Chasidut su Deuteronomio 7:78

Deuteronomy 7,12. “it will be that as a result of your ‎listening, etc., that G’d will faithfully maintain for you the ‎covenant and the attribute of love that He has sworn to your ‎forefathers.”
It is an accepted principle that the “so-‎called” reward that G’d grants us for performing the ‎commandments of the Torah is the least of all the pleasures that ‎we will experience. The major pleasure is the satisfaction we ‎derive from having been able to give the Creator a feeling of ‎satisfaction that He created mankind, and that at least part of ‎mankind, Israel, has seen fit to acknowledge this. This is what the ‎‎Mishna in Avot 4,2 meant when the author states that ‎the true reward for performing the commandments is the ‎commandment itself. When we reflect on the significance of the ‎performance of the commandment we will realize that having ‎performed it was an unparalleled pleasure. Even the reward that ‎G’d has “saved up” for us in the hereafter pales into insignificance ‎when compared to the satisfaction of having been able to provide ‎‎Hashem with pleasure.‎
This is what Moses had in mind when he described the ‎‎mitzvah performance with the word ‎עקב‎ in our verse above. ‎This word, meaning “heel,” when used elsewhere in Scripture, is ‎used by Moses to describe the minute part of the pleasure that ‎G’d’s “reward” provides for us when we compare it with the ‎pleasure we provided for ourselves by having been the ‎instrument to please the Creator.‎

The sages of the Gemara designated the days of Hanukkah as yamim tovim, or good days, to be celebrated with the recitation of Hallel and expressions of gratitude. Hashem called the light “good.” According to the Zohar, a "yom tov" (good day) is so called because it radiates the goodness that God has reserved for the World to Come. In response to the Hanukkah miracle, the sages established these days as yamim tovim for praising and giving thanks, so that the inner light within all Jews would shine forth. Each year, these days are designated as occasions for praising and giving thanks, and this is where the term "Yehudim" (Jews) originates. When Leah named her son Judah, she said, "This time I will give thanks," which Rashi interprets as meaning "since I have received more than my fair share [of children]." We, the children of Israel, recognize that everything that God gives us is more than we deserve, as we are "the least of all the peoples" (Deuteronomy 7:7). The midrash explains that this means that when God bestows greatness upon us, we humble ourselves even further, recognizing that it is only through God's kindness that we are so blessed, hence the name "Yehudim."

Deuteronomy 7:12: Rashi asks: what will you listen [/abide] to? The miztvot which people usually trample under foot. So, it says in Talmud, right before Moshiach comes there will be lots of chutzpah. Arizal says that's the time to fix the feet of Adam. Since feet are coarser than the rest of the body, so they represent chutzpah. The main rectification is by guarding the bris since the 6th millennium is associated with [the sefirah of] yesod. This is what Hashem's promises, in the times of the heel of Moshiach, the Jewish people will be doing mitzvot and learning Torah despite being at the level of a heel as it says "it won't be forgotten from your children." Rashi, when talking to the mizvtot which people [adam=man] trample, refers to Adam himself. Rabbi Eliezer says that you should engage in coitus as if you were being forced by a demon. The "demon" has a shin and a daled. In a person, the head correspond to shin, the feet and hands correspond to the daled, and bris correspond to the yud. Rabbi Eliezer sanctified himself with bris, and he had the whole name of Hashem (Shin-Daled-Yud). If someone doesn't sanctify his bris, he misses the "yud" then becomes associated with demons (shin dalet). This is the meaning of Jewish demons as discussed in the Zohar. We also find that Adam wasted seed and demons and kelipa came from that. Adam committed coitus interruptus and spilled that seed. If a person doesn't have a intent of holiness and does not sanctify himself then it's as if he does dash, wasting seed, which is same letters as "demon." Zorah, to winnow, refers to kelipah because kelipah is always external, since during winnowing husks are separated from inside, thus zorah refers to externality. That's what Rashi is referring to by the ignored mitzvah: sanctifying oneself during coitus. So, the Torah says that if a person will sanctify his intimacy then G-d will guard the covenant and this will reveal blessings.

And therefore, when we are waking from sleep, we must wash our hands with water. Water represents knowledge, as in, "the earth will be filled with knowledge as the waters cover the sea bed". Isaiah 11:9. We must evoke the waters of knowledge to evoke order and banish impurity, which is attached to disorder, which has become attached to the hands. The entire power of the forces of evil is only from disorder, when a person is not receiving perfect sustenance from order. This is represented by the darkness of night, by sleep, when the body, which corresponds to night, remains without sustenance from the intellect, which corresponds to day. During this time, the forces of evil are sustained from there, from disorder, become attached specifically to the hands. This is because the above rectification of binding and bridging disorder into order is represented by the Yud, which corresponds to the Kaf, which represents the hands, as in, 'you formed me backward and forward and placed your hand upon me', as brought on the verse "Open your hand". The entire world compared to G-d is in the category of disorder. G-d is exalted beyond all spiritual worlds, and all the worlds are in disorder before Him, since all the worlds are guided by Malchut as explained in the lesson as mentioned above, and the Malchut corresponds to disorder, and said above. This corresponds to "the world was created in the month of Tishri". Rosh Hashanah 27b. Tishri represents tav-shin-resh-kuf, disorder, Malchut. The world was created mainly so that we come to know G-d Zohar II 42B, so that we acquire perfect knowledge, which is knowing G-d. That is the true essence of knowledge, and only that is considered knowledge, as written, "you shall know today and restore to your heart that G-d is the Lord". Deuteronomy 4:39. The main purpose of creation was to bring disorder into order, to elevate all worlds to their root, so that disorder, representing the totality of all worlds, will become brought into order, which is knowledge, specifically the knowledge of G-d. That is the main purpose and what will remain at the very end. Everything else will become nullified into it. But how does one achieve this, binding and elevating all worlds corresponding to disorder, to the roots, into order, which is wisdom and knowledge? This is only possible in this world of action, by means of observing the practical commandments of the Torah. The Torah, as a whole, is held in the hands, which are the tools of action, as in "today to do them". Deuteronomy 7:11. This is alluded in "the two tablets of the covenant are in my two hands". Deuteronomy 9:15. Torah, represented by the two tablets of the covenant, is held within the two hands, which represent the tools of action, for the hands place all things where they are needed. This is true regarding the world as a whole: by means of the hands, the tools of action corresponding to the totality of the Torah, we take all the worlds, corresponding to disorder, elevating them and bringing them to G-d, so that they are absorbed within their root in order. This is why the Zohar tells of Rabbi Eliezer who lifted his two hands as he was about to die and said "woe that two Torahs are about to disappear from the world". Zohar I 99a. The two hands represent the totality of the Torah, represented by the written Torah and the oral Torah, which is why holiness is evoked mainly through the sanctity of the hands. This is represented by the washing of the hands in the morning. When we sleep, the life sustenance disappears and the forces of evil that are attached to disorder become attached specifically to the hands, for they are always seeking to be nourished from holiness. And since holiness – bringing all worlds to the root, bringing disorder into order - is by means of the hands, the main attachment of the forces of evil that always seek division and to separate disorder from order is specifically to the hands, the main site of sanctity. The hands are the main tools by means of which we are able to bind and elevate disorder into order, and therefore, they are also the main place where the forces of evil are attached. That is why we must wash our hands with water immediately upon awakening, to evoke the waters of knowledge and evoke order, so that the forces of evil attached to disorder will be banished. This is what our Sages said, "the evil spirit that rests on the hands as a princess and is particular not to leave unless the hands are washed properly". Shabbat 109a. This force of evil is rightly called a princess, for it is attached to a blemish of the Malchut caused by separating Malchut and saying 'I shall rule', which causes everything to be disordered, which is the source of judgments and evil forces. That is why it is called a princess.

Another way of understanding the line ‎ואתה אמרת היטב איטיב ‏עמך‎, is that even when G’d shares out His largesse to both the ‎Jewish people and the gentiles, there is always a difference. When ‎this “largesse” is bestowed on the Jewish people the intent is ‎invariably for their benefit. When it is dispensed to the gentiles, ‎the gentiles may see in it something positive, whereas in the long ‎run it is something that works to the detriment of the recipients.‎
Let us explain this apparent paradox by referring to ‎Deuteronomy 7,10, where Moses speaks of G’d “paying” the ‎sinner to his “face.” Moses touches on the subject known to us ‎under the heading of ‎צדיק ורע לו, רשע וטוב לו‎, “why does it appear ‎often that the person we perceive as a just person suffers a great ‎deal in this world, whereas the patently wicked person appears to ‎enjoy every day of his life on earth.” Moses describes the reward ‎in store for the wicked, for they too have performed some good ‎deeds for which G’d owes them a reward,- as “payment,” ‎משלם‎. He ‎has to do it while the wicked person is alive as he has no afterlife ‎to look forward to. The righteous who has an eternity of life on a ‎different plane to look forward to, need not lose some of this by ‎being ‘paid” by G’d for his good deeds while here on earth. ‎Yaakov, when referring to ‎היטב איטיב‎, refers to G’d bestowing ‎such “good” on him for the sake of the good itself, not as ‎‎“payment” for good deeds performed. Gentiles, i.e. pagans, have ‎no claim to that kind of “good.”‎

Deuteronomy 7,17. “When you will say in your heart: ‎‎‘seeing that these nations are so much more numerous than I, ‎how can I dispossess them? Do not be afraid.’” It is worth ‎our while to look at Rashi who focuses on the word ‎כי‎ at the ‎beginning of our paragraph. He insists that in this instance the ‎word ‎כי‎ is to be understood as ‎דלמא‎, “maybe, perhaps.”‎
‎Rashi has touched on an important psychological ‎principle, namely that whenever we encounter some difficulty in ‎carrying out G’d’s commandments, i.e. serving Him with all our ‎heart, fear is the greatest enemy to serving G’d wholeheartedly. If ‎we can resist fear, G’d will help us to overcome any of these ‎supposed difficulties to serving Him. Questions such as “how can ‎we overcome such a problem as being vastly outnumbered,” are ‎legitimate questions. However, we must not allow such questions ‎to cause us to become fearful of carrying out G’d’s will. Moses’ ‎remedy in three short words is ‎לא תירא מהם‎, “do not be afraid of ‎them!” If you can master your fear you will certainly be able to ‎drive them out, to dispossess them!”‎

This love is not dependent on anything, as it says (Deuteronomy 7.7-8), "Not because you are more numerous than all the nations did the Lord want you and choose you... but by the Lord's love for you." That means it is love that is unconditional -- it is simply (Deuteronomy.32.9) "for the Lord's portion is His people."

Genesis 49,19. “Gad shall be raided by raiders, but he ‎shall raid at their heels.” We can best understand this ‎blessing by referring to the Talmud shabbat 151 where we ‎are told that when human beings demonstrate that they are ‎merciful to G’d’s creatures, G’d in turn will have mercy on them.” ‎Man’s actions trigger responses in heaven; in this instance, ‎positive responses. What possible example of Gad’s having ‎preformed acts of mercy do we know of? We have learned on folio ‎‎104 of the tractate Shabbat that the very sequence of the ‎letters ‎ג‎ and ‎ד‎ which make up Gad’s name are an acronym ‎meaning ‎גומל דלים‎, “relating with loving kindness to the poor.” ‎When a person deals charitably with the poor and he expects that ‎G’d will in turn reward him for this by causing him to forget ‎about the impending reward at the time the charitable deed is ‎performed, so that this person has attained an even higher ‎spiritual level thereby. Yaakov alludes to this when saying words ‎which at first glance sound as if he is repeating himself, whereas ‎actually he hints that certain actions inspired by one ‎consideration may prove to be even more profitable (spiritually) ‎when carried out altogether altruistically. The word ‎עקב‎ in our ‎verse may be understood as in Deut. 7,12 ‎והיה עקב תשמעון‎, “it will ‎be as a result (automatic) of your hearkening to G’ds laws, etc.” In ‎that verse G’d promises that He will honour the terms of His ‎covenant with the Jewish people. The word ‎גוד‎ may be related to ‎Daniel 4,11 (Aramaic) ‎גודו אילנא‎, “cut down the tree,” i.e. when ‎the Jewish people perform deeds of loving kindness their enemies ‎will be cut down by G’d. According to Targum Onkelos on ‎Deut.7,12 who renders ‎עקב תשמעון ‏‎ as ‎חלף תקבלון‎, “what you will ‎receive in exchange,” this is what is meant in our verse as ‎יגוד‎, “as ‎reward for forgetting about any reward”.‎

‎5,21. “you (the Jewish people) said, here the Lord has ‎shown us……..we have seen (realized) this day that when G’d ‎speaks with man he is able to survive this experience., ‎etc.”
Why should we die when the great fire ‎consumes us, etc,.?‎‏ ‏The difficulty in these verses must strike any ‎reader! Why should a people who had survived the experience of ‎being addressed by G’d personally, suddenly become afraid of the ‎thunder and lightning which accompanied the revelation?
I ‎believe that a look at the Zohar on Parshat Pinchas, ‎will help us understand this enigma. Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair is ‎quoted there as saying that when a member of the gentile nations ‎says something spiritually significant his body does not ‎automatically move as a result of his speaking. Not so when an ‎Israelite speaks of the same subject. The fact is that an Israelite ‎has a soul equipped with the sprit of life, ‎רוח חיים‎, i.e. life of a ‎spiritual dimension. [There is no such Zohar quoting ‎Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair that this editor has been able to find. ‎Ed.]
Following the concept outlined by our author, seeing that we ‎have been equipped with a spiritually more sensitive soul than ‎the gentiles, as soon as a Jew opens his mouth in order to utter ‎matters related to sanctity, even his entire body reacts to this by ‎moving, as it feels that contact has been established between it ‎and its origin, i.e. the Creator, its ultimate root. On the other ‎hand, if G’d were to address members of the gentile nations ‎directly, their bodies would not respond at all, seeing that their ‎souls lack the sensitivity to holiness that is second nature to the ‎Jew. Seeing that Jews are so sensitive to being exposed to ‎holiness, it is not surprising that they were afraid that this ‎phenomenon was a prelude to their death, i.e. the separation of ‎their souls from their bodies. This feeling expressed itself in the ‎kind of ecstasy that burns within man threatening to engulf him ‎totally and burn him. ‎
‎Tossaphot on Avodah Zarah 3 write concerning a ‎question raised there on the exegesis of Deuteronomy 7,11: where ‎the Torah writes that the commandments which had just been ‎revealed to the people were to be preformed ‎היום‎, “this day,” i.e. ‎from this day onwards. The Talmud explains that the emphasis ‎on performing the commandments “this day,” is meant to inform ‎us that although performance of the commandments is scheduled ‎for life in this world, the reward will be paid in a different world, ‎i.e. the after death of the body.
According to the Talmud in Pessachim 56 it was the ‎custom of the people of Jericho, when reciting the daily keriyat ‎sh’ma in which we encounter line: ‎היום על לבבך‎ “this day, on ‎your heart;” contrary to the Israelites in other cities not to pause ‎before the words: ‎על לבבך‎. Although the sages are on record as ‎having disapproved of some of the customs of the people of ‎Jericho, this was not one of the customs of which they ‎disapproved. Tossaphot, in light of what we have written ‎earlier, states that the word ‎היום‎ emphasizes the “here and now,” ‎and ask why the sages while disapproving did not demand that ‎they change their custom as they did concerning other matters ‎they had disapproved of.
The answer offered is that whereas in Deuteronomy the Torah ‎does not speak about the reward of the performance of the ‎commandments but about the manner of their fulfillment, the ‎words ‎היום‎ is to be understood literally. However, the ‎performance of the commandment is obligatory daily, i.e. every ‎‎“day” is ‎היום‎, as far as the subject of the verse is concerned. When ‎reward for performance of good deeds is the subject, there is a ‎difference between Jews and gentiles, as the latter do not ‎automatically qualify for an afterlife, so that G’d has to pay the ‎their reward in this life.‎
In order to follow this subject better we must refer to the ‎Talmud in Baba Metzia 114 where the point is made that ‎whereas the Jewish people have been distinguished with the title, ‎‎“‎אדם‎,” we never find that the gentiles are referred to by that ‎complimentary title. The Talmud derives from this that when the ‎Torah wrote in Numbers 19,14 that ‎אדם כי ימות באהל‎ that when a ‎Jew, i.e. ‎אדם‎, dies while in an enclosed space, house or tent, then ‎the laws of ritual impurity that apply to people present in that ‎same airspace apply only if the dead person was a Jew. A similar ‎lesson can be learned from our verse here (5,21) where the Torah ‎did not write ‎אדם‎ but ‎האדם‎ to alert us to the fact that not only ‎Jews but any human being is included in the reminder that G’d ‎may directly address any human being. The gentile, due to the ‎limitations of his soul which we discussed, may not survive the ‎experience of being addressed by G’d directly, whereas ‎אדם‎, ‎without the prefix ‎ה‎ i.e. a Jew, has no reason to be afraid of this. ‎The line commencing with ‎למה נמות‎, usually translated as “why ‎should we die?,” is not to be understood as a question, but as a ‎statement, albeit a reflexive one, meaning: “we, being ‎אדם‎ and ‎not merely ‎האדם‎, have no reason to fear that we will die, the ‎reason being that we have been imbued with this great fire of ‎religious fervor, ‎האש הגדולה‎, which effectively shields us against ‎the dangers faced by the souls of the gentiles if addressed by G’d ‎directly. In fact, the Israelites, i.e. Moses as their mouthpiece, re-‎affirms that there is no other people than the Jewish people who ‎is so endowed spiritually that they have survived the revelation at ‎Mount Sinai with both mind and body intact. Moses spells out ‎clearly that the reason why his people survived that tremendous ‎experience was that enthusiasm, this fiery ecstasy, with which ‎they acted at the time, [an example of which was their giving ‎Moses a blank cheque by saying about the Torah to be received: ‎נעשה ונשמע‎, “we will observe it as soon as we have studied it.” Ed.] ‎This enthusiasm was so exhausting that they fainted and looked ‎almost as if they had died.‎ ‎ ‎ ‎

Deuteronomy 7,11 “you are to observe the ‎commandment, the statutes and the laws regulating inter-‎personal relations that I have command you to carry out from ‎this day on, as a result of your listening to them etc.;” there ‎is a basic question concerning the conceptual connection ‎between Parshat Vaetchanan and the portion following, i.e. ‎‎Parshat Eykev Furthermore, what need is there for the word ‎תשמעון‎, “you will hear or listen to,” in the first verse of Parshat ‎Eykev. This word implies that an act that you performed under ‎duress, i.e. you happened to hear something, i.e. a command.‎
In the writings of the Ari z’al we come across a ‎statement that a human being must undergo a number of re-‎incarnations, i.e. his soul will return to earth and inhabit different ‎bodies each time until he has rehabilitated himself for sins ‎committed during a previous life cycle on earth. According to this ‎concept, the verses at the end of Parshat Vaetchanan and ‎the beginning of Parshat Eykev allude to these re-‎incarnations.‎
The words: ‎היום לעשותם‎, are to be understood as good advice, ‎i.e. if you will observe the commandments while on earth at this ‎time, you will not have to be born again and experience life on ‎earth a second time before fulfilling your purpose on earth. This ‎is also the connection to the next Parshah which ‎commences with the words: ‎והיה עקב תשמעון‎, where the Torah ‎states that if we would fail to do so, and do so only at the end of ‎the third or fourth reincarnation, then the promises of the Torah ‎which follow will be ours to enjoy only ‎עקב‎ at the tail end of such ‎multiple experiences of life in a body on earth. When we keep this ‎in mind it will also be easier to understand a statement in the ‎Talmud Eyruvin 13 that it would have been more ‎comfortable for man never to have been created, but since we ‎have been created it is best that we adjust to this and discharge ‎our duties on earth without delay and procrastination. The ‎alternative would be that we have to experience life on this earth ‎even more than once before we fulfill our destiny on earth. It is ‎this aspect of the human existence, i.e. the possibly recurring ‎lifecycles on earth which the same soul is required to experience ‎to rehabilitate what it did not achieve inside the body it had ‎inhabited on a previous life cycle which Moses hints at. The ‎majority of the scholars in the Talmud found life on earth ‎therefore as potentially burdensome. ‎

And behold anyone who is involved in building a house must be concerned with two evils. The first is that one who is involved in building may become poor; and as a result, he will be tight about household expenditures, that he should not also be tight with charity. The second is that his heart not become haughty from the building that he is building ‘with turrets’ – as is written in Noam Meggadim on the verse, “For the Lord delights in His people, etc.” (Psalms 149:4): That even at the time of salvation and much plenty, they are still lowly. This is as it is written (Deuteronomy 7:7), “It is not because you are the most numerous” – [but rather because] you make yourselves small. And that is the meaning of, “When you build a new house, you shall make a parapet for your roof.” It teaches about haughtiness – that one should not raise his heart (but put a limit on it). That is one point. The other is that “you shall not place blood (damim, which can also mean money, though that is clearly not the plain meaning of the verse here) in your house: When they ask money from you for charity, do not say, “I have spent the money that I had to build the house. And the reason for the matter is, “for the faller should fall, etc.” – and a poor person is called a faller, as there is no one to hold his hand.