Commento su Deuteronomio 31:17

והסתרתי פני AND I WILL HIDE MY FACE FROM THEM, as though I do not see their distress.

AND THEY WILL SAY IN THAT DAY: ARE NOT THESE EVILS COME UPON US BECAUSE OUR G-D IS NOT AMONG US? This is not a total confession like [the confession in the verse] And they shall confess their iniquity,³¹Leviticus 26:40. but it is a reflection and a regret. They will feel sorry for their iniquity and recognize that they are guilty.

ועזבתים, to the various nations who will overpower them.

ועזבתים והסתרתי פני מהם, "and I will abandon them and hide My face from them, etc." The meaning is that if G'd were to allow Himself to dwell on the troubles which will befall His people, His mercy would be stirred and He would banish His anger. This is why He informs the people in advance that if they were to turn to idols, He, G'd, would turn His face away from them so as not to be tempted to show them compassion.

ואמר ביום ההוא הלא על כי אין אלוקי בקרבי, “the nation will say on that day: ‘is it not because my G’d is not in my midst, etc.?’” Nachmanides writes that this is an incomplete confession, as compared to Leviticus However, it is a partial awareness of remorse being called for. They have finally become aware that they must somehow be at fault.

והסתרתי פני מהם והיה לאכול, “and I will hide My face from them and they will become prey.” Our sages in Chagigah 5 have said: “anyone who does not experience an eclipse of G’d’s face does not belong to them (the Jewish people), whereas anyone who is not subject to becoming prey is also not one of the Jews.” [This confirms the special relationship between G’d and His people Israel. Ed.] When hearing this statement, the other Rabbis said to Rava (the Rabbi quoting it) “you yourself have experienced neither a hiding of the Lord’s face nor have you become prey !” Rava answered: “do you have any idea how much I pay in bribes to King Shevor, (the local authority) in order not to become a victim of this verse in the Torah?” [he meant that the need to pay these bribes proves that he was subject to the curse, hence a Jew.] Even after this reply, the Rabbis looked at Rava suspiciously. In the interval, the king sent emissaries and incarcerated Rava. This proves that Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel was correct when he said that whenever the sages look at someone suspiciously or worse, the “someone” will either die or become poor.

As if I do not notice their suffering. This means that hiding His face is removing His Providence, for one who does not see something does not watch over it.

VV. 17 u. 18. ועזבתים .וחרה וגו׳: ich überlasse sie sich selber, ׳והסתרתי וגו entziehe ihnen meine besondere Fürsorge, והיה לאכל, so fällt es von selbst den andern Völkern zur Beute. Israels staatlicher Untergang ist ein natürlicher Erfolg seiner sich selbst überlassenen Schwäche. Israels geschichtliches Dasein und Gedeihen ist das Werk der Wundermacht Gottes.

והסתרתי פנח מהם, “I will hide My face from them.” This is an expression of G–d’s fondness for the Jewish people, it expresses His grief at what befalls them, just as that of a father who instructs a servant to administer punishment to his wayward son. He cannot bear to do it himself, or to have to watch it being administered.

והסתרתי פני מהם, “I will hide My face from them.” This is evidence of G-d’s fondness of the Jewish people, His acting like a father who while forced to discipline his son cannot bring himself to watch the pain he is inflicting upon him.

והסתרתי פני מהם, after they will have fallen under the control of the gentile nations who will abuse them and oppress them I will ignore my natural sense of pity, and make believe as if I were unaware of their plight.

... And it means to say that the "evils" are many and also troubling for one another. And it appears that it is good for [Rav in the Talmud] to expound like this and not to leave it, such that "troubles" is a noun, like "evils." For if so, it should have been written, "raot vetsarot rabot." But that it interrupted in the middle with the word, rabot, implied to him that just like the word, "many," describes the word, "evils," so too does the word, "troubling."

ואמר ביום ההוא, "and the people of Israel will say on that day, etc." They will be intelligent enough to conclude that all the troubles which suddenly overtook them must be due to G'd having deliberately left their midst. Had G'd not abandoned them it would be impossible that He would tolerate such treatment of His people. Compare what the prophet said in Judges 10,11. We gain the impression from there that G'd Himself had become fed up with the sufferings His people had to endure.

אין אלדי בקרבי .ואמר ביום ההוא וגו׳ vergl. Kap. 7, 21. לא תערץ מפניהם כי ד׳ אלקיך בקרבך אל גדול ונורא. Es sagt nicht: הלא על אשר עזבתי אלרי ועל אשר את הרע בעיניו עשיתי, sondern: על כי אין אין אלקי בקרבי מצאוני הרעות האלה. Nicht in seiner Wandlung, in Gottes Wandlung sucht es die Ursache seines Unglücks. Gott, den es trotz seiner Verirrungen noch glaubt, "seinen" Gott nennen zu dürfen, und der ihm seinen Schutz und Beistand gegen die Völker zugesagt, erfüllt seine Zusage nicht mehr, sonst würden es solche Leiden nicht treffen. Es glaubt Gott, anklagen zu dürfen, und vergisst, sich anzuklagen, vergisst, auf die Ursachen zurückzugehen, weshalb Gott sich ihm nicht mehr als "seinen" Gott bewährt, vergisst, dass

רעות רבות וצרות, “many evils and troubles.” These are evils, which in turn will cause them many troubles. The Talmud in tractate Avodah Zarah folio 28, gives examples of this when describing changes in climate resulting in an abundance of harmful insects which in turn will sting people, etc. People who suffer these stings do not know how to counteract and neutralise the pain resulting from them. This is a metaphor for hostility encountered by Jewish people when in exile. When the gentiles hit them they are afraid even to cry out so that the gentiles will not hate them even more. If they fail to cry out they have to learn to live with the pain.

על כי אין אלוקי בקרבי מצאוני הרעות, all of this has befallen me because G’d has abandoned me. Seeing that they feel abandoned, they will not bother to pray to Me, nor will they do teshuvah, considering such prayer futile, wasted.

ואנכי הסתר אסתיר פני וגו׳, vergisst, dass Gott nur darum in dieser Zeit ihm seine besondere Fürsorge entzieht, weil es seinen Wandel in so hohem Grade verschlechtert, על כל הרעה אשר עשה, weil es sich dem Heidentume zugewendet, כי פנה אל אלהים אהרים! Es hat Gott verlassen, darum wird es von Gott verlassen. Gott ist nur so lange sein Gott, als es Gottes Volk ist, als es sich mit seinem ganzen Sein und Wollen ausschließlich Gott in Erfüllung seines Willens unterstellt, und dieses besondere Verhältnis Gottes zu ihm bedingt — mehr als bei irgend einem Menschenkreise auf Erden — seine besondere völlige Hingebung an Gott in Gehorsam und Treue (vergl. das zu Schmot 33, 5 Bemerkte. Das dortige Zitat Kap. 31, 34 muss heißen: Kap. 32, 34). Die ganze Klage ist ein Irrtum. Gott ist בקרבו, hebt seine besondere Beziehung zu Israel nie mehr auf. Allein eben weil Er בקרבו ist, geht ihm keine Verirrung zum Schlechten hin, treffen es Leiden für Verirrungen, mit welchen es nur zu dem, nicht aber unter das sittliche Niveau der übrigen Völker hinabsinkt, רק אתכם ידעתי מכל משפחות האדמה על כן אפקד עליכם את כל עונתיכם (Amos 3, 2).

על כי אין אלוקי בקרבי, “on account of my G–d no longer being in my midst.” The Israelites are aware that they have driven G–d’s presence out of their midst, as a result of which they have become the victims of all these phenomena. [but they have not drawn the right conclusions from that, i.e. to repent. Ed.