Commento su Deuteronomio 13:18

That is that He commanded us to sanctify His name. And that is His saying, "and I shall be sanctified in the midst of the Children of Israel" (Leviticus 22:32). And the content of this commandment is that we are commanded to publicize this true faith in the world, and that we not fear the injury of any aggressor. And even though an oppressor seeks to coerce us, we may not listen to him, but rather must give ourselves over to dying; and not deceive him to think that we have denied [God or His Torah] - even if we [regardless] believe in Him, may He be exalted, in our hearts. And this is the commandment of sanctifying [God's] name, that the Jewish people is commanded as a whole - meaning, to allow ourselves to die at the hand of the coercer on account of our love for God, may He be exalted, and our faith in His unity. This is like that which was done by Chananiah, Mishael and Azariah at the time of the evil Nevuchadnetsar, when he commanded to bow down to an image and all of the masses bowed down to it, including the Jews; and there was no one there sanctifying the name of the Heavens. Rather all were afraid; and this was a great disgrace for all of Israel, since the commandment was lost from all of them. And this commandment (in such circumstances) is only commanded in such a large and public stand in which everyone is afraid. And this was a designated publicization of [God's] unity which was designated by God through Yishayah - that the disgrace of Israel not be complete during this stand, but that young men would appear at that difficult time; and death would not scare them and they would allow their lives [to be taken], such that they would publicize the faith and sanctify [God's] name among the masses. This is as He promised us when He said, "no more shall Yaakov be shamed, no longer his face grow pale. For when he - that is, his children - behold what My hands have wrought in his midst, they will sanctify My name, etc." (Isaiah 29:22-23). And the language of the Sifra is, "On this condition did I bring you out of Egypt: On condition that you sanctify My name among the masses." And in the Gemara (Sanhedrin 74b), they said, "Is a gentile (ben Noach) commanded about the sanctification of [God’s] name, or is he not commanded? Come and hear - the Children of Noach were commanded to observe seven commandments. And if you say like this, there would be eight." Behold it has become clear to you that it is among the commandments that are obligatory for the Jews. And they brought His saying, "and I shall be sanctified in the midst of the Children of Israel," as a proof for this commandment. And the regulations of this commandment have already been explained in the seventh chapter of Sanhedrin. (See Parashat Emor ; Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah 5.)

למען ישוב ה' מחרון אף THAT THE LORD MAY TURN FROM THE FIERCENESS OF HIS WRATH — for as long as idol-worship exists in the world the fierce wrath of God is kindled against the world (Sifrei Devarim 96:3; Sanhedrin 111b; cf. Rashi on Genesis 9:32).

ולא ידבק מאומה מן החרם, in order to ensure that such loot not become a stumbling block for you, as when loot of idolaters is retained, something the Torah has forbidden not only in practice, but even the desire to own such loot has been forbidden (Deut. 7,25). We have discussed this matter on that verse.

This is the intention of this section here, according to the commandment of a city that is rejected, that this whole city [that rejected G-d] be killed by sword, and even their animals. This act will give rise to the nature of cruelty in the heart of man, as the Ishmaelites told us in the king's article that they have a great desire to kill a person and uproot them. The promise of God is that He'll give them mercy, even though nature will give birth to cruelty. The source of mercy [G-d] will affect the power of mercy [within you] to negate the cruelty that was born by virtue of the act [of killing out the city]. And it says about this city [that was killed out] as long as a man has a cruel nature, G-d will behave with him the same way, that G-d is not merciful [on the cruel-natured man], but compassionate.

And grant you mercy. The actions of the idolatrous city lead to three evils amongst Yisroel: 1. Anyone who kills another becomes cruel by nature. The court appoints a special agent to execute an individual who is liable to the death penalty. But a complete city will certainly create people who are murderers and cruel. 2. Everyone in that city will have had relatives in other cities, and it will increase hatred amongst the Jews. 3. It shrinks the Jewish population and leaves areas uninhabited. Therefore the Torah promises that all who perform the mitzvah of executing this city, without gaining any benefit from the spoils, will remove Hashem’s anger, and will bring Hashem’s attribute of mercy.

ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך והרבך, ”He will grant you mercy and be merciful to you and multiply you.” Moses wants us to set aside the concern that by applying death penalties we will decrease the number of Jews, and he promises that, on the contrary, by testifying against such sinners and bringing them to justice, Hashem will see to it that we will continuously increase in numbers.

למען ישוב ה' מחרון אפו, “so that the Lord will turn back from His burning wrath.” In this instance, though the Torah speaks only of Hashem, the attribute of Justice is meant. The mystical dimension of the עיר הנדחת is referred to by the woman from Tekoah (Samuel II 14,14) [who pleaded that David allow Avshalom to return from exile by describing a fictional event. Ed.]. She said (amongst other things) וחשב המלך מחשבות לבלתי ידח ממנו נדח, “(G’d will not take away the life) of one who makes plans so that no one may be kept banished.” The people of the עיר הנדחת had been cast out from the celestial domains. Burning all their former belongings was part of their expiation, just as we find that the congregation of Korach was not only killed by G’d but their belongings were burned (compare author’s comments on Numbers 16, 31-32). The site where this city used to be located will be a ruin forever never to be rebuilt even at the time when the Jewish people will experience resurrection of the dead.

V. 18. ״נתן רחמים ל־״ ,ונתן לך רחמים וגו׳ kommt nicht in dem Sinne vor, in welchem wir "jemandem Erbarmen schenken" verstehen würden, wo der Erbarmen Schenkende der Erbarmen Übende, und überhaupt Erbarmen schenken gleichbedeutend mit Sicherbarmen wäre. יתן לכם רחים לפני האיש. (Bereschit 43, 14), ואתן לכם רחמים וגו׳ (Jirmija 42, 12) heißt in beiden Stellen: machen, fügen, dass ein anderer, Josef, der babylonische König, sich eurer erbarme. Auch לא שמת להם רחמים (Jesaia 47, 6) wirft der Macht der Chaldäer vor, dass sie nicht eine erbarmungsvolle Behandlung der Gefangenen zum Gesetz gemacht. Auch hier dürfte es in gleichem Sinne heißen: nachdem du die letzte Spur von dem Verbrechen und den Verbrechern weggetilgt, wird Gott es dir wieder zulassen, dass du Erbarmen übest, während du in Behandlung der עיר הנדחת dem רחמים keine Stimme einräumen durftest. Die den אנשי עיר הנדחת gegenüber zu übende Strenge soll die Milde, die deinen Grundcharakter bilden soll, nicht alterieren. Nach vollbrachtem nationalen Gericht lässt dich Gott wieder zu deiner angestammten normalen Milde zurückkehren, lässt dich Erbarmen üben, auf dass du seines Erbarmens würdig bleibst. So auch die Weisen (Schabbat 151 b) ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך והרבך כל המרחם על הבריות מרחמין עליו מן השמים וכל שאינו מרחם על הבריות אין מרחמין עליו מן השמים, und Jebamoth 79 a: שלשה סימנים יש באומה זו הרחמנים והביישנים וגומלי חסדים רחמנים דכתיב ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך und Beza 32 b: ונתן לך רחמים ורחמך כל המרחם על הבריות בידוע שהוא מזרעו של אברהם אבינו.

ונתן לך רחמים, “so that He will show you mercy;” you will be rewarded for not having displayed mercy towards the inhabitants of this city.”

ולא ידבק בידך מאומה מן החרם, “none of the loot shall cleave to your hand from this “cursed” material. If you had imagined that you would benefit from this kind of loot, the opposite is the case, it will only bring disaster upon you. (B’chor shor)

When the Torah continues ונתן לך רחמים “that the Lord your G’d will grant you (the survivors) mercy, etc.,” this is similar to the promise by Yaakov (prayer) to his sons that on their second journey to Egypt the ruler (Joseph) should release Shimon and allow Binyamin to return home also. (Compare author’s comments on that verse in Genesis 43,14). The words 'כי תשמע בקול ה' are to be understood as “in order that you will hearken to the voice of Hashem Who is your G’d, and observe all of His commandments; then you will do what is right in His eyes,” i.e. in the eyes of Hashem the attribute known as the tetragrammaton.

The Torah adds once more ורחמך "and He will be merciful," to warn you that G'd will help us practice mercy only if we ourselves have endeavoured to develop this character trait within ourselves.

ורחמך, “and He will have compassion on you.” The letter ר in the word ורחמך has the vowel chirik, followed by the vowel patach under the letter ח, and the semi vowel sh’va, under the letter .מ

והרבך, "and He will multiply you." This is a consolation for the people who have watched their numbers being diminished when they executed the inhabitants of the עיר הנדחת, the city whose majority adopted idolatry as their religion. G'd promises that He will more than make up for the void created by these executions. The Torah adds: כי תשמע בקול השם, "if you hearken to the voice of the Lord." The Torah's promise to multiply the Jewish people will be fulfilled only if the execution of the inhabitants of the idolatrous city was motivated purely by religious considerations. If some of you exploited this opportunity to settle some personal score, the Torah's promise is null and void. The Torah adds the words לשמור את כל מצותיו "to observe all His commandments," to tell us that when one carries out the law concerning the עיר הנדחת one is considered as if one had performed all the commandments collectively.

והרבך, “and He will cause you to multiply.”