Commento su Deuteronomio 4:29
וּבִקַּשְׁתֶּ֥ם מִשָּׁ֛ם אֶת־יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ וּמָצָ֑אתָ כִּ֣י תִדְרְשֶׁ֔נּוּ בְּכָל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכָל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃
Ma da lì cercherai l'Eterno, il tuo DIO; e Lo troverai, se Lo cerchi con tutto il tuo cuore e con tutta la tua anima.
Sforno on Deuteronomy
ומצאת, even though you will not have a Temple at your disposal once you are exiled, not any of its sacred vessels.
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Or HaChaim on Deuteronomy
ובקשתם משם….בכל לבבך, "and you will seek (G'd) from there with all your heart, etc. Verses 29 and 30 require analysis. [Basically, the author tries to explain why repentance is mentioned only after exile, and why exile by itself does not appear to be classified as an affliction. Ed.] Remember there are two types of penitence. There is the kind of repentance which is self-induced when people become aware they have sinned and want to rehabilitate themselves to be in good standing with their Creator. The second type of repentance is only the result of the sinner first having suffered severe afflictions at the hands of his enemies, etc. The words: "you will seek from there the Lord your G'd" refer to the people whose repentance was not due to their first having suffered persecution, but was motivated by their fondness of G'd. Moses promises "you will find Him because you seek Him with all your heart" even though you may have committed the most serious sins, such as idolatry, as detailed in verse 28. The fact that you found your way back to G'd will save you from having to experience afflictions.
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Rabbeinu Bahya
ומצאת, “and you will find.” Seeing that the previous verses addressed the people en masse, as a plural, we would have expected Moses to write this verse also in the plural instead of switching to the singular, “you (individually) will find.” Had Moses continued in the plural the impression would have been created that the needs of the Jewish people of which he speaks are due only to the fact that they are in exile. It would have sounded as if G’d responds only to communal prayer, communal requests and not to that of the individual. There would have been a precedent for this seeing our sages in Berachot 8 have said that G’d does not despise communal prayer, i.e. that the prayer of a congregation is more effective than that of a mere individual. The Talmud there quotes Job 36,5: “Surely He is mighty, is not contemptuous,” as the source of its message.
For these reasons Moses made a point of telling us that G’d does respond to individuals who seek Him out.
For these reasons Moses made a point of telling us that G’d does respond to individuals who seek Him out.
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