Musar for Deuteronomy 4:44

I have found a beautiful commentary concerning this amongst the writings of the Arizal. We must understand why Moses bothered to set aside these three cities, seeing they could not perform their function until the other three cities of refuge on the West Bank of the Jordan had been set aside also (Numbers 35,13; compare Makkot 9). When we understand the Arizal's commentary on the problem of the cities of refuge, we will also understand why the Torah interrupted the report about the gift of the Torah to the Jewish people by mentioning already at this point that Moses set aside the three cities of refuge which were to be on the East Bank of the Jordan. The Ari zal sees in Moses' action an attempt at rehabilitation for when he had committed manslaughter and had taken it upon himself to slay the Egyptian who had tortured a Jew (Exodus 2,12). He had considered this killing in the category of a murder inadvertently committed because he had felt at the time that he was performing a מצוה by doing so. The first letters of the words הירדן מזרחה שמה, which describe what Moses did, form the acronym משה. The following words, אשר ירצח את רעהו are also an allusion to Moses. We have already described that Moses was the re-incarnation of Abel. The Torah here alludes to the first murder i.e. fratricide, when Cain slew his brother Abel. This is also alluded to in Exodus 2,11, when the Torah describes Moses as observing an Egyptian man: מכה איש עברי מאחיו, "torturing a Jewish man, one of his brothers." The Torah hints that the Egyptian was a former brother of Moses, i.e. a re-incarnation of Cain. In this instance the evil which had been part of Cain's character had re-surfaced in the character of this Egyptian. We have explained on another occasion that the נפש of Cain, i.e. his lowest spiritual part, was re-incarnated in the body of this Egyptian, whereas Cain's רוח, the superior part of his soul, was re-incarnated in the body of Yitro. The highest part of Cain's soul, i.e. the נשמה, was re-incarnated in the body of Korach. Korach made the mistake of quarrelling with Moses; this resulted in his גלגול failing to achieve its ultimate purpose. Yitro was of mixed feelings. When he became aware that he was wrong, had sinned, he converted to Judaism. At the end of the paragraph dealing with the cities of refuge the Torah writes: וזאת התורה אשר שם משה. This means that Moses determined the need to set aside these three cities of refuge at this time for his own sake.

Just as one is obligated to fulfill the commandment [to be fruitful and multiply] in the physical sense, so is one commanded to do so in the spiritual sense by revealing new Torah insights. Through this, one merits the Torah’s illumination. The Sages said, “Acquire for yourself a companion” (Pirkei Avos 1:6). This statement is to be taken literally, but it is also a hint that his pen should be one’s companion. That is, one should record his insights. There is even a suggestion of this in the Torah: “Write this as a remembrance in a book” (Shemos 17:14). The word “this” alludes to the Torah (Avodah Zarah 2b), as it states, “And this is the Torah” (Devarim 4:44).

We have a statement in Avodah Zarah 2 by Rabbi Chanina bar Pappa that in the future G–d personally will appear with a Torah scroll in His lap announcing that anyone who has studied and observed the Torah should come and get his reward. Thereupon the Gentiles would assemble in a disorderly fashion and claim their reward. G–d would tell them to appear in an orderly fashion, each nation separately headed by their scribes, etc. [Scriptural proof is provided for all this in the relevant passage in the Talmud. Ed.] The first nation laying claim to reward would be the Romans who would extol their contributions to civilisation, pointing out the public baths, highways, etc., they had built. They would claim to have done all this in order to enable Israel to devote itself to Torah study. G–d is described as rejecting the claim as foolish, telling them they had done all this for their own sakes. As an example, G–d cites the market-places as having served merely immoral purposes. G–d would ask them if there was none amongst them who could יגיד זאת, i.e. who had devoted himself to Torah (based on Isaiah 43,9 where the word זאת is understood to apply to Torah)? Upon hearing this the Romans would be deeply disappointed, etc." The whole paragraph in the Talmud seems very long-winded. The Talmud could simply have said: זאת=תורה, without listing all the Romans' so-called accomplishments, and G–d's describing them as the very reverse.

The written and the oral Torah are called זה and זאת respectively, because they relate to one another just like the male and the female. When G–d is said to have asked the Romans: "Who amongst you can claim זאת, He meant: "Who amongst you can claim to have studied the oral Torah?" We read in Deut. 4,44: וזאת התורה אשר שם משה לפני בני ישראל, "And this is the Torah Moses placed in front of the Children of Israel;" this is a reference to the oral Torah. Furthermore, the scholars of the Kabbalah are aware of the written and oral Torah as also being referred to as חמה and לבנה, sun and moon, respectively. This is the reason that the Jewish people count according to the moon, i.e. the lunar calendar, whereas the Gentiles count according to the sun, i.e. the solar calendar.