Commento su Deuteronomio 11:18

ושמתם את דברי AND YE SHALL PLACE MY WORDS [UPON YOUR HEART] — Even after you have been banished make yourselves distinctive by means of My commands: lay Tephillin, attach Mezuzoth to your doorposts, so that these shall not be novelties to you when you return. Similarly does it state, (Jeremiah 31:21) “Set thee up distinguishing marks” (Sifrei Devarim 43:34).

THEREFORE SHALL YE PUT THESE MY WORDS IN YOUR HEART. “Even after you have been exiled, be distinguished by the commandments. Put on the T’fillin, attach a Mezuzah [to the doorpost of your home], so that they will not be novelties to you when you return to the Land. And so Scripture states, Set thee up waymarks.”³²⁹Ibid., Verse 21. Jeremiah lived in the time when the people were about to go into the Babylonian exile. His prophecy was thus a warning that they were to retain their distinctiveness through the commandments. This is Rashi’s language. Now I have already written³³⁰Above, 4:5. on the meaning of this matter, that these commandments [the T’fillin and the Mezuzah mentioned by Rashi] are personal obligations and, as such, their laws apply in all places just as in the Land!³³¹If so, why are these commandments, which are obligatory everywhere, called “waymarks” in the exile? But there is in this Midrash etc. But there is in this Midrash³³²Rashi’s text comes from the Sifre, Eikev 43. Hence Ramban refers to it as “this Midrash.” a profound secret, and I have already alluded to it.³³³See Vol. I, pp. 294, 331-332; Vol. III, p. 272. Now he repeated these commandments about the T’fillin, the study of the words of the Torah, and the Mezuzah, a second time³³⁴See above 6:7-9. in order to allude to this analogy, that we shall be obligated to observe them after being exiled from the Land of Israel. From these [texts] we learn that all commandments that are personal obligations are binding in all places and that, outside the Land of Israel, we are exempt from duties which apply to ground, such as heave-offering and tithes. So it is interpreted in the Sifre.³³⁵Sifre, Eikev 44. And the intent of this interpretation is suggested by the fact that he placed the expression therefore shall ye put [these my words in your heart] next to [the verse], and ye shall perish [quickly from off the good Land³³⁶Verse 17. thus clearly intimating that even after ye shall perish from off the good Land you shall still put these My words in your heart]. But the main reference of the verse [even regarding personal obligations] applies to the Land, as it is written, that your days may be multiplied, and the days of your children, upon the Land;³³⁷Verse 21. or it may be that the verse is stating: “that your days may be multiplied, so that you will return [to the Land] and you will prolong your days on it forever.”³³⁸According to the first interpretation, the main reference of the verse put these My words in your heart is to the Land of Israel; this is evidenced by the concluding verse, that your days may be multiplied …upon the Land. According to the second interpretation the former verse has reference to the exile, while the second verse states the reward, that your days may be multiplied, so that you return and live upon the Land.
In line with the plain meaning of Scripture, it is possible that he comes to add here the expression to speak of them,³³⁹Verse 19: And ye shall teach them unto your children ‘to speak of them.’ for there [in the first charge to the individual] he commanded and ‘thou’ shalt speak — you yourself — of them when ‘thou’ sittest in thy house,³⁴⁰Above, 6:7. and here [in the charge to the community he stated that we are to teach the words of Torah to our children until they speak of them always. So also he added here and ye shall ‘teach’ them,³³⁹Verse 19: And ye shall teach them unto your children ‘to speak of them.’ for the term v’shinantom [mentioned there]³⁴⁰Above, 6:7. means only that he shall “tell” them the commandments, and here [he added that the obligation extends] until they teach the words of Torah [to their children] and they understand them and their reasons [well enough] to discuss them with you at all times. So also he added here as the days of the heavens above the earth³³⁷Verse 21. which means “for all generations,” or it may refer to the first heaven and earth, and the days of old.³⁴¹See Vol. II, p. 341, Note 23. The student learned [in the mysteries of the Cabala] will understand.

ושמתם את דברי אלה על לבבכם, to understand them through intensive study;

ושמתם את דברי אלה, “You will place these words of Mine, etc.” Rashi explains that Moses means that even after you will be exiled, when the prompt fulfillment of the promise we just read is not likely, you are not free from the obligation to observe those commandments of the Torah that are not tied to residence in the Holy Land. Nachmanides writes that it is obvious that those commandments that are to be fulfilled with our bodies, as opposed to with our land, remain applicable also in the Diaspora, but the Sifri writes that this obligation is derived from this verse. In other words, according to that interpretation our verse serves as a בנין אב type of interpretation. Just as when it comes to thanking the Lord for having received our food and blessing Him, this is an obligation that applies wherever we find ourselves, so other commandments that are capable of fulfillment all over the globe remain in force also during periods of exile. It is possible, that from the perspective of the plain meaning of the text, the פשט, that Moses implies that the father should speak about these aspects of the Torah to his children, just as Moses had commanded in the parallel paragraph of the קריאת שמע in Deut. 6,7 that the father must teach the Torah diligently to his children and seize every opportunity at home and outside, by day and by night to inculcate these precepts in his children’s minds and hearts. Moses adds the words כימי השמים על הארץ, “like the days of the heaven over the earth,” to remind us that this is an ongoing obligation, one without a time limit.

ושמתם את דברי אלה, “you are to put these My words on your hearts, etc.” our sages in Sifri Eikev comment on this that even after you will be in exile you continue to be obligated to obey the commandments of the Torah. You are to put on the phylacteries, attach mezuzot to your houses, in order that all these commandments will not be strange to you when you return to your homeland. We have a verse in Jeremiah 31,20 reflecting this same theme when the prophet says הציבי לך ציונים, “erect markers, set up signposts!” The prophet means that though the performance of the commandments which require our bodies in order to fulfill them are applicable everywhere and therefore automatically obligatory in exile, the whole Torah was given primarily in order to be observed on holy soil (Nachmanides).

Even after you are exiled, etc. Otherwise why should this be mentioned in connection with their exile? One cannot say that, “You are to place, etc.” and everything [written] afterwards applies [only] during exile. For if so, why does it say afterwards, “In order that they will be many… on the soil”? It must be that they will return to the land and live for many years there.

V. 18. שום על לב .ושמתם heißt: etwas zum Gegenstand seiner Beachtung und Sorge machen, eigentlich: ihn von dem Herzen, d. i. von den Gedanken und Empfindungen getragen sein lassen (Jes. 57, 1 u. 11 u. s). Also: traget diese meine Worte auf eurem Herzen und eurer Seele, lasset sie den Gegenstand eures Denkens und Empfindens, eures Wollens und Vollbringens sein, וקשרתם und drückt dies auch symbolisch durch die תפלין-Mizwa an eurer Hand und eurem Oberhaupte aus (siehe zu Kap. 6, 8). — Im Zusammenhange mit dem Vorhergehenden spricht aber dies und die im folgenden Verse 19 enthaltene Pflicht des Unterrichtes der Kinder in dem Gesetze nach dem Sifri z. St. die Bestimmung aus, dass selbst, wenn ׳ואבדתם וגו, selbst vertrieben von dem eigentlichen Boden des Gesetzes, selbst im Galuth die Verpflichtung zu תפלין und תלמוד תורה, und so auch zu allen מצות הגוף שאינן תלויות בארץ, zu allen sich nicht auf das Land und seine Produkte beziehenden, persönlichen Obliegenheiten, auch בחוצה לארץ, auch außer Palästina in voller Kraft bestehen bleibe. So lautet auch Kiduschin 36 b der Kanon: כל מצוה שהיא תלויה בארץ אינה נוהגת אלא בארץ ושאינה תלויה בארץ ניהגת siehe 3. B. M. zu Kapitel) כלאי אילן Ausnahmen bilden .בין בארץ בין בחוצה לארץ 19.19). עדלה (daselbst 23 und über חדש siehe zu Kap. 23, 14). — מדרבנן waren תרומות ומעשרות auch in den Palästina benachbarten Ländern, חלה aber ist מדרבנן überall pflichtig und ebenso auch כלאי כרם überall סורn (siehe Wajikra 19, 19 und Bamidbar 15, 18).

על לבבכם, “in your hearts;” the word על usually translated as “on, above, etc.,” also appears quite a few times as meaning “next to, beside,” the author cites Exodus 40,3 as an example where the Torah writes: וסכותה על הארון, which is translated as: “you shall screen the ark,” i.e. the dividing curtain before or beside the Holy of Holies screens the Ark from view. In our verse the meaning would be that G-d’s word shall always be close to our hearts.

ועל נפשכם, so that you will observe them willingly.

Vergleichen wir diese Verse 18 — 20 mit der Parallelstelle Kap. 6, 6 — 9, so springt die Tendenz unserer Stelle, die unter allen Umständen bleibende persönliche Verpflichtung zum Gesetze, חובת הגוף, hervorzuheben, in die Augen. Dort galt es, die Einheit des Menschenlebens aus dem Bewusstsein der Gotteinheit zu lehren. Darum wird dort die daraus folgende Hingebung des Gesamtmenschenwesens mit allen Seiten, בכל לבבך V. 5) als Aufgabe gelehrt, und diese Aufgabe zur Tendenz) ובכל נפשך ובכל מאדך aller Gedanken und Gefühle (V. 6) zum Inhalt der Kinderbelehrung und Erziehung, sowie alles häuslichen und öffentlichen Lebens, alles ruhenden und strebenden Seins (V. 7) gesetzt und dann (Verse 8 u. 9) zur steten Vergegenwärtigung durch das תפלין und מזוזה-Symbol geboten. Hier aber ist das תפלין-Symbol von dem der מזוזה völlig getrennt und, eben weil es ja die Einfügung der ganzen denkenden, wollenden und vollbringenden Persönlichkeit in das Band des Gesetzes bedeutet, somit nichts anderes als symbolischer Ausdruck dieser mit ושמתם את דברי אלה על לבבכם ועל נפשכם gegebenen Verpflichtung der Persönlichkeit zum Gesetze, auch mit diesem Ausspruch (V. 18) zusammengezogen, und der durch beides gegebene Gedanke (V. 19) zur Lehraufgabe für den Jugendunterricht und zum Inhalt alles häuslichen und öffentlichen, ruhenden und strebenden Lebens gemacht. Offenbar um zu sagen: Aber wenn ihr auch fortkommt vom Lande und keinen eigenen Boden mehr habt, den ihr dem Gottesgesetze dienstbar zu machen vermöchtet, so nehmet ihr das Gottesgesetz doch mit hinaus und euer Herz und eure Seele, euer denkendes, wollendes und vollbringendes Wesen bleibt doch dem göttlichen Worte verpflichtet, und ihr bringet diese Verpflichtung zum Gesetze euch und andern durch das תפלין-Zeichen an Hand und Haupt stets zum Bewusstsein, bleibet Träger des Gotteswortes, bleibt das Volk des göttlichen Gesetzes und habt dafür eure Kinder zu erziehen und darin euer ganzes Leben in und außer dem Hause aufgehen zu lassen. וכתבתם (V. 20) gehört, wie wir bemerken werden, zum folgenden Verse.