Commento su Deuteronomio 29:18

והתברך בלבבו AND HE BLESS HIMSELF IN HIS HEART — The word והתברך has the meaning of “blessing”. In his heart he will imagine for himself a blessing of peace, saying, “These curses will not come upon me, I shall have peace”.

AND HE BLESS HIMSELF IN HIS HEART, SAYING: [‘I SHALL HAVE PEACE’]. When he will hear others imprecating themselves with these oaths, he will in his imagination bless himself, saying in his heart, “I shall have peace from any curse when I follow the desire of my heart.” G-d will not pardon him; instead, His anger will then be kindled against him²⁶Verse 19. whenever he sins, in that generation or [when his descendants sin] in later generations.²⁷This is to be understood in the light of Ramban’s explanation above, that the expression whose heart turneth away this day applies to one who has already been beguiled after the idols; or lest there should be among you an evil root refers to the descendants. It is with reference to these two types of idol-worshippers that Ramban says here that G-d’s anger will be kindled when he sins in that generation, or when his descendants sin in future generations (Kur Zahav). Or the sense of the verses may be as follows: “Because he says [publicly]: I shall have peace, since in my heart I do not accept the oath upon myself, for I shall walk in the stubborness of my heart all my days and carry out all my desires. And the Eternal will not be willing to pardon him²⁶Verse 19. because he did not accept His imprecation; instead, His anger will be kindled against him²⁶Verse 19. since he came into the covenant in My presence with all [the people of] Israel.” [Therefore the refusal of an individual to accept the covenant constitutes a punishable defiance.]
A desire that grows stronger and more in one’s heart is termed [in Hebrew] shriruth [‘ki bishriruth libi eileich’ — for I shall walk in ‘the stubborness’ of my heart], similar to the expression of the Sages:²⁸Baba Bathra 160b. “sharir (strong) and established.” So also, ‘bishrirei’ (in the muscles of) his body.²⁹Job 40:16.

והתברך בלבבו, while accepting the covenant with his lips, he already resolves in his heart to honour it in the breach, comforting himself, thinking שלום יהיה לי כי בשרירות לבי אלך, “I will be alright even though I will do my own thing.” He considers that seeing that he already planned to breach the covenant at the very moment when he accepted it with his lips, the covenant is not binding upon him.

למען ספות הרוה, the deliberate sinner, whose motivation is that seeing he is so well off, he does not worry about possible consequences for himself

למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה, “thereby adding the watered to the thirsty.” Nachmanides explains this turn of phrase as “adding that which is already satisfied to the list of the ones still unsatisfied,” i.e thirsty. The word רוה describes someone sated as in Jeremiah 31,11 והיתה נפשם כגן רוה, “their soul will be like a watered garden.” When applied to the soul, i.e. essence of a human being, it means that the human being is not aware of his lacking anything, desirous of something that has not been granted to him, hence not in need of G’d as the One Who could supply his non-existing needs. On the other hand, Moses describes any person who feels that some of his needs have not been fulfilled, as צמאה, “thirsting after something.” [Nachmanides qualifies the thirst as including a desire for something that, if granted, would prove harmful to him. Ed.] The person who had felt completely fulfilled is at a disadvantage compared to those who have learned to do without on occasion, as when such a person does feel the need for something, he is so eager to satisfy that need that he feels it a great imposition if the laws of the Torah impose restrictions on the manner in which he can satisfy his “need.” If, as a result of this supposed “need,” he forthwith proceeds to satisfy it without due regard to the Torah’s laws, he will henceforth experience more desires more frequently, in line with the psychological axiom of our sages that when one trains oneself to resist improper impulses one will experience ever fewer of them, whereas when one gives in to them easily, one will progressively experience such impulses becoming more and more powerful and frequent. Eventually, one will even experience a burning desire for things from which one had already weaned oneself. Moses describes this process as בשרירות לבי אלך, “I will follow the dictates of my heart.” The word למען in our context does not introduce a reason or purpose of what the “free-spirited” person is thinking, but means something similar to: “as a result of which such and such will occur.” [In this case a gradual but steady spiritual decline. Ed.] Rabbi Yehudah the Spaniard explains the word ספות, as the cutting off of something as in האף תספה, when Avraham asked G’d if He would also cut off the righteous in the process of punishing the Sodomites for their wickedness. (Compare Genesis 18,23) The sinner reasons to himself that he can get away with ignoring, and even make irrelevant the words of the righteous. The righteous, in the scenario painted by Rabbi Yehudah, is the רוה, “watered one”, in our verse. He is compared to the proverbial עץ שתול על מים, “tree planted alongside a steadily flowing well of water”, who, according to our sages is the symbol of the righteous that is unperturbed by the turbulence and poverty surrounding him, as he has the מים חיים, the waters of the living Torah to sustain him come rain or shine. (Compare the simile in Jeremiah 17,8) The wicked person is likened by the prophet to a tree that does not have sound roots and will be dried out by the slightest natural disaster, such as the first month of drought. Moses explains that such people will not experience any help from G’d in withstanding even temporary setbacks, as they have not only given in to the slightest temptation, but considered themselves as smart in riding on the coattails of the righteous expecting to participate in the reward G’d metes out to the vast majority who are Torah-observant. The grammarian Rabbi Yonah, also sees in the word ספות a reference to כריתה, being cut off; he attributes the sinner’s attitude to Torah to the fact that he observes in “real” life that both the righteous and the wicked die the same death of the essential life force, the נפש. He reasons that just as the body dies the same death as the animals, so does the spirit.

He will imagine blessings of tranquility, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Even if [the person imagines that] no oath-curse will affect him, why should this be considered a blessing if it confers him no benefit, i.e., the great good [that results from a blessing]? Therefore Rashi explains blessings of tranquility, i.e., when there is peace that is a blessing as it is written (Tehillim 29:11), Hashem will bless his people with peace. He will imagine this blessing of tranquility.

V. 18. שרירות .והיה וגו׳: die Wurzel שרר findet sich in לא כרת שרך (Ezechiel 16, 4). שררך אגן הסהר (Hohel. 7, 3) als Nabel, und ebenso ואונו בשרירי בטנו (Hiob 40, 16), in welcher letzten Stelle es das bezeichnet, worin sich die Kraft des Tieres konzentriert. Im Rabbinischen drückt הכל שריר וקים ,שריר, das Feste, Rechtskräftige aus. Lautverwandt ist es mit צרר: zusammenbinden, zusammendrängen, welches auch dem Begriff des Gedrungenen, Festen entspricht. Im Sinne des rabbinischen שריר וקים wäre נשרירות לב die vom Herzen gegebene Bestätigung, Bekräftigung. Er wandelt nur in solchen Wegen, welche nicht von Gott, sondern von seinem eigenen Herzen ratifiziert sind, die sein Herz als שריר וקים erkennt. — ספות von ספה, der Wurzel von מספא, Futter, verwandt mit שבע ,סבא usw. rabbinisch der ganz gewöhnliche Ausdruck für: zu essen geben, אספי ליה כי תורא (B. B. 21 a) דלא ליספו להו בידים (Jebamot 114 a) u.s. Der Sinn wäre: er denkt sich, die Segen- und Fluchverkündigungen haben nur das nach der Majorität zu beurteilende Verhalten der Gesamtheit im Auge, und wenn die Gesamtheit Segen verdient und Segen erhält, so, meint er, werde auch dem Einzelnen, obgleich er den Segen nicht verdient, doch der Anteil an der allgemeinen Wohlfahrt nicht entgehen. Ebenso wie, wenn Regen auf einen Acker fällt, das eigentlich ungetränkt bleiben sollende Unkraut mit getränkt wird. Das seiner Güte willen Getränkte ist das רוה, das eigentlich durstig bleiben sollende Unkraut ist das צמאה. Vergleiche והיית בגן רוה (Jes.58, 11), אצק מים על צמא (daselbst 44, 3), הנה עבדי ישתו ואתם תצמאו (daselbst 65, 13). Auch hier träte dann die bereits zu Bereschit 18, 24 erwähnte Verwandtschaft mit ספח hervor, indem auch hier das Unwürdige dem Geschicke des Würdigen angeschlossen wird, ebenso wie dort das Gegenteil.

'והיה בשמעו את דברי האלה הזאת וגו, “and when he hears the wording of this curse [which appeared to him as addressed to the community, as opposed to individuals in the community, Ed.]

את דברי האלה הזאת, “the words of this curse.” This is a reference to the curses pronounced at Mount Eyval, in chapter 27, 15-26.

והתברך is benoir soi in old French, i.e. the verb is reflexive like והתגלח, “he shall shave himself”, והתפלל, he shall pray lit., he shall make himself the object of intercession.

The only reason he had mouthed acceptance of the covenant was to become at one and the same time a beneficiary of the overwhelming number of people for whose sake G’d was going to bestow so many blessings on His people. This is the meaning of the words שלום יהיה לי כי בשרירות לבי אלך למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה; he knows full well that the holy community of the Jewish people, his brethren, have attained that status by resisting the lures of the evil urge instead of succumbing to it. This is why they will benefit from G’d’s largesse in such abundant manner. He therefore decided to have the best of both worlds by at least paying lip service to a covenant he knows he will not live by.

הצמאה, because of the urgings of his desire. He does not sin in order to make a statement against G’d asserting his freedom to do as he pleases and thereby rejecting G’d as the world’s Master. He is merely unable to resist his urges.

Because I shall punish him additionally, etc. Rashi is answering the question: The verse I shall follow what my thoughts envision” implies that his sins are intentional; if so, what is the meaning of that the unintentional may be added”? Rashi answers, Because I shall punish him additionally.

L’MA’AN’ (THAT) THE WATERED BE SWEPT AWAY WITH THE THIRSTY. The meaning thereof is “‘to supplement’ the watered with the thirsty,” for the satisfied soul is called ravah (satiated), similar to, And I will ‘satiate the soul’ of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness;³⁰Jeremiah 31:13. and their soul shall be as a watered garden,³¹Ibid., Verse 11. while the desiring soul is called tz’meiah (thirsty): My ‘soul thirsteth’ for Thee.³²Psalms 63:2. Therefore, the sense of the verse is: when into a person’s satisfied soul — one that does not desire harmful things — there comes a slight craving, and he satisfies his lust, then there will grow in his soul a craving even greater than the original one, for the thing that he ate or that he did, and it [the soul] will lust [even] after evil things for which he never craved at first. Thus, if someone craves for lewdness with beautiful women and becomes carried away in unchastity, his lust will ultimately bring him to sodomy and to bestiality and the like with other forms of lust. This is akin to what the Sages have mentioned [with respect to sexual craving]:³³Succah 52b. “The more one satisfies it, the more it hungers, the more one starves it, the more it is satisfied.” Therefore Scripture states concerning him who follows the stubborness of his heart, that if he will satisfy his soul with those stubborn and overpowering desires for which it thirsts, his soul “will add the watered to the thirsty,” for then he will desire and thirst after things for which he had been satisfied, and with which his soul was satiated [meaning that, up to then, he felt no desire for them]. And, because he used the expression ‘shoresh poreh’ (a root that beareth),³⁴Verse 17. he follows this usage, saying that this root shall add a branch that will be satiated and leafy to the thirsty one and they will all become thirsty. Thus the word l’ma’an (that) in this place does not refer to the reason [i.e., “so that”]: “I will go in the stubborness of my heart so that I supplement the watered with the thirsty.” Instead its meaning is like “to add” — Scripture is saying that because of his conduct, this will be the result.³⁵In other words, it is not the sinner who says: “L’ma’an (so that) I supplement the watered etc.” but it is Scripture which declares “L’ma’an etc.” that “to add” the watered etc., will result from his conduct. For in every result of a particular action, Scripture uses the term l’ma’an, whether the responsible person does it intentionally to effect that result, as ‘l’ma’an’ (so that) it may be well with us,³⁶Jeremiah 42:6. See my Hebrew commentary p. 478, Note 32, that the reference in the Hebrew text of Ramban is to above, 4:40, but the word l’ma’an is not found there in connection with this expression. or whether the person effecting the result does so unintentionally, as in the expressions: ‘l’ma’an’ (that) their heart may melt;³⁷Ezekiel 21:20. ‘l’ma’an’ (that) your altars may be laid waste;³⁸Ibid., 6:6. Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, ‘l’ma’an’ (that) they may be cut off,³⁹Hosea 8:4. The result referred to in each of the last three verses is involuntary. Here, too, it cannot be said that they made idols of gold and silver “so that” they may be cut off. Rather, Scripture states that the undesired result will be that, in punishment, they will be cut off. and many other similar verses. In my opinion this is the best and most correct of all that has been written about this verse from many aspects.
It is also possible to explain that the phrase [that the watered …] refers back to the expression a root that beareth gall and wormwood,³³Succah 52b. the verse stating that he will bless himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace,’ so that his watered branch, on which grow and sprout the wormwood and gall, should be added to the thirsty one on which nothing has grown.⁴⁰The difference between the two interpretations is: In the first interpretation “the watered” was not lustful — it was “the thirsty” that was the sinful part of the soul. In the second interpretation, however, the sinful aspect of the soul is “the watered” part, for on it has already grown “the gall and the wormwood;” and “the thirsty” is the pure part of the soul, for nothing evil has yet grown on it. The third explanation which follows is similar to the second with a minor change, as explained in the text (Kur Zahav). Or the watered may be a surname for the aforementioned wormwood, meaning that the watered wormwood which sprouts and grows exceedingly will be added to the thirsty which until now has grown but little — so that now both will sprout. Thus the intent is to state that anyone who will hear the imprecation and will imagine himself to be immune against it, holding strongly to [this] stubborness, and, as a result, his thoughts will bring him to [further] sin sprouting transgressions greater than the first [the Eternal will not be willing to pardon him etc.].²⁶Verse 19. This also is a correct interpretation.

והתברך, “and he will personally feel immune in his heart;”

והתברך, “and he blesses himself, i.e. he reassures himself; he considers himself immune from these curses (by interpreting them as applicable only to the community, not to individuals.)

בשררות לבי אלך means IN THE VIEWS OF MY HEART WILL I WALK, שררות being of a root which means to look, to see, as (Numbers 25:17): “I shall see him (אשרנו), but not now”; it is as much as to say, I will follow what my heart sees good to do.

כי בשרירות לבי, only because of assertion of self, of ego.

Now, however, he has provoked me into combining them with the intentionally sinful, etc. With this, Rashi emends a number of things. He explains that the term ספות connotes adding and not destruction as in lest you be swept away (תספה) (Bereishis 19:17). He also alters the verse by saying למען שאוסיף (lit. so that I will add), because ספות is a gerund and could be interpreted as meaning that that transgressor will add. He also adds the word him, because without the word him, we would not understand to whom He is adding. If Rashi had not explained that I shall punish him additionally, one could understand that adding unintentional acts to intentional acts means that the intentional acts will be regarded as unintentional, or vice versa. The explanation of [word so that in the] verse is as follows, that his acts of following what his thoughts envision will be reason for Me to add the punishment for his unintentional sins to the punishment of his intentional sins.

שלום יהיה לי, “I, personally will be quite safe;”

למען ספות הרוה TO ADD DRUNKENNESS [TO THE THIRST] — In order that I may add punishment for him even for the sins he has committed until now inadvertently (for which the figurative expression in this sentence is הרוה, drunkenness: cf. the following passage in Rashi), and which I used to overlook; — but now he causes Me to combine them with those committed with premeditation and to exact punishment from him for everything. Onkelos, too, rendered it in a similar sense: “in order to add for him the sins of inadvertence to those of premeditation”, which can only mean. “In order that “I” may add sins of inadvertence to those of presumption”.

בשרירות לבי אלך, ”and therefore I will follow whatever my heart dictates to me;”

כי בשרירות לבי אלך, “even though I do my own thing,” i.e. I ignore rules meant for others.

הרוה DRUNKENNESS figuratively describes the condition of a שוגג, one who acts inadvertently. The expression is an apt one because he acts like a drunken man who does things unwittingly,

למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה, “so that the irrigated will be swept away with the dry;” [the sinner’s logic is that on account of one single sinner G–d will not withhold blessings such as rain from a whole community. Ed.] Alternate meaning, the author’s: “he will commit sins that are not the result of the evil urge as well as sins that are the result of his evil urge.”

למען ספות הרוה, “the irrigated plants will be swept away with the dried out ones.” He feels that if the community has sinned and G-d will punish them, it makes no difference that he adds a few extra sins which he as an individual indulges in. [He denied G-d’s supervision of individuals who are sinful, as otherwise the community would be made to pay for the sins of each individual. We can perhaps understand this logic as the deluge swept away everyone and they could not all have been equally guilty. He also distinguishes between sins that are due to the evil urge, such as indulging in forbidden but tasty food, and others such as not wearing garments with a mixture of wool and linen, which did not require him to resist temptation. Ed.] An alternate interpretation of the line: למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה; he cannot wait until violation of Torah laws becomes popular, so that he may indulge in it openly rather than secretly and make an outcast of himself. In the meantime he has to suffer like a plant suffers that is not irrigated. He may even have restrained himself from sinning although harbouring a fervent desire to do so as he is afraid of being caught and convicted. The Torah appears to compare the righteous to the well watered plant, and the sinner or potential sinner, to the plant that thirsts for water. (Compare Yehudah Halevi quoted by Ibn Ezra)

הצמאה THE THIRST aptly describes the attitude of one who acts wittingly and out of desire.

לא יאבה ה' סלוח לו, כי אז יעשן אף ה' וקנאתו, “not only will the Lord not consider forgiving him his foolishness, but His anger and jealousy will be kindled against such an individual and He will single him out for especially harsh punishment. By doing this the remainder of you will be shielded against copying his conduct, and you will remain loyal to G–d’s covenant. For if you collectively would fail to remain loyal

ורבצה בו כל האלה, “the Lord will blot out his name,” so that no descendants of such a sinner will remain alive under the sky. Neither an already an existing grandson or great-grandson will be allowed to live.