Commento su Deuteronomio 31:12

האנשים [ASSEMBLE THE PEOPLE,] MEN [WOMEN, AND LITTLE ONES] — the men, in order to learn,

THAT THEY MAY HEAR, AND THAT THEY MAY LEARN — that is, the men and the women [mentioned in the first part of the verse], for the women, too, heard and learned to fear the Eternal.

למען ישמעו, in order that the wise men in the congregation would understand.

הקהל את העם,..למען ישמעו ולמען ילמדו, "assemble the people…in order that they hearken and in order that they learn, etc." Why did Moses have to write the word למען, "in order that," twice? Would it not have been simpler to write למען ישמעו וילמדו?

To bring merit to those who brought them: The verse, In order for them to hear refers back to the women. And In order for them to learn refers to the men. The children are not included in either hearing or learning, but [rather come] to bring merit to those who brought them.

V. 12. הקהל ist eine der מצות עשה שהזמן גרמא, zu deren Erfüllung auch Frauen verpflichtet sind (siehe Wajikra 23, 43). וגרך אשר בשעריך (siehe Schmot 20, 10). למען ישמעו, sie hören hier in allgemeinster Nationalversammlung die Göttlichkeit ל des Gesetzes und die Verpflichtung zu ihm durch die Nation selbst und deren höchsten Repräsentanten immer wiederkehrend aufs neue proklamiert und gewährleistet, des Gesetzes, das ein jeder zu Hause in vereinzeltster Heimat in Händen hat, auf dass dieses im Gesamtverein erneute Bewusstsein sie dazu bringe, dass ילמדו, dass das immer fortschreitende Erlernen des Gesetzes ihnen ein erhöhtes Anliegen werde, ׳ויראו וגו und beides dieses הקהל hier und dieses וילמדו zu Hause, ihre Gottesfurcht durch die in größter Volksgemeinsamkeit erneute Beherzigung Gottes, als des gemeinsamen einen Geschickeslenkers und Tatenleiters in die Richtung hin stärke und steigere, ושמרו לעשות usw., das ganze Gesetz treu und gewissenhaft zu erfüllen. Diese שמירה לעשות, das gewissenhafte Erfüllen des göttlichen Gesetzes ist das Höheziel, in welchem alle Veranstaltungen der תורה gipfeln. Über das Verhältnis der Frauen zu למוד התורה siehe zu Kap. 11, 19.

הקהל את העם, “assemble the nation;” they are all available not having chores to attend to, seeing that they are not at home but in Jerusalem (or wherever the Tabernacle stood prior to Jerusalem having been captured by David about 400 years later).

והנשים THE WOMEN, in order to listen to the words of the Law,

And it appears that the whole essence of this hakhel (assembly) is on account of repentance. As our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, said (Vayikra Rabba 30:7) that the first day of the Holiday (Sukkot) is called the first [day] of the calculation of iniquities. Therefore they must immediate make preparation towards repentance; and that preparation is is this assembly, in which the king assembles the people and reads from Deuteronomy. For most of the book is words of chastisement for sins and words of submission. And it is already known that the assembly is very necessary for repentance. As by their being assembled, they would be one group and they would turn together to do repent to God in order that the penitents be [considered] a public. As it is specifically during the ten days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur that the Holy One, blessed be He, accepts the repentance of an individual. However during all [the rest] of the days of the year, the Holy One, blessed be He, only accepts the repentance of the community (Rosh Hashanah 18a). And this is the meaning of that which our Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, [in Vayikra Rabba], "'And you shall take for yourselves on the first day' (Leviticus 23:40) - and is it the first; is it not the fifteenth [of the month]? Rather it is the first [day] in the calculation of iniquities, etc." But whey did Scripture mention this matter specifically in the verse that is speaking about the four species; and why did it not mention this in the verse that is speaking about sitting in the sukkah? Rather it is because in the taking of the four species, it hints to all of the four clusters of Jews becoming one group, as explained above in Parashat Emor (Kli Yakar on Leviticus 23:40). And the verse needs to give a good explanation and understanding for why it is specifically on this day that they were commanded to do this commandment that instructs that all of Israel be one group to atone for one another. Rather it is because from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur, the Holy One, blessed be He accepts even the repentance of the individual. Hence they do not yet need to be one group, so that the penitents be [considered] a public. And from Yom Kippur to the holiday of Sukkot, they do not do iniquities, since everyone is occupied with the commandments of the sukkah and the lulav. And 'a commandment drags along [another] commandment.' Hence, generally 'no harm befalls the righteous' until the first day of Sukkot, which is the first [day] of the calculation of iniquities. Hence they need to make a preparation for repentance; and that preparation is that they should all be one, like these four species. And that is why it is stated, "And you shall take for yourselves on the first day" -- to give an enriching reason, why I commanded you about the taking of these four species in a group specifically on this day: Because it is the first day of of the calculation of iniquities. Hence you need to make a preparation towards repentance for all of the days of the year. And this preparation is when you become one group, like these four species. Then God will accept your repentance, since 'Behold, God does not despise the mighty' (see Berachot 8a).

ולמען ילמדו, and in order that the less intelligent members of the people would learn it from them.

Perhaps the answer is contained in the very instructions to Moses having been to "assemble the people, the men, the women and the children" in order to read the Torah before them, something women are not obligated to hear. In Deut 11,19 the Torah's instructions to teach it had been reserved for בניכם, your male children, as opposed to your daughters (compare Kidushin 29). This may have been the reason the Torah separated the "hearing" from the "learning" in our verse and wrote the word למען twice. The males, including the male children, were to study the Torah; the women and their daughters were to listen to the Torah.

והטף AND THE LITTLE ONES — Why did they come? For no other purpose than that a reward should be given to those who bring them (Chagigah 3a).

And this is also a reason for this hakhel (assembly). As in addition to the taking of these four species on the first day of the festival, God commanded to make another impression similar to [the impression made by] it, at the end of seven years. Since the seventh year also causes assembly and peace by way of one not planting and growing upon it. And the destitute of His people eat on it, since the [landowners] are not permitted to hold on to their produce on the seventh year as [would usually be the way of] an owner. And without a doubt, this is is a cause of peace, since all disagreements are from the trait of "what's mine is mine" [and] "this one says, 'it is all mine.'" And this is not so [prevalent] on the seventh year, since [even if] in the positive acts, not all are equal, in the negative acts, all are equal, and this is truly the way of peace. And so [too] with the festival of Sukkot, when everyone goes out from a permanent dwelling to a temporary dwelling and sits under the 'Sukkah (hut) of His peace.' Behold, [accordingly] on the first of the intermediate days, the king was commanded to make an impression about peace and this is the matter of hakhel. As all of this is a preparation to repentance, and [so] he reads from Deuteronomy words of exhortation and rebuke. And this is [the meaning of] what they said, "'the men' to learn, etc, 'the youngsters' - why are they coming, to bring reward to those that bring them." Since in the time when Israel repents, they offer supplications in front of Him, may He be blessed, for the forgiving of sin and say, "If not for our sake, then do it for the sake of those weaned from their mothers, who have not sinned." [This is] as it is found in the text of 'Avinu Malkenu' - Have mercy on our sucklings and on our youngsters. And we [also] say, "Do it for those weaned from their mothers, etc." And this is the reward that is given to those that bring them, from the youngsters - that they will say in front of Him, may He be blessed, "Do it for the sake of these youngsters that are brought to the House of God," in the same way as it stated in Joel 2:16, "Collect the people, sanctify the assembly, gather the elders, collect the sucklings, and those that suck the breasts, etc.

ויראו את ה' אלוקיכם, once they have understood the greatness of Torah they will automatically revere and be in awe of its author, G’d, whose supreme intelligence they will admire.

The Torah first speaks about למען ישמעו, "in order that they hearken" as it refers to the negative commandments which apply equally to men and women.

The words למען ילמדו, "in order that they learn," refer to the positive commandments many of which women are not obligated to perform if they must be performed only at certain times. Had the Torah lumped both statements together we would have concluded that negative and positive commandments both carry the same penalties.

I have seen a statement by our sages in Chagigah 3 "the women were to come to listen whereas the men were to attend in order to study."

That is that He commanded us to assemble the people on the second day of Sukkot at the end of the sabbatical year, and to read some sections of Deuteronomy so they can hear it. And that is His saying, "Assemble the people, the men, etc." - and that is the commandment of assembly. And they said in Kiddushin (Kiddushin 33b-34a), "Women are exempt from all positive, time-bound commandments." And they asked, "But behold, assembly is a positive, time-bound commandment, and women are obligated!" However they explained at the end of the matter, "We do not learn [all cases] from general statements (i.e. 'all positive time-bound commandments')." And the regulations of this commandment and everything regarding who is to read, how he is to read and what things he is to read are already explained in the seventh chapter of Sotah. (See Parashat Nitzavim.)