Commento su Deuteronomio 29:15

כי אתם ידעתם וגו׳ FOR YE KNOW [HOW WE HAVE ABODE IN THE LAND OF EGYPT] etc. — The meaning of these verses is: Because you have seen the conduct of the other nations, and perhaps the heart of one of you might beguile him to follow them, — as it goes on to state, “Lest there should be among you a man, or a woman … [whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord]”, — on this account I must place you under an oath.

FOR YE KNOW HOW WE DWELT IN THE LAND OF EGYPT etc. AND YE HAVE SEEN THEIR ABOMINATIONS. Because you have seen the nations that worship idols, and perhaps the heart of one of you might beguile him to follow them.

כי אתם ידעתם את אשר ישבנו, and this is why you have to be concerned that there should not be among you איש או אשה, neither a man nor a woman who would seduce you to follow the vain pursuits of the nations with whom you will be living in close proximity, and who might be the cause that you would default on the undertakings in this covenant. This is the reason I have insisted that all of you be present at this ceremony, seeing that G’d examines hearts He will know who only pays lip service to this covenant and who is sincere about it. You will not be able to deceive Him.

כי אתם ידעתם, "For you know, etc." We need to analyse why the Torah suddenly provides this rationale for what it legislates in this paragraph. Nachmanides wrote that this is the introduction to what follows "so that there not be amongst you a root flourishing with wormwood, etc." I consider this explanation a little forced. It is not the custom of the Torah to write the reason for its legislation before writing the legislation itself. Perhaps the verse may be understood differently. Inasmuch as what is being legislated here is something unique, i.e. obligating unborn generations to observe a code of conduct over which they have never been allowed to make a decision, as had their ancestors at Mount Sinai, this requires an unusual approach. We have a rule in Ketuvot 11 that "one cannot hold a person responsible for committing a wrong which he had never been aware of." According to this principle the acceptance by the parents of the obligation to keep the Torah would not be binding on the children at all. This is why the Torah adds: "for you are aware what your life was like before you became G'd's people and received the Torah, etc." In other words, the Torah is reminding us that it is a privilege to be G'd's people, to keep the Torah, etc. This is not comparable to imposing duties and restrictions on your children. The purpose of a life filled with מצוה-observance is to avoid the pitfalls of the abominations and detestable idols the Egyptians were captive to. Moses tells the people present that inasmuch as they know all about this they also know that what is being asked of them is to confer benefits rather than restrictions on their children and children's children.

כי אתם וגו', “For you know, etc.” Moses reminds the people of the advantages of remaining true and loyal to Hashem, as in the event that some have a feeling of nostalgia for the abominations that they worshipped in Egypt, or the similar abominations that the Moabites and Ammonites worship, it would be appropriate that they recall how either of these attempts to backslide into idolatry ended, i.e. catastrophically for the participants.

כי אתם ידעתם, “for you have known;” a reference to the fact that among the people Moses addressed here there were some who remembered the abominations practiced by the Egyptians, whereas all of them had observed the abominations practiced by the peoples whose land they had crossed in the meantime, i.e. Edom, Moav, Ammon and Midian.

Since you have observed the idolatrous Gentile nations, etc. Rashi is answering the question: What reason is this for what comes before [in the previous verse], And with those who are not here, etc. Therefore he explains, Since you have observed, etc., therefore, I am compelled to adjure you. I.e., this is a reason for what comes before the previous verses, For your passage into the covenant, etc. (v. 11). It is explaining why the Holy One suspected that Yisroel might serve idols and made it necessary for them take an oath regarding this. The reason he suspected them was what he says here, Because you are aware, etc. These two verses, For you are aware, etc., and Where you observed their abominations, etc., are connected to the verse Perhaps there is among you, etc. that follows them, and the word פן is missing a ויו (and). That is why [in some texts] Rashi explains Where you observed, etc. after Perhaps there is among you.

V. 15. כי אתם ידעתם וגו׳ leitet den Grund ein, weshalb Veranlassung da sei, in Vorhergehendem ausdrücklich auszusprechen, dass von der Verpflichtung zu Gott und seinem Gesetze keiner, und auch in aller Folgezeit keiner sich lossagen könne. Dieser Grund folgt Verse 17 u.18. Das Götterunwesen der Völker und die davon beeinflussten Lebensweisen sind euch schon jetzt nicht unbekannt geblieben. In Mizrajim haben wir gewohnt, mit den der Wüste anwohnenden Völkern, Amon, Moab, Midjan, Edom, den Bevölkerungen von Arad, Cheschbon, Baschan, durch deren Gebiet oder an deren Gebiet wir gezogen, sind wir mehr oder minder in Berührung gekommen.

כי אתם ידעתם את אשר ישבנו בארץ מצרים, “for you (only) know that we have once lived in the land of Egypt;” this verse proves that there were still survivors of the period of slavery that had come out 40 years ago, and had not died by the decree G–d issued after the sin of the spies. They had either been younger than twenty at the time of the Exodus or had been over 60 years of age already at that time.

אשר ישבו בארץ מצרים, “who had dwelled in the land of Egypt;” together with the ones who had still dwelled in the land of Egypt (who had been minors at the time of the Exodus) and who had experienced all that you have witnessed during the last forty years in the desert, etc. The decree to die in the desert had applied only to males who had been twenty years of age at the time of the Exodus, and had not been older than 60 years at the time when it was issued.