Commento su Deuteronomio 11:12

אשר ה' אלהיך דרש אתה [A LAND] WHICH THE LORD THY GOD CARETH FOR — But does He not care for all lands, as it said, (Job 38:26) “[Who hath cleft a way for the lightning of the thunder …] to cause rain even on a land where no man is"? But, if one can say so of God, He cares for that land alone, but through the care which He bestows on it, He cares also for all other lands with it (Sifrei Devarim 40:1).

דורש אותה, to carefully scrutinize the deeds of its inhabitants to determine if they are deserving the rain or not. Therefore, you should remain aware of the fact that

אשר ה׳ אלוקיך דרש, "which the Lord your G'd enquires after (all the time)." Moses emphasises the word אלוקיך, "your G'd" to remind us that the excellence of this land is conditional on the mutually exclusive relationship between Israel and its G'd. If Israel were to find itself in exile due to its sins, the land would not prove excellent for whoever would dwell in it after Israel would be expelled.

ארץ אשר ה' אלו-היך דרש אתה תמיד, עיני ה' אלו-היך בה, “a land which the Lord your G’d seeks out; the eyes of the Lord your G’d are upon it from the beginning of the year until the end.” According to the plain meaning of the text Moses means that G’d’s supervisory activities are concentrated on this land more than on any other. Once G’d has found out what goes on in the land of Israel, His gaze extends further and further and encompasses the rest of the globe. The matter is similar to man’s organs. First and foremost the heart is examined to determine its condition, seeing that life or death depend in large measure on the condition of the heart, the centre of man’s organisms. Subsequently, a physician examines other limbs and organs which are more peripheral than the heart. The major point of our verse is that the condition of the land of Israel is not left to G’d’s agents, horoscopic influences, etc., but that G’d Himself super-vises this land on an ongoing basis.
This is also what David referred to in Psalms 87,7 when he said כל מעיני בך, “all My fountains are within you.” The word מעין is perceived as related to עין, eye; David quotes G’d as saying that His principal supervision is concentrated on “you,” the land of Israel. From there it will extend throughout the rest of the world.

To see what its needs are, etc. Otherwise what is the meaning of, “Until the year’s end”? For whatever is decreed on Rosh Hashanah will be carried out throughout the year! Furthermore it would be enough to write, “The eyes of Adonoy, your God [are always upon it].” Rather, [“From the year’s beginning, etc.” means] to modify the decrees that were decided on Rosh Hashanah according to what the people deserve. But it seems to me that Rashi is expounding from the word “always,” which implies that Hashem is constantly watching over the Land to initiate [decrees] according to its needs. The same inference is made in Maseches Rosh Hashanah 17b. (Gur Aryeh).

V. 12. ואת שעיר החטאת דרש וגו׳ :דרש .ארץ וגו׳ (Wajikra 10, 16), ואין דרש ואין מבקש (Ezech. 34, 6) sich nach etwas umsehen, sich um etwas bekümmern. ולך יקרא דרושה (Jes.62, 12) im Gegensatz von נעזבה. Das Gedeihen dieses Landes ist nicht den bloßen Konsequenzen einer einmal gegebenen Naturordnung überlassen, ist vielmehr Gegenstand der dich für seine sittlichen Menschheitszwecke bestimmenden, überwachenden und erziehenden Waltung Gottes. תמיד עיני ד׳ אלקיך בה, und ununterbrochen sind die Augen dieser dich überwachenden und erziehenden Gotteswaltung auf das Land gerichtet, die Entwicklung seines Bodenlebens, deinem Erziehungsbedürfnis entsprechend, hemmend oder fördernd, zu gestalten (siehe Rosch Haschana 17 b). מרשית השנה עד אחרית השנה, bedeutsam ist der Jahresanfang mit mangelndem א, dem Begriffe: Armut, רש, anklingend geschrieben. Der Anfang eines jeden Bodenjahres dieses Landes tritt ganz "voraussetzungslos", ganz "arm", ohne Erbschaft aus dem vergangenen Jahre ein. Keine, weder hemmende noch fördernde physische Wirkungen gehen aus dem vorhergehenden in das neue mit hinüber. Der Jahrescharakter jedes beginnenden Jahres ist lediglich durch dein sittliches Verhalten bedingt, und — bemerkt ein Wort der Weisen — je lebhafter wir uns dieses durchaus entscheidenden Momentes unseres sittlichen Verhaltens an unseren Jahresanfängen bewusst sind, um so hoffnungsreicher tritt das Jahr für uns ein: כל שנה שרשה בתחלתה מתעשרת בסופה שנא׳ מראשית השנה ספרי .מרשית כתיב z. St. hat das bedeutsame Wort: ארץ אשר ד׳ אלקיך דורש רבי אומר וכי אותה בלבד הוא דורש והלא כל הארצות הוא דורש שנאמר להמטיר על ארץ לא איש וגו׳ ומה תלמוד לומר ארץ אשר ד׳ אלקיך דרש אתה, כביכול אין דרש אלא אותה ובשכר דרישה שהוא דורשה דורש כל הארצות עמה d. h. wenn hier Palästina, der Boden des göttlichen Gesetzes, als Gegenstand der Fürsorge Gottes bezeichnet ist, so sind damit keineswegs die übrigen Länder von Gottes Fürsorge ausgeschlossen, so lehrt doch das Gotteswort an anderen Stellen das Gegenteil. Allein in der Fürsorge für dieses Land konzentriert sich die Gottesfürsorge für die Menschenerde. Insofern das jüdische Land das historische Denkmal der göttlichen Gesetzoffenbarung und damit die sittliche Heileszukunft der Menschheit in seinem Schoße trägt, die einst durch das von Zion ausgehende Sittengesetz an die Menschheit sich als das Reich Gottes auf Erden realisiert, so kann man sagen, dass Zions Blüte die Blüte der Gesamtmenschheit bedingt. Jeder Regentropfen auf Erden fällt um Zions willen, fällt um der sittlichen Gesamtzukunft willen, die durch Zion garantiert ist, wie wenig auch etwa eine Gegenwart noch des Regentropfens würdig erscheinen möge.

ארץ אשר ה' אלוקיך דורש אותה תמיד, “a land which the Lord your G–d looks after constantly;” He does so with a view to examine its inhabitants’ way of life as they will be judged according to their actions and the frequency with which the perform the commandments. This is why we recite twice daily the second paragraph of the kriyat sh’ma, commencing with the words: “it will be as a result of your observing My Commandments ........ that I will give the required amount of rain at the proper time, etc.” (verse 17 in our chapter) Also the sages in the Talmud, tractate Rosh Hashanah folio 17, explain our verse in the following sense. Concerning the word: בעתו, “at its appropriate time,” our sages say that rainfall may occur as a blessing or as a curse, depending on the condition of the growing crops at the time when it descends. If at the time of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish people were in a state of disgrace due to non observance, G–d may supply only a little rainfall; this may spur them to engage in repentance. It will not make sense to suddenly increase the rainfall, as the decree had already been sealed and executed. If they had been in good standing at the beginning of the year, and G–d therefore had provided the required amount of rain, but they subsequently became corrupted, how would G–d be able to retract the rain that had already descended? Therefore, Rosh Hashanah is the time at which G–d decrees the required amount of rainfall for the year at that time, but lets it descend on the part of the land that requires it if the conduct of the people deserves it, and on a different part of the land where it goes to waste, if the conduct of the people is such that it had forfeited this blessing.

דורש אותה, “He cares for it constantly;” He examines the people’s morals in that land especially carefully.

תמיד עיני ה' אלהיך בה THE EYES OF THE LORD THY GOD ARE ALWAYS UPON IT, to see what it requires, and to make new dispensations for it, sometimes for good and sometimes for bad, as is stated in Treatise Rosh Hashanah 17b.

As stated in tractate Rosh Hashanah. If the Jewish People are wicked on Rosh Hashanah then He will decree scarce rainfall that year. [Even] if they repent during that year then He will not increase [the rainfall], for the decree was already made. Instead, He brings that scarce amount of rain upon the fields rather than upon the wilderness and other places that do not require rainfall. Also He brings the rain in its proper time. The converse is also true — if the Jewish People are meritorious on Rosh Hashanah, etc.

מרשית שנה, “from the beginning of the year.” Why has the word ראשית, spelled defectively, without the letter א after the letter ר? Rabbi Yitzchok, on folio 16 in the above quoted tractate of the Talmud, claims that any year which commences apparently poorly, will by the time it comes to its end have become much better. If Moses added the word: עד אחרית “until the end,” this is proof that the year will have an end for those who doubted that at its beginning. The meaning of the word: רשה, i.e. ראשית, without the letter א, is: that the year started poorly so that its people would becoming humble and deserve better by the end of it.

מרשית השנה, “from the beginning of the year;” the word ראשית appears here without the customary letter .א

מרשית השנה FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR [TO THE END OF THE YEAR] — At the beginning of the year it is decided by God what will be right up to the end of it (Rosh Hashanah 8a).

ועד אחרית שנה, right until the end of the year. He is entitled to bless the fruit of the land even after it has reached their storage places in their homes. We know that from the promise in Deut. 28,8, יצו ה׳ את הברכה באסמיך, “the Lord will command the blessing in your barns.”

מרשית השנה, “from the beginning of the year.” The word מרשית is spelled without the customary letter א after the letter ר [and can thus be read מתשרי]. This is an allusion to the New Year, the first of the month of Tishrei, anniversary of the creation, the day on which G’d sits in judgment of His creatures. Our sages in Rosh Hashanah 8 see in this the source for G’d predetermining our fates for the whole ensuing year, based on our past performance.