Comentario sobre Deuteronómio 4:32

לימים ראשנים is the same as על ימים ראשנים [ASK NOW] REGARDING THE FORMER DAYS.

FOR ASK NOW OF THE DAYS PAST. He states “G-d will not forgive you, nor will He be long-suffering with you for idolatry and corruption with graven images and all forms of likenesses, for He has done with you what He has never done with any nation. He has made you hear the voice of G-d speaking out of the midst of the fire¹⁰⁶Verse 33. so that His fear may be before you¹⁰⁷Exodus 20:17. and that you declare His Unity and not corrupt yourselves. He has taken you to Him a nation from the midst of another nation, by trials, by signs and by wonders¹⁰⁸Verse 34. so that you should not worship anything beside Him. Thus you have been shown all this with your eyes that thou mightest know that the Eternal, He is G-d,¹⁰⁹Verse 35. that He is One, and His Name One,¹¹⁰Zechariah 14:9. and there is none else beside Him.¹⁰⁹Verse 35. For out of heaven He made thee to hear His voice¹¹¹Verse 36. to teach you the discipline of wisdom;¹¹²Proverbs 1:3. and upon the earth He made thee to see His great fire¹¹¹Verse 36. burning unto the heart of heaven,¹¹³Above, Verse 11. and all His words thou didst hear out of the midst of the fire.¹¹¹Verse 36. And He brought thee out ‘b’phanav’ (with His presence),¹¹⁴Verse 37. similar to ‘al panav’ (before His presence), with His great power which is in His presence. And since the Great Name is G-d in heaven above and upon the earth beneath, and there is none else¹¹⁵Verse 39. you shall keep His commandments and His statutes so that it may be well with thee¹¹⁶Verse 40. in heaven above, and that thou mayest prolong thy days¹¹⁶Verse 40. upon the earth beneath.”

כי שאל נא, the proof of what I said that G’d will not forget the covenant made with your forefathers is that at Mount Sinai during the revelation all of you had been elevated to the level of prophecy. When I took you to be My people this did not mean that each and everyone of you by their own merits had deserved to be elevated to that spiritual status. I did this on account of the patriarchs. The difference between you and the gentile nations is that although the exceptional gentile may have experienced prophetic insights, there never has been a nation who have experienced something similar as a whole nation as you did at Mount Sinai.

כי שאל נא לימים ראשונים, “Wish you would examine the history of mankind, etc.” Nachmanides writes that this verse introduces Moses explaining why Hashem, otherwise of almost unending patience, delaying retribution, will not do so if the Israelites become guilty of idolatry. Anyone examining history cannot fail to become aware of how much G’d has done for His people. He has not bothered to do anywhere nearly as much for any other nation on earth. He has revealed His existence, His presence, His power, to this people as to no other people. If, instead of loyalty and gratitude they were to turn their back on Him, what possible use could it be, to tolerate this and wait patiently for them to recognize the error of their ways? [I paraphrased a little. Ed.]

Regarding the early years. [Rashi inserts, “regarding”] because one cannot inquire of years.

V. 32. כי שאל נא לימים וגו׳ למן וגו׳ ולמקצה וגו׳. Wenn שאל mit ל־ konstruiert ist, so bezeichnet ל־ nicht die Person oder den Gegenstand, an welche die Frage gerichtet, sondern den Gegenstand, nach welchem gefragt wird. Das ל־ ist die sachliche Beziehung der Frage. So: למה זה תשאל לשמיַI. (Bereschit 32, 29 und Richter 13. 18). In dem so häufigen שאל לו לשלום. (Bereschit 43, 27 usw.) ist sowohl die Person als die Sache mit ל־ bezeichnet. Es ist die Erkundigung nach der Person in Beziehung auf ihr Wohlbefinden, nach dem persönlichen Wohlbefinden des Gefragten. Es drückt das Interesse an seiner Persönlichkeit aus. Hier heißt es auch nicht: frage die ganze Vergangenheit und die ganze Erde, sondern: schaffe dir eine Kenntnis von der ganzen Vergangenheit und von der Gegenwart auf der ganzen Erde. Weshalb denn auch nach unserem Texte (Chagiga 12 a) das der menschlichen Erkenntnis geöffnete Forschungsgebiet nach Umfang und Grenze durch למן היום אשר ברא אדם על הארץ und למקצה השמים ועד קצה השמים zeitlich und räumlich auf die Geschichte seit Erschaffung der Welt und auf die innerhalb der geschaffenen irdischen Welt vorhandenen Dinge weise umschränkt wird. Alles vor der Schöpfung und jenseits der irdischen Dinge Liegende, מה למעלה מה למטה מה לפנים מה לאחור (siehe תוספ׳ daselbst), ist dem menschlichen Forschen versagt. Die innerhalb dieser Grenze eröffnete Geschichts- und Naturerkenntnis ist aber im Sinne unserer Stelle nicht nur etwas Gestattetes, sondern etwas in möglichst weitem Umfange zu Wünschendes, weil nur dem mit solchem Umblicke gerüsteten Geiste sich vergleichend die jüdische Weltstellung in ihrer ganzen Eigentümlichkeit erschließt.

'כי שאל נא וגו, “You only have to inquire, etc.;” if you were to ask why G–d is so much more strict with us than with other nations, all you have to do is to ask yourselves if there is any nation whose fate has been as carefully supervised by G–d as yours from the time of Avraham; in light of all that He has done for you, do you not think that He is entitled to measure you by different yardsticks?

כי שאל נא, “for ask now of the days past;” make enquiries of earlier generations if any nation ever experienced what you have been granted to experience;” seeing that we have been granted more privileges than any generation of mankind experienced, our G-d is especially mindful that we do not prove ungrateful.

ולמקצה השמים AND FROM ONE END OF HEAVEN — i.e. and also ask of all the creatures from one end to the other end of heaven. This is its plain sense, but a Midrashic explanation is: it teaches us regarding Adam's height, that it reached from earth to heaven, and that this is the very same measurement as from one end of heaven to the other (Sanhedrin 38b).

Regarding the height of Adam etc. For it is written, “That Hashem created Adam on earth [and from one end of the heavens, etc.]”

הנהיה כדבר הגדול הזה [ASK] … WHETHER THERE HATH BEEN ANYTHING LIKE THIS GREAT THING — And what is the great thing? What is stated in the two following verses: השמע עם וגו׳ DID EVER A PEOPLE HEAR, etc., and

Which reached from earth to heaven, etc. The phrase, “And from one end of the heavens,” means, “the height of Adam was from earth to heaven.” For if understood simply, then what is the meaning of, “[Inquire ... from the day Hashem created Adam] until the end of the heavens”?

Which is the same measurement, etc. [On one hand] the verse implies [that Adam’s height was] “from one end of the world until the other,” as it is written, “and from one end of the heavens to the other end of the heavens [east to west].” Yet, [on the other hand] it implies that Adam’s height was “from the earth until the heavens,” as it is written, “...on earth until one end of the heavens.” How can this be resolved? Rather, it is the same measurement, etc. In other words, the circumference of the heavens — its uppermost limit — is one end [of the heavens], and the center of heaven — which is the earth — is the other end [of the heavens], and this measurement is exactly the same as, “from the heaven until the earth.” It is as if the verse says, “From one end of the heaven until the other, which is from the heaven until the earth.” According to this, the expressions, “From the earth until the firmament,” and, “From the earth until one end of the heavens,” and, “From one end of the heavens until the other end of the heavens,” and, “From one end of the world until the other end,” are all the same, they only differ in what they are called.