Hebrew Bible Study
Hebrew Bible Study

Chasidut for Deuteronomy 3:24

אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֗ה אַתָּ֤ה הַֽחִלּ֙וֹתָ֙ לְהַרְא֣וֹת אֶֽת־עַבְדְּךָ֔ אֶ֨ת־גָּדְלְךָ֔ וְאֶת־יָדְךָ֖ הַחֲזָקָ֑ה אֲשֶׁ֤ר מִי־אֵל֙ בַּשָּׁמַ֣יִם וּבָאָ֔רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה כְמַעֲשֶׂ֖יךָ וְכִגְבוּרֹתֶֽךָ׃

’O Lord GOD, Thou hast begun to show Thy servant Thy greatness, and Thy strong hand; for what god is there in heaven or on earth, that can do according to Thy works, and according to Thy mighty acts?

Kedushat Levi

Deuteronomy 24:3, You have begun to show Your servant, ‎etc,” According to Rashi’s commentary on Exodus 32,10 ‎where G’d tried to forestall Moses’ prayer on behalf of his people, ‎this had been an indication that basically G’d is very interested in ‎our prayers. In light of Rashi’s comment there, why did ‎Moses refer to “Your greatness, etc.; at this point?” The answer is ‎that that by having said on that occasion “Leave Me be,” G’d had ‎indicated that He normally longed for the prayers of the ‎righteous, prayers which are capable of reversing potentially ‎harmful decrees into beneficial ones. When Moses referred here to ‎G’d having displayed that very greatness, the occasion had been ‎his own readiness to pray and to reverse His decree. It was ‎therefore appropriate now that he now do the same on his own ‎behalf.‎
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Kedushat Levi

“You Who are unparalleled in heaven or on earth for ‎the great and powerful deeds that You have performed.” ‎‎
In order to understand what Moses refers to here it must be ‎assumed that the tzaddikim, the righteous, are referred to ‎in this line as G’d’s handiwork, ‎מעשיך‎. The definition of a ‎‎tzaddik is someone who is constantly in control of his awe ‎of the Creator. Moses continues to describe even people who can ‎act like the tzaddikim as being something so outstanding ‎that such people do not have their equals anywhere, i.e. ‎אשר יעשה ‏כמעשיך‎.‎
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