פירוש על דברים 32:2

יערף כמטר לקחי MY DOCTRINE DROPPETH AS RAIN — This is the evidence that ye will have to give: that in your presence I declare that the Torah which I gave to Israel (לקחי) is life to the world as the rain which is life to the world (cf. Sifrei Devarim 306:17) — even as the heavens drop down dew and rain.

He states My doctrine shall drop as the rain,³Verse 2. for that which he took from the heavens [i.e., the Written Torah]⁴Abusaula. and His commandment upon the earth [i.e., the Oral Torah]⁴Abusaula. shall drop upon Israel and distill upon them like dew. When I shall call the name of the Eternal in the heavens ascribe ye greatness to our G-d⁵Verse 3. on earth — and he is speaking to all Israel [for it is they who are on earth]. Similarly, the “stone” of Joshua²Joshua 24:27. See Vol. I, p. 390. alludes to this earth, for from thence is the Shepherd, the Stone of Israel.⁶Genesis 49:24. See Ramban ibid., in my Hebrew edition pp. 273-274. I have already explained it.⁶Genesis 49:24. See Ramban ibid., in my Hebrew edition pp. 273-274. So also, The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief corner-stone. This is the Eternal’s doing etc.⁷Psalms 118:22-23. Therefore, Joshua said, Behold, this stone shall be a witness against us.²Joshua 24:27. See Vol. I, p. 390. And so also, For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone are seven facets etc.⁸Zechariah 3:9. Reference here is to Joshua the High Priest, who ministered in the early period of the Second Temple. The student learned in the mysteries of the Cabala will understand.

יערף במטו לקחי, "May my teaching drop like the rain." We may understand these words of Moses as being similar to the statement in Avot 3,21: "if there is no flour there will be no Torah, etc." The message is that just as the Israelites require rainfall for their physical survival so they require words of Torah instruction for their spiritual survival. The meter of the verse is: "May my teaching drop like rain." G'd does not expect His people to study Torah until He has provided physical sustenance for them. Conversely, you may conclude from Moses' words that if words of Torah will not drop from the people's lips, G'd in turn is not anxious to provide rain for them. This is precisely what Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah meant in Avot when he said on the one hand: "if there is no flour there is no Torah; if there is no Torah there will be no flour." Accordingly, you can understand what Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah said in this vein: "if you observe that there is not enough flour, know that the reason is that there is not enough Torah study." The reason that Moses employs the simile of rain falling for describing Torah study is because just as rain falls in droplets so Torah is absorbed a little at a time.

יערוף כמטר, if you will be mindful of my words of admonition they will prove as useful for you as rain.

יערוף כמטר לקחי, here my teachings will pour down and flow without interruption like rain for those who understand and are prepared to receive it from the fountain, the source of wisdom.

יערף כמטר לקחי, “May my teaching descend like the rain, etc.” Ibn Ezra explains the term לקחי as meaning “teaching,” comparing it to Proverbs 4,2כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם תורתי אל תעזובו, “for I have given you good instruction, do not abandon My Torah.”

This is the witness you are to bear, etc. Rashi is answering the question: How is this matter relevant here? And he explains that it is certainly relevant here, because this is the testimony, etc.

V. 2. ערף יערף וגו׳ das Nackengelenk, das fügsamste, beweglichste Gelenk am Körper, dessen Bewegungen am raschesten einer jeden Willensrichtung folgen, und der Gegensatz קשה ערף. Daher die Lockerung der starren Erdkrume durch den Teilchen von Teilchen lösenden Regen: ערף. Damit verwandt vielleicht auch חרף, die Jahreszeit, in welcher der Erdboden den lockernden Elementareinflüssen unterliegt.

יערוף כמטר לקחי, “may my discourse come down as rain;” the words that I am going to address to you are not meaningless, but just as the value of the rain when it comes down to earth is not immediately visible and felt as a benefit, nonetheless eventually it is responsible for the growing and ripening of the fruit on the trees, and its benefit becomes evident.”An alternate interpretation of Moses’ introductory comments: may it be the Lord’s will that my words will not return to me empty, but that they will grow like fruit in your hearts and in the hearts of all those who listen to them. May they act like the dew on the earth which promotes the growth of the grain crops. Moses mentions four different directions on earth here, as we will see, and just as he has called heaven and earth as witnesses, he appeals separately to all the four winds blowing from the four directions on the surfaces of the earth, north and south, east and west. He implies that if the Jewish people will conduct themselves as G-d wishes them to conduct themselves, the winds from each of these four directions will blow beneficially for them.

יערף means, IT DROPS. Similar is (Psalms 65:12) “[And thy paths] drop fatness” (ירעפון, where רעף = ערף); (Deuteronomy 33:28) “[also his heavens] shall drop down (יערפו) dew”.

תזל כטל אמרתי, and it too will contribute in accordance with the information which has been revealed to ordinary people. Even though these scraps of information are sparse, they are as useful to the recipients as is dew for the grass. The reason is that both in quantity and quality it is כשעירים עלי דשא, intelligent people can discern wonderful insights by listening to these words of mine; [וכרביבים עלי עשב, עשב being coarse, unrefined grass, it is a simile for coarse unrefined people. Ed.] even the most ordinary, uneducated people will acquire some knowledge by listening to what I have to say. It will help them to recognise and appreciate their Maker.

תזל כטל אמרתי, “may my words flow like dew.” Moses repeats what he says, though in poetic form, in order to reinforce his words. When the prophets prayed they usually employed this mode of speech, repeating the same or almost the same thought in different words. [This may be the reason why, when offering a תפלה של רשות, a prayer that is not part of the prescribed prayers, one is allowed to do so only if one can add words of one’s own, a slight variation of the prescribed prayer. Ed.] Moses feels that words thus reinforced will not be sent back by the addressee without at least a partial response, acceptance by the listeners. The choice of simile suggests that Moses hopes that his words will act in the hearts of his listeners as the rain does when it hits the earth.

When the heavens flow with dew and rainfall. One could say that [Rashi] wants to explain how this is implicit in the verse that [Moshe] said to Yisroel, that the Torah is likened to rain. And he explains that this is what the verse means: “When the heavens, etc.” And how does Rashi know to explain that “My instruction (לקחי)” refers to the Torah? Because it is written, “For I have given to you a good instruction (לקח)” (Mishlei 4:2). What is the reason [that lekach refers to the Torah]? Because it is taken from hand to hand, as the verse states, “From His right [hand] — the flaming Torah” (Devarim 33:1). In other words, Moshe Rabbeinu took it from the right hand of the Holy One, Blessed Is He. And why is it called the “Living Torah”? Because the verse states, “It is a tree of life to those who grasp it” (Mishlei 3:18).

Another reason why Moses chose the simile of rainfall to describe Torah study may have been to alert his listeners that just as the absence of rainfall for a prolonged period would result in death for those deprived of it, so the absence of Torah for a prolonged period would also bring death in its wake. It is similar to what Isaiah said in Isaiah 1,19: "if you agree and give heed, you will eat the good things of the earth; but if you refuse and disobey, you will be devoured by the sword." לקחי, אמרתי, Moses repeats the message in different words in order to make them apply to the two Torot, i.e. the written Torah as well as the oral Torah. Moses aims the word לקחי at the written Torah whereas he refers to the oral Torah when he tells the people to listen to his אמרתי. Moses referred to the Torah G'd had handed him personally, written by G'd's own finger. Although G'd only gave him two tablets containing Ten Commandments, these Ten Commandments contained within them everything that is written in the entire Torah, compare (Bamidbar Rabbah 13). As to the oral Torah, Moses used the term אמרתי, seeing the oral Torah was received by Moses from G'd on a mouth to mouth basis. It was not recorded in writing. Moses labelled the written Torah מטר, rain, whereas he labelled the oral Torah טל, dew. The reason he did this is because the written Torah is the more important of the two. It is the foundation of everything. The oral Torah is a collection of details none of which were spelled out clearly enough in the written Torah. What appears in the oral Torah has only been hinted at in the written Torah. This is why the Torah (Moses) describes the written Torah as rain which is basic and fundamental to nature. Dew, on the other hand, is something which improves the basic work of rainfall just as the oral Torah rounds out the written Torah.

לקח ,לקחי ist die Lehre vom Standpunkt des Lernenden, die aufgenommene oder aufzunehmende Lehre. — נשל .נזל von dem bisherigen Halt loslösen, נצל das gewaltsame Trennen von einem Halt. נזל, die natürliche schwächste Kohärenz der Teilchen, bezeichnet die Bewegung des Flüssigen. Daher der Gegensatz: נצבו כמו נד נוזלים (Schmot 15, 8). — אמרה ,אמרתי gewöhnliche Bezeichnung von Gottes Verheißungen, Zusagen. Vergl. Bamidbar 23, 19.

יערוף כמטר, this is a reference to west wind which originates in the neck of the world and usually brings rain in its wake.

תזל כטל IT FLOWS AS THE DEW in which everybody rejoices. He adds this because rain involves annoyance to some people, as, for instance, to those on a journey, or a man whose pit (the pit into which the wine flows when the grapes are being pressed) is full of wine (which thus becomes spoiled) (Sifrei Devarim 306:17).

With which all rejoice, etc. And this is not the case with rain. Afterwards [Moshe] compares [the Torah] to the wind, because this too is better than dew, and he continues and adds.

There is another aspect to the choice of Moses' similes, one that is best understood by the Kabbalists. Please read the comments of the Beer Heytev on Orach Chayim chapter 238 where he quotes the Ari Zal. The author claims that the preoccupation with the study of the written Torah is an obligation which applies only during the day and not during the night. Therefore it is not in order to read the written Torah at night. We have a Baraitha in Midrash Tehillim that during the 40 days that Moses was in heaven, close to G'd, he was able to distinguish between night and day only by means of the subject matter G'd taught him. When G'd taught Moses Mishnah, i.e. oral Torah, he knew it must be night-time. The reason is that it was not permitted to study the written Torah at night.

סער שער .כשעירים und סערה שערה: Sturm, שער Entsetzen, שער Haar, שעיר das behaarte, struppige Tier, der Bock. Grundbedeutung scheint: eine starke Fortbewegung von innen heraus, räumlich: Sturm, im Gemüte: Entsetzen, physiologisch und zwar numerisch starkes Herauswachsen aus Tier- und Pflanzenkörper: Haar. Hier ist es räuglich von שער Sturm und zwar in passiver Form wie שעיר, das haarbedeckte Tier, so vom Sturm fortbewegte Regenschauer, so wohl auch וכרביבים — .כרוחי מטרא :ת׳׳א רביב von רבב, der Wurzel von רב, ein reicher Regenguss, vielleicht auch reichen Pflanzenwuchs erzeugend, wie רבבה כצמח השדה נתתיך (Ezech. 16, 7).

תזל כטל אמרתי, “may my speech distil just as the dew.” This is a reference to the northern wind, which is pleasant just like the dew.

כשעירים — This word has the same meaning as in (Psalms 148:8) “stormy (סערה) wind” (the ס and ש interchanging), as the Targum has it: כרוחי מטרא “like winds that bring rain”. How is it with the winds? They strengthen the herbage and promote their growth! So, too, the words of the Torah promote the moral growth of those who study them (Sifrei Devarim 306:18).

As in “storm winds, etc.” The letters samech and shin are interchangeable.

This is the reason why Moses described the written Torah as rain, something which does not fall every day, at all hours, only during the rainy season but not during the summer. We have already described several times what happened to the Amora Rava (Taanit 24) who prayed to heaven in order that there be a rainfall in summer because he wanted to prove to a scoffer that G'd can make rain in summer. Similarly, the written Torah is described as rain. Our sages allocated only certain parts of the day to its study, by day and not by night. Dew, on the other hand, is something which we observe on a year round basis, day in day out. It descends both in summer and in winter. Similarly, the oral Torah is described as dew. It is to be studied both by day and by night. There is no restriction on what is a good time to study the oral Torah. The fact that the sun dissipates the effect of the dew is no argument; after all, it is not the fault of absence of dew which on occasion nullifies its effectiveness.

Zwei Momente bilden die Sendung Mosche: Lehre und Verheißung. Er erwartet von dem Zusammenwirken des Himmels und der Erde in Gestaltung der Zukunft seines Volkes, dass beide Momente seiner Sendung doch nicht verloren seien, dass beide doch endlich ihr Ziel erreichen werden, erwartet, dass die von Gott zu Zeugen und Garanten seines Bundes bestellten Himmel und Erde nicht ruhen werden, bis seine תורה endlich doch לקח, doch vom Volke an- und in sich aufgenommen werde und den lange starr gebliebenen Boden seines Geistes und Herzens auflockern werde, auf dass darin die Saaten des Lichts und der Wärme, der Erkenntnis und des Lebens aufgehen können, und dass seine Verheißungen, erfrischend wie der Tau, sein Volk immer wieder belebend aufrichten und aufrecht erhalten werden in den schweren Gängen, die ihm bevorstehen; dass beide reinigend wie Schauerstürme über die Flur hin und endlich befruchtend wie reiche Regenfülle aufs Kraut sich bewähren werden.

כשעירים עלי דשא, “as the small rain on the tender grass;” this is a reference to the wind blowing from the south which is stormy like its namesake, the billy goats.

וכרביבים — these are DROPS OF RAIN. It seems to me that it (the rain) is called רביב because it shoots down like an arrow, just as you say, (i.e. just as the text reads) (Genesis 21:20) “A shooter (רבה) with the bow”.

The envelopment of the earth, etc. This means that the word grass (דשא) includes many kinds of plants which clothe the earth and cover it, and the totality is called deshe. [The other word for] grass (עשב) refers to a specific species, and each species on its own is called eisev. See parshas Bereishis (1:11).

כשעירים עלי דשא, "like showers on young growth, etc." We may understand this simile in connection with a Baraitha quoted in Midrash Mishley 10. Rabbi Yishmael is quoted as saying that when the time comes when a man has to give an accounting of what he did with his time while on earth, one of the questions he will be asked is if he has a command of the written Torah. If he answers in the negative he is asked why he did not study. Next they ask him if he has a command of the oral Torah. If he answers in the affirmative He is asked whether he also has a command of the Talmud. The questioning continues in that vein. He is not asked whether he has a command of esoterical matters i.e. מעשה מרכבה. They ask a person only on matters which he was capable of studying and absorbing. This is the meaning of כשעירים וכרביבים, meaning that just as G'd makes it rain in little droplets on the grass which is still very young, and in bigger droplets on the grass which has already reached a certain height, one's Torah knowledge is expected to match one's age and one's I.Q. This rule is at one and the same time both harsh and kind. The Torah makes allowances for people who are under-endowed mentally; on the other hand, even someone who has a good command of Scripture, Mishnah and Talmud may be found wanting as he did not measure up to his potential and also studied esoterics, i.e. מעשה מרכבה

כרביבים, “and like the showers on the herbs.” This is a reference to the east wind, which is beneficial for seedlings and which blows most of the day. According to the opinion of our author, the east wind blows mostly in the morning, the south wind around noon, the west wind at the beginning of the night, and the northern wind around midnight. The northern wind is prevalent during the summer, when it is welcome, whereas when it blows in the winter it is difficult to bear; the opposite is the case with the wind originating in the south. The western wind is difficult to bear at any time. [I presume the latter observations are meant to describe human reactions, as opposed to the reactions of the earth. Ed.] Eastern winds (i.e. sandstorms originating in the east) are never welcome from the perspective of human beings.

דשא — herbaries in old French. English herbage — the vesture of the ground when it is covered with vegetation (greens).

עשב HERB — a single stalk is called עשב and similarly each species of herbs by itself is called עשב (whilst דשא denotes vegetation in general). (Cf. Rashi on Genesis 1:11 and Note thereon).