die Persönlichkeit in deinen Augen hat, zur Schonung bestimmen lassen.

לא תאבה לו, “you shall not consent to him (his suggestion) according to Rashi the root of the word is אהב, Hence the meaning of the line is: “do not profess to love him;” we have a similar construction when the Torah asks us to love our fellow human beings as thyself in Leviticus 19,18. ולא תשמע אליו, “and to not even listen to him.” If he pleads with you to forgive him, in order not to report his criminal suggestions to the authorities, although as a rule the Torah teaches us not to abandon a person in need, (Exodus 23,5), in this instance this rule is to be ignored. Even though we are not to indulge in reciprocal hatred when the hatred has been initiated by the other person, in this instance we must react differently and prevent the spread of idolatry by enabling such a person to convert naive people to his seduction.

ולא תשמע אליו AND THOU SHALT NOT HEARKEN UNTO HIM when he makes entreaty for his life, that you should forgive him. This is stated because it says. (Exodus 23:5) “[If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee] thou shalt surely help him”; this man, however, thou shalt not help (Sifrei Devarim 89:2).

ולא תשמע אליו, you must not listen to him to make such an experiment, and to go through a “conditional” obeisance as a test. The reason is that the moment you even entertain doubts about the utter falsity of what the seducer claims, in the end you will become a victim of his persuasiveness. You could not even entertain any doubt about G’d and His Torah unless you had never properly understood the greatness of G’d and His mastery in the universe.

ולא תחוס עינך עליו, “and your eye must not pity him,” you must not have pity on him so as not to cause him to be executed.

Because it states, “Lay aside [your hatred of him] and assist him,”, etc. Onkelos explains עזוב תעזוב as, “Lay aside whatever is in your heart against him,” which means to [put aside] the hatred in your heart and be forgiving to him. Although Rashi explains above (Shmos 23:5) that the term עזוב תעזוב denotes assistance, here he says that it denotes forgiveness, because Rashi above is explaining the simple meaning of the verse. (Maharai explains likewise).

ולא תכסה, "and you must not cover up, etc," This may best be understood by a reference to Kidushin 81 in which the Talmud relates a story involving Rav Amram. [The subject matter is being alone with a woman who is not your wife and the implications of such a situation. Ed.] Certain female prisoners whose freedom had been bought by the people of Nehardea, the town in which the pious Rav Amram resided, were entrusted to him for safekeeping. He assigned to them the top floor, removing the connecting stairs. One day he was sorely tempted by his evil urge to socialise with one or the other of these women and he single-handedly put up a ladder to climb the upper floor which it would normally require several people to move. When half way up he cried out that his house was on fire which brought out the neighbours before he could succumb totally to the enticer within him. He embarassed himself thereby publicly, but told his colleagues that it was better for him to be embarassed in the here and now, than to face the consequences of his action in the hereafter where his embarassment would be far greater. Moses says here that you should not conceal the fact that the enticer is active within you, but by exposing this fact similar to Rav Amram, you will be able to defeat the enticer by publicly disgracing him for what he is. כי הרוג תהרגנו, "Rather, you must surely kill him."

NEITHER SHALL THINE EYE PITY HIM — to show him mercy that he not die.

ולא תחוס עינך עליו NEITHER SHALL THINE EYE SPARE HIM — This is stated because it says, (Leviticus 19:16) “thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy fellow” — this man, however, thou shalt not spare (Sifrei Devarim 89:3).

ולא תחמול ולא תכסה עליו, “and do not be compassionate with his plight, nor cover up for him.”

Moses adds: ידך תהיה בו בראשונה להמיתו, "your hand shall be the first against him to kill him." Moses indicates that in contrast to what Rav Amram did in the story related in Kidushin when he called on others to killl the evil urge within himself, you must do so yourself, at least you must begin the job. Only if you failed in your attempt may you do as Rav Amram did, i.e. call upon outsiders to do what is really your task. Only when you are in the position described by David in Psalms 109,22 that "my heart is pierced within me," may you call on G'd to do the job on your behalf as did David in Psalms 109,26, i.e. "Help me O Lord my G'd, etc." If you fail by yourself, Moses' final comment i.e. ויד כל העם באחרונה "and the hand of all the people at the end," applies. This is a reference to the situation when you may do as Rav Amram did and call in outside help.

NEITHER SHALT THOU SPARE because of the close [family] relationship as mentioned,¹⁷⁰Verse 7: If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter … as it is said, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.¹⁷¹Malachi 3:17.

ולא תחמל NEITHER SHALT THOU PITY [HIM] — i.e. thou shalt not occupy thyself in his favour (you shall not seek to find anything favorable to him) (Sifrei Devarim 89:4).

You must not dodge your duty to testify against such a person in court.

NEITHER SHALT THOU CONCEAL HIM — by not testifying against him in court. And in the Sifre it is written:¹⁶³Sifre, R’eih 89. “Neither shalt thou spare — you shall not plead in his favor. Neither shalt thou conceal — if you know anything unfavorable to him, you are not permitted to stand mute.” All [these interpretations]¹⁷²I.e., whether we interpret Neither shalt thou conceal by “not testifying” against him, or “withhold” anything unfavorable to him — the purport is the same, since covering up of evidence is a form of silence. convey the same thought, for the term “concealing” is from he that ‘concealeth’ his transgressions;¹⁷³Proverbs 28:13. but a prudent man ‘concealeth’ shame,¹⁷⁴Ibid., 12:16. meaning that he refrains from telling it. And he states, and they shall do no more any such wickedness as this is in the midst of thee,¹⁷⁵Verse 12. because this matter [of a misleader] is very common, and it would be frequently done were it not for the law [as a deterrent, hence this pronouncement was necessary], but the matter of a false prophet mentioned [above] is not a common occurrence, [therefore, unlike in the verse before us, no admonitions were mentioned in Verse 6].

ולא תכסה עליו AND THOU SHALT NOT CONCEAL (COVER OVER) HIM — If you know anything about him that will condemn him, you are not allowed to keep silent (Sifrei Devarim 89:5).