Commentaire sur Le Deutéronome 1:1

אלה הדברים THESE ARE THE WORDS — Because these are words of reproof and he is enumerating here all the places where they provoked God to anger, therefore he suppresses all mention of the matters in which they sinned and refers to them only by a mere allusion contained in the names of these places out of regard for Israel (cf. Sifrei Devarim 1:1; Onkelos and Targum Jonathan).

THESE ARE THE WORDS WHICH MOSES SPOKE UNTO ALL ISRAEL. [The reference is] to the commandments which he will mention in the entire book beginning with the Ten Commandments in the section of Va’ethchanan,¹⁵Further 5:6-18. In other words, the opening expression of the Torah here, These are the words …, is not a reference to the words of Moses from the beginning of the book on, narrating the historical events of the journey through the wilderness, but primarily a reference to the Ten Commandments and the laws that followed, which Moses introduced with a review of their journey from Sinai to the Jordan followed with an exhortation to obedience. as Scripture stated, Moses began explaining this Law, saying,¹⁶Verse 5. clearly indicating that he is speaking of the Law [which begins with the Ten Commandments in the next section of Va’ethchanan]. And in that case [we must say] that in the [following] verse The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us¹⁷Verse 6. an introductory expression of “saying.”¹⁸Since we have explained the word leimor (saying) in Verse 5 as referring not to the contents of Verse 6 but to the Scriptural text of the Ten Commandments, Verse 6 should begin with a phrase explaining that it was Moses who was now speaking on a different subject — not about the commandments, but about the history of the forty years. Thus the verse should begin, “And he [i.e., Moses] said: The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us …” is omitted. Similarly [there is an omission in the verse] And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Menasheh: ‘for G-d hath made me forget all my toil’ … And the name of the second he called Ephraim: ‘for G-d hath made me fruitful.’¹⁹Genesis 41:51-52. Both verses omit the expression “for he [Joseph] said” [that G-d hath made me forget … “for he said” that G-d hath made me fruitful]. And the purport of these verses here is as follows: “These are the commandments which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the fortieth year from their departure from Egypt on the first day of the eleventh month according to all that the Eternal had commanded him for them,²⁰Verse 3. this being after he had smitten Sihon and Og,²¹Verse 4. in the land of Moab, there Moses began to explain to them this Law, as follows. And he said: The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us in Horeb, saying: ‘Ye have dwelt long enough etc.’”¹⁷Verse 6. And the meaning thereof is that when Moses began explaining the commandments to them, he said to them at the outset of his words: The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us in Horeb, after He gave us the Ten Commandments, [ordering] that we conquer the Land at once and that we cross the Jordan. But your sins caused you this and that consequence [as Moses goes on to relate]. The words of this introduction continue until he concludes with the verse, And thou shalt keep His statutes, and His commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the Land, which the Eternal thy G-d giveth thee, forever.²²Further, 4:40. Then Moses called all Israel that were before him and said, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears this day,²³Ibid., 5:1. and then began the explanation of the Torah with the Ten Commandments in order that they hear them with the explanation from the mouth of the one who received them from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He. Afterwards he informed them of the Unity of G-d, as it is said, Hear, O Israel: the Eternal our G-d, the Eternal is One,²⁴Ibid., 6:4. and all the commandments in this book. This is why Scripture explained here which Moses spoke unto ‘all’ Israel, and there it is stated, And Moses called unto ‘all’ Israel²³Ibid., 5:1. [emphasizing that all were present], because the explanation of the Torah and the completion of the commandments must be in the presence of “all” Israel just as was the Giving of the Torah [itself on Mount Sinai]. Now, because he [Moses] prolonged the words of this introduction, Scripture [in Va’ethchanan where Moses finally begins explaining “the words” with which he began this opening verse] returned to the place at which it stopped at the beginning of the explanation of the Torah and said, And this is the Law which Moses set before the children of Israel; these are the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, when they came forth out of Egypt,²⁵Ibid., 4:44-45. and mentioned that it was beyond the Jordan, in the valley over against Beth-peor, in the land of Sihon,²⁶Ibid., Verse 46. this being the land of Moab mentioned here¹⁶Verse 5. since Israel did not enter the land of Moab except what was made permissible for them by Sihon [who conquered part of Moab and became its ruler, thus removing that territory from the injunction that Israel may not wage war against Moab] as has been explained in the preceding book.²⁷Numbers 21:26; 35:14.
Thus Scripture mentioned two things here. [The first thing is:] it stated that Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, according to all that the Eternal had commanded him for them,²⁰Verse 3. this being an allusion to the commandments which he would tell them in this book that have not been mentioned thus far in the Torah. And it says that these commandments were exactly as G-d commanded him; he did not add to, or substract from what he had been commanded. It was necessary that this be stated [i.e., that Moses spoke according to all that the Eternal had commanded him] because Scripture does not state of them “And the Eternal spoke unto Moses;” therefore it included them now, [emphasizing] that they were all according to what he was commanded from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He. [The second thing is:] it further stated that Moses began explaining this Law,¹⁶Verse 5. this being an allusion to the commandments which were already declared, that he would repeat them in order to clarify them further and to give additional instruction about them. And the meaning of the expression ho’il Mosheh²⁸Verse 5. This is generally translated: “Moses began.” Since according to Ramban, the explanation of the commandments does not begin until the Ten Commandments in 5:6, Ramban interprets the word ho’il as “wished;” thus meaning “Moses wished” to explain this Torah; however, the beginning thereof is not here, but later on as explained. According to those commentators, such as Rashi, who explain the reference ‘These are the words’ in our verse as referring to Moses’ words of chastisement, the word ho’il does mean “begin,” since the reproof begins in the next verse. is that “Moses wished” to explain the Torah to them. This is said to inform us that Moses saw fit to do so although G-d had not yet commanded him thereon [but afterwards, when He commanded him to write down the whole Torah, G-d Himself said all these words that were originally spoken by Moses; and Moses wrote them as he was commanded. Hence there is no difference between the first four books of the Torah and this fifth book, Deuteronomy, as all are equally the word of G-d]. The word ho’il is thus related to the expressions: ‘ho’el na’ (be willing, I pray thee), and tarry all night;²⁹Judges 19:6. would that ‘ho’alnu’ (we had been willing) and dwelt beyond the Jordan,³⁰Joshua 7:7. and so also many similar expressions.

'אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה אל כל ישראל וגו, he means that in all the locations mentioned by him here he had communicated what follows to the people, some in each location. In all of these locations the people had angered G’d. Each time he reminded them that if it had not been for their sins they would have long since reached their destination. The locations in question were the following: 'אחד עשר יום מחורב וגו, all the 38 years that they were wandering in the desert they did not travel in a straight line, nor did they travel on well marked routes used by desert travelers. Each time they arrived at a spot where they made camp Moses reminded them that the reason that they had still not reached their final destination was due to their having committed so many sins. The proof was that אחד עשר יום יש מחורב עד קדש ברנע...דרך הר שעיר, the shortest route to Kadesh Barnea, the southern boundary of the Land of Israel is only 11 days’ march away from Mount Chorev when traveling via Mount Seir. In fact, G’d made them reach Kadesh Barnea after they set out from Chorev in only three days by leading them through the great and terrible desert. If they were still not in the Holy Land this was only due to their sins. The delay had been designed to make them have remorse and to return to G’d without mental reservations.

These are the words (1:1) - This is a hint for three times [eleh = 1; devarim, plural, counts as 2]. They were said in Sinai, and were repeated in the Tent of Meeting and were said a third time in the wilderness of Moav, and on each mitzvah 16 covenants were established: 16 on Sinai, 16 in the Tent of Meeting and 16 in the Wilderness of Moav, and that makes for 48; and there are 48 warnings against them in the Torah regarding gerim and 48 times regarding the ger that comes to cling to Torahin which 48 covenants were established.

אלה הדברים, These are the words, etc. The word אלה is restrictive, especially in regard to what has been written previously. Seeing Moses recorded in this Book only words which he had spoken on his own initiative, the Torah wishes to emphasise that only the words of admonition recorded in this Book were spoken by Moses on his own initiative. We are told in Megillah 31 that Moses personally composed the curses recorded in this Book, and that even legislation which Moses repeated in this Book he had not been commanded to repeat but did so of his own volition. The Torah was concerned that we might conclude that just as Moses had felt free to say things of his own volition in this Book he might have done so in the previous four Books. This is why this Book commences with the words אלה הדברים, "only these are the words Moses spoke of his own volition, none other."

אלו הדברים, according to the plain meaning of the text the names mentioned in this verse all are names of locations, as we find that it is customary for the text of the Torah to give detail followed by further detail of the places whose exact location the Torah wishes to elaborate on in greater detail. For instance, in Genesis 12,8 when describing Avraham as pitching his tent in some place, it refers first to Beyt El, and then elaborates by saying that the he found himself with Beyt El on his east and Ai on the west. In Exodus 14,2, the Israelites are described as making a turnabout before a place described as Pi Hachirot, elaborating by saying that this Pi Hachirot is between Migdol and the sea to the north of Baal Yzefon. In Judges 21,19 an annual festival was observed at Shiloh which is described as situated north of Beyt El, east of the highway which runs from Beyt El to Shechem and south of Levonah.
If locations which did not have the distinction of serving as places where parts of the Torah were revealed to the Jewish people were described in such detail, it is not surprising that places where such parts of the Torah were revealed are described in detail. (compare Numbers 9,1, Exodus 12,1-2, Leviticus 25,1 Numbers 33,3) Here too, the locations are described with detail upon detail; they are the places that served Moses to explain the laws of the Torah, the ceremonial laws, the statutes, and the social laws. (compare 4,45-46, as well as verse 5 in our chapter.)

אלה הדברים, “These are the words, etc.” Nachmanides writes in a separate introduction to this Book that seeing that the generation Moses was addressing was the one that would enter the Holy Land, Moses detailed most of the Torah’s commandments that applied inside the Holy Land, omitting sacrificial offerings, purity laws as they relate to the priests, seeing that he had already outlined those, and at any rate, the priests do not need a refresher course, being by definition eager and willing to observe the laws in all its ramifications. He did, however, repeat most of the laws which applied to the ordinary Israelite a second time, adding warnings in many instances, especially laws connected to idolatry which he repeated more than twice. We also find in this Book a number of commandments that have not been mentioned in the first four Books at all, such as the laws pertaining to the levirate marriage, ייבום, or the laws about a groom who slanders the supposedly unchaste bride of his as having not entered marriage as a virgin. Moses himself had, of course, been made familiar with these laws by G’d when he had been on the mountain, before the spies had been dispatched. The thrust of the verse beginning here is that although these laws were communicated by Moses in ערבות מואב, the plain of Moav, not a single one of these commandments was new. The only “new” aspect of these commandments was the fact that they were now spelled out to the people. Another notable fact in this Book is that we do not find such sentences as וידבר ה' אל משה, “Hashem spoke to Moses, etc.” Neither do we find such lines as דבר אל בני ישראל, “speak to the Children of Israel (and tell them about such and such a commandment!)” It is possible that the reason the commandments mentioned here for the first time were not included in the first four volumes of the Torah may be that those commandments were not practiced in the desert. They would be practiced only once the people were in the Holy Land, although some of these commandments pertain to their bodies rather than to the land. Another reason for the non-publication of those commandments before now could be that they are not the type that are observed daily, the opportunity to observe them presenting itself only rarely and not to the average person. Before Moses got ready to relate all these various commandments, he used the present opportunity, a few weeks before his death, to admonish the people, and to remind them of past sins, and how they had caused Hashem a lot of grief during these years. He reminded them how G’d had treated them by invoking His attribute of Mercy and loving kindness time and again. He warned them not to become corrupt again by gambling that G’d would forever employ such forgiveness, etc. They should not rely on the fact that because they were human they were bound to err and sin from time to time, and that G’d, knowing this, would overlook their trespasses. While it is true that if G’d were not to take into consideration their evil inclination and their sometimes falling victim to its lure, neither they nor subsequent generations would ever qualify to conquer the Holy Land, however their daily conduct must not be based on such considerations. They must not forget that in spite of the prevalence of the attribute of Mercy, the attribute of Justice constantly tries to oppose that attribute and they could not rely on the attribute of mercy always prevailing.

Because these are words of admonishment, etc. For it should have said, “And Moshe spoke to all of Israel.” Therefore, Rashi explains: Because these are words of [admonishment]. In other words, we still need to explain why it says, “In the wilderness — on the Arava Plain etc,” rather than explicitly stating their actions. Perforce, we must say that these are words of admonishment etc. And the reason why Moshe said these words in an obscure manner is because in a single speech he recounted all the times that Yisroel angered Hashem. Therefore, he did not rebuke them in a direct manner. But if he was rebuking them for only one incident in which they had angered Hashem, he would have mentioned it directly. For, “There is not a righteous man on earth who does [only] good and never sins (Koheles 7:20),” and therefore it is not so embarrassing. Also, that is why it says הדברים (the words), for the term דברים indicates words of rebuke. Rashi explains this at the beginning of Koheles (1:1), and there his proof is from [this verse], “These are the words.” The primary source that the term דבר indicates rebuke is below (v. 17), “And the matter (דבר) that will be too difficult for you, etc.” Re”m writes: Rashi’s explanation is perplexing. For if “These are the words,” indicates words of rebuke, why does the verse say afterwards (v. 3), “with every detail that Adonoy had commanded etc.”? But, Moshe said the words of rebuke on his own. Perhaps the answer is: The words of rebuke were sanctioned by Hashem, although Moshe said them on his own. And since Hashem had allowed them, it says, “that Adonoy had commanded etc.” Alternatively: Hashem commanded Moshe to rebuke them, and it was on his own that Moshe waited until shortly before his death [to rebuke them]. But it seems to me: “With every detail that Adonoy had commanded etc,” is not referring to the rebuke, but rather to the mitzvos in general, i.e. the review of the Torah. Moshe did two things — he rebuked them on his own, and he also explained the Torah and the mitzvos to them, as will he explains later.

Kap. 1. V. 1. אלה הדברים bezieht sich auf den ganzen Inhalt dieses fünften Buches. Wie die letzten Kapitel des vierten Buches dasjenige berichten, was Gott in Veranlassung der nun bevorstehenden Besitznahme des Landes und in Beziehung auf dieselbe durch Mosche verordnete und anordnete, ist in dieses fünfte Buch das niedergelegt, was nun noch Mosche an das Volk, aus dessen Mitte er nun zu scheiden im Begriffe war und das ohne seine Führung der Lösung seiner Aufgabe in dem in Besitz zu nehmenden Lande entgegen ging, gesprochen hat. Die hier folgenden Ortsbestimmungen scheinen die Örtlichkeit ganz genau nach ihrer geographischen Lage bestimmen zu wollen, wo Mosche seine letzten hieniedigen Wochen unter seinem Volke gelebt, wo das Volk seinen Führer zuletzt in seiner Mitte gesehen, wo es zuletzt das lebendige Wort seines Mosche vernommen. Je mehr jedes Wort dieser letzten Reden unseres gottgesandten Führers das Gepräge der ganzen Innigkeit seiner an seinem Volke und dessen Heileszukunft hangenden Seele trägt, je mehr sich darin das heiße Verlangen ausspricht, damit gleichsam seinen Geist und seine Seele seinem Volke für die prüfungsvolle Zukunft, die seiner wartet, mit hinauszugeben, und je weniger diese Örtlichkeit in der Wüste selbst durch irgend ein eigenes Merkmal kenntlich gewesen ist, umsomehr ist der Wunsch begreiflich, sie durch ihre Lage und Begrenzung der Erinnerung zu erhalten. Geht ja unser Mosche von hinnen und kein Denkmal, keine Ehrensäule, kein irdisches Erinnerungszeichen bleibt von ihm zurück; nicht einmal sein Grab soll den Nachkommen zum äußeren Erinnerungsmittel werden. Die ganze leibliche Persönlichkeit unseres Mosche schwindet mit seinem Tode. Nur die räumliche Stätte, die sein treues Wort an sein Volk zuletzt vernommen, wird dem Gedächtnis mit möglichster Präzision überliefert, auf dass, wenn ein später Enkel seines Volkes diese Stätte betritt, ihm die Örtlichkeit das Echo des treuen Moschewortes entgegenbringe und ihn zur treuen Nachfolge in seinem Volke und für sein Volk begeistern möge. —

אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה, “These are the words that Moses spoke, etc.” This introduction to the Book of Deuteronomy is similar to what Solomon said in Proverbs 28,23: מוכיח אדם אחרי חן ימצא ממחליק לשון, “he who rebukes a man will find favour eventually; more so than he who flatters with his tongue.” Solomon refers to Moses when he speaks of the rebuker, seeing that he rebuked Israel, as the prophet Ezekiel said in Ezekiel 34,31: ואתנה צאן מרעיתי אדם אתם, “Now, you My sheep, sheep of my pasture-are Adam, i.e. after having responded to the rebuke appropriately, you are entitled to be called Adam, not animal.”

אלה הדברים, “these are the words, etc.” wherever a paragraph is introduced with the word: אלה, it is not to be considered as continuation of what preceded it. Up to now we read about commandments involving ritual and social legislation, whereas from here on in we are reading words of admonition and warnings about a dire future for the Jewish people if these warnings should be ignored. There is no point in countering that Numbers 36,13 also begins with the word: אלה, or to point to Leviticus 26,3 27,34, as in those instances the verse itself concludes the subject matter that had been under discussion.

אל כל ישראל [THE WORDS WHICH HE SPAKE] TO ALL ISRAEL — If he had reproved only some of them, those who were then in the street (i.e. those who were absent) might have said, “You heard from the son of Amram, and did not answer a single word regarding this and that; had we been there, we would have given him an answer!". On this account he assembled all of them, and said to them, "See, you are all here: he who has anything to say in reply, let him reply!” (Sifrei Devarim 1:6-7).

בעבר הירדן, followed by which side of the Jordan this took place on, i.e.

אלה הדברים, the words that Moses is about to speak refer to the words that are recorded in this volume of the Torah. Moses will first review the whole Torah, commencing with the revelation at Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments. In verse 6 we would have expected the verse to begin with the words ויאמר משה, something that is missing here. We do find a similar construction where such an introductory remark is missing when Joseph names his first son Menashe, and the Torah reports that he said: כי נשני אלוקים את כל עמלי, “for the Lord has made me forget all my troubles,” (Genesis 41,51, as well as verse 52 concerning Ephrayim) where we would have expected at least the introductory words כי אמר. The reason that Moses used this introduction was to remind them that not quite a year after that G’d had told the people that they had encamped around Mount Sinai long enough, and that it was time to begin their journey toward their ultimate objective, the Holy Land. This was a pointed reminder that as far as G’d was concerned they had been sufficiently prepared to make war successfully against the Canaanites, whose measure of guilt by then was full, so that the Israelites should have every chance to defeat them. These introductory words continue until 4,40 ושמרת את חוקיו ואת מצותיו אשר אנכי מצוך היום, “you shall observe His decrees and His commandments that I command you this day, to carry them out, etc.” After this Moses called upon the whole nation of Israel that stood assembled before him saying: שמע ישראל וגו', 5,1 and began with a restatement of the Ten Commandments. Having concluded with that restatement, including minor additions, he emphasizes the uniqueness of G’d, i.e.שמע ישראל ה' אלוקינו ה' אחד, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our G’d, the Lord is One,” followed by all the commandments contained in this volume of the Torah. This is the reason why we have the formula here: דבר משה אל כל ישראל that Moses spoke to all of the Children of Israel, and the same formula is used in 5,1 when he is described as calling to all of the Children of Israel when exhorting them to learn and to keep the commandments. It was important that just as 40 years ago at the revelation to the previous generation all the people were assembled, now when the covenant is about to be renewed with a new generation the whole people must be in attendance at that event. When the Torah describes Moses as באר את התורה הזאת “explaining this Torah,” (verse 5) this is a reference to the Torah which the people had already heard from his mouth once before. He now reviews this part of the Torah and in a number of cases expands on it, filling in details not revealed up until now. He emphasized that all of this had been commanded to him by Hashem, i.e. he had not added anything of his own. The meaning of the word הואיל is that the initiative for this review is his own; he had not been told by Hashem to do so. The term is used several times in Scriptures for free-willed agreement, as for instance in Joshua 7,7 ולו הואלנו ונשב בעבר הירדן, “if we had only been willing to remain and settle on the east bank of the Jordan.” When Moses responded to Yitro’s invitation to dwell in his house, his willingness is also described by the word ויואל משה לשבת את האיש, “Moses agreed to dwell with that man.” (Exodus 2,21).

And only intimated, etc. You might ask: Note that afterwards, Moshe explicitly mentions their sins when discussing the spies, as it says (v. 22), “You approached me, all of you, etc.” And also other incidents in which they had angered Hashem are recounted in this parsha. The answer is: For this reason Rashi chose to say, “Moshe intended to recount here all the places.” I.e., here he recounted all the places in an obscure manner, as explained above.

The Torah also wanted to go on record that during the entire preceding 40 years when Moses had been the faithful shepherd of the people of Israel, he never spoke harshly to the children of Israel unless instructed to do so by G'd. Even though we find Moses reported as having addressed the Israelites with the words: "listen you rebellious people" in Numbers 20,10, he did not include the whole people in that description but only referred to those reluctant to accept authority. This view is supported by the Zohar. The only time Moses included the entire people in an address consisting primarily of words of admonition is in this Book. This is why the Torah here stresses: "to the whole of Israel."

מול סוף, es ist nicht wahrscheinlich, dass hier unter סוף das ים סוף zu verstehen sei, das ja auch sonst nicht ohne das Kollektivnomen ים vorkommt. Es scheint vielmehr ein Ortsname zu sein. Kommt doch auch sonst תפל und לבן nicht weiter vor. Wenn nach einer Auffassung im ספרי alle diese Ortsnamen an Versündigungen erinnern, die sich das Volk auf seiner langen Wanderung durch die Wüste hatte zu Schulden kommen lassen, so ist es ja nicht unmöglich, dass Mosche und das Volk bestimmten Örtern, welche die Ebene umschlossen, auf welcher Mosche die letzten Wochen seiner irdischen Wallfahrt zur Belehrung und zu ermahnenden Ansprachen benutzte, eben diese von den nationalen Verirrungen zeugenden Namen erteilten, um gleichsam unter Vergegenwärtigung einer solchen Vergangenheit die ernstesten Vorsätze für eine reinere, treuere Zukunft zu wecken.

אחרי, “after Me,” this word in the line quoted from Proverbs, refers to G–d, Who had been the first One to rebuke Israel. Israel had found favour on account of that, so that after enduring the slavery in Egypt (rebuke), when He redeemed them they accepted His Torah. G–d confirmed this when He said to Moses in Exodus 33,12: וגם מצאת חן בעיני, “and you too, have found favour in My eyes.”

אל כל ישראל, “to all the Israelites.” This teaches that Moses’ voice was powerful enough to be heard throughout the camp without megaphones.

במדבר IN THE WILDERNESS — They, however,‎‎were not then in the wilderness, but in the plains of Moab (cf. Numbers 36:13 and further on verse 5): What, therefore, is the meaning of במדבר? It does not mean "in the wilderness”, but the meaning is: he reproved them on account of that wherein they had provoked Him to anger in the wilderness — that they said, (Exodus 16:3) “Would that we had died [by the hand of the Lord]” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 1:11).

במדבר, on the bank of the Jordan facing the desert in which the Israelites had spent the last 40 years, which is know as עבר הירדן, “the far bank of the Jordan” to the people residing west of it. It did not refer to what would be called עבר הירדן near Jerusalem that is also referred to as the far bank of the Jordan by people traveling in the desert through which the Israelites had been traveling all these years.

במדבר, “in the desert.” Although at this time the people were already no longer in the desert but in the land adjoining Moav, accessible to civilization, Moses mentions that the Torah had been revealed in the desert. Onkelos claims that all the locations referred to by Moses are merely allusions, thinly veiled, to places where certain events had taken place, particularly the people’s misdemeanours that Moses at this point is not anxious to spell out.

They had angered Hashem in the wilderness, etc. Onkelos also translates in a similar manner, על דחבו במדברא וכו' (that they became guilty to Hashem in the wilderness). Re”m writes: I find it difficult to understand how Rashi can explain that the word אלה (these) is referring to the [actual] words [of rebuke] that the [rest of the] verse is alluding to. Yet, nothing is mentioned here besides the places where they angered Hashem. But the actual words [of rebuke] that Moshe said are not mentioned at all, etc. In truth, I do not know why he finds Rashi to be difficult, because note that Rashi explains אלה הדברים as “these are the words of rebuke.” The word דברים is the rebuke, as if the verse said, “This is the rebuke that Moshe admonished to all of Israel across the Yardein, because they sinned in the wilderness, etc.” Onkelos, however, translates the word הדברים as “These are the words,” instead of, “This is the rebuke, etc.” Therefore, he needed to add the words אוכח יתהון וכו' (he rebuked them, etc). But Rashi, who explains הדברים as “rebuke,” has no need to add the words that Onkelos adds. Rashi’s explanation is logical and clear.

Furthermore, the Torah wanted to provide the time frame during which Moses admonished the people with these words. He began to speak to them on the first day of Shevat as the Torah speaks of "the eleventh month on the first of the month." We know that Moses died on the seventh of Adar, (Kidushin 38) so that he allowed himself 36 days for these admonitions. These 36 days correspond to the numerical value of the word אלה.

ממחליק לשון, “more than the flatterer with his tongue;” with these words Solomon in the above quoted line, refers to Bileam, who instead of rebuking Israel, heaped words of flattery upon them (Numbers 24,5). He referred specifically to what Bileam had said there, i.e. מה טובו אהליך יעקב, “how goodly are your tents, Yaakov. (Compare D’varim Rabbah 1,2.) Our author elaborates with a parable. A prince had two ministers, one of whom he loved and the other he had grown to hate. He cautioned the minister whom he loved not to commit any misdemeanours, as if such would come to the attention of the King he would be severely punished, the king not exercising any mercy. He encouraged the minister he hated to live his life without restraints as even if he did become guilty of a misdemeanour he had someone at court who would intervene on his behalf. Moses acted similarly; seeing that he loved Israel, he warned them not to become guilty not to follow the wrong path as this would lead to disaster for them. (Deut. 11,16) Bileam, on the other hand, seeing that he hated Israel, would praise them, hoping that in their exuberance they would commit acts through which they would forfeit the goodwill of their heavenly Father. Concerning the Jewish people, Bileam had said in Numbers 23,19: לא איש א-ל ויכזב, “G–d is not like man who threatens and relents,” in dealing with the gentile nations He never relents; but when dealing with the Jwewish people, דבר ולא יקימנו, “even though He had expressed verbally His wrath and threatened punishment, in the end He will not carry out what He had threatened.” (same verse) Concerning the Jewish people, Solomon said in Proverbs 27,6: נאמנים פצעי אוהב ונעתרות נשיקות שונא, “wounds inflicted by a loved one are long lasting; the kisses of an enemy are profuse.” Concerning Moses, Solomon said in Proverbs 24,25: ולמוכיחים ינעם ועליהם תבא ברכת טוב, “but those who rebuke the wicked will experience delight; blessings of good things will come upon them.” You will note that Solomon does not conclude with the word עליו, “upon him,” the rebuker, but he uses the plural mode, עליהם, “upon them,” i.e. the ones who have been rebuked.

בעבר הירדן, the term here refers to the Israelites on the east bank of the Jordan, on the plains of Moav as mentioned in verse 5, not to the area settled by the tribes of Reuven and Gad, previously owned by the Emorites.

בערבה IN THE PLAIN — i.e. he reproved them regarding the plain: that they had sinned through Baal Peor at Shittim in the plains of Moab (cf. Sifrei Devarim 1:13)

בערבה, a narrower definition of where precisely in the desert. The location is narrowed to the Aravah of Moav

Because it was at Arava, etc. You should not say that Arava simply means “their place of encampment,” as it is written above in Parshas Masai (Bamidbar 33:48), “And they camped in the plains of Moav (בערבות מואב).” Otherwise, Scripture should have written, “Across the Yardein, in the Arava plain, in the wilderness (בערבה במדבר).”

The word אלה is also an allusion to a statement by Rava in Yuma 19 that the words ודברת בם "and you shall speak about them" in Deut 6,7 mean that the only legitimate subjects of conversation are Torah learning and the instilling of fear of G'd in the minds of people, i.e. words of admonition. The Torah wishes to testify that throughout his life the only words which Moses permitted himself to speak unbidden were of a compelling nature; other than that he only spoke words which G'd had bidden him to speak. Anyone who peruses the words in this Book can see at once that they are either instructions in Torah or words designed to strengthen the people's faith in G'd.

בין פארן ובין תפל ולבן, “between Paran, Tofel and Lavan;” Words of תיפלות, critique, against the manna which was white in colour. What precisely were these words of critique? They said: “who has ever heard of a food which requires grinding which is so absorbed by the body that none of it is excreted?”

במדבר בערבה, in the desert, the Aravah. In other words, the things Moses was about to speak to the Israelites here, he had already spoken to them about in the various places that will be named forthwith. We find a similar formulation in Deuteronomy 4,46: במדבר in the desert;” this is the desert facing Mount Sinai.

מול סוף OVER AGAINST SUPH — i.e. he reproved them regarding that in which they had shown themselves rebellious at the Red Sea (סוף): viz., on their arrival at the Red Sea — that they said, (Exodus 14:11) “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt [that thou hast brought us to die in the wilderness?]"; and similarly when they left the midst of the Sea, as it is said, (Psalms 106:7) “They murmured because of the Sea, at the Red Sea”, as it is related in Treatise Arakhin 15a (cf. Rashi on Numbers 14:22 and Sifrei 1:14).

מול סוף, the Sea of Reeds begins somewhere to the east of the land of Israel as we know from Exodus 23,31 where it is described as bordering the land of the Philistines, the eastern border being the Dead Sea, described as south-east in Numbers 34,3. We have a repetition of these data in Deuteronomy 4,49, where it is clear that what is called ים סוף is the Sea of Reeds facing the Aravah of Moav.

Regarding the denigrating statements, etc. The term תפלו is an expression of being “attached.” I.e., they engaged in an argument about the manna.

Still another meaning of the word אלה is based on the words of Bereshit Rabbah 12 which we quoted at the beginning of Parshat Massey that this word separates from what precedes it, the previous subject matter being regarded as something inferior by comparison to what is being introduced by the word אלה. The subject matter being introduced by the word אלה is considered as far greater in importance than what has preceded it. The Torah here explains that the reason for these words of Moses being superior to anything he is quoted as having said in the preceding four Books is 1) the fact that these words were his very own. No other human being could equal Moses in stature which made his words superior to those of any other human being. G'd had indicated this already in Numbers 12,8 when He admonished Moses' brother and sister. 2) He addressed these words to a group of people, i.e. the Jewish people, who also were a select group of human beings, collectively on an incomparably higher spiritual level than any other collection of human beings. In short then: אלה הדברים, "these are (the true) words of Moses, there are none to compare to it."

בערבה, “another place in the same desert known as Aravah. It is referred to again in our portion in chapter 2,8: 'ונעבור....מדרך הערבה מאילת ומעציון גבר וגו; which location precisely was this? The one opposite the reeds, the great desert of Paran which commences at a place known as Eytam. This is why the Torah wrote (Numbers 33,6) ויחנו באיתם אשר בקצה המדבר, “they encamped at Eytam which is at the edge of the desert.” Now we are told that this was also extending to the boundary of the land of Moav. We have proof of this in Deut. 2,8, as well as in Deut. 8,2. The place also appears in Ezekiel 20,35 as מדבר העמים, “desert of nations.” Several nations had a border touching the edge of this desert. This is why sometimes it appears as מדבר שור, or ,מדבר קדמות or מדבר מואב

בין פארן ובין תפל ולבן BETWEEN PARAN, AND TOPHEL AND LABAN — R. Jochanan said: We have gone through the whole Bible and we have found no place the name of which is Tophel or Laban! But the meaning is that he reproved them because of the calumnious statements (טפלו) they had made regarding the Manna which was white (לבן) in colour — that they said, (Numbers 21:5) “And our soul loathes this light bread”; and because of what they had done in the wilderness of Paran through the spies.

בין פארן ובין תופל, a description paralleling that in Genesis 13,3, i.e. בין בית אל ובין העי.

The sin they committed in the wilderness of Poron, etc. Do not ask why Rashi did not explain “Poron” before “Tofel and Lovon,” in accordance with the order that they appear in the verse. For the answer is: At first, I would have thought that “Between Poron and Tofel and Lovon,” is describing the place called “Mol Suf.” But now that Rashi explains that “Tofel and Lovon” are not the names of places, then what is the meaning of “Poron”? Rashi answers: The sin they committed etc. However, [according to this explanation] the term “between” is problematic.

אשר דבר משה, which Moses spoke, etc. Inasmuch as Moses commences with hinting at Israel's insubordination already at the sea of reeds, the present generation might well have countered that there was no point in dragging up sins committed by people who had long since died. After all, the last of the 600,000 men whose death had been decreed as a result of the sin of the spies had died on the 15th of Av previously (compare beginning of Midrash Eycha Rabbati). The Torah therefore says that if Moses had spoken in G'd's name such a complaint might have been justified. However, he personally, was not bound by such considerations and he considered it important to remind those who had been younger than twenty at the time of the Exodus to look back on a string of insubordinations the people had been guilty of already at that stage of the Exodus. While it was quite true that the Celestial Court sentences only people over and above the age of 20, the same is not true of courts administered by judges on earth who consider males over 13 years as fully liable for their actions. When Moses "dragged" up these ancient sins, he had in mind all those who had been at least 13 years old at the time.

בין פארן, between Paran, etc., seeing that the desert was very large, Moses supplies more detail concerning where what had occurred.

וחצרת AND HAZEROTH — i.e. regarding wh‎at they had done there at the insurrection of Korah. — Another explanation: He said to them, “You ought to have taken a lesson from what I did to Miriam at Hazeroth because of the slander she uttered, and yet you even after that spoke against the Omnipresent (Sifrei Devarim 1:15).

... And on Tisha b'Av was the incident of the spies and on that day was born the character trait of baseless hatred (Sinat Chinam) within Israel as it is written (Deut. 1:27) “It is out of hatred for us that יהוה brought us out of the land of Egypt, to hand us over to the Amorites to wipe us out." And on this Rashi explained "What is in your own mind about your friend, you imagine is what is in his mind about you" (Sifrei Devarim 24:3). Because they each thought after this (the incident with the spies) that they hated their fellow and thus it made sense to them to think that God hated them as well...

ולבן, וחצרות, ודי זהב. All these are names of locations, according to the simple meaning of the text.

This refers to the rebellion of Korach, etc. This implies that the rebellion of Korach happened before the spies were sent [as follows]: It is written, “The People traveled from Chatzeiros and they camped in the desert of Poron (Bamidbar 12:16),” and afterwards it is written, “Send for yourself men [and have them scout the land].” Since it is written here “Chatzeiros,” and Rashi explains, “This refers to the rebellion of Korach,” then we can infer that before they came to the desert of Poron, the rebellion of Korach had already taken place in Chatzeiros. See Parshas Korach [where Rashi explains differently] regarding the verse (ibid. 16:4), “And Moshe heard, etc.”

אל כל ישראל, to all of Israel, etc. The reason the Torah had to stress that Moses spoke to all of Israel was twofold. 1) Moses reviewed the Torah; 2) he admonished them concerning things they had been already guilty of. Both matters require that the entire people be in attendance. The reason for reviewing the Torah was to ensure that if someone had forgotten a certain commandment it would now be recalled. Seeing that it was quite impossible to single out who might have forgotten which commandment, Moses had to assemble the entire nation to make certain they would all hear the Torah once more. In this manner everyone could remind himself of anything which he had forgotten. The entire nation had to be assembled to listen to the words of admonition as the impression created if Moses had assembled only part of the people would have been counterproductive. Those who had been assembled would complain that only they had been singled out. The words אל כל ישראל may even include those who had already died. Moses addressed both the living and the dead. We find a parallel for this in Isaiah 43,27 "Your original father (Adam) has sinned, etc."

ובין תופל ולבן, “and between Tofel and Lavan;” we are forced to use our logic concerning these names, as we have no documents to even prove that they existed. It is most likely that they were names of sites where the Israelites had encamped, but many may have received their names only as a result of having served as a base for the Israelites during those years. Quite a few of these names did not appear in the list of the Israelites’ journey enumerated chronologically in parshat Massey. Some appear four times, each time with a different name. Compare our author on Numbers 33,19, and 46.

ודי זהב AND DI ZAHAB (the name is taken in the sense of “sufficiency of gold”) — He reproved them on account of the golden calf which they had made in consequence of the abundance of gold which they had, as it is said, (Hosea 2:10) “And silver did I give them in abundance and gold: they, however, made it into a Baal” (cf. Berakhot 32a; Sifrei Devarim 1:18).

ודי זהב, an expression similar to בת מי זהב in Genesis 36,39 which is also the name of a location.

From what I did to Miriam, etc. According to the first explanation, there is a difficulty: Scripture does not say that the rebellion of Korach happened in Chatzeiros. Therefore, Rashi says: “Another explanation, etc.” But, according to the second explanation there is a difficulty: The term, “Chatzeiros,” is not similar to the terms, “In the wilderness, on the Arava plain.” For, “In the wilderness, etc.,” refers to places where they rebelled against Hashem by angering Him, whereas “Chatzeiros” is rebuke for not having learned from Miriam, etc. But, according to the first explanation, “Chatzeiros” refers to the Jewish People angering Hashem in Chatzeiros; so it cannot be intended as rebuke for Miriam’s sin, for only the sins of the entire People are recounted here. For this reason, the first explanation is also necessary.

And nevertheless you spoke against the Almighty. “You spoke, etc,” refers to, “For it [the Nation of Canaan] is more powerful than us (Bamidbar 13:31),” as Rashi explains there. Alternatively: They spoke against the Almighty Who praised the Land, yet they denigrated it. Even though the rebuke regarding the spies was already learned from, “between Poron,” nevertheless, sending the spies was one matter, and their slander against the Land is a separate matter. We could also explain that “you spoke against the Almighty,” is referring to the rebellion of Korach. There is no [practical] difference between Rashi’s first and second explanation; only that the second one says that Hashem rebuked them for not learning from [the incident of] Miriam who was smitten for speaking against her brother, and the first explanation says that Hashem rebuked them for angering the Almighty with the rebellion [of Korach] (Re”m).

בעבר הירדן, on the far side of the Jordan, etc. Moses held back with these words of admonition until the Israelites had reached the banks of the Jordan. Once they saw with their own eyes that they had come very close to their eventual destination they would be in a better frame of mind to accept admonitions. As long as they had been a long way from their objective they would not have been in a suitable frame of mind to listen to admonitions.

במדבר בערבה, in the wilderness in the Aravah; our sages in Sifri explain at this juncture that the words מדבר and ערבה [as well as the following names Ed.] are allusions to places where the Israelites had sinned; It is possible to explain the entire verse as a moral/ethical allusion of a slightly different nature. Moses tried to incorporate in a short verse all the principles of reverence for G'd and the various virtues which have to be practiced by all the people who adopt the teachings of Torah as their lifestyle. These comprise a total of nine מדות, virtues, characteristics.

וחצרות, and Chatzerot; according to Rashi this refers to the rebellion of Korach, which had taken place there. If you were to argue that according to the sequence in which the Torah has documented all these events, the rebellion of Korach must have occurred when the Israelites were encamped in the desert of Paran, shortly after the return of the spies, and you would further argue that according to Targum Onkelos the Israelites were angry at the absence of meat at Chatzerot, whereas the Torah wrote that they journeyed to Chatzerot from Kivrot hataavah, the place where they had received the quails, (Numbers 11,35) you will realise the difficulty in reconciling what appear to be contradictory statements. The desert of Paran is many days’ march long, and to fix a place’s name based on that loose definition is not really helpful at all. Some of the places named here were quite clearly given names after the occurrence of the event the place was to commemorate. There is no guarantee that the name was given immediately after the event in question.

1) One has to adopt the virtue of Abraham of whom the Torah testified that he was העברי, (Genesis 14,13) "on the other side," in a moral class all by himself, he did not run with the pack. Moses alluded to this when he said בעבר.

2) He should always be conscious of a sense of self-imposed humility as a response to rebelliousness. Our sages in Berachot 7 claim that it is better for a person to harbour a single such feeling of self-imposed humility rather than to endure 100 מלקיות, chastisements imposed upon him by others. Moses alluded to this idea when he said הירדן.

3) The virtue of modesty, humility. Our sages in Erchin phrased this as follows: "Man should always view himself as if במדבר, in a wilderness." I have explained this concept in my comments on Exodus 19,2: ויסעו מרפידים." Here Moses alludes to this idea by saying במדבר.

4) The humility we speak about should be of a positive nature; it should not consist of a person looking upon himself in a derogatory fashion. Maimonides explains this in chapter five of his treatise Hilchot Deyot. [I have not found it there but I have found something similar in chapter 6. Ed.] He writes as follows: "Another aspect of true humility is not to fail to admonish people whom one observes committing sins on the basis of one's thinking to oneself: 'who am I to admonish others who are of greater stature than I?' One has to carry out the commandment of calling people to order. This is what Moses had in mind when he said בערבה, an allusion to admonishing people based on our ערבות, mutual responsibility of one Jew for the other.

5) We are told in Avot 3,1 that if one wants to restrain oneself from sinning one should look at three phenomena., i.e. one's lowly origin, one's ultimate destiny, i.e. dust and worms, and the fact that one will have to render an accounting for all one's deeds before the heavenly Tribunal. Another scholar admonishes us in chapter two of Avot to become a penitent a day before our death. The meaning is, of course, that one should be constantly aware of one's impending death. This is what Moses alluded to with the words מול סוף, i.e. that one ought to keep "one's end constantly before (opposite) one's mental eye."

6) There is a quotation from chapter 4 in Shaar Haprishut of Chovot Halevavot according to which the mark of a פרוש, a self-denying, pious person is that צהלתו בפניו ואבלו בלבו, "he presents a happy face to all whom he greets, while at the same time he buries his true sorrow within his heart." Moses used the word בין פארן to allude to the manner in which such pious people greet others; the word פארן is connected to פאר everything outwardly illustrious, the reverse of sadness, whereas he said ובין תפל, when he described the true state of mind of someone who qualifies for the title פרוש; such a person must not be light-hearted. He should be in a constant state of concern lest he had become guilty of transgressing one of G'd's commandments inadvertently. Perhaps he had only been remiss in serving the Lord with less than all his faculties.

7) The kind of person the Torah envisages is the one who has a pure heart as David prayed in Psalms 51,12 where he pleaded with G'd to fashion a pure heart for him. At the same time such a person must not hate other people, nor be jealous of them or feel himself to be in competition with them. Moses alluded to this quality in a Torah personality when he said ולבן, the expression "white" symbolising all that is pure.

8) The ideal personality is engaged in Torah study on a permanent basis like our Patriarch Jacob whom the Torah (Genesis 25,27) describes as a ישב אהלים, a dweller of tents. The word ישב refers to a permanent presence. Moses alluded to this quality when he said וחצרות, and referred to the courtyards of the Lord as the study halls.

9) The ideal personality should not be engaged in chasing after transient values, possessions of this world. Anyone who engages in the pursuit of these values thereby voids part of his service to the Lord. Man must learn to do with the essentials for survival in this life. Moses alluded to this virtue when he said ודי זהב, i.e. "enough of gold." Alternatively, man should learn to look at all his achievements in this material world as adequate; he should feel as if he owned all the gold in the world. This is equivalent to what the sages taught in Avot 4,1: "who is wealthy? He who enjoys what life has granted him."