Commentaire sur Le Deutéronome 33:23

שבע רצון [NAPHTALI IS] SATISFIED WITH DESIRE — it means that his land was full of everything that its inhabitants could desire.

O NAPHTALI, SATISFIED WITH FAVOR. “[This means] that his land satisfied every desire of its inhabitants.” This is Rashi’s language. The correct interpretation is that it is connected with the Glorious Name [mentioned later in the verse: and full with the blessing of ‘the Eternal’], the verse stating that “Naphtali is satisfied and full of the Will of the Glorious Name and His blessing.” But in the Midrash of Rabbi Nechunya ben Hakanah²⁴⁵Sefer Habahir, 7 and 9. See Vol. I, p. 24, Note 42. the Rabbis commented on this verse: “Rabbi Amora said: What is the meaning of this verse, And full with the blessing of the Eternal; ‘yerashah’ (possess thou) the sea and the south? Thus said Moses: If you will walk in my statutes you will inherit the World to Come which is likened to the sea, as it is said, and broader than the sea,²⁴⁶Job 11:9. and this world which is likened to the south, as it is said, for that thou hast set me in the land of the ‘negev’²⁴⁷Joshua 15:19. [that is, a dry land], and is rendered by the Targum: ‘the southern land.’ And why is it written yerashah [‘possess thou’ — in the feminine], it should have said yerash [in the masculine]? Because even the Holy One, blessed be He, is included [in Naphtali’s inheritance], for the word yerashah consists of two words: resh Y-ah (possess G-d). To what may this be compared? To a king who had two treasures [i.e., the two worlds], and set one of them aside. At the end of many days he said to his son, ‘Take the contents of these two treasures.’ The son said, ‘Perhaps he will not give me the one he set aside.’ Thereupon the father said, to him, ‘Take everything.’ It is this which is written ‘yerashah’ (possess thou) the sea and the south — Y-ah resh. Everything is given you — if only you keep His ways!” They have further said:²⁴⁸Sefer Habahir, 3. “And full with the blessing of the Eternal; possess thou the sea and the south. The ‘sea’ is an allusion to the Torah alone, as it is said, and broader than the sea,”²⁴⁶Job 11:9. and [so they continue] the entire Midrash there. If so, the secret of the verse is as follows: “Naphtali is satisfied with the favor saturated by the blessing of the Eternal, which is ‘the sea’ combined in all [and comprised] of all.”²⁴⁹Reference is to the various attributes of G-d, as the subject is somewhat elucidated by Ramban in Genesis 24:1 (Vol. I, pp. 291-293). It is similar to what Scripture states, All the rivers run into the sea,²⁵⁰Ecclesiastes 1:7. this being “the house of the King.” This is like the parable of those who seek to see the king and ask, “Where is the house of the king?” Then [after finding the house] they ask, “Where is the king?” And even this world which is parched and dry of the favor [of G-d in comparison to the World to Come], Naphtali will inherit with Y-ah [as the word yerashah — resh Y-ah — indicates]. The student learned in the mysteries of the Cabala will understand.

נפתלי שבע רצון ומלא ברכת ה' ים ודרום ירשה, You, Naftali, have become the heir to the west and the east. You have enjoyed so much blessing from the Lord that there is no need for me to pray on behalf of your portion of the land to be blessed. Seeing that the fruits of Ginnosaur, the earliest ripening fruit of the land, grow within your boundaries there is no need for me to pray for such blessings to materialise. When you offer the first and finest of your products as bikkurim they will surely generate much goodwill for you from Hashem.