Commento su Deuteronomio 32:17

לא אלה — Understand this as the Targum does: They sacrifice unto devils in which is no utility, for if there were at least any utility in them to the world (as e.g:, the sun, moon and stars) God’s jealousy would not have been so intense (lit. — doubled) as it is now. (Sifrei Devarim 318:13).

THEY SACRIFICED UNTO THE DEMONS, NO-GODS. I have [already] explained this.⁶⁴Leviticus 17:7 (Vol. III, pp. 235-237).

לשדים לא אלוה, forces which are not enduring; our sages in Chagigah 16 already taught us that these demons known as שדים are as mortal as is man himself.

לא אלוה, "non-deity." The Israelites do not offer sacrifices to these demons because they consider them as deities, but because they hope that by this means the demons would do their bidding and take care of their needs. Concerning other sacrifices, offered to deities because the Israelites offering these sacrifices do believe that they have divine powers, Moses says: אלהים לא ידעום, "gods they never knew before." Moses scores the Israelites for offering sacrifices to deities who never even demonstrated their power to the people who used to worship them previously. חדשים מקרוב באו, new ones, recently arrived." Compare what I have explained on Deut. 13,7 when we discussed the seducer.

ולא שערום, related to the demons known as שעירים, of whom we heard in Leviticus 17,7 that the Israelites whored after, as possessing some divine powers, capable of foretelling the future.

Who fulfill no need, etc. The word צרוך means “power” or “ability.” Rashi had to explain in this manner because afterwards it is written [in the verse], “gods they did not know.” If the meaning of this verse is like the plain meaning, that they are not gods, how does Scripture refer to them afterwards as “gods”? (Re”m)

V. 17. שדים .יזבחו לשדים וגו׳ kommt in תנך nur hier und, auf dieselbe Verirrung zurückblickend, (Ps.106, 37) vor. ויזבחו את בניהם ואת בנותיהם לשדים. Wurzel von שד ist שוד, verwandt mit שוד .שדד kommt nur noch einmal, für den Begriff שד aber sehr bezeichnend, vor: מקטב ישוד צהרים (Ps. 91 b). Während שדד mehr eine mechanische Plünderung und Zerstörung bedeutet, weist שוד auf die zerstörende Wirkung einer unsichtbaren Kraft hin. שדים sind unsichtbare, dem Blühen und Gedeihen schadende Kräfte, לא אלה die selbst in der Vorstellung des Völkerwahns nicht mit Göttermacht bekleidet sind, אלהים לא ידעום für welche auch ihnen keine zu irgend welcher Vergötterung veranlassende Erfahrung gegeben ist, חדשים מקרוב באו Wahngeburten neuester, jüngster Entdeckung oder Erfindung, לא שערום אבותיכם, vor denen selbst euren Voreltern vorabrahamitischer, polytheistischer Vergangenheit nie gegraut. — Es gibt nur eine Überzeugung, die Überzeugung von Gott, dem Einzig-Einen und seiner unmittelbaren Bundesnähe mit den Ihm huldigenden Menschen, welche den Menschen aufrichtet und emporhebt über alle anderen Mächte zwischen Himmel und Erde und ihn frei macht von jeder Furcht und jedem entwürdigenden, entsittlichenden Zittern vor wirklichen oder eingebildeten, seinem Gedeihen feindlichen Mächten. Aus dem Dienst des Einzig-Einen hinausgetreten, verliert das Menscheninnere allen Halt, und der Wunder wie frei sich Dünkende verfällt dem Zittern vor allen wirklich die auf sich gestellte Menschenmacht überragenden Mächten der Natur- und Schicksalsgewalten, wie vor allen Wahngeburten einer der Natur und Welt vermeintlich ihre Geheimnisse ablauschenden Deutung. Unter dem Wahrheitsstrahl des Einzig-Einen steht ihm alles im Sonnenlichte einer von einer Macht der Weisheit und Güte durchleuchteten Welt, in welcher alles, selbst über Nacht und Tod, über Schmerz und Untergang einem höhern Sein des Daseins und des Lebens, der Kraft und der Freude, der Unsterblichkeit und Ewigkeit zugeführt wird, und in welcher, durch seine nähere Kindschaft mit dem Einzig-Einen und seinem Ihm zugewandten Pflichtleben, der Mensch, schon in seinem Jetzt- und Hiersein mit seinem Vater verbunden, an der Hand seines Einzig-Einen selbst über Nacht und Tod dem Lichte und dem Leben heiter in ungetrübter Seligkeit entgegenzuwandeln vermag.

יזבחו לשדים, “they sacrificed to demons.” This is one of the most abhorrent forms of idolatry.

לשדים, “to demons;” the word is derived from the root שדד, “to ruin, lay waste.” Demons have that effect on the brains of human beings. (B’chor shor)

חדשים מקרב באו [THEY SACRIFICED … TO GODS] THAT CAME UP REGENTLY — i.e. with which even the heathen nations were not familiar. Indeed, if a heathen saw them he would say, “This is a Jewish idol” (Sifrei Devarim 318:14).

אלוהים לא ידעום, חדשים מקרוב באו, whenever they discover a phenomenon not previously known to them they thought that this must be an ancient power and proceeded promptly to worship it.

If they had fulfilled some need. Meaning that you should not ask: Since it is written “ineffectual,” it implies that if they would have had powers, such as the stars and the constellations, they would not have provoked His jealousy. But how could it mean this? It is already written, “And lest you raise your eyes heavenward ... or the moon or [the stars] — the entire host of the heavens, etc.” (Devarim 4:19).

Verschließt sich das Menschenauge diesem Lichte und diesem Leben, so versinkt ihm die Welt in eine mit Gespenstern der Wirklichkeit und der Einbildung erfüllte Nacht, in welche er nur das Grubenlicht seiner Erfahrungen zum Pfadfinder, in welcher er nur mit feindlichen Dämonen den Kampf um Glück und Dasein zu bestehen hat, und jede Lust und Freude ihm mit Ekel und Enttäuschung endet, zu welcher er mit Weinen ins Dasein tritt, um mit Jammer und Entsagung aus ihr zu scheiden und, wo der Mensch das Unglückseligste aller Geschöpfe ist, weil er das Bewusstsein hat, das Unglückseligste zu sein und er einen unabweisbaren, und doch — ohne Pflichtleben — ewig unbefriedigt bleibenden Anspruch auf Glückseligkeit und Frieden im Busen trägt. — Von der Glückseligkeit einer Gotteswelt zu dem Pessimismus einer Dämonenwelt, das ist der ganze trostlose Weg, den von je der Abfall von Gott, dem Einzig-Einen zurückgelegt hat, das ist auch der Weg, der von Israels Abfall hier gezeichnet ist: ויטש אלה עשהו וגו׳ יקנאהו בזרים וגו׳ יזבחו לשדים וגו׳.

לא אלוה, “no-gods;” these demons possess no power whatsoever. Compare Ezekiel 17,13: ואת אילי הארץ לקח, “and the ‘mighty’ of the land he took away. [Nebuchadnezzar carried away those who had thought of themselves as ‘mighty.’ Ed.] Onkelos translates our verse as meaning that they are useless. (the demons) If they had any value at all Moses would not condemn worshipping them with such vehemence as he does here. A certain Roman said to Rabbi Shimon, wondering about Exodus 20,5 where Hashem is described as a “jealous” G–d, why this G–d would be jealous of a “nobody.” A truly powerful person is jealous only of another powerful person, not of someone clearly inferior. Why does Moses describe G–d’s jealousy as having been aroused by a “no-god” so that he retaliates by arousing the jealousy of His people by a “no-people?” Rabbi Shimon answered him by using a parable to illustrate his point. A man had married an extremely attractive looking wife. After a while he took a second wife who was ugly in the extreme. His first wife became extremely angry at her husband, saying to him that she could have understood it if he had married another attractive woman who would have been competition to her. The fact that he married an ugly woman, she felt was a deliberate insult, suggesting that she was just as ugly as the second wife he had taken. (Compare Talmud, tractate Avodah zarah, folio 55.) Moses is telling the people that although G–d would be angry at them for worshipping the sun, which appears powerful and a source of life to them, instead of worshipping Him Who had created the sun; but to worship something that is totally useless to them was an additional insult which He resents accordingly with great anger.

New gods that came up of late: They were never called gods until now that you have fashioned them (as in Exodus 34:1) for yourselves and you have raised them up to be gods.

לא ידעום, “that they have not known;” the brain of human beings is described as not possessing knowledge, as opposed to G-d Who is always described as “knowing,” i.e. וידע אלוקים, (Exodus 2,25) or כי ידעתי את מכאוביו, ”for I have known its pains;” (Exodus 3, 7) The socalled “deities” which idolaters worship have absolutely no knowledge of the emotions of the people who worship them. As to the reason why such “deities” cannot help their worshippers, this is because they are new, often even of more recent origin than their worshippers, .חדשים מקרוב באו

לא שערום אבתיכם — This means, which your fathers feared not; more literally it means: Their hair (שער) did not stand up on end because of them — for it is the nature of a person’s hair to stand up out of fear. Thus is it (the word שערום) explained in Sifrei Devarim 318:15. But it is also possible to explain it as being connected with the noun in (Isaiah 13:21) “And שעירים shall dance there”; שעירים are demons (satyrs), and the meaning of our verse would then be: your fathers never made these satyrs.

The vengeance would not have been as doubly harsh as now. If you ask: Rashi explain earlier, in parshas Ki Sissa (Shemos 32:11) “Why should Your anger be aroused” that a mighty person is only jealous of another mighty person, etc. and if so, why should the vengeance be doubled? The answer is that earlier it was pertaining to prayer to appease Hashem, so Moshe said, “Why should Your anger be provoked? That a mighty person, etc.” However, with regard to punishment, when Hashem comes to punish those who perform idolatry, the punishment is greater, for [worshipping] a god who has no power.

ספרי) שלא עמדה שערת אבותיכם בפניהם :לא שערום), vor denen euren Vätern nicht das Haar zu Berge gestanden, vor denen eure Väter kein Grauen, kein Entsetzen empfunden. So auch ומלכיהם שערו בשער (Ezech. 27, 35), ישערו עליך שער (daselbst 32, 10). Ähnlich: תסמר שערת בשרי (Job. 4, 15).

אלהים לא ידעום, “a deity they had never heard of.” They had heard of it, but had never heard that it possessed any power. Rabbi Joseph Kara explains the reason why Moses chose this expression as being that we have a verse in Exodus 3,7: where G–d tells Moses that He is well aware of the people’s pains, כי ידעתי את מכאוביו, that the deities His people turned to were ones which had no such knowledge. How could such deities help when they were completely unaware of the problems its worshippers faced?

Gods that they knew not: They did not know any gain [from them], nor any power; so they did not make them into gods except from the evil impulse and to cause anger [to God]. For they themselves did not know them as gods, but rather knew that there was no substance to them. Rather it was from the evil impulse. And R. Yosef Kara, may his memory be blessed, explained: "Gods did not know them" - regarding the Holy One, blessed be He, it is stated (Exodus 2:25), "and God knew"; "I have known its sufferings" (3:7). But [these gods] did not know their difficulties, and did not help them.

לא שערום אבותיכם, “your fathers had not been in dread of them.” (their hairs, שער, did not stand on edge in fear of them.) Seeing that they did not punish your forefathers, פקד, you had no reason to fear them and sinned relentlessly.

They did not fear them, etc. The description “awed by them” would be like “My children are gone forth of me” (Yirmeyah 10:20), which means “they came out from me” or “lest you be filled with it” (Mishlei 25:16) which means “filled from it.” Similarly here, “awed by them” means in awe of them.

אבותיכם, nicht אבותיהם, vergl. Josua 24, 2. בעבר הנהר ישבו אבותיכם מעולם תרח אכי אברהם ואבי נחור ויעבדו אלהים אחרים. Sie fallen in eine noch tiefere Nacht der Verirrung zurück, als die eurer vorabrahamitischen Vorfahren gewesen und aus welcher ihr mit Abraham euch emporgehoben habet.

חדשים מקרוב באו, “new gods that came up of late.” These so called deities had never been considered as deities by anyone.

In addition, one may explain the word se’arum [as having the same meaning] as “demons”, etc. Here too it would mean “awed by them.” But the word “by them” would mean “from the demons” which refers to the demons mentioned above. The word שערום means “they made demons” just as מאלמים means אלומים (makes bundles)” (Bereishis 37:7). (Re”m)

לא שערום אבותיכם, “gods that your fathers had never dreaded.” The word שער in Aramaic is equivalent to the Hebrew פוקד, compare Targum Deuteronomy 5,9, and thus would mean “remembering with a view to punishing.”