Comentario sobre Deuteronómio 32:46

שימו לבבכם SET YOUR HEARTS [UNTO ALL THE WORDS WHICH I TESTIFY AGAINST YOU THIS DAY] — Indeed, it is necessary for a man that his eyes, his heart and his ears, should all be attentively directed to the words of the Torah, for so it states, (Ezekiel 40:4) “Son of man, behold with thine eyes, and hear with thine ears, and set thine heart [upon all that I shall show thee]” (viz., the plan of the Temple). If in the case of the model of the Temple, which was being made visible to the eyes and was being measured by a rod, it was necessary for a man, according to Scripture, that his eyes, his ears and his heart be attentive, then in order to understand the words of the Torah which are like mountains suspended on a hair (i.e., numerous laws are derived from a single word of the Torah), how much the more is this necessary!

אשר אנכי מעיד בכם היום, in the song of Haazinu which I use to make Israel be witness to my admonitions. The principal message is that just as while the Jewish people observe the commandments G’d arranges for their livelihood to be attained with ease and without much sweat, so, He will destroy them if they do not, because they thwart His plans for mankind as a whole.

שימו לבבכם לכל הדברים אשר אנכי מעיד בכם היום, “apply your hearts to all the words that I testify against you this day;” this is not part of the testimony but is simply a form of warning, just as was Exodus 19,21 when G’d told Moses: רד העד בעם, “descend and warn the people.” We have a similar occurrence of the verb העד as “warning” in Exodus 19,23 כי אתה העדות בנו, “for You have warned us.” In this verse Moses warns the people that everyone should pay careful attention to the words of the Torah; this is why he speaks of לבבכם instead of לבכם. He urges people to serve the Lord with both parts of our hearts, the good urge as well as the evil urge, יצר הרע. This is why the sages said in Kidushin 30, quoting G’d: “I did create an evil urge, but I also created the Torah as its antidote.”