Kommentar zu Dewarim 31:19

That is that He commanded us that every man among us should write a Torah scroll for himself. And if he writes it with his hand, Scripture accounts it to him as if he received it at Mount Sinai. But if it is impossible for him to write it, he should buy it or hire someone to write it for him. And this is His saying, "write for yourselves this song " (Deuteronomy 31:19). And it is not permitted to write [only] sections. For when He said, "this song," He intended the whole Torah, which includes this song (of Haazinu). And the language of the Gemara (Sanhedrin 21b) is, "Rabbah said, 'Even if his ancestors left him a Torah scroll, it is a commandment to write a scroll of his own, as it is stated, "write for yourselves."' Abaye raised an objection to him (from a baraita concerning the king’s Torah scroll), '"And he writes himself a Torah scroll for himself, so that he does not become proud from the Torah scroll of his ancestors." A king, yes, but an ordinary person, no!'" And the answer was, "No, [the ruling of that baraita] was only necessary [to teach that the king is commanded to write] two Torahs; as it is taught in a baraita, 'And he must write two Torahs for himself.'" This means to say that the difference between a king and an ordinary person is that every man is obligated to write a Torah scroll, whereas a king, two - as it is explained in the second chapter of Sanhedrin. And the regulations of this commandment - meaning to say, the writing of a Torah scroll and its stipulations - have already been explained in the third chapter of Menachot and in Shabbat, Chapter 16. (See Parashat Nitzavim; Mishneh Torah, Tefillin, Mezuzah and the Torah Scroll.)

את השירה הזאת [NOW THEREFORE WRITE YE] THIS SONG — i.e. the text “Give ear, O ye heavens”, till “and make expiation for his ground, and his people” (Deuteronomy 32:1—43).

AND NOW WRITE YE THIS SONG. In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, He commands both Moses and Joshua to write it for He wanted to make Joshua His prophet during Moses’ lifetime. Now, Moses wrote it while Joshua stood by him, read it, and saw [it completed], this being the sense of the verse, So Moses wrote this Song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.³⁶Further, Verse 22. It refers to Moses who was the principal [in the writing of the Song] for it was from him that they would hear it and learn it, although Joshua, too, taught it with him, as it is stated at the conclusion [of the chapter] he [i.e., Moses], and Hoshea, the son of Nun.³⁷Further, 32:44.
Now, the meaning of the expression this Song is “the Song that I will now tell you,” this being ‘Ha’azinu’ (Give ear).³⁸Ibid., Verses 1-43. It is called Song because Israel would recite it with song and psalm.³⁹At the Divine Service in the Sanctuary, a section of the Song of Ha’azinu was chanted each Sabbath during the Service of the Additional Offering. The cycle of the Song was completed every six weeks. Therefore, the six divisions (Aliyoth) in the reading of this Song in the Synagogue on the Sabbath of Ha’azinu, follow the same divisions as sung in the Sanctuary (Rosh Hashanah 31a). It was also written [in the Torah] in the style of a song, since songs are written with interruptions [empty spaces] indicating the places of chanting.

ועתה כתבו, "And now write, etc." G'd says to Moses: "and now," although Moses could not delay by a single day seeing he was going to die on this day. G'd meant for Moses to write this down before he would command Joshua what is written in verse 23. Although the instruction to call Joshua and to give him certain instructions had preceded the command to record this song, G'd wanted the song to be recorded first.

השירה, the entire book of Deuteronomy is called שירה, “Song, Poem.”

ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת, “and now write down for yourselves this song;” Nachmanides writes that the plain meaning is that G’d commanded this to Moses while Joshua heard G’d’s instructions, and read what Moses wrote down. This is the meaning of verse 22 where Moses is reported as writing all this down and teaching the people the contents of that ”song.” Joshua joined in teaching the people, as we know from The “song” that is referred to is the first section of Parshat Haazinu. The reason that this portion is called שירה, song, or poem, is that since time immemorial the Jewish people recite it as such.

V. 19. ועתה וגו׳. Damit ihm nun stets die Antwort auf eine solche Klage zur Hand sei, damit, wenn je die Leiden, von denen es betroffen wird, es die besondere schützende Gottesführung vermissen lassen und ihm die Klage in den Mund legen: הלא על כי אין אלקי בקרבי מצאוני הרעות האלה, ihm die Gottesantwort nicht fehle, die es auf die wahre Ursache seines Unglücks zurückführe, dazu כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת, damit diese שירה einer jeden solchen Klage gegenüber als Zeuge für Gott mit Gottes Gegenklage entgegentrete, למען תהיה לי השירה הזאת לעד בבני ישראל. Diese ganze שירה ist nichts als eine Antwort auf die aus einer Leidenszeit aufsteigende Klage הלא על כי אין אלקי בקרבי וגו׳.

ולמדה את בני ישראל, “and teach it to the Children of Israel!” G-d is speaking in this way to Joshua. [Seeing that Moses will no longer be around, as he is dying on this day, it is clear that these words must have been addressed to his successor. Ed.

הזאת, the portion Haazinu, which testifies concerning the impending disasters if the people were to abandon the path of Torah. If and when this would come to pass, they would know exactly to what to ascribe their misfortune.

You will find that Moses complied with these instructions as we find in verse 22 that he wrote down the song and taught it to the Israelites. Only in the verse following did G'd give His instructions to Joshua to bring the Israelites across the Jordan, to be strong, etc. Normally, we would have expected G'd to complete all His various instructions and only then to write down this song (Haazinu) and to teach it to the people. Seeing that G'd did not want the normal procedure to be followed, He wrote the word ועתה, "and now."

Nedarim 38 a wird in der Zweckbeifügung unseres Satzes: למען תהיה לי השירה הזאת לעד בבני ישראל nachgewiesen, dass das Gebot כתבו לכם את השירה הזאת sich über die שירה hinaus auf die ganze תורה, deren abschließendes Nachwort die שירה bildet, erstrecke; denn, erläutert ר׳׳ן daselbst, אי שירה לבדה קאמר מאי סהדותא איכא, wenn das Gebot nur die שירה zum Gegenstand hätte, was wäre damit für ein Zeugnis gegeben! Die שירה sichert doch nur das Bewusstsein im allgemeinen, dass unser Wohl und Wehe durch Erfüllung der uns von Gott erteilten Aufgabe bedingt sei, diese Aufgabe selbst ist aber nur aus der Kenntnis des ganzen Gesetzes zu schöpfen. Wird doch auch das, was hier zunächst von der שירה ausgesagt ist, V. 26 von der ganzen תורהSchrift ausgesprochen. לקח את ספר התורה הזה וגו׳ והיה שם בך לעד. In der Tat wird auch Sanhedrin 21 b an dem Gebote: ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה die allgemeine מצוה für jeden gelehrt, eine korrekte Abschrift der ganzen תורה zu veranstalten — אעיפי שהניחו לו אבותיו לאדם ס׳׳ת מצוה לכתוב משלו שנאמר ועתה כתבו לכם את השירה. הל׳ ס"ת( רמ׳׳ב׳׳ם VII. 1) motiviert diese Zusammenfassung der ganzen תורה unter das dem Wortlaute nach nur für die שירה ausgesprochene Gebot: לפי שאין כותבין התורה פרשיות פרשיות, weil ein bruchstückweises Schreiben der תורה nicht zulässig wäre (siehe zu V. 26. — Über diese Motivierung siehe jedoch: ׳שאגת ארי׳ סי׳ לד und תשובה מאהבה zu י׳׳ד und 1. Bd. 67, 126 und 128).

ולמדה, שימה בפיהם, "and teach it and place it in their mouths." G'd commanded three separate commandments here. 1) To write down the song; 2) to teach it to the children of Israel so that they would understand it. [as one has to teach any poem. Ed.] 3) To "place it in their mouths," i.e. to teach them how to read it correctly.

Die wesentlichsten Vorschriften über כתיבת ס׳׳ת haben wir bereits im Zusammenhange mit תפלין und מזוזה zu Kap. 6, 9 betrachtet (siehe daselbst).

Moses carried out all three instructions as the Torah recorded (verse 23) "Moses wrote the song. 2) He taught it to the children of Israel. 3) Moses said in the hearing of the entire congregation the words of the song (verse 30)." He read it to them in such a way that they would know how to read it properly in the future. This is the meaning of the words שימה בפיהם.