Comentario sobre Deuteronómio 10:26

בעת ההוא AT THAT TIME — At the end of forty days He was reconciled with me and said to me, פסל לך HEW FOR THYSELF [TWO TABLETS] and afterwards, ועשית לך ארון עץ MAKE THEE AN ARK OF WOOD. I, however, (see v. 3) made the Ark first (Midrash Tanchuma, Eikev 1), because when I came with the tablets in my hand where could I place them? Now this was not the Ark which Bezaleel made for the Tabernacle, because with the Tabernacle they did not occupy themselves until after the Day of Atonement, for only when he came down from the mountain on that day did he give them the command regarding the construction of the Tabernacle, and Bezaleel made the Tabernacle first and afterwards the Ark and the other articles (Berakhot 55a). It follows, therefore, that this was another Ark; and it was this, that went forth with them to battle, whilst that which Bezaleel made went forth to battle only once, in the days of Eli — and they were punished for this, for it was captured by the Philistines (cf. Jerusalem Talmud Shekalim 6:1).

AT THAT TIME THE ETERNAL SAID UNTO ME: ‘HEW THEE TWO TABLETS OF STONE.’ After I cast myself down in prayer before G-d for forty days and forty nights, He was reconciled with me that He would write the second Tablets. However, the first ones were the work of G-d, and the writing was the writing of G-d,¹⁶⁴Exodus 32:16. whereas these [second Tablets] He commanded me that they be hewn by my hands and the writing will be like the writing on the first ones, by the finger of G-d.¹⁶⁵Ibid., 31:18.

בעת ההיא אמר ה' אלי "פסל לך", in spite of all my prayers, the repair, the reconstitution of what had been damaged, proved to be incomplete,for the substitution for the first set of Tablets was not something made by G’d Himself, and this is why He commanded me: פסל לך, “carve it out by yourself!”

בעת ההיא אמר ה׳ אלי, "At that time G'd said to me: 'hew for yourself,' etc." Seeing that the materials for the first Tablets were G'd-made as opposed to the raw material being provided by Moses, and that after the episode of the golden calf the Israelites were no longer worthy of such Tablets, G'd told Moses to hew them out of materials that the Israelites were able to relate to, instead of G'd providing supernatural materials unfamiliar to the people which they were unable to relate to and to esteem properly.

בעת ההיא אמר ה' אלי: "פסל לך שני לוחות אבנים", “At that time Hashem said to me: ‘carve for yourself two stone Tablets;’” This was a sign that G’d looked once more favourably upon me, seeing that He was willing to inscribe these Tablets Himself. However, the second set of Tablets was distinctly different from the first set, seeing that the first set of Tablets was entirely the work of Hashem, He even supplied the raw material, presumably material not even found on earth.

And Betzalel made the Tabernacle first, etc. I.e., do not say that they certainly were not commanded to make the Tabernacle until after Yom Kippur, but Betzalel made the ark first and afterward the Tabernacle. And if so, this ark (mentioned here) could be the ark that Betzalel made. Therefore, Rashi explains, “And Betzalel made the Tabernacle first, etc.”

Kap. 10. V. 1. בעת ההיא. Am Ende jener mittleren vierzig Tage, in welchen Mosche um die Wiederanknüpfung der besonderen göttlichen Waltungsbeziehungen zu Israel sich bewarb (siehe Schmot 33, 12 f. und 34, 1 f.). ועשית לך וגו׳ damit war von vornherein die Weisung gegeben, dass sie nicht wieder zerbrochen werden sollten, damit implizite die Versicherung, dass, der noch zu überwindenden Unvollkommenheiten und Verirrungen des Volkes ungeachtet, ihre endliche Bestimmung, Träger und Wahrer des göttlichen Gesetzes zu sein, mit ihnen durchdauern werde.

Moses received the Torah at Sinai and transmitted it to Joshua, Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets to the Men of the Great Assembly. They said three things: Be patient in [the administration of] justice, raise many disciples and make a fence round the Torah.

בעת ההיא, “at that time;” after G–d had pardoned the people’s sin and instructed him to hew new Tablets out of material found on earth. He did so to make sure the people could not accuse Moses at a later stage to have smashed the Tablets G–d had given him for the people. After all, they had been the most precious gift the people had ever been meant to receive. This is also what Kohelet had in mind when he said in Kohelet 3,1: there is a time for everything, a time for every imaginable “thing.” There was a time when the Tablets had to be smashed, and there was another time when new Tablets had to be made. Moses refers to the second such time. A different interpretation of the words: פסל לך ההיא. The word: פסל, which is part of the word פסולת, rubbish, chips, is what will be Moses’ after he had hewn out the new tablets from stone. It would be his reward for performing that work. It would enrich Moses as the “stone” from which he hewed these tablets were sapphires. There is a disagreement between the sages about where Moses had been able to find those sapphires. According to Rabbi Levi, Moses found this under the throne of G–d; according to the opinion of Rabbi Chanan, he found it beneath his tent. The source of this discussion is found in Song of Songs 5,14: ידיו גלילי זהב, “his arms are rods of gold, are studded with sapphires overlaid with ivory.” i.e. the tablets, i.e. the commandments were arranged five on each tablet. (Compare Talmud tractate Shekalim chapter 6, halachah 1) Yet another interpretation of the words: פסל לך: I appoint you as king and you may disqualify anyone and anything that you desire. (Tanchuma section 9 on our portion)

בעת ההיא, “at that time;” on the night of the twenty ninth of Av;” this is a reference to Exodus 34,1, when G-d said to Moses to that he was to carve out stones for the second set of Tablets.

ועשית לך ארון עץ, “you will make for yourself a wooden ark.” Rashi explains that this is not the Holy Ark constructed by Betzalel when he made the Tabernacle about 3-4 months later. The meaning of the instruction in our verse is that the Tablets would be housed in the ark made by Moses until the time when the Tabernacle would be built and inaugurated. [at this point in time G’d had not even instructed Moses to build a Tabernacle. Ed.] After the Tabernacle was built, the ark constructed by Moses now would house the broken pieces of the first set of Tablets. Nachmanides comments that our sages do not appear to agree with Rashi’s explanation (Baba Batra 14 and Menachot 99) The opinion expressed in the Talmud is that both the second set of Tablets and the broken pieces of the first set reposed in the same ark, i.e. the ark constructed by Betzalel. This appears as the more logical scenario, seeing that the ark constructed by Moses was not inside the innermost and most sacred part of the Tabernacle during the 40 years the people traveled through the desert. According to tradition, the only time the Holy Ark left the Tabernacle/Temple, was when the High Priest Eli’s sons took it with them in the war against the Philistines, as a result of which it fell into captivity until it was eventually repatriated by King David to Jerusalem, about 50 years later. According to the sages, the ark Moses constructed was to serve his carrying the second set of Tablets in on his descent from the Mountain, and they would repose there until the consecration of the Tabernacle almost 6 months later. The reason that Moses was not instructed to make an ark prior to receiving the first set of Tablets was that it was foreseen that these would be smashed and did not need an ark to house them. Therefore the words ויהיו שם in verse 5 mean that the Tablets would remain in that ark pending the construction of the Holy Ark surrounded by gold and covered with the golden lid on which were mounted the two cherubs. Taking a more pragmatic approach to the text, i.e. the peshat, it is possible to understand G’d’s instruction to make a wooden ark as already referring to the ark that would be constructed by Betzalel later, seeing that long before Betzalel was appointed to be the artisan in charge of constructing the Tabernacle, Moses had been charged by Gd with that project in Exodus 25,10 after G’d had told Moses to collect the requisite donations from the people for that project (Exodus 25,2-9). Execution of that project had been sidelined due to the sin of the golden calf until after G’d had become reconciled to the atonement for that sin having been adequate, [although it was never totally forgiven Ed. (Sanhedrin 102)] When the time had come, G’d briefly told Moses to make an ark for the Tablets, this being none other than the ark already mentioned in Exodus It was a way of G’d indicating to Moses that what had been interrupted due to the episode of the golden calf could now be resumed, including the collection of the donations for that project. This is the meaning of Moses adding after the words ויהיו שם, “they remained there,” the words: כאשר צווני ה', “as Hashem had (previously) commanded me.” He meant that the Tablets were to repose within that ark permanently. When Moses descended from the Mountain carrying the second set of Tablets he deposited them in the אהל מועד, “the tent of testimony,” [the one Moses had retreated to after the sin of the golden calf, compare Exodus Ed.] in order to remain there until the Tabernacle had been constructed. If Moses had not smashed the first set of Tablets, he would have deposited them in that tent until Betzalel would have completed the Ark that was intended to house the Tablets permanently. It is most likely that what happened to the second Tablets also happened to the remains of the First Tablets. [By the way, Eliyahu Ki Tov, ז'צ'ל in his booklets on the portions of the Torah’ illustrates by a calculation how both the first set of the Tablets in their fragments plus the second set, plus the Torah scroll written by Moses could be fitted within the dimensions given by the Torah for the size of the Holy Ark. He also adds a fascinating calculation as to the combined weight of the Holy Ark when it was being transported. Ed.] It is impossible to explain this in a different fashion, as Moses most certainly did not take the fragments of the first set of Tablets back up the Mountain with him. [This is true as long as we stay within the parameters of the peshat, without speculating on what happened to the letters of the Tablets, etc., etc., as the Midrash does. Ed.] We must not ask that according to what Moses relates in verse 3 and 5 respectively, that he must have placed the Tablets in an ark at hand as soon as he descended with these Tablets and that they remained in that same ark. We must not understand all of these steps as having occurred exactly in the sequence Moses portrays them. He was only interested in concluding the subject of the Tablets and the Holy Ark within which they reposed after the Tabernacle had been built. The principal part of Moses’ message was verse 4, in which he testifies that what Hashem wrote on the second set of Tablets was exactly what He had written on the first set. This being so, this set of Tablets also qualified for being housed in the original Holy Ark that G’d had told Moses about in Exodus chapter 25. Hashem’s holy name was honoured by His writing reposing in a Holy Ark on earth. With the words

G'd continued by telling Moses that he was to make a wooden ark for these tablets. The expression "make for yourself" a wooden ark does not mean that the ark would be Moses' property or would be paid for out of Moses' private funds; but, seeing that the materials the Tablets were made of were man-made, Moses was also to provide a man-made ark to house the Tablets. This is in sharp contrast to the first Tablets when G'd had not commanded that Moses bring an ark to the Mountain to house the Tablets. Seeing that the original Tablets were of material provided by G'd they did not need a protective cover such as an ark, other than the ark which G'd had commanded Betzalel to construct in Exodus 25,10. Compare what I have written on Deut. 9,17 in connection with the words מעל שתי ידי, "above my two hands." Moses was specific in repeating G'd's command ועשית לך, to teach us that inasmuch as the Tablets were really his (as opposed to the people's), it was appropriate that he be the one to construct the ark for them.

AND MAKE THEE AN ARK OF WOOD. The meaning thereof is that you put the Tablets into this ark when you descend [the mountain]. Now this ark, including its cover, is to be entirely from wood [and not overlaid with gold], like all arks, and the Tablets should remain there until the Tabernacle is made. [Only] then, they made the ark which was covered with gold and the ark-cover upon it of pure gold.¹⁶⁶Ibid., 37:1-6. — In order to understand the text, it is necessary to recall that the affairs of the golden calf, the breaking of the first Tablets, and the giving of the second Tablets, all took place in the summer of the first year after the exodus, while the building of the Tabernacle, the making of the ark, etc., were not completed until the spring of the second year after the exodus. Now, since the command about making an ark for the second Tablets was given to Moses immediately upon his receiving them on the tenth day of Tishri — the Day of Atonement — this ark was obviously not the ark made by Bezalel for the Tabernacle during the following winter. Ramban will further on present a different solution to the problem. He did not tell Moses [to make an ark] for the first Tablets because it was manifest before Him that he would break them [immediately upon coming down the mountain]. And the meaning of the verse, and there they were, as the Eternal commanded me¹⁶⁷Further, Verse 5. is that the Tablets were there [in the ark] until the Tabernacle was made concerning which He commanded me, And thou shalt put the ark-cover above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the Testimony that I shall give thee.¹⁶⁸Exodus 25:21. This is the good and correct [interpretation] of these verses.
And Rashi wrote: “Now, this was not the ark which Bezalel made [for the Tabernacle], because they did not occupy themselves in the making of the Tabernacle until after the Day of Atonement, for it was only when he came down from the mountain that he commanded them concerning the construction of the Tabernacle, and it was Bezalel who made, first the Tabernacle, and afterwards the ark¹⁶⁹See Vol. II, p. 558, Note 72. and the vessels. Thus it follows that this [ark mentioned here] was a different one, and it was this [ark] that went forth with them to battle, while the one that Bezalel made did not go forth to battle except in the days of Eli¹⁷⁰I Samuel 4:4. and they were punished for this and it was captured [by the Philistines].”¹⁷¹Ibid., Verse 17. This is the Rabbi’s language, quoting words of Agadah which he found written in the Tanchuma.¹⁷²Tanchuma, Eikev 10.
Now one may ask: “And after they removed the Tablets from this ark and placed them in the ark which Bezalel made, what happened to this ark? And why did this one go forth with the people to battle [since it was empty, the Tablets having been removed]?” Some say that the broken Tablets lay in that ark, and so in fact it is found in the Agadah, but these are the words of a single Sage, for thus we learned in Tractate Shekalim:¹⁷³Yerushalmi Shekalim VI, 1. “We are taught [in a Beraitha]: Rabbi Yehudah the son of Rabbi Ilai says: Israel had two arks in the wilderness, one in which the broken Tablets lay etc. But the Rabbis say: there was only one, and once it went forth [to battle] in the days of Eli and it was captured [by the Philistines].” The opinion of our Rabbis throughout the Talmud is also not so [that there were two arks]; but that [both] the whole Tablets and the broken Tablets lay in the [same] ark. Besides, where was this ark containing the first [broken] Tablets to stay all the years in the wilderness? For in the Tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies beyond the Veil, there were no two arks, and Solomon also brought but one ark into the Holy of Holies [of the Sanctuary]!¹⁷⁴I Kings 8:7. Rather, [we must say] that this ark of Moses was stored away upon the completion of the ark of Bezalel, as is the law of implements of holiness [which must be stored away after having served their purpose].¹⁷⁵Megillah 26b.
This is the correct interpretation in accordance with the opinion of our Rabbis, for, in line with the plain meaning of Scripture, it is possible that the verse here, and make thee an ark of wood, refers to the ark which Bezalel made. This [could be explained as follows]: First Moses was commanded regarding the making of the Tabernacle and its vessels, the first command being And they shall make an ark of acacia-wood,¹⁷⁶Exodus 25:10. for this [to contain the Tablets] was the main purpose of the entire Tabernacle — that the Eternal that sitteth upon the cherubim¹⁷⁷II Samuel 6:2. be there. Afterwards they made the calf and when G-d was reconciled with Moses and told him that He would write on these Tablets according to the first writing,¹⁷⁸Verse 4 here. He commanded him briefly that he should make for these [second] Tablets an ark of wood, this being the same one concerning which he was commanded for the first Tablets. Thus He mentioned to Moses [as narrated by Moses in the verse before us] the primary commandment regarding the Tabernacle, and [the one] upon which everything depended. It was from this [charge to build the ark] that Moses deduced [that he was] to make the Tabernacle and its vessels, as he had been commanded earlier. And in that case the interpretation of the phrase, and there they were, as the Eternal command me¹⁶⁷Further, Verse 5. is that they be there forever as the Eternal commanded me originally: and in the ark thou shalt put the Testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will speak with thee etc.¹⁷⁹Exodus 25:21-22. Now when Moses came down from the mountain he placed the Tablets in [his personal] tent of meeting¹⁸⁰Ibid., 33:7. until he made the ark and the Tabernacle.¹⁸¹In the Tur: “the Tabernacle and the ark.” For had he not broken the first Tablets, they would have been in [his] tent of meeting¹⁸⁰Ibid., 33:7. until Bezalel had made the ark. And so perforce we must also say that the broken tablets were there [in his tent of meeting], for he did not return them with him when he ascended the mountain. Proof for this [i.e., that the command for making the ark mentioned here is identical with the command mentioned in the Book of Exodus with the instructions to build the Tabernacle] is the fact that Moses did not mention this command in the section of Ki Thisa,¹⁸²There, in the chapter after the affair of the golden calf, we are told that Moses was commanded concerning the second Tablets (Exodus 34:1-5), but nothing is said there about the making of an ark for those Tablets, such as is mentioned here. Now, if the ark cited here was a different one than Bezalel’s, the question arises why is that command not referred to in the Book of Exodus, where the subject of the second Tablets is mentioned? If, however, we say that the ark here, is the same as that made by Bezalel, then there was no need to discuss it in Exodus, for Moses had already ordered its construction in Exodus 31:7. for there He mentioned the ark of Bezalel expressly.¹⁸³Ibid., 31:7. — The section begins: See, I have called by name Bezalel (Verse 2). Now here he did not mention the Tabernacle and its vessels for the people saw it before them, and therefore he mentioned it only briefly [through the first command concerning the ark].
Now, do not consider it difficult that he said, So I made an ark of acacia-wood, and hewed two Tablets of stone¹⁸⁴Verse 3 here. [which would seem to indicate that Moses made the ark at once and then hewed the two Tablets of stone, and, if so, this could not be the ark of Bezalel], for he completed the narration of the subject of the ark at one time. For G-d had commanded him, Hew thee two Tablets of stone etc., and come up unto Me into the mount; and make thee an ark of wood, meaning that he should first come up with the Tablets and afterwards he should make an ark of wood; but He prolonged [the subject of the Tablets] in order to say, And I will write on the Tablets the words that were on the first Tablets which thou didst break, and thou shalt put them in the ark,¹⁸⁵Verse 2. that is to say that these second Tablets will be identical to the first ones in writing and, therefore, it is proper that they, like the first ones, be in the [previously] commanded ark, where I will meet with the children of Israel, and it shall be sanctified by My glory.¹⁸⁶Exodus 29:43. Therefore Moses finished the account by stating, So I made an ark,¹⁸⁴Verse 3 here. in order to briefly complete the commandment and the deed. Afterwards he returned to speak at length on the subject mentioned before.

ועלה אלי ההרה, “and ascend the Mountain to Me;” ועשית לך ארון עץ, “and make for yourself a wooden ark” (after ascending). According to Tanchuma, Moses did not make this ark afterwards but before ascending [as where was he to put the Tablets in the interval after returning from the Mountain? Ed.].

ארון עץ, “an ark made of wood.” There is disagreement among the sages in the Jerusalem Talmud, tractate shekalim, chapter six halachah 1, if this refers to a single ark or to two. The latter opinion holds that one of these arks was to contain the Torah scroll, and the other was to contain the second set of Tablets.

V. 2. ואכתב וגו׳. Gott ändert um der Verirrungen der Menschen willen nicht sein Gesetz. Es bleibt immer nur die Alternative: Abfall von diesem Gesetze, oder treue Rückkehr zu diesem Gesetze. Nicht eine Reform des Gesetzes, unsere Reform zu diesem Gesetze bleibt ewig und zu allen Zeiten die alleinige Aufgabe. Gott schreibt auf die neuen Tafeln nur das alte Gesetz. Es ist das Gegebene und wartet über abgefallene Geschlechter hinaus auf pflichtgetreue Enkel.

ושמתם בארון, “and place the Tablets in the ark.” The broken Tablets had been lying in that ark all the time, as we know from Sifrey on Behaalotcha, paragraph 82. This was the ark that the Israelites took with them when they went out to war as we know from Numbers 10,33. and which travelled three days march in front of them during the journeys in the desert. It was the ark made by Moses before he ascended Mount Sinai, not the Ark that Bezalel made for a furnishing of the Tabernacle. Originally, he had placed the broken Tablets in that ark as well as the second set of Tablets, as the commandment to construct a Tabernacle, etc. had not yet been given. We have read this in verse five of our chapter. Construction of the Tabernacle had begun only after Moses had descended from the Mountain for the third time and it was not completed or consecrated until the beginning of Nissan of the second year in the desert. At that time the Tablets were transferred to the golden ark covered by the golden lid with the cherubs that we read about in Exodus 25,16. This Ark was not taken out of the Tabernacle even during wars as we know from Samuel I 4,7 and 8: during the war around Shiloh, against the Philistines, when the two sons of Eli the High Priest took the golden ark with them to help them in the war and the Philistines captured it, [though it brought only harm to them wherever the placed it so that they sent it back after six months. Ed.] Our sages are on record as ruling that at any time when this ark and G–d’s Presence which it symbolised was not in the place assigned to it, the Israelites were not allowed to indulge in marital relations with their wives. During the incident between David and Uriah hachitti, in Samuel II 11,11, when David sent him home on furlough to his wife to engage in marital intercourse, the latter’s refusal to do so was considered an unjustifiable hardship he imposed upon himself, while ordinary soldiers when on leave did have marital relations. [The soldiers in David’s army had given their wives pro forma divorce decrees before going into battle so that their wives would be able to remarry if they died and their remains had not been identified. Ed.] When the Ark accompanied Joshua during the war of conquest of the Holy Land, this was at the direct command of the Lord. In both instances the reference was to the ark Moses had constructed and which contained the broken Tablets. When the Talmud in Baba Batra folio 14 speaks of the broken Tablets and the second set of Tablets that were kept in the Ark, the reference is clearly to the Ark made by Betzalel. But this refers to the Ark in Solomon’s Temple, after it had found a permanent resting place. In the Jerusalem Talmud we do find that there is a disagreement about whether during that period there were still two arks.

ושמתם בארון, “you shall put them inside the ark.” You shall not carry them in your hands so that you will not have an opportunity to smash them in a fit of anger, as you did with the last ones. (B’chor shor)

אשר שברת (siehe zu Schmot 34, 1). — ושמתם בארון. Nach Baba Bathra 14 b לוחות ושברי לוחות מונחין בארון, lagen die zerbrochenen Tafeln und die wiederhergestellten in der Bundeslade, ein zweifaches Gedächtnis für alle Zeit: dass die Gesetzestafeln schon einmal um unseres Abfalls willen in Trümmern gelegen und jede unsere Gegenwart nur auf der sühnenden Wiederherstellung steht, und dass jede solche Sühne nur: Rückkehr zum alten Gesetze bedeutet.

ואעש ארון, “I constructed an ark,” Moses concludes this interlude and returns to his main theme.

ואעל ההרה, “I ascended the Mountain.” This was at dawn on Thursday the twenty ninth day of Av. This ascent has been referred to in Exodus 34,4, where the Torah reported Moses ascending early in the morning.

That is that He commanded us to believe in His awe, may He be exalted, and to be afraid of Him. And we should not be like the heretics who walk brazen-heartedly and heedlessly, but should be scared with the fear of His punishment at all times. And that is His saying, "And you shall fear the Lord, your God." And in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 56a), they said by way of give and take about His saying, "And if he pronounces (nokev) the name, Lord, he shall be put to death" (Leviticus 24:16) - "Say that [nokev] is to mention, as it is stated (Numbers 1:17), 'who were mentioned (nikvu) by name,' and its prohibition is from, 'And you shall fear the Lord, your God.'" That is to say, maybe His saying, "And if he pronounces," is only that he mention [God's] name [even] without cursing. And if you will say, "What transgression is there in that" - we will say that it is because he neglected fear. For included in the fear of God is not to mention His name gratuitously. The answer to this question, and its rejection, was, "First, you need the name with the name" - as they said, "Yossi should smite Yossi" - "and also, that this is [only] a prohibition of a positive commandment. And any prohibition of a positive commandment is not called a prohibition" - for it is a command and a positive commandment, and we cannot prohibit with a positive commandment. Behold it has been made clear to you that His saying, "And you shall fear the Lord, your God," is a positive commandment. (See Parashat Ekev; Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah.)

ויתנם ה׳ אלי, “the Lord handed them to me.” This was on the Tuesday, the tenth day of the month of Tishrey.

That is that we are commanded to serve Him. And this command is repeated several times: His saying, "And you shall serve the Lord, your God" (Exodus 23:25); and His saying, "and you shall serve Him" (Deuteronomy 13:5). And although this command is from the inclusive commands - as we explained in Principle Four (Sefer HaMitzvot, Shorashim 4) - it nevertheless has specificity, since it is the command to pray. The language of the Sifrei is, "'And to serve Him' (Deuteronomy 11:13) - that is prayer." And they also said, "'And to serve Him' - that is [Torah] study." And in the Mishnah of Rabbi Eliezer, the son of Rabbi Yose HaGelili, they said, "From where [do we know that] the essence of prayer is a commandment? From here - 'You shall fear the Lord, your God, and you shall serve Him' (Deuteronomy 6:13)." And they said, "Serve Him through His Torah; serve Him in His Temple." This means, direct [yourself] towards it, to pray [towards] there, as Shlomo, peace be upon him, explained. (See Parashat Mishpatim: Mishneh Torah, Prayer and the Priestly Blessing 1.)

כאשר צוני השם, "as G'd commanded me." Moses meant that all the time it took for him to bring the Tablets to the people and to place them in the ark constructed by Bezalel, the Tablets remained in the ark which he had constructed and taken up to Mount Sinai with him.

ואפן וארד מן ההר ואשים את הלוחות בארון אשר עשיתי, “I turned around and descended from the Mountain and placed the Tablets in the ark that I had constructed.” I did this immediately after descending from the Mountain .

AND I TURNED AND CAME DOWN FROM THE MOUNT, AND PUT THE TABLETS IN THE ARK WHICH I MADE. The meaning thereof is “which I made at the time I came down from the mountain.” And there they were forever, as the Eternal commanded me, that His Glory dwell among the children of Israel.¹⁸⁷Ibid., Verse 45.

V. 5. ויהיו שם כאשר צוני ד׳ sie blieben Unterpfand und Zeugnis des wiederhergestellten Gottesbundes.

ואפן וארד מן ההר, “I turned around and descended from the Mountain;” on the same day, on Tuesday, the tenth day of Tishrey. This is what is written in Exodus 34,29: ויהי ברדת משה מן ההר, “it happened while Moses was on his descent from the Mountain, etc.;” even though Moses had delayed briefly on the Mountain, he descended on that day and brought the second set of Tablets with him. This day is not included in the three times 40 days that Moses had spent on the Mountain. Those forty days had already been completed at dawn of the day that Moses descended. Moses’ absences from the people, and his fasting, therefore commenced on Monday, the first day of Sivan, prior to the revelation on the sixth day of the month, as he had to completely discharge any remnants of food and drink consumed before he ascended the Mountain where he had to be comparable to angels who do not eat or drink. He therefore could remain in a constant state of ritual purity. He completed his fasting on Monday the ninth day of Tishrey. This is why it became a custom among some of our people to observe Mondays and Thursdays commencing with the first day of Sivan and concluding on the tenth day of Tishrey.

ויהיו שם, “they remained there.” Permanently. [This is a part of Moses’ admonition. The emphasis is not on the fact that these Tablets were received, but on the quasi secrecy with which they were received, and the fact that other than Moses no one had ever seen what was written on these Tablets. Had the first set of Tablets survived intact their presence after having been displayed by Moses would have been an ongoing reminder of the revelation at Mount Sinai. Partly based on Rabbi Avraham Sabba in his Tzror hamor. Ed.]

כאשר צוני ה'. “As Hashem had commanded me.” G’d had commanded that some of His glory be present on earth in the camp of the Children of Israel.

ובני ישראל נסעו מבארת בני יעקן מוסרה AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL JOURNEYED FROM BEEROTH OF THE CHILDREN OF JAAKAN TO MOSERA — What has this matter to do with what has been related here? Further: Did they indeed journey from Beeroth of the children of Jaakan to Mosera; did they not come from Mosera to Beeroth of the children of Jaakan, as it is said, (Numbers 33:31) “And they journeyed from Moseroth, [and they encamped in Bene Jaakan]”? And further: it states here, “There (at Mosera) did Aaron die”. But did he not die at Mount Hor? Go and count and you will find that there are eight stations from Mosera to Mount Hor! — But really this also is part of the reproof offered by Moses. In effect he said, “This, also, ye did: when Aaron died on Mount Hor at the end of forty years and the clouds of Divine Glory departed, ye feared war with the king of Arad and you appointed a leader that ye might return to Egypt, and ye turned backwards eight stages unto Bene Jaakan and hence to Mosera. There the sons of Levi fought with you, and they slew some of you, and you some of them, until they forced you back on the road along which you had retreated. From there (Mosera) ye returned to Gudgodah, — that is identical with Hor Hagidgod (Numbers 33:32).

That is that He commanded us to associate with the sages, to gather with them and to constantly be involved with them in all manner of work and interaction - in eating and drinking and business, so that it comes to us to imitate their actions and believe the truth of their words. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "and to Him shall you cling" (Deuteronomy 10:20). And this command has also already been repeated - "and to cling to Him" (Deuteronomy 11:22). And in the Sifrei (Sifrei Devarim 49:2), it appears, "'And to cling to Him' - cling to the sages and their students." And they accordingly brought a proof about this obligation of a person - to marry the daughter of a Torah scholar, to feed Torah scholars and to give them business - from His saying, "and to Him shall you cling": And they said, "And is it possible for a person to cling to the Divine Presence? And behold, it is written (Deuteronomy 4:24), 'For the Lord, your God, is a consuming fire!' Rather, anyone who marries his daughter to a Torah scholar, or who marries the daughter of a Torah scholar or who benefits a Torah scholar - Scripture considers it as if he clung to the Divine presence." (See Parashat Ekev; Mishneh Torah, Human Dispositions 6.)

AND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL JOURNEYED FROM BEEROTH-BENE-YAAKAN TO MOSERAH. “Why does this matter belong here? Furthermore, did they indeed journey from Beeroth-bene-yaakan to Moserah; did they not come from Moserah to Bene-yaakan, as it is said, And they journeyed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-yaakan?¹⁸⁸Numbers 33:31. And further, here it is said, there [in Moserah] Aaron died; but did he not die in Mount Hor?¹⁸⁹Ibid., Verse 39. Go and count and you will find that there are eight journeys from Moseroth to Mount Hor!¹⁹⁰Ibid., Verses 31-37: Moseroth, Bene-yaakan, Hor-hagidgad, Jotbah, Abronah, Etzion-geber, Kadesh, Mount Hor. But really this is also part of the reproof [spoken by Moses, saying in effect]: ‘This also you did; When Aaron died in Mount Hor at the end of forty years [after the exodus] and the clouds of Divine Glory departed, you feared war with the king of Arad¹⁹¹Ibid., 21:1. and you appointed a leader to return to Egypt and you turned backwards eight journeys until Bene-yaakan and from there [you continued] to Moserah [as stated here]. There the children of Levi fought you and slew some of you, and you [slew] some of them, until they forced you back the road [along which you had retreated]. From there [Moserah] you returned to Gudgod¹⁹²Verse 7 here: From thence [Moserah] they journeyed unto Gudgod, and from Gudgod etc. which is identical with Hor-hagidgad,¹⁹³Numbers 33:32: And they journeyed from Hor-hagidgad, and pitched in Jotbah. Hence Gudgod is identical with Hor-hagidgad. and from Gudgod to Moserah.¹⁹⁴“To Moserah.” This is not found in our texts of Rashi. Instead our text reads, “And from Gudgod ‘etc’” (Verse 7). Ramban’s text of Rashi is to be understood as follows: “And from Gudgod you ultimately came back to Moserah” since the exact order in the process of their return was from Gudgod to Bene-yaakan, and thence to Moserah. See above, Note 190. And at Moserah you made a great lamentation on account of the death of Aaron which brought this [retreat and subsequent battle with the Levites] upon you, and it [the sadness] was as if Aaron had died there [thus accounting for the verse which states: there — at Moserah — Aaron died]!’ Now Moses placed this reproof next to the [narrative about the] breaking of the Tablets in order to intimate that the death of the righteous is as grievous before the Holy One, blessed be He, as was the day on which the Tablets were broken, and to inform you that it was displeasing to Him what they said Let us make a captain [and return to Egypt]¹⁹⁵Numbers 14:4. in order to break away from Him, as was the day when they made the calf. At that time the Eternal separated the tribe of Levi¹⁹⁶Verse 8 here. — this refers back to the first subject [of this chapter]. At that time, in the first year of your departure from Egypt when you sinned by worshipping the calf, but the sons of Levi did not sin, G-d separated them from you. This event is placed next to the retreat to Bene-yaakan [where, as explained earlier, the Levites showed faith and heroism] in order to intimate that in this matter, also, the sons of Levi did not sin but stood steadfast in their faith.” All this is the language of our Rabbi Shlomo [Rashi] from the words of Agadah.¹⁹⁷Tanchuma, Chukath 18.
Now, Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra, [in order not to deviate from the literal meaning of the text by saying that they retreated backwards eight stages] found it necessary to say by way of the plain meaning of Scripture that “Beeroth-bene-yaakan [mentioned in the verse before us: and the children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth-bene-yaakan to Moserah] is not identical with Bene-yaakan [mentioned in Numbers 33:31] and Moserah [mentioned here] is not Moseroth [mentioned in Numbers 33:30], but Kadesh¹⁹⁸And they journeyed from Kadesh, and pitched in Mount Hor (Numbers 33:37). is called Beeroth-bene-yaakan,¹⁹⁹For, since it states here that from Beeroth-bene-yaakan they journeyed to Moserah and that there in Moserah Aaron died, it follows that Kadesh [mentioned in Numbers 33:37] is Beeroth-bene-yaakan, seeing that there in Verse 39 it is stated that Aaron died in Mount Hor. and the name of the wilderness where Aaron died is Mount Hor-moserah [so that there is no need to say that they retreated back toward Egypt]. From thence they journeyed unto Gudgod²⁰⁰Verse 7 here. is not identical with Hor-hagidgad¹⁹³Numbers 33:32: And they journeyed from Hor-hagidgad, and pitched in Jotbah. Hence Gudgod is identical with Hor-hagidgad. but instead is a general name for Zalmonah, Punon, and Oboth,²⁰¹Numbers 33:41-43. while Jotbah²⁰⁰Verse 7 here. is the place called B’eir,²⁰²Ibid., 21:16. this being the purport of the expression [here in Verse 7 describing Jotbah as] a land of brooks of water [and in B’eir was the well, whereof the Eternal said unto Moses: ‘Gather the people together, and I will give them water’].²⁰²Ibid., 21:16. And the expression, and from Gudgod to Jotbah²⁰⁰Verse 7 here. is connected with the phrase [in Verse 6 before us], and Eleazar his son ministered in the priest’s office in his [Aaron’s] stead, for it was there in Jotbah that Eleazar began ministering as the High Priest and performed the offerings.” [Thus far is Ibn Ezra’s language.]
But all these are windy words²⁰³Job 16:3. [i.e., words devoid of substance]. For how is it possible for all these many places to be new locations that have not been referred to in the section [enumerating all] of the journeys [of Israel from Egypt to the promised Land].²⁰⁴Numbers 33:1-49. Moreover, it is the custom of Scripture everywhere to make slight changes when mentioning names a second time, whether it is the name of a place or the name of a person [so that even slightly different names would refer to the same place or person] and surely here, when the names are alike, for between Moserah and Moseroth there is no [significant] change or difference; similarly, Hor-hagidgad and Gudgod are one name, and Jotbah [mentioned here and in Numbers 33:34] are surely alike. Furthermore, it was in Mount Hor that Eleazar ministered upon the death of his father [Aaron] when Moses clothed him in the garments [of the High Priest],²⁰⁵Ibid., 20:28. for he was immediately distinguished [as a High Priest simply] by virtue of [being clothed in] the larger number of official garments [of the High Priest], this being the law of the High Priests even during succeeding generations! [Hence there is no justification for Ibn Ezra to say that Eleazar ministered as a High Priest in Jotbah for the first time.]
The correct interpretation appears to me to be that Mount Hor is the largest of the mountains and is many parasangs long.²⁰⁶An ancient Persian measure of length, equal to about three and two-fifths English miles. Its name [Hor Hahar — literally: “the mount of the mount”] so indicates, for it is called “mount” and people called it “the mountain” because of its height and length. And so our Rabbis said that this was a mount on top of a mount.²⁰⁷Tanchuma, Chukath 14, and mentioned by Rashi (Numbers 20:22): “Like a small apple on top of a large apple.” The end of the mountain extended as far as the border of the land of Edom²⁰⁸Ibid., Verse 23. and the beginning of it was near Hashmonah²⁰⁹Ibid., 33:30. [eight stages away from Mount Hor proper].²¹⁰Ibid., Verses 30-37. Now in the plain before Mount Hor there were cities or places called Moseroth, Bene-yaakan, Hor-hagidgad, Jotbah, Abronah, Ezion-geber, and Kadesh.²¹⁰Ibid., Verses 30-37. There was no great distance between these places, for that large camp [of the Israelites] walked in one day about a parasang²⁰⁶An ancient Persian measure of length, equal to about three and two-fifths English miles. or less. From Kadesh they journeyed, and pitched in Mount Hor,²¹¹Ibid., Verse 37. entering a low place at the foot of the mount. Then G-d commanded Moses, Take Aaron and Eleazar his son, and bring them up unto Mount Hor,²¹²Ibid., 20:25. meaning that he is to climb upward to the top of it [the lower part of the mountain] which is the beginning of the [upper part of the] mountain. Thus they ascended to the top of the mountain, arriving [at the part] opposite Moseroth, and Aaron died there, this being the intent of the verse, and Aaron died there ‘in the top of the mount,’²¹³Ibid., Verse 28. and thus his death [is also described in the verse before us as having] occurred in Moserah. It is possible that all these places as named were considered as if they were [also] on the mountain itself, so that the summit of the mountain and its opposite site in the plain were called “Moseroth” [in the plural] and the name of each place separately was “Moserah” [in the singular] so that people spoke of “Moserah in the mount” and “Moserah in the plain.” And in the place called Hashmonah there were wells in the field, which people referred to as Beeroth (“The wells of) bene-yaakan” because the inhabitants of Bene-yaakan came there to water their flocks and they made these wells, for there they found running water. And from there [from Beeroth-bene-yaakan] they journeyed to Moserah [as is mentioned in Verse 6 before us], and from there they journeyed to Moseroth,²⁰⁹Ibid., 33:30. and they journeyed from Moseroth, and pitched in Bene-yaakan,²¹⁴Ibid., 33:31. for that [i.e., Bene-yaakan] was the name of that place.²¹⁵Bene-yaakan is thus not to be confused with Beeroth (“The Wells of”) bene-yaakan which, as explained above, was a spot in Hashmonah, where the people of Bene-yaakan dug wells to water their flocks. And Scripture continues to tell [here in Verse 7], From thence they journeyed unto Gudgod; and from Gudgod to Jotbah, a land of brooks of water in order to inform us that they stayed there [many] days on account of the brooks. It abbreviates [in listing] the journeys because it has already explained them [in the section on the journeys],²⁰⁴Numbers 33:1-49. but it states that from thence — from Moserah — they journeyed unto Gudgod and unto Jotbah which was all a land of brooks of water, for from Gudgod to Jotbah was well watered everywhere.²¹⁶Genesis 13:10.
It is further possible that we say that when Aaron went up to the top of the mountain and died there opposite Moseroth or in Moserah itself [as explained above that the top of the mountain was also called Moserah] and he was buried there, the Israelites went back to Moseroth [i.e., to “Moserah” at the foot of the mountain, mentioned here in Verse 6 before us] to weep and to mourn at the grave of the man of G-d,²¹⁷II Kings 23:17. and, for the entire thirty days [of mourning]²¹⁸Numbers 20:29. their prominent men would go up to the top of the mountain and mourn for the holy one of the Eternal,²¹⁹Psalms 106:16: And of Aaron the holy one of the Eternal. and then they would return to the camp which was pitched in Moserah. After the thirty days [of mourning] they journeyed from Moserah to Hor-hagidgad, and from Gudgod to Jotbah [as stated here in Verse 7], for now, as they returned from Moserah, they travelled quickly [and did not stop in Bene-yaakan which was between Moseroth and Hor-hagidgad;²²⁰Numbers 33:31-32. hence it is not mentioned here]. This is a very proper interpretation of explaining the verses in a manner that fits the text. Scripture mentions that the name of the place was Yotbathah [“Jotbah,” from the root tovah — good] because it was a “good” place for there were brooks of water, while the rest of the wilderness was a land of drought,²²¹Jeremiah 2:6. thirsty ground where there was no water.²²²Above, 8:15. The reason for Moses’ mentioning the death of Aaron now while discussing these subjects is because he had said, and I prayed for Aaron also at the same time²²³Ibid., 9:20. [and so he indicated here] that the punishment of “destruction”²²⁴Ibid.: Moreover the Eternal was angry with Aaron to have ‘destroyed’ him, and I prayed for Aaron … did not touch him [Aaron] neither himself personally nor his seed — for Aaron did not die until the fortieth year [after the exodus], being old and full of days, and his son ministered in his stead. He said, And the children of Israel journeyed, and not “and you journeyed,” for in the sections of reproof he speaks directly to the people to chastise them, but in this [verse] he narrates the journeys of the children of Israel.

ובני ישראל נסעו , even though they had seen that the prayer of a righteous person may prove a protection for the members of his generation so that it is most appropriate to mourn his death, in this instance we find that the Israelites in their search for water journeyed on without delay, not a word being said about their taking time out to mourn the passing of Aaron. This is the meaning of the construction: “there Aaron died, was buried…and Eleazar became High Priest in his stead.” They neither took time out to mourn Aaron nor did they celebrate the appointment of a new High Priest, a position which made that person the interlocutor on their behalf. Rather, משם נסעו הגדגודה, to graze their sheep;

'ובני ישראל נסעו מבארות בני יעקן וגו, if you were to say to me that I told you that you prayed also on behalf of Aaron (Deut. 9.20) concerning what had happened in the first year of our wanderings, and in the meantime Aaron has died, so what good are your prayers? To such an argument Moses answered that Aaron did not die in the first year when, due to his participation in the golden calf, G’d had meant to kill him, but he only died at the end of these long years at Hor Hahar, at the time when we journeyed from Beerot Bney Yaakon. We had arrived there coming from Mosserot as mentioned in Numbers 33,31 from which we proceeded to Hor Hahar. שם מת אהרן, and not in connection with the people whom G’d killed as an aftermath of the sin of the golden calf.

ובני ישראל נסעו מבארות בני יעקן, “The Children of Israel journeyed from Be-eroth-bney Yaakon.” Rashi, feeling the need to explain how this apparently unrelated verse fits in here, and posing the rhetorical question if these wells came to the place called Mosserah, explains the verse by following aggadic interpretations, saying that seeing this is where Aaron was mourned in style, it appeared to the people as if this was where he had died. Ibn Ezra, forever attempting to find a straightforward interpretation clearly suggested by the text, [author’s words, not mine. Ed.] is hard pressed saying the words בארות בני יעקן (of the descendants of Se-ir, Edom) were not places by the same name mentioned in Numbers [The name of this individual appears in the Bible three more times, in Chronicles I 1,42, in Numbers 33,31, and 32. Ed.] He claims that the place is the one we know as Kadesh. Similarly, according to Ibn Ezra, מוסרה mentioned here is not identical with the מוסרות mentioned in Numbers Only the “Kadesh” mentioned in Numbers 33,37 is identical with בארות בני יעקן. The name of the desert surrounding הר ההר is מוסרה. From that location the Israelites moved on to Gudgoda. Gudgoda is not the name of a mountain. It is a term for a region comprising Tzalmona, Punon, and Ovot. (Numbers 33, 31-42) Yotvata, is the place referred to as באר, as we know from Numbers This is also why it is described as ארץ נחלי מים, a land with brooks and rivulets providing water. The region responded favourably to water diviners. The verse (7) משם נסעו הגוגודה belongs with ויכהן אלעזר תחתחו “and Eleazar, his son, performed the priestly duties in his stead.” (6) I have already explained that after departing from Mount Sinai the (individual) Israelites no longer offered offerings on the Altar. [Ibn Ezra on Exodus ] It is possible that when arriving at Tzalmona they began to offer these sacrifices again and that is when Eleazar began his duties in practice. Perhaps on New Year’s Day, as well as on the Day of Atonement, these rites were performed. [In his commentary on Exodus 29,42 Ibn Ezra justifies the non-performance on most days with the non-availability of the requisite amounts of wine and olive oil, etc. Ed.] The justification for referring to Eleazar as performing his duties as his father’s successor at this point is that as a result of the golden calf episode the firstborn who up until that time had performed the priestly duties were exchanged for the Levites who had remained loyal, and among their various duties was the one to carry the Holy Ark on their shoulders during the journeys of the Israelites. Already in Numbers 6,23 Eleazar had blessed the people together with his father, i.e. had performed some priestly functions. Nachmanides refuses to accept any part of Ibn Ezra’s commentary on this subject (locations) declaring that the sudden emergence of locations that had not been mentioned in Parshat Massey is totally inadmissible. Furthermore, he sees nothing strange in locations appearing as having slightly different names on different occasions. He quotes numerous examples of this being the case. The Torah does so not only when referring to place names, but also when referring to the same people by different names. In this case where there is hardly any different between מוסרה and מוסרות, there is even less reason to “make a federal case” out of such nuances. He also sees nothing special about the variation from חור הגדגוד in Numbers 33,32, and הגדגודה in our verse here to justify looking for Ibn Ezra’s far-fetched stretching of the meaning of the text on these two occasions. He feels that the various locations mentioned here are so close to one another that they did not warrant separate mention in Numbers chapter 33. By allowing for the fact that the camp of the Israelites was about 12-15 kilometers in length, the front section had reached another location before the rearguard had even left it. He assumes that the people hardly moved more than 3 or 4 kilometers in an average day’s journey. When the Israelites journeyed sometimes for only a single day, they could easily have straddled both locations while encamped. He also argues that quite possibly, seeing mountains are named, the top of the mountain was named by a different name from the base of the same mountain, although both names fitted the same location. In a location known as חשמונה (Numbers 33,29) there were numerous wells in the field, collectively known as the wells of the sons of Yaakon, בארות בני יעקן, in order to water their flocks. The Israelites passed that region in their journeys and moved on to a place known as מוסרה. They encamped around the wells known as בארות בני יעקן, and remained there for some time. Moses singled out two places, Gudgoda and Yotvata as areas that were also well watered, skipping others which did not have much to commend them, seeing they had all been mentioned already in Parshat Massey. It is also possible that when Aaron ascended the mountain הר ההר to die there, a mountain that was facing the place known as מוסרה, that the people then moved back to Mosserah to mourn and eulogise Aaron in a manner befitting such a beloved leader. This is what is reported here when Moses writes that they journeyed from בארות יעקן to מוסרה, and that the notables of the people used these 30 days to each pay their respects to Aaron at his grave, ascending the mountain where he had died in order to do so. The Torah had not actually written that the people made camp in בארות בני יעקן. Once the thirty days of mourning were over, they moved on at greater speed all the way to Gudgodah. From there they moved to Yatvata The location was known as Yatvata on account of the abundant supply of drinking water in that region. This was by way of contrast with the desert of Tzin, which qualified for the description ציה וצמאון, completely devoid of water, a region in which one could only perish from thirst. The reason why Moses inserted reference to the death of Aaron at this juncture, may have been that he had already mentioned praying on behalf of Aaron who might have died many years earlier if not for Moses’ prayer. He wanted the people to know and to remember that if Aaron did not die until the fortieth year this was proof that that he had not been guilty of sin but died of old age. He did not die until his son Eleazar was sufficiently mature to become his successor. As to the formulation (verse 6) ובני ישראל נסעו, “the Children of Israel journeyed” (in the third person), as opposed to Moses speaking in these portions in direct speech i.e. “you have done,” “I have done, etc.,” Moses spoke to them in direct speech when he admonished them. Here he was merely relating some historical facts, without implying criticism of the people.

You will discover that there were eight journeys, etc. Yet Rashi comments in Parshas Chukas (Bamidbar 21:4) that there were seven journeys from Moseiroh to Mount Hor. This [seeming contradiction] is clarified in the beginning of Parshas Masei (ibid. 33:1). [Here, as in Parshas Masei, Rashi is counting the number of places and in Parshas Chukas Rashi is counting the journeys from one place to another].

VV. 6 u. 7. ׳וכני ישראל וגו. Auch über Aharons Tod hinaus gehen des Volkes Geschick und des Volkes Bestimmung ihrer Zukunft ungehemmt entgegen. Aharon scheidet aus ihrer Mitte hinaus und stirbt auf Berges Höhen, an seine Stelle tritt sein Sohn im Volke und das Volk zieht seiner Bestimmung weiter entgegen. (Siehe oben einleitend zu Kap. 9, 7.) — Bamidbar 33, 31 folgen die Reisestationen also aufeinander:

ובני ישראל נסעו מבארות בני יעקן, and the Children of Israel had journeyed from Beer Yaakon;” according to the plain meaning of the text Mossera is not the same place as Mosserot in Numbers 33,3, and bney yaakon is not the same as yaakon in that chapter. Between these two locations was hor hahar where Aaron had died. The correct meaning of the text here is: the Children of Israel journeyed from beerot bney yaakon on the way to Mossera, and they encountered hor hahar on their journey, the place where Aaron died.

The Children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth-bene-jaakan, meaning do not say Aaron died at the Golden Calf affair at the beginning of the forty years and my[Moses] prayer didn't help him, because ultimately [as the pasuk shows us] Aaron died at the end of the forty years at Mount Hor at the same time as The Children of Israel journeyed from Beeroth-bene-jaakan after arriving there from Moserah.

ומן הגדגודה יטבת, ארץ נחלי מים, for all the locations mentioned had water which was adequate for the needs of their livestock. Still, they paid no heed to the damage they had incurred by the death of a righteous man such as Aaron, neither to his honour, nor to the dishonour they had caused themselves by allowing the passing of a man of such caliber to go by unnoticed. [Numbers 20,28-29 reports Aaron’s death as well as the fact that the entire community of Israel bewailed his death for thirty days. Ed.]

ויכהן אלעזר בנו תחתיו, by donning his father’s decorative priestly garments; he died in a manner which is dignified and even inspiring, at the command of G’d. This is the plain meaning of our verse, seeing that the Torah did not write “ובני ישראל נסעו מבארות בני יעקן ויחנו במוסרה. I explained these nuances in my commentary on Numbers 11,35 where the expression ויחנו is also absent after the line נסעו העם חצרות. Beerot Beney Yaakon is very close to Chatzerot. [in other words we have been given two points of reference for בני יעקן. Ed.].

הר ההר ,קדש ,עציון גבר ,עברן יטבה ,הר הגדגד ,בני יעקן ,מסרות, und dort auf dem הר ההר stirbt Aharon. Ramban vermutet, dass Hor ein sich von מסרה bis קדש erstreckender Bergrücken wäre, längs dessen Talniederung die genannten Orte in geringer Entfernung von einander liegen. Aharon habe den Bergrücken in Kadesch erstiegen und sei oben auf dem Berge Mosera gegenüber gestorben, worauf das Volk wieder nach Mosera zurückgezogen, um dort die dreißig Trauertage in der Nähe des Grabes Aharons zu verbringen; daher der Rückzug unserer Stelle: מבארת בני יעקן מוסרה. Nach den dreißig, Tagen zogen sie dann wieder nach גרגר und יטבה zurück. Möglich demnach, dass die בארת בני יעקן, von welchen der Rückzug berichtet wird, in der Gegend von יטבה lagen, die doch als ארץ נחלי מים bezeichnet ist.

ומן הגדגדה וגו׳ AND FROM GUDGODAH [TO JOTBATH etc.] — And at Mosera you made a great mourning on account of the death of Aaron which was the cause of this your retreat, and it seemed to you as though he had died there” (Yerushalmi Sotah 1:10 at end; Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 15:22; cf. Midrash Tanchuma חקת and Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 17; see Rashi on Numbers 21:4). — Moses placed this reproof immediately after the mention of the breaking of the tablets to indicate that the death of the righteous is as grievous before the Holy One, blessed be He, as the day on which the tablets were broken, and to tell you that is was displeasing to Him when they said, (Numbers 14:4) “Let us set up a head (another god; see Rashi on that verse) in order to part from Him, as was the day on which they made the golden calf (Leviticus Rabbah 20:12).

That is that He commanded us to swear by His name when it is necessary to ratify something or to deny it. For there is aggrandizement, glory and exhalation through this. And that is His, may He be blessed, saying, "and by His name shall you swear" (Deuteronomy 10:20). And in the explanation, they said, "The Torah said, 'Swear,' and the Torah said, 'Do not swear' - meaning to say, just like it prohibits an oath for which there is no need, and it is a negative commandment; so too is there a commandment [to make] an oath when it is needed, and it is a positive commandment. And as a result, it is not permitted to swear by any of all the creatures, such as the angels or the stars, except by way of nullifying what is attached. This is like one who swears by the sun, but he means to say, the Master of the sun. And in this way, our nation swears by the name of our teacher, Moshe - how glorious is his name - as if the one swearing was swearing by the Master or by the One who sent him. But so long as the one who swears is not intending this, but is swearing by one of the creatures, to believe in it - that it has intrinsic truth, to the point that he swears by it - he has already transgressed and associated something else with the name of the Heavens. About this comes the explanation (Sukkah 45b), "Anyone who associates the name of the Heavens with something else is uprooted from the world." And this is matter that the verse, "and by His name shall you swear," intended - meaning that only about Him should you believe that there is truth by which it is appropriate to swear. And they already said at the beginning of Temurah (Temurah 3b), "From where [do we know] that we may swear to perform the commandments? As it is written, 'and by His name shall you swear.'" (See Parashat Ekev; Mishneh Torah, Oaths 11.)

בעת ההוא הבדיל ה׳ וגו׳ AT THAT TIME THE LORD SEPARATED [THE TRIBE OF LEVI] — This is to be connected with the former narrative (that which speaks of the tablets of stone, ending at v. 5; vv. 6—8 which contain reference to Aaron’s death being interpolated for the reason given by Rashi);

That is that He commanded us to imitate Him, may He be exalted, according to our ability. And that is His saying, "and you shall go in His ways" (Deuteronomy 28:9). And this command has already been repeated, [when] He said, "and to go in all of His ways" (Deuteronomy 11:22). And in the explanation, it appears (Sifrei Devarim 49:1), "Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called merciful; you too, be merciful. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called pious; you too, be pious." And this matter was already repeated in different words: He said, "Go in the ways of the Lord." And in the explanation, it appears (Sotah 14a) that He meant to say to imitate His good deeds and glorious traits by which God, may He be exalted, is described, by way of analogy - He is exalted over everything with great exaltation. (See Parashat Ki Tavo; Mishneh Torah, Human Dispositions.)

AT THAT TIME THE ETERNAL SEPARATED THE TRIBE OF LEVI. “This refers back to the first subject. At that time, in the first year of your departure from Egypt when you sinned by worshipping the calf and the sons of Levi did not sin, G-d separated them from you.” This is Rashi’s language. And if so, he is stating that from that time the sons of Levi were separated before Him, blessed be He [but only in thought], for He did not separate them in fact until the second year in the second month [after the first census which took place on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they were come out of the land of Egypt]!²²⁵Numbers 1:1. Or it may be that he is alluding to what he said to them [at the affair of the calf], Consecrate yourselves today to the Eternal,²²⁶Exodus 32:29. for thereby you dedicate yourselves to the service of priests and Levites.
The correct interpretation, it appears to me, is that the expression at that time means that the second [giving of the Tablets] was like the first. For, from the time He said to Moses Hew thee two Tablets of stone,²²⁷Ibid., 34:1. He was reconciled with Israel, and Moses was instructed regarding the construction of the Tabernacle. Then He was reconciled also with Aaron, and Moses was commanded, and they shall make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, and his sons — to sanctify him — that he may minister unto Me in the priest’s office,²²⁸Ibid., 28:4. The phrase to sanctify him is found there in Verse 3. and He further commanded him concerning the initiation [of the priests]. Therefore he said [here in Verse 6] that Eleazar ministered in the priest’s office in his father’s stead, since their anointing was to them for an everlasting priesthood throughout their generations.²²⁹Ibid., 40:15. Moses regarded the separation of the entire tribe [of Levi — priests and Levites] as one matter [therefore he said here, At that time — when the second Tablets were given, even though only the priests were formally separated, it was equivalent to a designation of the entire tribe, with the formal designation of the Levites to come after the first census], for, from that day on it was [resolved] before Him that His tribe be wholly given unto Him²³⁰Numbers 8:16. to perform the service of the Tabernacle. Or perhaps he is saying that the tribe of Levi was separated at that time for the priests to be [chosen] from them, for they [i.e., the priests] also carried the ark.²³¹The verse before us states: At that time the Eternal separated the tribe of Levi, to bear the ark … Now, according to the interpretation that the verse means that the tribe of Levi was separated to be the source of the priests, rather than as a special tribe in its entirety, the following question arises: The verse indicates that the priests [derived from the tribe of Levi] were to carry the ark, but it is known that the Levites, not the priests, carried the ark (Numbers 7:9). Ramban answers that the priests, too, were permitted to carry the ark. See “The Commandments.” Vol. I, pp. 43-44, for a fuller discussion on this subject. And so it is said, and he [Moses] delivered it [the Torah] unto the priests the sons of Levi; that bore the ark of the covenant of the Eternal,²³²Further, 31:9. and they [the priests] are the ones who minister to G-d and bless in His Name [as the verse before us concludes]. And the meaning of the expression unto this day [at the end of this verse] is that it refers [back] to Eleazar’s ministering in the priest’s office [in Aaron’s stead — mentioned in Verse 6], as if saying: “then He separated them [the priests] to minister to Him, and it [so] was to this day” [i.e., the time when Moses spoke these words, that Eleazar served as High Priest].²³³Ramban’s reasoning is as follows: Since we have now explained the verse, At that time the Eternal separated the tribe of Levi (Verse 8) as referring to the designating of the priests, from the tribe of Levi, to minister in the Tabernacle, why does the verse conclude with the expression, unto this day, since on “this day,” when Moses spoke these words, the whole tribe of Levi was already elevated to its exalted position? But if it refers back to Eleazar’s office as High Priest (mentioned in Verse 6) that it was so “unto this day,” there is of course no difficulty as to why the Levites are not mentioned here.

בעת ההיא הבדיל, after G’d had already set aside the tribe of Levi as the tribe to perform the holy service in the Temple so that you are not deemed worthy for this task, my prayer was not effective enough except to prevent G’d from destroying you, so that He said to me: “arise and make them journey, and be in front of the people!” (verse 11) The expression is used in the same sense as in Numbers 10,2)

בעת ההיא הבדיל ה' את שבט הלוי, the time Moses refers to is that of the sin of the golden calf when the latter had found grace in the eyes of the Lord. (compare Exodus 32,26)

בעת ההיא הבדיל ה' את שבט הלוי, “At that time Hashem set apart the tribe of Levi, etc.” According to Rashi, the “time” referred to by Moses was the episode of the golden calf. Nachmanides adds that if we accept Rashi’s comment it refers not to the actual setting apart of the tribe of Levi by Hashem, but to the time when Hashem made up His mind to do so. In fact, no action was taken until the second year in the second month. Alternately, what Rashi had in mind was Exodus 32,26-29, when Moses asked for volunteers to execute the people who had actively worshipped the golden calf as a deity. At that time only members of the tribe of Levi had responded to that call. Personally, (Nachmanides writing) I believe that the correct interpretation is that the words בעת ההיא which appear here a second time, refer to the same time as the first time Moses used this expression, (10,1) the time when Moses had been invited to carve out the Tablets for G’d to inscribe the second set of Ten Commandments upon. At the time when G’d became reconciled with His people, He did make some changers in the hierarchy of that people by appointing the Levites en masse to take over the functions previously reserved for the first born in each family. At that time G’d had also become reconciled to Aaron’s role in that tragic episode, and He commanded to make the special vestments for the High Priest which proclaimed to all the people that Aaron as well as his sons were held in high esteem by Hashem. At that time Moses had also been commanded to arrange for the seven days of consecration of the Tabernacle and the inauguration of the priests into their positions. This also enabled Moses to say that Eleazar became High Priest in place of his (deceased) father, as there was no need for him to be anointed first, seeing that the anointment to the priesthood, by the oil of anointment was for the members of that family something hereditary, and did not need to be renewed every time a new High Priest was appointed. The setting apart of the priests from the ordinary Levites, and the Levites from the other tribes of the Israelites, occurred simultaneously. Hashem had decided at the time of the episode of the golden calf that these changes were imperative for the development of the people as His people, and that is implied in the lineנתונים נתונים , that the Levites were, so to speak, placed at the disposal of the priests to assist them in their holy tasks. (Numbers 8,16-19) Another possible approach to the words בעת ההיא on this occasion, is that at that time Hashem decided to set apart the priests from the remainder of the tribe of Levi, in that they too were allowed to carry the Holy Ark. [only the descendants of Kehat, one of the families of the tribe of Levi, had qualified for that privilege, anyways. Ed.] We have proof that the priests did carry the Holy Ark from Deut. 31,9 ויכתוב משה את התורה הזאת ויתנה אל הכהנים בני לוי הנושאים את ארון ברית ה', “Moses wrote down this Torah and gave it to the priests, the members of the tribe of Levi, who carried the Ark of the covenant of Hashem.” They are the ones who would perform the sacrificial service and bless the people in the name of Hashem.

בעת ההיא הבדיל ה' את שבט הלוי, “At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi.” The time frame described by Moses is when the Israelites worshipped the golden calf. At that time G’d separated the Levites who had not taken part in that sin from the rest of the people. The reason that all this is mentioned in connection with Mosserah is that on that occasion, 40 years later, the tribe of Levi again distinguished itself by not participating in the plan to return to Egypt and by opposing it actively.

And the Levites did not transgress, the Omnipresent separated them from you. [One might ask:] It is written, “the Omnipresent separated them,” but they were not separated until the second year when the Mishkon was erected! We must say that the Omnipresent separated them in thought. Perforce, “Adonoy separated the tribe of Leivi,” must be explained in this manner [instead of saying that it refers to the second year when they were actually separated] because it is written afterwards (v. 10), “And I stood on the mountain,” which also refers to, “At that time,” which was in the first year, after the sin of the calf. According to this we can understand why Rashi does not explain this verse in the same order it is written in the Torah [I.e., “the Omnipresent separated,” is juxtaposed with their retreat to Bnei Ya’akon to teach us something; not because it happened after their retreat].

VV. 8 u. 9. בעת ההיא וגו׳. Aus jener Zeit des wiederhergestellten Gottesbundes stammt auch die Erwählung des Stammes Levi, der durch die bewiesene Treue und Hingebung während der Verirrung und deren Sühne sich der bleibenden Pflege und Vertretung des göttlichen Gesetzes im Volke würdig gemacht. Diese Ausscheidung eines ganzen Stammes, der mit Verzicht auf Landesbesitzanteil in dem Dienste des göttlichen Gesetzes und des Gesetzesheiligtums seinen ganzen Beruf zu finden hatte, gehört wesentlich zur Sicherung der Zukunft, deren einstige Verwirklichung die Möglichkeit des erneuten Gesetzesbundes bedingte. Wie der Stamm Levi Träger der Bundeslade und des Heiligtums, wie die Aharonidenfamilie desselben den symbolischen Dienst der Hingebung an das Gesetzesfeuer vor Gott zu erfüllen und mit dem Gottesnamen den Nationalsegen auszusprechen hatte: so stand der ganze Stamm in dem Lebensdienst des göttlichen Gesetzes, hatte das Gesetz zu lehren und zu wahren, hatte die Geister und Gemüter für die Hingebung an Gottes Gesetz zu wecken, hatte die ganze Nation des Namens Gottes würdig zu machen, der auf ihr ruhete, und ihr damit den Segen zu erzielen, der in ihm liegt — der symbolische Ausdruck der Bedingungen und Ziele des erneuten Gottesbundes war den Händen der Leviten anvertraut, für deren konkrete Verwirklichung tätig zu sein, ihr Lebensberuf. — Mit dem הכדיל ד׳, mit dieser die übrigen Glieder des Volkes zurückweisenden Aussonderung des Stammes Levi zu geborenen Trägern und Wahrern des symbolischen Gesetzesheiligtums, war aber die noch konkrete Unvollkommenheit der Volksgesamtheit dauernd zum Bewusstsein gebracht, und

בעת ההיא, at that time, i.e. when the golden calf had been made, as I explained earlier.

בעת ההיא הבדיל ה' את שבט הלוי, “at that time the Lord set the tribe of Levi apart;” this decree was issued while the people were still encamped around Mount Sinai. Moses acted upon that decree only after the Tabernacle had been erected, and it had assumed practical meaning. This would have been a number of months after he had received these instructions.

בעת ההוא AT THAT TIME accordingly means: In the first year of the Exodus from Egypt, when ye sinned by worshipping the golden calf, but the sons of Levi did not thus sin. — at that time God separated them from you. It places this verse in juxtaposition with the retreat to Bene Jaakon to tell you that in this matter also, the sons of Levi did not sin, but stood steadfast in their faith.

ולברך בשמו this refers only to the priests who are to bless the rest of the Israelites.

עד היום הזה, “until this day.” Moses added this on account of Eleazar the new High Priest, and it is as if he had written “then Hashem set apart the tribe of Levi, etc., etc., a condition which remains in force till his day.”

לשאת את ארון ברית ה', “to carry the Ark of the Covenant with Hashem.” This refers to the Levites.
לעמוד לפני ה' לשרתו, “to stand in front of the Lord to serve Him;” this refers to the Priests. ולברך בשמו, “and to bestow blessing in His name.” The priests were to bless the Israelites in Hashem’s name, as is written in Numbers 6,27 ושמו את שמי.

The Levites. Rashi is answering the question: From the verse, “Adonoy separated, etc.,” it seems that the Levites also bless in His Name, but this is not so! Therefore Rashi explains that, “to carry the ark,” pertains to the Levites, and, “to stand… and to serve Him and bless in His Name,” pertains to the kohanim.

הבדיל ה' את שבט הלוי, “the Lord separated the tribe of the Levites,” in order for it to serve the Lord specifically. The reason was that that entire tribe had not participated in the sin of the golden calf. This is what the prophet Ezekiel referred to in Ezekiel 44,15: והכנים הלויים בני צדוק אשר שמרו את משמרת מקדשי בתעות בני ישראל מעלי, המה יקרבו אלי לשרתני, “but the Levite-kohanim- descendants of Tzadok, who safeguarded the charge of My Sanctuary when the Children of Israel strayed from Me, etc., they will draw near to Me to serve Me.” As a result of the Levites having been appointed to become G–d’s share and inheritance on earth, they did not receive ancestral land in the Holy Land, [they would not have had time to work it, anyway Ed.] If you will therefore ask how they would support themselves economically, the answer is that G–d commanded the landowners to give 10% of their crops to the Levites and they were allocated a number of cities in the land of Israel for their exclusive use, houses with gardens attached for growing vegetable. (48 such cities)

לשאת את ארון TO BEAR THE ARK — [This was the function of] the Levites (such as were not כהנים).

עד היום הזה, “until this day.” Eleazar was pronouncing the blessing in lieu of his father Aaron who had died already at the time when Moses addressed the people. Eleazar had taken over all of his father Aaron’s functions as High Priest as is clear from verse 6 in our chapter.

‎ לעמד לפני ה׳ לשרתו ולברך בשמו TO STAND BEFORE THE LORD, TO MINISTER UNTO HIM AND TO BLESS IN HIS NAME — This (to bless in His Name) was the function of the priests and refers to the “raising of the hands” (a technical term for reciting the priestly benediction which is done with uplifted hands) (Arakhin 11a).

על כן לא היה ללוי חלק WHEREFORE LEVI HATH NO PORTION — because they have been singled out for the service of the altar (v. 8), and therefore were not free to plough and sow.

WHEREFORE LEVI HATH NO PORTION. The purport thereof is²³⁴In view of the fact that Ramban explained the preceding verse as referring only to the priests, the question arises: why does the verse before us explain that the Levites have no portion in the Land, when only the priests were discussed in this section? Ramban answers, “The purport thereof is etc.” that because they all [i.e., the Levites] minister to and assist the priests in their [Divine] Service, since every part of the Sanctuary pertained to the offerings, [therefore, the whole tribe of Levi was not free to devote itself to the cultivation and development of the Land; therefore they received no portion therein]. And so He said [to Aaron], And thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, the tribe of thy father, bring thou near with thee, that they may be joined unto thee, and minister unto thee.²³⁵Numbers 18:2.

Because they were separated for service at the altar, etc. I.e., it is not because they were separated to serve Adonoy that they had no share, as might be understood from the verse. For on the contrary, it would be fitting to increase their benefits, not to diminish them.

ה' הוא נחלתו THE LORD IS HIS INHERITANCE — he receives his daily fare ready for him from the King’s house (from the Temple; the dues from the sacrifices, etc.).

He receives his allotted portion, etc. His portion is the gifts of terumos and ma’aseros (tithes). The phrase, “Adonoy is his heritage,” is in response to, “Leivi had no share or territory with his brothers.” Their sustenance must be provided in another way in lieu of receiving a share or land. And, “Adonoy is his heritage,” must be explained as referring to Leivi’s allotted portion, which is the gifts of terumos and ma’aseros. Rashi says, “provided readily,” to indicate that Leivi’s portion [of terumos and ma’aseros] was given to them, in lieu of [a portion in the] land that was given to the Israelites, because it is readily available without effort. And [as a result] they do not need to toil, to the point they would refrain from service at the altar [when they will need to toil].

ואנכי עמדתי בהר AND I REMAINED ON THE MOUNT to receive the last (second) tablets. — Since it does not state above (v. 2) how long he remained on the mount at this last ascent, he begins again with it (with that incident).

AND I STAYED IN THE MOUNT. In the opinion of our Rabbis²³⁶Tanchuma, Ki Thisa 31. Moses is stating that he remained on the mountain when he ascended there with the [second] two Tablets in his hand, according to the first days of the first Tablets, forty days and forty nights, and the Eternal hearkened unto me that third time also²³⁷In Verse 10 before us. The third ascent of Moses was on the first of Ellul and culminated on the Day of Atonement when the Eternal passed by before him etc. (see text). See also, Vol. II, pp. 574-577 on the three ascents. [as] when the Eternal passed by before him, and proclaimed: ‘The Eternal, the Eternal, G-d, merciful, etc.,’²³⁸Exodus 34:6. and Moses requested of G-d, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for Thine inheritance,²³⁹Ibid., Verse 9. and He submitted and said [in Verse 11], Arise, go before the people, causing them to set forward, that they may go in and possess the Land. It is this which is stated, and all the people among which thou art shall see the work of the Eternal that I am about to do with thee, that it is tremendous.²⁴⁰Exodus 34:10.

ואנכי עמדתי בהר כימים הראשונים ארבעים יום, “and I stood on the mountain just as during the earlier days, for forty days.” The Torah compared the last forty days to the first forty days; just as the people enjoyed G’d’s grace during Moses’ first sojourn on the mountain so they enjoyed His goodwill during these last 40 days that Moses spent on the mountain. This teaches that the second time Moses spent forty days on the mountain G’d was angry at the people. Moses had to keep praying for 40 days to overcome G’d’s anger on account of the sin of the golden calf.

With the first tablets, etc. This ended on the seventeenth of Tammuz, not on the twenty-eighth of Av. The comparison of the last forty days to the first ones is not to indicate that they too were with complete favor just as the first ones, for this is not true. The first ones were with complete favor — as they had not yet sinned with the calf, while the last ones were only with favor regarding the giving of the Tablets [Moshe was told “carve for yourself,” before they started]. But forgiveness for the calf was only granted on the last of [these last] forty days, which was on Yom Kippur. For then Hashem said, “I have forgiven just as you spoke.” Therefore, that day was designated for atonement and forgiveness. The comparison is only informing us that the forty days stated here, “And I stood on the mountain,” are not referring to the middle forty days [i.e., Moshe was not on the mountain only for 80 days]. Rather they are an additional forty days, which were with favor and not with anger. From this we derive that Moshe stood on the mountain for 120 days.

V. 10. ואנכי וגו׳, war diesem erst von der Zukunft ganz zu überwindenden Abstand der Volksgegenwart von der Höhe seines Bestimmungsberufes, sowie der Aufgabe des Hinaufarbeitens zu dieser Höhe für jeden im Volke durch die dritten vierzig Tage vor Erteilung der wiederhergestellten Gesetzestafeln, Ausdruck gegeben und zugleich, wie vor der Erteilung der ersten Tafeln, dem Volke, dem mit den Gesetzestafeln die Aufgabe der Wahrung und Vertretung des Gesetzes überantwortet werden sollte, wiederum Gelegenheit geboten, ohne Führer, sich selbst überlassen, in der Treue an Gott und seinem geoffenbarten Gesetze sich zu bewähren.

ואנכי עמדתי בהר, “and I had stayed on the Mountain;” in preparation of receiving the second set of Tablets after G–d had inscribed them; all the time pleading further for G–d to forgive His people’s sin completely.

גם בפעם ההוא, “also on that occasion.” He did so with a friendly mien. He did so in order that the Holy name should not become desecrated, as I had said in my prayer. (Deut. 9.28) However, once you will have defeated the thirty one Canaanite kings and you have taken over their land, if you would commence to sin again, even my prayers would not help, as in the meantime G-d had demonstrated that He had kept His part of the bargain, i.e. that He had not been too weak to overcome those nations. The people then would ask why disaster had overtaken the Jews (Compare Deut.29,23) and they would conclude that it had been their fault, not that of their G-d.

כימים הראשנים AS THE FORMER DAYS — those of the first tablets. How was it with those? They were passed in God’s goodwill! So these, too, were passed in God’s goodwill. But the intervening forty days when I remained there to pray for you were passed in God’s anger (Seder Olam 10; cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 9:18).

THE ETERNAL WOULD NOT ‘DESTROY’ THEE. The meaning thereof is that He did not want to prevent you from entering and possessing the Land, similar in meaning to the verse, He will yet again leave them in the wilderness, and so ye will ‘destroy’ all this people.²⁴¹Numbers 32:15. Here, too, the term “destruction” is not to be understood in its usual sense, but only as a people who are “prevented” from entering the Land. Thus Moses said to the tribes of Gad and Reuben that by their decision to settle on the east bank of the Jordan, they may cause the whole people to be left in the wilderness, and so ye will ‘destroy’ all this people — i.e., by causing them not to enter the Land, which is synonymous with their “destruction.” And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], he is stating that He [the Eternal] did not want the destruction to be from Him, so that His Great Name no [longer] be with you. I have already alluded to this subject in the section of Ki Thisa.²⁴²Exodus 32:10 (Vol. II, pp. 557-558). Having promised Moses that His Great Name, which signifies the attribute of mercy, will always be with Israel, He did not want the destruction to be from Him, so that His Great Name would no longer be with them (Beiur Ha’lvush in his commentary to Ricanti quoting the words of Ramban).

וישמע וגו׳. Es war dies die (Schmot Kap. 34) gewährte höchste Offenbarung über Gottes Waltungen mit dem Menschen, auf deren Grund hin Mosche die alle Folgegeschichte und Folgeentwicklung seines Volkes umfassende Bitte wagte: אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך אדני ילך נא א׳ בקרבנו כי עם קשה ערף הוא וסלחת לעוננו ולחטאתנו die angestrebte ,הנה אנכי כרת ברית וגו׳ :siehe daselbst), mit deren Gewährung) ונחלתנו Sühne der Egelverirrung zum Abschluss gelangte.

וישמע ה' אלי גם בפעם ההיא, “the Lord listened to me also on that occasion;” he completed the process of completely pardoning the people. On the Day of Atonement He uttered the words: סלחתי כדבריך, “I have forgiven in accordance with your words.” This is why this day has been designated annually as Yom Kippur, the anniversary of the original forgiveness, and the completion of the process of forgiving our sins which commences on New Year’s day. Moses had to wait on the Mountain for forty days, and by Yom Kippur it had been one hundred and twenty days since the day that the people had danced around the golden calf. The first time Moses ascended Mount Sinai was on the seventh day of Sivan, the day after G–d had revealed the Ten Commandments. He ascended in order to receive the Ten Commandments in Tablet form, and he was taught the whole Torah during the forty days that he spent on the mountain. He descended on the seventeenth day of Tammuz, on the day he smashed the Tablets. On the following day he ascended again in order to plead for forgiveness for the people. (Compare Deut. 9,18) These 40 days were completed on the twenty eighth day of the month of Av. G–d then instructed him to hew out the stones for the second set of Tablets, and he ascended again on the twenty ninth day of that month. At that time Moses told the people that the following day would be the 30th day of Av, and that it would already be considered as the Rosh Chodesh for the month of Ellul, combined with the day following, officially known as the first of Ellul. On that day the people were to start blowing the shofar daily so that they would not miscalculate the day on which he would return from the mountain as they had done the first time which resulted in the catastrophe of the golden calf. The Jewish people, in commemoration of this, still blow the shofar starting on the first day of Ellul, i.e. actually the thirtieth day of the month of Av, for a total of forty days. The forty days are made up as follows: 1 day in the month of Av, 29 days in the month of Elull and 10 days in the month of Tishrey, concluding on Yom Kippur, the tenth day of that month. It became the norm ever since that the Rosh Chodesh of the month of Ellul is observed for two days. It was on the tenth day of Tishrey that G–d said to Moses that He had forgiven the sin of the golden calf, so that Moses descended from the mountain on the following day. The seventeenth day of the month of Tammuz during that year had occurred on a Thursday. Passover and the seventeenth day of Tammuz always occur on the same day of week. In the Talmud, tractate Shabbat folio 87, Rabbi Akiva is on record as having said that that the original Passover on which the Jewish people left Egypt also occurred on a Thursday. In light of this, the first set of Tablets had been given to Moses on a Thursday and New Year’s day was on the Sabbath, which means that Yom Kippur was on a Monday. In other words the first set of Tablets was given on a Thursday and the second set on a Monday, so that both these days of the week share the same distinction. This may have been the reason why Ezra decreed that there be a public reading of the Torah on both of these days of the week. This may also have been hinted at in Isaiah 55,6 in the first two letters of the word בהיותו, i.e. בה, these letters symbolising the second and fifth day of the week, respectively The prophet in that verse speaks about when it is especially appropriate to offer prayers, i.e. when G–d is closer to us than usual. On these days the court is also in session. Rabbi B’chor Shor sees in Leviticus 19,15: בצדק תשפוט עמיתך, “but in righteousness shall You judge your fellowmen,” an allusion to the planet Jupiter, tzedek, which is prominent in both the mazzalot during the night from Sunday to Monday and during the first hour of Thursday according to an explanation in the Talmud tractate Shabbat, folio 119. [My almost total ignorance of astrology and how it dominates the fates of the gentile nations, cautions me not to go into greater detail about this. Suffice it to say that the fate of Jews is not dependent on such constellations at any time. Ed.]

כימים הראשונים, “as on the first occasion;” forty days and nights on each occasion, from dawn on the twenty ninth of Av until dawn on the tenth of Tishrey.

גם כפעם ההיא: auch dieses dritte Mal. Die erste Erhörung war: וינחם ד׳ על ׳הרעה וגו (Schmot 32, 14), die zweite: ׳ועתה לך נחה את העם וגו (daselbst 34, die dritte: ׳הנה אנכי כרת ברית וגו (daselbst 34, 10).

לא אבה ד׳ השחיתך kann nicht den Inhalt der dritten Erhörung bezeichnen sollen; denn die Nichtvernichtung des Volkes war schon durch die erste und zweite Erhörung gewährt; es heißt auch nicht: ולא אבה השחיתך, es bildet einen selbständigen Satz ohne Waw kopulativum und mit wiederholtem Subjekt. Es dürfte daher nur als zusammenfassender Abschluss des Ganzen zu verstehen sein. Nach strengem Recht hattest du den Untergang verdient. Allein, die bei der dritten Erhörung mir gewordene Offenbarung über die Waltungsweisen Gottes hat mich belehrt, dass Gott, in seiner den Menschen und die Menschheit zu ihrer Bestimmungszukunft erziehenden Liebe, von Anfang an den Anforderungen des bloßen Rechts in Beziehung zu dir nicht hatte Folge geben wollen — (אבה heißt ja ganz eigentlich: einer an uns gestellten Aufforderung nachgeben — siehe Bereschit S. 323), der Vernichtungsausspruch (Schmot 32, 10) sollte nur in Mosche und im Volke das Schuldbewusstsein und diejenige Erkenntnis und Willensrichtung fortschreitend erzeugen, die ein Absehen von der Rechtsforderung, ein Weitererhalten des Volkes und endlich eine völlige Erneuung des Bundes mit ihm ermöglichten. Dass aber das Volk eigentlich bereits den Untergang verdient hatte, das Bewusstsein soll dem Volke bleiben und mit in die nun bevorstehende neue Zukunft hinübergenommen werden. Das ist ja die Tendenz des ganzen Rückblicks von Kap. 9, 4 bis hierher, und darum schließt er mit diesem Gedanken.

ויאמר ה' אלי וגו׳ AND THE LORD SPAKE TO ME, [ARISE, GO ON THE JOURNEY BEFORE THE PEOPLE] — Although you had turned away from Him and had sinned by worshipping the golden calf, yet He said to me, (Exodus 32:34) “Go, lead the people”.

ויבואו ויירשו את הארץ אשר נשבעתי, if not for G’d’s oath you would not have merited to inherit it due to your excessive rebelliousness.

Although you turned away from Him, etc. Otherwise why is this verse mentioned during [Moshe’s] words of rebuke?

V. 11. ויאמר וגו׳, und ich erhielt die Weisung, euch zu dem verheißenen Land zu führen, dessen Besitznahme euch nun bevorsteht.

קום, לך למסע, “arise go to make the people go;” this is a reminder of Exodus 32,34: נחה את העם, “lead the nation!”

ועתה ישראל AND NOW, O ISRAEL, [WHAT DOTH THE LORD THY GOD ASK OF THEE] — Although you did all this, yet His mercy and His love are extended over you, and in spite of all that you sinned against Him, He asks nothing of you EXCEPT TO FEAR [THE LORD YOUR GOD, etc.].

WHAT DOTH THE ETERNAL THY G-D REQUIRE OF THEE. This is connected with the expression [in the following verse] for thy good. He is stating: “He does not require anything of you for His sake, only for your sake,” similar in meaning to the verse, If thou be righteous, what givest thou Him?²⁴³Job 35:7. Rather, it is all for your good. And he stated the reason for it, because unto the Eternal thy G-d belongeth the heaven, and the heaven of heavens, the earth, with all that therein is,²⁴⁴Verse 14. all giving glory to His Name and He is not in need of you. Only the Eternal delighted in thy fathers to love them, and He chose their seed after them, even you, above all peoples,²⁴⁵Verse 15. for you are the chosen of their seed, not Ishmael nor Esau.

ועתה ישראל, seeing that this is the situation as of now, it is up to you to try and repair the damage caused by your iniquities from here on in. First and foremost, try and be clear about what it is that the Lord asks of you, expects of you: מה ה' אלוקיך שואל מעמך, He does not ask these things because He is in need of them, seeing the whole earth and all of the celestial regions are all His. כי אם ליראה, you can do this by simply realising His greatness;

ועתה ישראל…כי אם ליראה, And now, Israel, …except to revere the Lord, etc." The thrust of this verse has to be understood along the following lines. We know that there are two different levels of serving G'd, 1) to serve Him out of fear, 2) to serve Him out of love. Moses tells the people that what G'd asks is only that they serve Him out of fear. The reason that G'd is satisfied with this level of service is because fear is an all-embracing emotion. When a person is afraid of the consequences of doing wrong he will make certain that he does not do anything wrong. Moreover, fear, i.e. reverence for G'd is a forerunner of love for G'd. Moses hints at this when he prefaces the verse with the word ועתה, "and now." He means that whereas for now, initially, all that G'd asks for is for you to fear Him, there will come a time when you will do more than that, i.e. to love Him. Once we approach this verse from this angle we can also understand the rhetorical "what is it that G'd asks…only that you fear Him." To the question that fearing the Lord is surely not such an easy thing, Moses implies that once you will have advanced to serving the Lord out of love you will realise that serving Him out of fear was really something minor by comparison. In absolute terms, serving the Lord out of fear is something very great indeed; in relative terms, i.e. after graduating to serving Him out of love, it is only a minor accomplishment. This is the best way to understand what we have been taught in this connection in Megillah 25: "is then serving G'd out of fear something so minor?

This portion is puzzling. Everything possible to ask within the power of man is expressed in this request. What else further could be asked? In fact, the Midrash (Midrash Tehillim 27:5) relates that when David said “One thing I ask from Hashem, this I beseech, let me sit in house of Hashem all the days of my life…” G-d said to David, “You said ‘One thing I ask from Hashem…’, but you asked for many things?” [David] answered, “You too said ‘What does Hashem ask of you…’ and then asked for many things.” Even though it is only a light-hearted exchange, still it is certain that both Hashem and David would not have asked for more than what they said initially. Adding to the difficulty, [on this verse] the Talmud (Megillah 25a:10) comments, ‘Is fear [of Heaven] a minor thing?’ and it answers, ‘Yes, to Moshe it is a minor thing.’ What makes this passage surprising is that fear [of Heaven] is not the only item to consider, so why did the Talmud ask on it more than love or service with all one's soul? Another aspect that’s hard to understand: since it started with asking to love Him, why did it immediately contradict the request by saying it is “for your own good”? Rashi (Rashi on Deuteronomy 10:13) explains that phrase to mean ‘in order that it shall be good for you’, which is the opposite of love. But all this notwithstanding, we need to understand to whom is this verse speaking. If it is speaking to all of Israel equally, how is it possible [to expect] this spiritual level of fear [of Hashem] and love [of Hashem] from the least of Israel, who are not capable of reaching them at all? Love can only be reached by means of Torah or service in the Temple, which are the bread that joins Israel to their Father in Heaven, as it writes in the book of Numbers 28:2 in the verse “my sacrifice, my bread…”, and in many other places. How could Hashem come with complaints against His creations to ask of them something which is impossible to achieve in a natural way? And if you will suggest that it speaks only to those fit to achieve these things, see the verse did not specify who it was speaking to. Rather it must be that you can contemplate and deduce from this verse itself that Hashem is not asking from Israel [as a whole], but from each person according to their ability. For behold it writes “to walk in all of His ways”, but it doesn't write “ *and* to walk in all of His ways”, like it writes [next] “and to love Him and to serve…” So too in verse 13, “to guard the commandments of Hashem”, but not “ *and* to guard…” It is clear that it is like the start of a separate expression, and from this we can understand the matter. It is appropriate to know that there are four spiritual levels in Israel, as we explained in the portion of Balak “How goodly are your tents…” They are (1) heads and leaders of Israel, (2) scholars, also called the elders of Israel, (3) laymen occupied with earning a living, and (4) women, servants and children. Each one of these groups differs from the other in terms of what Hashem asks of them. That is why it writes in the portion “You are standing today, all of you, your heads, your tribes, your elders and your officers. Every man of Israel, your infants, your women... to cross over into the covenant of Hashem…” On the face of it, why did the text need to include these [groups]? It writes “You are standing today, all of you... to cross over into the covenant of Hashem.” Everyone is included! Rather, it is because each one has a separate covenant, and what Hashem asks of this group He does not ask of that group, almost as if [these expectations] are forbidden to a second group, as we will explain. Proceeding in the order used in the verse: “Your heads, your tribes.” These are the heads and directors of that generation, who can be described as ‘working for the needs of the community’. They are not permitted to stop this work, not even to toil in love [of Hashem] or closeness [to Him], because that would not be in keeping with the diligence required of them in their unadulterated service of the community. It states in Tractate Shabbat: ‘Hosting guests is even greater than receiving the Divine Presence, as it says “Please do not pass from upon your servant.”’ The explanation is not that someone who merits to receive the Divine Presence cannot be compared to someone who is a host to guests, but simply that this particular mitzvah is greater than the other one and pushes it aside, like our father Avraham did even at the very moment he stood before Hashem, as it writes “And Hashem appeared to him,” but when he saw guests he begged leave from Hashem to depart from Him but without leaving completely, rather He should wait for him until he had treated the guests in a manner fitting for them. From this we can understand [the priority of] taking care of communal needs, for they embody a commandment even greater than hosting guests. Behold, someone involved in taking care of communal needs is exempt from the commandment to read Shema, as related in a Tosefta in Brachot: ‘This is the reason that Rabi Yishmael thought Rabi Akiva and Rabi Elazar ben Azariya did not read the Shema: because they were taking care of communal needs.’ How much more so is this commandment so great as to push aside the commandments of love [of Hashem] and closeness [to Him], which themselves are pushed aside before practical, active obligations, as is written in the portion of tzitzit. If so, then what does Hashem ask of the leaders of Israel? Not love [of Hashem] and closeness [to Him], nor guarding the performance of good deeds, but fear [of Him], meaning he should be steeped constantly in fear of Hashem. This is because someone in a leadership position who is taking care of the needs of the public, could be drawn to seek his own benefit or honour through his deeds. He might grant advantage to those who flatter him or alternatively, to someone who encroaches on his honour he might hide his eyes from seeing his suffering or even find opportunity to cause him evil. That is why it writes about him “What does Hashem ask of you, only to fear [Him].” At all times he needs to know “above even a high official is a higher authority...” There is a further reason for him to fear Hashem more than anyone else – because transgressions between man and his fellow are not easily atoned for. It states “man is considered forewarned [for damages] whether by accident or on purpose,” which is not the case regarding sins between a man and Heaven. King David says: “I hate those who hate You... examine me Hashem and know my heart... see if I have vexatious ways, and guide me on a path of eternity.” The explanation is: if I err in my evaluation of someone as one of those who hate You and as a result pursue him and hate him, but in fact I am not in line with the truth, then it would be better for me to die, that You should “guide me on a path of eternity.” For the mistake cannot be fixed and repentance will not help. This specific expectation applies to the heads and leaders of Israel and no others.

ועתה ישראל מה ה' אלוקיך שואל מעמך כי אם ליראה, “And now, what is it that the Lord tour G’d asks of you, except to be reverent?” Nachmanides writes that the word ועתה, “and now,” is a continuation of what is written at the end of verse 13 לטוב לך “for your benefit.” In other words, Moses wants the people to understand that any demands made by Hashem on His people are never motivated by what is “good for Him,” but by what is good for His people. The route may be a little circuitous, i.e. when the Jew, by obedience to G’d, demonstrates a degree of reverence for Him, then all the commandments he performs will turn out to be for his benefit. As proof that performance by the Jewish people of these commandments cannot be designed to benefit the Creator, Moses reminds the people

All things are in the hands of Heaven, etc. I.e., this verse is not connected to the previous verses. Rather it begins a new topic to teach us that all things are in the hands of Heaven aside from, etc. Therefore He only asks of you to fear Him — which consists of similar activities that a person may choose to do or he may choose not to do, and it includes the fear of Heaven (Re”m).

V. 12. ועתה ישראל, und nun, nachdem durch alles Bisherige dir klar geworden sein muss, dass jedes Heil deiner Zukunft nur von der treuen Erfüllung dessen abhängt, was dein Gott von dir fordert, was ist es denn, was dein Gott von dir fordert? שואל מעמך (siehe zu 2. B. M. 3, 22). מה — כי אם: was anderes als. — Nach den Akzenten sind ללכת ,ליראה und לאהבה nicht drei getrennte Anforderungen, sondern ללכת und לאהבה sind Konsequenzen von ליראה: so Gott zu fürchten, dass diese Gottesfurcht uns zum Gehen in allen Gotteswegen und dieses zur Gottesliebe führt. ׳ירא את ד heißt ja: Gott in seiner Größe und Erhabenheit sich stets gegenwärtig halten (siehe Bereschit S. 58 und Schmot S. 387). ללכת בכל דרכיו: und dadurch veranlasst zu werden, alle die Ziele anzustreben, zu denen Er uns die Wege gelehrt; und dies Entfalten aller Kräfte in Gottes Gegenwart zu den Zielen, die Er uns gesteckt, in den Wegen, die Er uns gelehrt, ist ein beglückendes, diese Ziele und diese Wege sind so unserem ganzen Wesen entsprechend, das Er für diese Ziele und diese Wege geschaffen, — דרכיה דרכי נועם — und das Gefühl zu sein und seines Daseins Bestimmung unter Gottes Augen zu lösen, ist ein so beglückendes Hochgefühl, dass dieser Gottesfürchtige Wandel vor Gott selbst die Gottesliebe erzeugt, ׳אהבת ד, die keine größere Seligkeit kennt, als א הב ד׳, als sich Gott hinzugeben und sich Gott nahe zu wissen, ולעבד את ד׳ und aus dieser Liebe heraus alle Gedanken und Gefühle des Herzens und alle geistigen und leiblichen Kräfte der Seele in den Dienst Gottes aufgehen zu lassen, Seine Zwecke auf Erden zu vollbringen.

ועתה ישראל, מה ה' אלוקיך שאל ממך, “and now, Israel, what is it the Lord your G–d asks of you, etc.;” the list that follows comprises all aspects of life, so that it is hard to understand Moses as portraying G–d’s demands upon us as something trivial. According to one view, this question refers only to the last item in the list, i.e. “G–d asks us to do only what is clearly of benefit for us and is good for us and the observance of which will result in our earning a great reward.” However, our sages in the Talmud tractate B’rachot, folio 33 are clearly disturbed by such an interpretation. This is why they distinguish between ordinary folks like ourselves, and Moses, and state that what appeared as relatively easy in Moses’ eyes concerning himself, is a great deal more difficult for the ordinary Jew. Different sages dealing with the same problem arrive at a different conclusion by saying that the opportunity that G–d gave us by our earning merits through the recital of 100 benedictions on each day is what makes it so easy to accumulate all those merits. They arrive at this by not understanding the word מה in our verse as meaning: “what,” but as מאה, “one hundred,” the Torah alluding to how easy it is to accumulate one hundred merit points daily. (Compare Talmud, tractate Menachot, folio 43.) Our author tries to reinforce this daring interpretation by reminding us that whereas the numerical value of the word מה when we read the aleph bet from right to left, adds up to 45, when we read it from left to right these two letters appear as יץ in the matching (corresponding) sequence, and then add up to 100. Some, much later commentaries, such as Tur, Or Hachayim, chapter 46, state that King David, 500 years earlier than Ezra, who had introduced public Torah reading on Mondays and Thursdays, decreed the need to recite one hundred benedictions daily; he bases himself on Samuel II chapter 23,1 according to which 100 men in David’s army died daily and he did not know why, so that he introduced the rule to recite these benedictions to ward off the cause for these mysterious deaths. The numerical value of the word על which follows the word הוקם in that word is 100. and it is reported that the plague that killed one hundred people every day ceased forthwith, i.e. as soon as the people started reciting 100 benedictions daily. There is another interesting source for the benefit of the recital of 100 benedictions daily, which is derived from a verse in Psalms 128,4: הנה כי כן יבורך גבר, “so shall the man who fears the Lord be blessed,” the last four words of this line, seeing that the word has been spelled defectively, i.e. יברך, have a numerical value of 100, were the reason for the inclusion of the benediction מודים אנחנו לך, “we give thanks to You,” in the daily amidah prayer which we recite three times daily at least. We bow down while reciting this benediction. The source of bowing down when reciting these words is found in Samuel I 15,30 where King Sha-ul, after having been rebuked by the prophet Samuel for failing to have killed Agag, the King of the Amalekites, confesses to having sinned and bows down, והשתחויתי לה' אלוקיך, “I prostrated myself bowed down to the Lord your G–d; .Targum Yonathan translates the word והשתחויתי there as meaning: “I have given thanks.” The fact is that we do not prostrate ourselves during the daily amidah prayer when reciting the prayer beginning with the word מודים. The reason may be because the numerical value of the letters in that word is 100. This is another allusion to the fact that reciting 100 benedictions daily is appropriate or mandatory for each one of us. Or, the sages teach us that if one thanks the Lord daily in a proper fashion this is equivalent to having recited one hundred benedictions daily. In other words, it is equivalent to prostrating oneself. This has been attested to by a Rabbi Boon, in the Jerusalem Talmud [I have not found the quote, perhaps it is inaccurately quoted. Ed.]

כי אם ליראה וגו׳ EXCEPT TO FEAR [THE LORD YOUR GOD, etc.]. — Our Rabbis derived from this (“and now, what does God ask from you”) that everything is in the hands of God except the fear of God (Berakhot 33b).

ולאהבה אותו, this will also be a natural result if only you reflect on all the goodness you have experienced at His hand. לטוב לך, all of this G’d asks only for your own good, so that you will qualify for eternal life in the hereafter.

This verse may also be understood as an opening for תשובה, penitence, by the person who transgresses one of G'd's commandments claiming that he simply does not understand why G'd wants him to keep such a commandment. Moses answers such a person by telling him "and now." According to Bereshit Rabbah 21,6 the word עתה always is an opening for man to repent a sin. [The verse under discussion in that Midrash is Genesis 3,22 when G'd justifies expelling Adam from the garden of Eden. Ed.] According to that approach the words ועתה מה ה׳ אלוקיך שואל מעמך mean that G'd makes it very easy for us to become penitent. All we have to do is to demonstrate fear of the Lord. When we demonstrate such an attitude towards G'd He will be pleased with us already.

Diese יראת ד׳ ist bleibend die einzige Wurzel alles unseres Seins und Wollens vor Gott, sie ist das einzige, das Gott ganz in unsere Hand gelegt, הכל בידי שמים חוץ מיראת שמים, sie ist das einzige, das עמך ist, und das Gott daher מעמד fordert, sie ist das einzige, welches Gott für alles und mit allem, das er uns gibt, von uns zurückerwartet. אין לו לה׳ב׳ה בבית גנזיו אלא אוצר של יראת שמים (Berachot 33 b). Sie ist der Schlüssel zu allem Wissen und ihre volle Betätigung ist das Ziel alles Wissens. כל אדם שיש בו תורה ואין בו יראת שמים דומה לגזבר שמסרו לו מפתחות הפנימיות ומפתחות החיצונות לא מסרו לו בהי עייל? und חבל על דלית ליה דרתא ותרעא לדרתא עביד (Schabbat 31 b).

From you. 'I request nothing from you but fear and love', for all the commandments are not from you but rather from Him; if He gives you a house, make a mezuzah and a fence [for its flat roof]. Clothing, make fringes. Money, make of it donations. Grain and grape juice and wine, make from them priestly and other tithes. A son, circumcise him. It turns out, performance of the mitzvot is ultimately from God! There is no Arab merchant in the world who, when given 20 dinarim, doesn't give because of this to the One who has commanded regarding it half of the money or a third, and this holds for him goodness. And so too, because of the Holy Blessed One we are able to praise all that You have made and give to him, and not beg at the doors. And this is that he does not ask from us a gift, just fear and love and the intention of the heart, and thus it is written (Job 41:3): "Who has a previous claim on Me, that I should repay him? All that is under the heavens is Mine!" -- I am first to give to them, before they give to Me anything. And so said David, "what is yours has been given to you". And not only do you do a mitzvah, but you even receive benefit! As it is written "to your own good" (Deuteronomy 10:13). And from this verse, our rabbis saw a hint (Menachot 43b) of one hundred daily blessings, as it is written "What [mah/מה] does the Lord your God ask of you?" Do not read "what" [mah/מה], rather one hundred [me'ah/מאה] -- and there are one hundred letters in this verse from "And now", when you read "what" with the additional alef (making it "me'ah"), that in one hundred there are one hundred letters. For within the verse there are 99 letters, and with the alef there are a round 100. And now there are two [hundreds]! -- one that you read, and a further one of the 100 letters.

The elders are instructed only “to go in His ways and to love Him and to serve Hashem with all your heart and with all your soul.” The common folk of the nation of Israel are required only “to guard the commandments of Hashem...” To the children, women and convert applies only “...for your good.” And still all these injunctions are stated together because this portion is said inclusive of all the assembly of Hashem, who contain within them all manner of people and everything required of each individual. David acted in a similar manner when he asked “one thing” of Hashem, meaning that each person should receive what is fitting for him. A Talmid Chacham should sit in in the House of Hashem, to see His pleasantness and to visit His Temple. Someone who is not fit for such a level will continue with his work, and should be sheltered in his covering when an evil day comes. One who goes out to war with His enemies should be raised up high on rock [in victory]. Nonetheless these requests are made on behalf of all Israel, and it is understood that at one time a man might stand in a position and Hashem will require of him a specific duty, and in turn he will ask for his specific needs, and at another time he will hold another position and he will be like that other man.

Moses continues ללכת בכל דרכיו "to walk in all His paths;" this can be understood in accordance with Vayikra Rabbah 21,5 that if you have committed a string of violations try and compensate for this by performing a string of commandments. Maimonides writes in his commentary on the Mishnah at the end of tractate Makkot that a person who has not angered G'd [by transgressing any negative commandment Ed.] will acquire merit both in this world and in the Hereafter as long as he performs a single commandment. Thus far Maimonides. I have compared the matter to two servants of a king, one of whom has never caused his monarch to be angry at him, and who now visits his king bearing a relatively inexpensive gift, a young dove. The second servant has a history of offending his monarch on repeated occasions; when he visits the king he tenders an ox as a gift. One could reason that the king has reason to be pleased with the offering of the dove and to be displeased with the offering of the ox in view of the previous acts of disobedience of the servant who now offers this gift. Moses here tells the penitent sinner to walk in "all the Lord's paths" i.e. to make up for it by performance of many commandments.

On a mystical level our verse also targets the hidden connections, i.e. interactions known only to G'd whereby man's actions in our world help unify branches of sanctity in the celestial regions. The same occurs in reverse, of course. Proverbs 16,28 ונרגן מפריג אלוף, "a quarrelsome one alienates his friend," refers to the אלופו של עולם. [Just as man's sins create a chasm between him and his Creator, so his מצוה-performance can close any chasm which existed between man and G'd. Ed.] Moses hints at this interaction. In terms of sanctity, the word מה refers to the presence of G'd, שכינה, as explained by the Talmud Sotah 11 in connection with Exodus 2,4: "his sister (Moses' sister Miriam) stood from afar to know what would happen to him." Rabbi Yitzchok demonstrates there how every word in that verse can be viewed as referring to celestial powers, and he understands the verse as speaking about the שכינה. Just as the word מה in that verse is a reference to the שכינה, so the word מה in our verse refers to the שכינה.

This approach is also in accordance with what our sages said in Tanchuma Korach 12 אל תקרי מה אלא מאה, "do not read מה, but 100, a reference to the 100 benedictions a person is supposed to recite daily. [This entire fascinating passage in the Tanchuma commences already with the mystical significance of the number 100. For instance, the words לך לך at the beginning of Genesis 12 are understood in terms of their numerical value i.e. 50+50 =100. This was a hint that Abraham's son Isaac would be born when Abraham was 100 years old. Ed.] It is important to associate G'd's ineffable name (י־ה־ו־ה) with the number 100, hence we have to recite 100 benedictions using the ineffable name of G'd. Moses says that basically, this is what G'd asks of the Jewish people, i.e. to create a unity between the Jewish people and G'd and His name. The reason Moses had to say ועתה, "and now," is because this is something that man can only do in this life. Once he finds himself in the hereafter, -though he may accomplish many outstanding tasks,- he cannot perform deeds as he will be like the angels, i.e. beings without a body. We find that our sages have compared this world to שעה, "an hour," when they described the kind of people who set more value by things which occur in this life though it is so transient. The wording in Shabbat 33 is: "they ignore eternity in favour of focusing on the life comprising an hour." When you pursue this approach, the words כי אם ליראה assume the meaning of some kind of material, i.e. the "fear" Moses is speaking about is quasi something tangible. Moses means that although when looked at in terms of something abstract "fear" may be something very great, hard to attain, once we reduce it to tangible terms it becomes much smaller, even though, admittedly, one needs spiritual resources in order to attain it. Moses,' or rather, G'd's message is that the beneficial result of fearing the Lord will be proportionately far greater than the effort invested in attaining such a result.

Another way of looking at this unusual utterance by Moses, ‎in which, at least superficially, he appears to describe reverence ‎for G’d as an attribute that is easily cultivated by man. We read in ‎Deuteronomy 33,26 where Moses describes some of the ‎phenomenal capacities of the Creator in the words: ‎רוכב שמים ‏בעזרך‎, “He rides the heavens in support of you (His people).” ‎Although G’d’s abilities are unlimited, ‎אין סוף‎, He has nonetheless ‎imposed restrictions upon Himself out of His love for the Jewish ‎people, so much so that when applying His many attributes in ‎practice, He first compares the way in which His people, Israel, ‎practice these same attributes down here on earth. When G’d ‎observes the Jewish people excelling in the practice of loving ‎kindness for their fellow Jews, He in turn, will also practice this ‎attribute in a very generous measure. The same is true of other ‎attributes such as displaying unforgiving hostility towards those ‎who blaspheme and belittle G’d, or worse. He will deal with such ‎people harshly, having taken His cue from the way His people ‎behave toward them. This was implied when we mentioned earlier ‎in connection with G’d being described both as Hashem and ‎as elokim in the same verse, (Deut. 6,4) (compare page 732) that whereas ‎the name ‎Hashem is a “comprehensive” name ‎including all of G’d’s manifold attributes, the name ‎‎“elokim” is used when referring to a specific attribute of ‎His being prominent at that time. When Moses, in our verse here, ‎stresses the name of G’d as His attribute of ‎אלוקיך‎, “your G’d,” this ‎suggests that He applies His attributes according to the way His ‎people practice this attribute on earth in their dealings with ‎others. ‎

'לשמר את מצות ה TO KEEP THE COMMANDMENTS OF THE LORD — and this, too, not unrequited, but לטוב לך FOR THY GOOD — that you should receive a reward for doing so.

And this is also not for naught, etc. Rashi is answering the question: At the beginning of the verse it says, “To guard Adonoy’s commandments,” meaning, “for Hashem’s benefit.” But at the end of the verse it is written, “For your benefit,” meaning, “for the benefit of the Jewish People.” Therefore Rashi explains: “And this is also, etc.” In other words: Certainly you should keep the commandments for His benefit. But nonetheless, for you too this is not for naught, but for your benefit.

V. 13. לשמר וגו׳. Diese יראה und diese אהבה, dieser Gottesfürchtige Wandel in Gottes Wegen und dieser gottliebende Dienst Gottes mit ganzem Herzen und ganzer Seele, sie finden ihre konkrete Verwirklichung nur in gewissenstreuer Erfüllung der Gottesgebote und Gottesgesetze, die von Ihm uns durch Mosche geworden, מצות: die positiven Aufgaben, חקות; die sittlichen Schranken, innerhalb derer wir ihre Lösung anzustreben haben.

הן לה׳ אלהיך BEHOLD, UNTO THE LORD THY GOD BELONGS the whole Universe (“the heavens … and the earth and all that therein is”), and yet רק באבתיך חשק ה׳ ONLY IN THY FATHERS DID THE LORD TAKE PLEASURE.

Only your forefathers. The word “only” is to exclude the heavens and the heavenly heavens. Out of all of those, Hashem only desired your forefathers. This is in accordance with the opinion of the kabbalists, who said that the righteous are greater than the acts of heaven and earth. All agree that everything else was only created for the sake of mankind.

הן לה' אלוקיך השמים...והארץ, the fact that He owns the entire universe is convincing proof that whatever He asks of you is only for your own good, not for His, seeing that He has everything. The phenomena in the heavens and on earth are indestructible, permanent, and if you observed that at times they performed out of character to their nature, this was only because I, G’d, made them perform so in your interest. However, G’d was fond of your forefathers

הן לה' אלוקיך השמים, ושמי השמים, הארץ וכל אשר בה “Here the heaven, the most remote regions of heaven even, the earth and all that is therein, etc.” Seeing that He owns it all, and that ownership confers tremendous glory upon Him, how could He be in need of your contributions for His sake rather than for yours?

All things, etc. This refers to all that is written in the verse, “The heavens and the heavens beyond the heavens, the earth, etc.”

VV. 14 — 16. הן וגו׳. Diese Liebe erzeugende יראה in uns zu wecken, sollte schon der Gedanke genügen, der uns der ganz einzigen Stellung inne werden lässt, die uns Gott zu Sich gegeben. Das ganze Weltall, Himmel und der Himmel Himmel, die Erde und alle Wesen auf der Erde sind sein, und doch ist Er keinem Wesen so nahe getreten, wie euch! Unter allen Menschen auf Erden hat er eure Väter seines besonderen liebenden Verhältnisses würdig gefunden, und hat euch als זרעם אחריהם, als deren Söhne, die in Nachfolge ihrer Väter sich gleich ihnen des besonderen Gottesbundes würdig zeigen sollen, unter allen Völkern zu Dienern seiner besonderen Zwecke für die Völker erwählt. Dies Bewusstsein sollte euch dazu bringen, alles abzutun, was einer solchen Stellung entgegen ist, sollte euch dazu bringen:

ומלתם וגו׳ "i>euer Herz euch, und euch Gott gehorsam" zu machen. ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם (siehe Bereschit S. 246 s. und Wajikra zu Kap. 19, 23) wörtlich: Tretet der Ungefügigkeit, der Unbotmäßigkeit eures Herzens entgegen, bringet euer Herz mit seinem Sinnen und Wollen unter eure Herrschaft, machet euer Herz euch gehorsam, וערפכם לא תקשו עוד: und euch selbst unterwerfet Gott: machet euch Gott gegenüber frei von jedem Eigensinn und Eigenwillen. Zusammen: Stellet euch mit allem euren Sinnen und Wollen in den Dienst Gottes, und lasset euch durch kein unkontrolliertes Denken und Wollen und durch keinen Eigensinn und Eigenwillen aus diesem Dienste entfernen.

עוד: daran vor allem hat es euch bis jetzt gebrochen, legt endlich diese Gebrechen ab!

שמי השמים: die Weltenräume, denen gegenüber der ganze uns sichtbare Himmel zu einem solchen Punkt zusammen schwindet, wie unsere Erde diesem Himmel gegenüber.

בכם [AND HE CHOSE …] YOU, even as you see yourselves the object of His pleasure מכל העמים, כיום הזה MORE THAN ALL OTHER PEOPLES THIS DAY.

רק באבותיך חשק, and this is why He performed miracles which interfered with natural law; these miracles were for your benefit, but were orchestrated only because of His fondness for them. Clearly, G’d’s purpose must have been that there should arise on earth someone even more perfect than any other creature, i.e. a perfect human being, one that realises his full potential, will resemble Me to the maximum extent that a creature can resemble its Creator, i.e. בצלמנו כדמותנו (Genesis 1,26).

כיום הזה, as of this day. Moses means that the Jewish people are a worthy community as he had already testified in Deut. 4,4 that "you all cleaved to G'd and stayed alive." The message is that were it not for that merit, the mere fact that they were the descendants of the patriarchs whom G'd had liked would not have helped them if they had been wicked. The best proof for the truth of this statement is the fact that Ishmael, also a son of Abraham, or Esau, a son of Isaac and a grandson of Abraham were not chosen and only some of the descendants of Isaac developed into the Jewish people. (compare Nedarim 31).

רק באבותיך חשק ...ויבחר בזרעם, “Only your forefathers did Hashem cherish, to love them, so that He chose their offspring, etc.” Moses means that the Jewish people are the choicest of their forefathers’ offspring, as opposed to Ishmael, Avraham’s sons from Ketura, and Esau.

Just as you see yourselves desired, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Why is the word בכם (you) needed? The verse only needed to say, “He chose their descendants after them from all, etc.” Therefore Rashi explains: “Just as you see yourselves desired, etc.” In other words, “In yourselves you can see that Hashem chose you and your descendants, for you see yourselves desired above all nations.” And Rashi says היום הזה (this day) instead of כיום הזה (like this day), because he explains the word בכם (you) literally, and they [who, “you,” is referring to] were actually present “this day.” The prefix כ (like) is not disregarded, for it is connected to, “He chose their descendants after them.” As if it says, “And He chose their descendants after them, like this day, from all the peoples.”

AS IT IS THIS DAY. The meaning thereof is that thus it will be with their seed forever [that they will be His chosen ones]. I have already explained²⁴⁶Above, 7:6. the terms “delight” and “choosing.” And the expression the heaven of heavens²⁴⁴Verse 14. refers to the spherical bodies of the four elements [fire, water, earth and air] which are in the potential of the heavens below them,²⁴⁷See Vol. I, pp. 36-37. similar to what is said, the earth, with all that therein is.²⁴⁴Verse 14. And so it is said in the psalm: Praise ye the Eternal from the heavens; praise Him in the heights,²⁴⁸Psalms 148:1. and continues to mention His angels, His host,²⁴⁹Ibid., Verse 2. and the stars of light,²⁵⁰Ibid., Verse 3. and afterwards, Praise Him, ye heaven of heavens.²⁵¹Ibid., Verse 4.

ויבחר בזרעם אחריהם, בכם, He chose their seeds after them, i.e. “whom did He choose” “you;” this is the meaning of the verse, as Rashi explains, based on the prefix ב in the word בכם. You, i.e. your generation, are the generation of the patriarchs’ seed that He has chosen. Rashi focuses on the words: כיום הזה, “as of now,” at the end of our verse.

ביום הזה, “as of this day.” This is a formula meaning that what is true and applicable on this day concerning this subject, will continue to remain true and applicable.

ערלת לבבכם [YE SHALL CIRCUMCISE] THE FORESKIN OF YOUR HEART — This means: ye shall remove the closure and cover that is on your hearts, [which prevent My words gaining entrance to them] (cf. Rashi on Exodus 6:12 and Leviticus 19:23).

CIRCUMCISE THEREFORE THE FORESKIN OF YOUR HEART — that your heart be open to know the truth, not as you have done to this day, for the Eternal hath not given you a heart to know, and eyes to see, and ears to hear [unto this day].²⁵²Further, 29:3.

ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם, therefore, it is appropriate that you remove the “foreskin,” prejudices with which your intelligence is afflicted, so that you will realise the errors you have made in your world outlook based on false premises.

ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם, “Circumcise, (remove hindrances) the foreskin of your hearts!” This is required in order for your hearts to become receptive to Hashem’s words.

ומלתם את ערלת לבבכם, “You shall ‘circumcise’ the foreskin surrounding your heart.“ The term ערלה is applied when the Torah or the prophet wants to describe a negative character trait, a trait which inhibits development of a personality to its full potential. Anyone who is burdened with such an impediment to his personality development cannot truly embrace the commandments we know as the מצות המושכלות and to understand their true value.

Your heart’s obstruction — its covering]. “Its covering” is what is meant by “its obstruction.” Rashi writes likewise in Parshas Va’eira (Shmos 6:12).

וערפכם לא תקשו עוד, so that you will no longer be stiff-necked, a condition which prevents you from truly recognising your Creator and how evil it is to turn your back on Him.

וערפכם לא תקשו, “and do not stiffen your necks.” A subtle reminder of the fathers of the present generation of Israelites who had been characterized as קשי עורף, “stiff-necked.” Obstinacy was a characteristic of the Egyptians, one that the Israelites due to their lengthy stay in Egypt had adopted also, believing it to be a virtue. It manifested itself by the Israelites still believing that there were positive aspects, advantages, to certain forms of idolatry. Moses, in addressing the new generation, a generation that had not been raised in Egypt, tells the people not to allow themselves to become victims of the same errors their fathers had become victims of, and not to be brainwashed by concepts that had proven utterly false. Surely, someone as close as they were to the Lord of lords, the Creator Himself, did not need to have recourse to one of His ministers, or even only deputy ministers!

וערפכם לא תקשו עוד, “and you will not continue with your stiff-neckedness.” Moses implies that up until now the people had been characterised by such a stiff-necked attitude. G’d Himself had accused them of this outright in Exodus 33,3.

AND BE NO MORE STIFFNECKED — that you be not as your fathers,²⁵³Zechariah 1:4. a stubborn and rebellious generation,²⁵⁴Psalms 78:8. because they dwelled with the Egyptians and learned their works,²⁵⁵Ibid., 106:38. and were obdurate about discarding their ways as [shown by the fact] they made the [golden] calf, and He called them there it is a stiffnecked people,²⁵⁶Exodus 32:9. meaning that they will not disavow the mistake that had entered their hearts to think that there is some benefit in worshipping the angels or the host of heaven. But you are to know, to be wise and to believe For the Eternal your G-d, He is G-d of gods, and Lord of lords.²⁵⁷Verse 17. G-d of ‘gods’ is a reference to the angels above, and the Lord of ‘lords’ is an allusion to all the host of heaven to whom dominion over the lower creatures belongs, for He is the Lord Who established their authority on earth, and His is the greatness and the power,²⁵⁸I Chronicles 29:11. and He is to be feared in the beauty of His strength,²⁵⁹See Psalms 96:6. Who regarded not any one²⁵⁷Verse 17. of the angels or the lords to protect their worshippers, nor taketh bribery²⁵⁷Verse 17. from the hand of a person. Now on this matter of bribery [to G-d] they²⁶⁰This explanation is found in Rambam’s commentary to Aboth at the end of the fourth chapter. have explained its meaning to be that even if a perfectly pious person should commit a sin, He will not accept from him any of his meritious deeds, as a bribe in atonement for him. And Onkelos translated: “[He is the great G-d] before Whom there is no regard for persons, nor the acceptance of a bribe.” Onkelos thus meant to explain that the verse is in praise of negative attributes of the Creator, blessed be He.²⁶¹This coincides with one of the major theories of Rambam in his Moreh Nebuchim, that the essence of G-d and His attributes can be expressed only in negations. Thus we say that “He is incorporeal,” for the true essence of G-d in positive terms is infinitely above the capacity of man even to fathom, much less to describe. (See Guide of the Perplexed, I, Chapters 58-60). The verse is thus stating that G-d is not of the category [of beings] that regards persons, for men shall not see Him and live,²⁶²Exodus 33:20. and everything is as nothing before Him; they are accounted by Him as things of nought, and vanity;²⁶³Isaiah 40:17. nor is He of the category of beings that take a bribe or reward from man like kings and judges of a land.
The correct interpretation in my opinion is that he is stating that G-d is not partial to powerful persons in their quarrel with their inferiors, nor does He take a bribe from the rich when they strive with the poor, for He doth execute justice for the fatherless and widow²⁶⁴Verse 18. from the powerful, and despoileth life of those that despoil them.²⁶⁵Proverbs 22:23. And He loveth the stranger in giving him food and raiment,²⁶⁴Verse 18. these being all the essential needs of man. Thus He supports the poor who have no friend and companion.

ואדני האדנים [FOR THE LORD YOUR GOD IS …] LORD OF LORDS (i.e. He is Lord over those who are lords, kings, governors, etc.) — so that no lord is able to deliver you from His hand.

Once you removed this “foreskin,” you will recognize that כי ה' אלוקיכם הוא אלוקי האלוקים, the eternal One Who will outlast anything as He is not made of any physical raw material so that He can outlast even materials that are not composites of other elements. [It is an axiom among philosophers of the author’s time that amalgams, phenomena which combine within them several elements, are by definition not durable, as just as these elements had to be fused to bring the final product into existence, this process will reverse itself in due cause, something we know as “dying.” Ed.]

אלוקי האלוקים ואדוני האדנים, "The G'd of gods and the Lord of lords, etc." The first statement means that He is the G'd of the angels who are often described as אלהים, such as in Job 1,6 ויבאו בני האלוהים. The expression אדני האדנים refers to terrestrial rulers. Compare Genesis 42,30 דבר האיש אדני הארק אתנו קשות, "the man who is the ruler of the land spoke harshly to us." The reason Moses also had to mention terrestrial rulers is so that we should not think that these rulers are free to do as they please; Moses reminds us that G'd exerts some pressure on those rulers. This is what Solomon meant in Proverbs 21,1: "the heart of the king is in G'd's hand, He directs it to whatever direction He desires."

אשר לא ישא פנים, “Who does not show favour,” to any of the other deities and their followers to protect them more than others.

כי ה' אלו-היכם הוא אלו-הי האלו-הים, “for Hashem your G’d He is the supreme G’d;” superior to the angels; (Nachmanides)
ואדוני האדנים, “and the Master of masters;” a reference to the planets which have been appointed to run nature.
ה-אל, “the Creator,”
הגדול, "Who is great in the attribute חסד”
הגבור “and in the attribute גבורה, Justice”
והנורא “and awe-inspiring,” in the way He practices the attribute רחמים, Mercy.
The three attributes Moses referred to here are perceived as the אבות, the “patriarchs” of the attributes, the others being relatively junior to them seeing they are derivatives, תולדות. It is these three principal attributes which are meant when the sages speak about the מרכבה, the carriers of G’d’s glory. I have already explained on Exodus 33,6 that Moses meant to include all the thirteen attributes G’d had acquainted him with at the time when he now summarizes them as גדול, גבור, נורא.

No lord is capable, etc. Otherwise it should say, “For Adonoy is God and Lord.” Furthermore, since He is God over all gods, then certainly He is Lord over all lords. Rather, [“Lord over lords” means that no lord], etc.

V. 17. כי ד׳ וגו׳. Dies sind Gedanken der יראה. Denn Gott, der eurem Geschicke und eurem Tatenleben als אלקיכם so nahe getreten, Er ist אלקי וגו׳, alle Naturmächte sind Seiner Macht, alle Menschenherrschaften Seiner Herrschaft untertan. Er ist האל, Er ists, von dem jede Kraft und jede Bewegung ausgeht; הגדול, dessen Wesensgröße alle anderen Vorstellungen von geistigen und sittlichen Schaffensgrößen bis zur Unvergleichbarkeit überragt, er ist "der Große" absolut; הגבור, Er hat die Macht und übt die Macht in Beherrschung seiner Welt; und Er ist הנורא, es ist Ihm nicht gleichgültig, wie seine Menschen auf Erden leben, was sie denken und tun und lassen; die Menschen haben bei allen ihrem Denken und Wollen und Vollbringen Seinen Willen mit in Rechnung zu ziehen und Ihn in seiner Macht und in seiner Größe und vor allem als den zu fürchten, in dessen Willenshauch jede Kraft und jede Regung wurzelt, sobald sie ihr Wollen und Vollbringen Seinem Willen und Waltungszwecke entgegen zu richten wagen; אשר לא ישא פנים ולא יקח שחד, der in dem Menschen nur den Menschen achtet und für menschenwürdige sittliche Rechtschaffenheit kein Surrogat weder in sozialer Stellung und Herkunft, noch in geistigen Vorzügen und Talenten erblickt, der bei den Anforderungen seines Sittengesetzes keine Rücksicht auf soziale Stellung nimmt und sich nicht durch geistige Genialität und Leistung bestechen lässt.

לא ישא פנים HE WILL NOT REGARD PERSONS, if you cast off His yoke,

ואדוני האדונים, the supreme leader; the “leaders” referred to are the celestial bodies, especially those that even to the naked eye appear as performing a recognisable orbit. The “leaders” are the ones perceived as guiding and dictating the respective orbits of these celestial bodies. They are performing like different parts of a clockwork, so that when each performs its assigned function, the whole, i.e. the clock, becomes a reliable instrument telling time. [my metaphor. Ed.]

ולא יקח שוחד, “and Who will not accept a bribe.” Even when He is confronted by a totally righteous person, who did commit a single sin, and who wishes to atone for it by foregoing his claim to a reward for a merit he has to his credit, (trading off performance of a commandment against violation of a commandment) He will not overlook the sin committed by not exacting retribution where it is deserved. The proper manner to explain the words אשר לא ישא פנים, is that Hashem is not going to show favoritism to the powerful people on earth in their litigation against the less powerful. Neither will He accept bribes by the wealthy in their quarrels with the poor. But, He will punish the guilty according to their deserts. Verse 18 spells out that G’d will especially see to it that the underprivileged will not become victims of perverted justice. 10.18. לתת להם לחם ושמלה, “to give them bread and clothing.” G’d will provide the basic necessities of life for those who have no one else to look after them.

אשר לא ישא פנים, “Who does not show favour,” to the perfectly righteous, by overlooking a minor infraction.

If you cast off His yoke. “Exercising favoritism,” generally means either to acquit one who is guilty, or to forgo his punishment. So too, “accepting a bribe” [is for either of these two reasons]. “Acquitting the guilty,” cannot be attributed to Hashem, but, “forgoing punishment,” can be. Perforce, “exercises favoritism” means, “forgo punishment.” Rashi says that if you cast off His yoke then He will not exercise favoritism, meaning He will not forgo your punishment. Similarly, “Nor accepts bribes, etc.,” means for the sake of forgoing your punishment, as is usual for those who accepts bribes. The verse mentions both because punishment is sometimes forgone because of favoritism, and sometimes because of bribery. Re”m writes: I do not know how monetary gifts [i.e., bribes] can be associated to Hashem. Why does Rashi not explain, “Nor accepts a bribe — of a mitzvah in exchange for a sin. I.e., He does not forgo punishment for a person’s sin in exchange for a mitzvah that he did. Rather He gives reward for the mitzvah [that he did] and punishment for his sin.” Re”m leaves this question unresolved.

ולא יקח שֹחד NOR WILL HE TAKE A BRIBE, that one should appease Him by money.

הא-ל הגדול, the like of whom in greatness is not found among any creatures claiming greatness.

ולא יקח שוחד, “and Who will nor accept a bribe, “i.e. offsetting one sin against 1000 merits so that the person concerned is left with 999 net merits and does not get punished for the one sin he committed. G’d will punish the individual for his one sin and leave the reward for the 1000 mitzvot fully intact.

הגבור, the One Who, single-handedly, ensures the continued existence of everything, as per Nechemyah 9,6 ואתה מחיה את כולם, “and You keep all of them alive.”

והנורא, supervising His creatures’ activities in order to mete out reward and punishment. Seeing that this is so, it behooves us to be in constant awe of Him.

אשר לא ישא פנים, does not treat a deviant with leniency just because his father was righteous. This is so in spite of the fact that He confers benefits on the descendants of a righteous father for many generations to his descendants.

ולא יקח שוחד, He does not offset a merit against a demerit, a sin; or in the words of our sages: “a good deed performed does not extinguish the sin committed.” (Nachmanides Moses tells the people all this so that they should not reassure themselves that they can wipe the slate clean by performing good deeds after having committed sins and thus escape the retribution they deserve for the sins committed. The only way the slate can be wiped clean is by genuine repentance.

עשה משפט יתום ואלמנה HE EXECUTETH JUDGMENT OF THE FATHERLESS AND THE WIDOW — You have mention of His power (in the preceding verse) and together with His power you find mention of His humility here (“He executeth judgment of the fatherless and the widow”) (Megillah 31a).

לתת להם לחם ושמלה, “to give them bread and clothing.” G’d will provide the basic necessities of life for those who have no one else to look after them.

עושה משפט יתום ואלמנה, “He carries out judgment of orphan and widow.” Even though G’d is so high, exalted, He nevertheless concerns Himself personally with the most lowly one of His creatures. Our sages in Megillah 31 drew our attention to the fact that whenever G’d’s greatness is referred to in either the Torah, the Books of Prophets, or the Scriptures, you find side by side a reference to His “humility,” to the fact that He associates and takes a personal interest in the fates of the most humble. Our verse is one such example. Another example is found in Psalms 68,5 where David exalts G’d’s greatness, following with the words: “He acts as father for the orphans and as judge for the widows. A similar sequence of verses is found in Isaiah 57,15: “For thus said He Who high aloft forever dwells, whose name is holy: ‘I dwell on high in holiness; yet with the contrite and lowly in spirit reviving the spirits of the lowly.’”

This expresses power, etc. I.e., the previous verse, “For Adonoy, your God, is God over judges etc.,” expresses power. Therefore juxtaposed to it is, “Who performs justice for orphan and widow etc.” This is to inform us of His humility, that He performs justice for those who are weak and helpless.

V. 18. עושה משפט וגו׳, der diese seine Menschenachtung eben in der Rechtsvertretung zeigt, die er der verlassenen und gekränkten Waise und Witwe angedeihen lässt, und in der liebenden Fürsorge, die er dem aus der heidnischen Welt zu Ihm und euch eintretenden Fremdling zuwendet, der, verzichtend auf allen bisherigen sozialen und nationalen Zusammenhang, ohne Vergangenheit, ohne זכות אבות, lediglich mit der in ihm wachgewordenen reinen menschenwürdigen Regung, zu Gott in dem Vertrauen sich flüchtet, Gott werde in ihm den Menschen nicht verkennen und seinem Gott zugewandten Menschensehnen die Aufnahme in seine Bundesnähe nicht versagen. Dieses zu Ihm sich flüchtende Menschliche im Menschen liebt Gott und gewährt ihm Boden: "Existenz und bürgerliche Geltung", wie dies in לחם und שמלה seinen Ausdruck findet. So fasst auch Jakob alles von Gott zu erhoffende irdische Glück in "Brot" und "Gewand" zusammen (Bereschit 28, 20).

ואהב גר לתת לו לחם ושמלה AND HE LOVETH THE STRANGER IN GIVING HIM BREAD AND RAIMENT — and this (bread and raiment) is a matter of importance, for the very self of (all the energies of) Jacob, our ancestor, was to pray for this, (Genesis 28:20) “Let Him give me bread to eat and raiment to put on” (Genesis Rabbah 70:5).

And loves the convert. He is involved with the convert, who is alone amongst Yisroel, and requires special providence to find food and clothing, for he has no portion of land as an inheritance.

ואוהב גר, “and Who loves the proselyte;” seeing that G’d loves the convert, we are to love the convert also. We have another verse on the same subject in Leviticus 19,34 where G’d says: “love him as yourself.”

This is a significant matter, etc. I.e., do not think that it is a small matter to provide the convert with bread and a garment. [And do not think] it seems from here that He is incapable of [providing] more, for it is written above, “Who performs justice for orphan and widow,” which expresses power.

כי גרים הייתם [LOVE THE STRANGER] FOR YE WERE STRANGERS — Do not reproach thy fellow man for a fault which is also thine (cf. Rashi on Exodus 22:20; Bava Metzia 59b).

FOR YE WERE STRANGERS IN THE LAND OF EGYPT. “Do not reproach your fellow man with a fault which is also in you.” This is Rashi’s language. I have already explained it in the section And these are the ordinances.²⁶⁶Exodus 22:20 (Vol. II, pp. 392-393).

With your own blemish do not taunt your fellow. I.e., this verse is as if it says, “You are to love the convert, and do not insult him.” And this is why it says afterwards, “Because you were strangers,” [which implies that] with your own blemish, etc. But “love” alone, means to act kindly towards him, and is not connected to, “because you were strangers.” For having been strangers does not obligate you to act kindly towards a stranger. Rashi explains likewise in Parshas Mishpatim (Shmos 22:20). See also Bava Metzia 59b.

V. 19. ואהבתם וגו׳, pfleget Gott ähnlich die gleiche Gesinnung, zeiget in der Aufnahme, die der aus der Fremde bei euch Eintretende findet, wie euch das reine Menschtum das Höchste gilt. Die Gleichheit vor dem Gesetze, ja, die Liebe, die der Fremdling im jüdischen Nationalkreise finden soll, charakterisiert am sprechendsten Volk und Land als Gottesvolk und Gottesland, in dessen Umkreis Gott huldigendes reines Menschtum das erhält, was in anderen Kreisen Herkunft und Besitz erwerben. כי גרים הייתם וגו׳ (siehe zu Schmot 22, 20).

את ה׳ אלוהיך תירא THOU SHALT FEAR THE LORD THY GOD, and serve Him and cleave to Him; and after you possess all these qualities, then you may swear by His Name (cf. Rashi on 6:13 and Note thereon).

That is that we were commanded to build a choice house for Divine service, in which there will be sacrifices and an eternal burning of fire; and to which there will be journeying and pilgrimage on the festivals, and gatherings every year. And that is His saying, "And let them make Me a sanctuary" (Exodus 25:8). And the language of the Sifrei (Sifrei Devarim 67:1) is, "Three commandments were commanded to Israel upon their entrance to the land: To appoint a king over themselves; to build themselves a choice house; and to cut off the seed of Amalek." Behold it has been made clear to you that the building of the choice house is a separate commandment. And we have already explained (Sefer HaMitzvot, Shorashim 12) that this aggregate includes many parts, such as the menorah, the table, the altar and the rest of them - all of them are parts of the Temple. And all of it is called, Temple, even as each and every part has an individual command. However, His saying about the altar, "Make for Me an altar of earth" (Exodus 20:21), could have been thought of as a separate commandment, besides the commandment of the Temple. And the content of this is as I will tell you: True, the simple understanding of the verse is indeed clearly speaking about the time of the permissibility of altars - as at that time, it was permitted for us to build an earthen altar and sacrifice upon it. But [the Sages] have already said that the [actual] content in this is that He commanded us to to build an altar that is connected to the ground, and that it not be detached and moved, as it was in the desert [journey from Egypt]. And that is their saying in the Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael (Mekhilta DeRabbi Shimon bar Yochai 20:21) in explanation of this verse, "When you come to the land, make Me an altar that is attached to the ground." And since the matter is so, behold that this command is practiced for [all] generations; and it would be one of the parts of the Temple - meaning that specifically an altar of stones be built. And they said in the Mekhilta (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 20:22:1) in explanation of, "And if an altar of stones you make for Me" (Exodus 20:22), "Rabbi Yishmael says, 'Each and every, if, in the Torah [connotes] optionality, except for three.'" And one of the them is, "And if an altar of stones." They said, "'And if an altar of stones you make for Me.' This is obligatory. You say it is obligatory, but perhaps it is optional. [Hence] we learn to say, 'Of whole stones shall you build [the altar of the Lord]' (Devarim 27:6)." And the regulations of this commandment as a whole - meaning to say, the building of the Temple and its description and the building of the altar - have been explained in the tractate associated with it, and that is Tractate Middot. And likewise is the form of the menorah, the table and the golden altar; and the location of their placement in the chamber explained in the Gemara, Menachot and Yoma. (See Parashat Terumah; Mishneh Torah, The Chosen Temple 1.)

After having acquired all of these attributes then swear in His Name. Rashi clarifies several matters. He writes ותעבוד (and serve) instead of אותו תעבוד (serve Him). For the word אותו is not necessary; instead the verse should say תירא ותעבוד (fear and serve.) Also Rashi writes ותדבק בו (and cling to Him) instead of ובו תדבק (and to Him, cling), in order that all the verbs should follow one another [i.e., they should be grouped together] — “Fear, serve, and cling.” Also, by adding the word אז (then) Rashi indicates that, “Swear by His Name,” is not a positive commandment, as [might be] understood from the verse. And [Rashi writes בשמו to indicate] the ו of ובשמו is superfluous. [The meaning of the verse is] as if the word אם (if) is added and the verse said, “If you fear, serve, and cling to Him, then swear.” I.e., then you are permitted to swear, but not that it is a commandment to swear, as [might be] understood from the verse.

V. 20. ׳את ד׳ אלקיך וגו. Die Akzentuierung fasst entschieden את ד׳ א׳ תירא אתו תעבד zu einem Gedanken zusammen. Dieser Vers ist Schlusssatz der mit V. 17 eingeleiteten יראה-Gedanken. Deinen Gott, wie Er dir eben in seiner nur das Menschliche im Menschen achtenden Waltungsgröße geschildert worden, halte dir immer gegenwärtig, so dass dies Bewusstsein, daß du Ihm nur mit deiner sittlichen Persönlichkeit ein Genüge leisten kannst, dich ganz in seinen Dienst aufgehen lasse. ובו תדבק, dieses Aufwenden aller deiner Kräfte in Erfüllung Seines Willens, werde das Bindemittel zwischen dir und dem אל גדול גבור ונורא, "dienend wirst du ihm nahe;" und ובשמו תשבע; indem dein ganzes Leben Zeuge dafür ist, dass dir Sein Name das absolut Höchste gilt, sei "dein dich Unterstellen unter Seinen Namen" die höchste Wardeiung deines Wortes (siehe zu Kap. 6, 13).

את ה' אלוקיך תירא, “You shall fear the Lord your G-d;” This is a warning not to transgress negative commandments.

אותו תעבוד, “Him you shall serve!” This refers to observance of the positive commandments.

ובו תדבק, “and to Him you shall cleave!” With your heart;Another interpretation of this phrase: seeing that Moses had earlier told the people about some of G-d’s ways of doing things, he adds now that we should emulate what we have learned about how G-d does things. In the portion of Vaetchanan he had not said anything about specific ways in which G-d operates, (Deut. 6,13) this is why he elaborates here.

ובשמו תשבע, “and by His name you shall swear.” This refers to your mouth, as opposed to your heart. If you were to ask that the third commandment of the Ten Commandments had indicated that oaths should be used very sparingly, that is quite true; however, if the need to swear an oath arises you must make sure to swear only by His name. Such situations are primarily when you are tempted to commit a transgression, and you use your oath to stop yourself from giving in to that temptation. (Compare Ruth 3,13 where Boaz did so according to the Talmud in tractate T’murah folio 3)

HE IS THY PRAISE, AND HE IS THY G-D. The meaning thereof is that He should be your [sole object of] praise, that you are to devote all your praise to Him, praising Him always and not to give His glory to another, neither His praise to graven images,²⁶⁷Isaiah 42:8. nor to the gods and lords mentioned.²⁵⁶Exodus 32:9. Or he may be stating: “He is thy praise, for through Him you are praised above all peoples,” similar in expression to the verses, For Thou art the glory of their strength;²⁶⁸Psalms 89:18. O Eternal, my strength, and my stronghold.²⁶⁹Jeremiah 16:19. ”

היא תהלתך, your glory consists in the privilege of being a servant of a Being Who rules the entire cosmos.

הוא תהלתך, “He is your praise.” Nachmanides explains this to mean that whenever you feel that you want to praise someone you will praise Him. He is the only One worthy of praise. Another possible explanation is that when any other nation praises you, the Jewish people, it will always be in connection with and on account of your special relationship to Him.

V. 21. הוא תהלתך וגו׳ entwickelt nun Gedanken der התהלל .אהבה eigentlich: sich ausstrahlen, d. i. sein inneres Wesen in Kraftäußerungen zur Erkenntnis bringen. Er und deine Beziehung zu Ihm sind das, worin dein ganzes Wesen, sich hinauslebend, Verwirklichung und Anerkennung findet. והוא אלדיך, und seine Beziehungen zu dir als Lenker deiner Geschicke und Leiter deiner Taten offenbaren Ihn als deinen Gott. Diese Gegenseitigkeit ist die Wurzel der innigsten אשר עשה אתך וגו׳ .אהבה sind eben die Gottoffenbarungen in Israels Gründungsgeschichte.

הוא תהלתך, “He is your glory;” you are to boast about having Him as your G-d, as will be explained forthwith.

והוא אלוקיך, “and He is your G’d.” You are the only nation upon whom G’d “bestowed” His name. All the other nations have been assigned by G’d to the supervision of their fates by one of His deputies. Your superiority is visible through all the miracles G’d performed on your behalf.

And He is thy G-d, for He has especially addressed His Name to you, that you be unto Himself for a people, and that He may be unto thee a G-d,²⁷⁰Further, 29:12. unlike the rest of the peoples to whom He is the G-d of [the various] gods [i.e., angels, etc.] that He allotted to them, as I have explained,²⁷¹Above, 4:19. See also Vol. II, p. 278, and Vol. III, pp. 268-269. because he has done for you the great and tremendous things from which you can recognize that you are His portion and His inheritance, and His eyes are always upon you for good.”

גדלת als Rettung an Israel. נוראות als Strafgericht an Mizrajim.

בשבעים נפש ירדו אבותיך מצרימה, “Your forefathers comprised only 70 people when they descended to Egypt.” Moses enumerates some of the great and wonderful acts performed by G’d for this nation. It is these which entitle G’d to be loved by this people. Although only 70 people emigrated to Egypt, their number by now had increased to be like the stars in heaven. This is why in the next verse Moses demands that the people love “the Lord your G’d and observe His commandments. Here Moses mentions the number of Israelites descending to Egypt as being 70 whereas if you will check the number given in Genesis 46,27 you will find that actually only 69 are listed as leaving. Our sages in Bereshit Rabbah 94,9 have already pointed out that the discrepancy is accounted for by Yocheved, who was conceived by her mother on the way but was not born until Yaakov and family arrived in Egypt.
Some sources claim that the discrepancy is accounted for by Serach, daughter of Asher. They base this on Samuel II 20,19: “I am one of those who seek the welfare of the faithful in Israel.” The words שלומי אמוני in that verse are understood as “completed their number.”
I have seen in Pessikta D'Rav Kahane that it was the Lord Himself Who made complete the number 70 as He said (Genesis 46,4) “I am going down with you (Yaakov) to Egypt.” [In other words 69 members of Yaakov’s family as listed in chapter 46 in Genesis plus the Shechinah went down to Egypt. Ed.]. The author of that Midrash cites our verse: “for He is your praise and your G’d,” in the same verse as Moses making reference to this number as proof that it was the fact that G’d personally accompanied the Israelites on their descent to Egypt as the reason that they can use Him as “their praise.” A similar approach is taken by the Midrash in Pirke d'Rabbi Eliezer chapter 39 where the words כשש מאות אלף, “about 600,000 foot soldiers” instead of “600,000 foot soldiers (Exodus 12,37) are also interpreted as the Israelites being 1 shy of that number with G’d Himself making up the number 600,000. If we accept this interpretation G’d made up the requisite number both when the Israelites descended to Egypt and when they ascended from Egypt. This would correspond to precisely what G’d said to Yaakov in Genesis 46,4: “I will go down with you and I will also surely bring you up.”

V. 22. ׳בשבעים וגו׳ ועתה שמך וגו (siehe zu Kap. 1, 10). Dieser unter Gottes Wundermacht geschehene Anwachs der Familie zum Volke lässt dieses Volk sich selbst als Fingerzeig der göttlichen besonderen Fürsorge begreifen und sich schon mit dem bloßen Dasein Gott in Liebe verpflichtet fühlen.