Commentaire de citation sur Osée 11:10

And the wise of the generation interpret: לראי יקפיל —that God will remove the heavens, which are compared to a cast mirror (ראי). And וחדשים יכפיל — these are the new heavens. But this is also incorrect, for there is only one possible meaning of it in that case: God will remove the mirror and double the new mirror. Maybe they're really thick — twice as thick — so it's hard to strike them!^note The Ra"ava is being sarcastic here. This is followed by several examples of reductio ad absurdium, with the same sarcastic tone. Should a person say "no animal is as wise as a wild ass," since a wild ass refers to a man, as is written and a wild-ass onager is born a man (Job 11:12)? Or should he say "happy is the people who worships fire and bows to the sun" since fire is the glorious and awesome Name as is written for the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a zealous God (Deuteronomy 4:24), as is the sun as is written for sun and shield is the LORD (Psalm 84:12)? Certainly, since those are written without a kaph, unlike strong like a mirror (Job 37:18). So the verse only compared the heavens to a mirror because mirrors are so strong! Should a person pray "Blessed are You, o Lion" since it is found regarding the Place "like a lion He will roar" (Hosea 11:10)? Will that seem good in the LORD's eyes? And why not learn from Solomon? For none was as wise as him after him; and behold, his prayer that he prayed (I Kings 8:22-53) is known, and all who know the holy tongue understand it, without riddles or allegories. And so too the prayer of Daniel (Daniel 9:4-19) who loosened knotty problems (Daniel 5:12). Behold, they only prayed with understandable matters, and they were wise. All the more so, one who prays for many people, many of whom are not wise! Thus all prayer for weekdays and holidays that the Early Sages ordained are without riddles and allegories. And what is the meaning of saying that God would double the new heavens? Will there be two heavens?

Rock He endures forever, like a rock. Do not be amazed at the use of such an analogy, as they are common in Scripture (e.g., “Who shall roar like a lion” [Hosea 11: 10]). It is impossible for us to describe God in any way other than in terms of His creations (for every thing that exists is His creation). Compare, “the Rock [Hebrew: ṣur] of my heart” [Psalms 73: 26] — meaning support, strength, pillar. There are also those who say that the word comes from “form” (as in “their form [Hebrew: ṣuram] shall waste away in the grave” [Psalms 49: 15]). Their thesis is that God has no substance, but is primal form. In my opinion, however, the former etymology is correct.

והיה עקב תשמעון את המשפטים האלה ושמרתם ועשיתם אותם, ושמר ה’ אלו-היך לך את הברית ואת החסד אשר נשבע לאבותיך, “This shall be the reward when you hearken to these social laws and observe them to carry them out; Hashem your G’d will safeguard for you the covenant and the kindness which He has sworn to your forefathers.” All the promises made in this portion of the Torah are of a physical dimension, refer to the benefits derived by our bodies in this terrestrial life which is but a prelude to life in the world to come. One reason why this type of reward is described as עקב, something “low” “at the bottom like the heel,” is that the reward shared out in this world for mitzvot performed here is insignificant compared to the part which awaits us in the hereafter. That part of the reward is alluded to in the word והיה, a reference to the world to come, a word which contains the letters of the tetragrammaton, G’d’s Holy Name. We already mentioned the relationship between this world and the next world in matters of rewards in explaining the word היום in the last verse of the last portion.
In order not to create the impression that מצות מושכלות performed היום i.e. in this life, will not be rewarded at all in this life, Moses wrote our verse here to stress that even those commandments will entitle the people performing them to a measure of reward including זיו השכינה, “a certain divine illumination.”
There is yet another lesson, a moral one, in the choice of the word עקב by Moses at this juncture. There are commandments which man does not take seriously, tramples under foot, so to speak with his עקב, his heel. The Torah warns us not to do this as we would miss out on the reward for the meticulous performance of those commandments. Our sages warned us of the punishment for the neglect of just those commandments. We are told in Avodah Zarah 18, based on Psalms 49,6 עון עקבי יסובני, “the guilt of my heels which surrounds me,” that the psalmist has in mind these very commandments which we neglect as not worth our while to pay attention to. Another meaning of that verse is that David refers to the kind of commandments which require from us that we walk toward them, situations which we have to create in order to perform the commandments in question. They include such duties as attending funerals, walking to the synagogue to participate in communal prayer, visiting the sick, etc. The reward for such commandments is especially great as the performance of these mitzvot entails that we extend ourselves. Our sages in Berachot 6 who have taught us that on the Sabbath one does not run or make big steps, have nevertheless suspended this rule for people who run to the synagogue.
If one does not fulfill the commandments requiring this use of one’s feet and one’s heels one will be held accountable for this on the day of Judgment after death. Hoseah 11,10 who writes: “the Lord will roar like a lion and they shall march behind Him,” refers to people being allowed to run to the synagogue on the Sabbath.
Naturally, if one is held accountable for merely not running or walking toward the opportunity to fulfill a commandment, if one rums toward an opportunity to commit a sin one will be held doubly accountable. Not only will one be punished for the commission of the sin, but separately for the effort made to enable one to commit it. We are told that the daughter of Rabbi Chaninah ben Tradyon was condemned to sit in the company of whores as she had walked with an arrogant gait in front of the noble senators of Rome after she had heard the scholars comment on her beautiful legs. She accepted the sentence by acknowledging that G’d had punished her in accordance with Jeremiah 3,19: “wondrous in purpose and mighty in deed, whose eyes observe all the ways of men, so as to repay every man according to his ways.” We learn from this that even the manner in which we walk (and our purpose in walking in such a manner) is something we are held accountable for. All of this is included in the words והיה עקב תשמעון.

הכבשן A FURNACE of lime (i. e. in which lime is burnt and which emits vast quantities of smoke). One might think that the mountain emitted smoke only like such a furnace and not to a greater degree! Scripture therefore states in another passage, (Deuteronomy 4:11) “[And the mountain] burned with fire unto the very midst of the heavens”. Then what reason is there for stating that it smoked only like a furnace? This is said in order to make intelligible to the human ear as much as it can understand: Scripture gives human beings an example (a comparison) which is well-known to them. A similar case is, (Hosea 11:10) “As a lion does He (God) roar”. But who gave the lion power if not He, and yet Scripture compares him only to a lion! But the reason is that we describe Him by comparing Him to His creatures in order to make intelligible to the human ear as much as it can understand. A similar example is: (Ezekiel 43:2) “And His voice was like the sound of many waters”. But who gave the waters a thunderous sound except He, and yet you describe Him by comparing Him to His handiwork — it is to make it intelligible to the human ear (Mekhilta).