Commento su Deuteronomio 33:13

מברכת ה' ארצו BLESSED OF THE LORD BE HIS LAND — It is a fact that there was in the inheritance of all the tribes no land so full of every good thing as Joseph's land (Sifrei Devarim 353:1).

MIMEGED’ OF HEAVEN. “Meged is an expression for dainty food and sweets. 14. ‘UMIMEGED’ OF THE FRUITS OF THE SUN — for Joseph’s land was exposed to the sun and it sweetened the fruit. ‘GERESH YERACHIM’ (THE YIELD OF THE MOONS). There are fruits which the moon ripens; they are cucumbers and melons. ‘Geresh yerachim’ — fruits which the earth ‘puts forth’ and produces ‘from month to month.’” This is Rashi’s language. And if so, with ‘pri m’gadim’²⁰⁷Song of Songs 4:13. will mean “with sweet fruits.” Thus Moses blessed Joseph that his land would benefit from the sweetness of heaven which will be from the dew, and that it would be blessed from the deep that couches under his land, becoming fountains and depths, springing forth in valleys and hills.²⁰⁸Above, 8:7.
It is possible that the fruits [themselves] are called m’gadim,²⁰⁹According to the first interpretation meged shamayim means “the sweetness of the heaven.” According to this second explanation, meged shamayim means “the fruits of the heaven.” Both express that the reference is to the dew of heaven. and he thus says that “Joseph’s land is blessed of the fruits of heaven, namely the dew” — since sweet fruits result from dew, therefore the fruit is called meged — “and his land shall also be blessed from the deep beneath.” Moses’ blessing is similar to that of Jacob who said, with blessing of heaven above, blessings of the deep that coucheth beneath.²¹⁰Genesis 49:25. And the meaning of geresh yerachim is the fruits which are given forth month by month, for all trees blossom and bud in their [respective] seasons that they might bring forth branches, and that it might bear fruit.²¹¹Ezekiel 17:8. This is the sense of the verse, it shall bring forth new fruit every month,²¹²Ibid., 47:12. meaning that in the particular months a certain fruit will become timely before [the fruits of] all other trees.

מבורכת ה' ארצו, Moses explains that the lands given to the tribe of Joseph are naturally fertile, blessed by G’d.

מברכת ה׳ ארצו, "blessed of the Lord be his land, etc." Perhaps there is an allusion here to the time when the tribe of Joseph would complain to Joshua that it did not have enough land to support its population (Joshua 17,14). Moses blessed their land especially, i.e. that it be enlarged according to circumstances. Another reason the tribe of Joseph merited this special blessing was the fact that Joseph their founder had provided sustenance for all the brothers in Egypt. He who provides sustenance is considered as if he were the father as we know from Psalms 77,16 where the Psalmist speaks of "the sons of Jacob and Joseph" as if Jacob had had no other sons. Sanhedrin 19 explains that this unusual phrase is due to Joseph having been the provider.

מבורכת ה' ארצו ממגד שמים מטל, “his (Joseph’s) land is especially blessed by the Lord, with the heavenly bounty of dew.” Moses refers to rain as מגד שמים (Ibn Ezra) reflecting a statement by the sages in Bereshit Rabbah 4,3 that the waters in the celestial regions were suspended (kept in place) only by a word of G’d. What are the “fruit” of these waters? The rain waters. This is also in line with what David said in Psalms 104,1: “You irrigate the mountains from Your lofts, from the ‘fruit’ of Your work the earth is sated.” The “heavens” are considered G’d’s “works.” We have another verse making a similar point in Psalms 8,4: “When I behold Your heavens, the “work” of Your fingers.” The psalmist calls the rain “the fruit of His works.” Similarly, here; Moses refers to this as מגד. By adding the word ומטל, Moses blesses Joseph with both dew and rainfall.

For none of the tribal territories, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Are the territories of the other tribes not blessed? Therefore he explains, For none, etc. I.e., the other territories were also blessed, but the territory of Yoseif was [blessed] more than all of them.

VV. 13 — 16. וליוסף וגו׳. Macht, Gesetzes- und Heiligtumsdienst, Heiligtumsstätte waren die besonderen Eigentümlichkeiten, welche die Stämme Juda, Levi, Benjamin auszeichneten. Die reichste Fülle des Bodensegens folgt als Auszeichnung des Stammes Josef. מגד, Wurzel von מגד dürfte vielleicht גדה sein, wie מרה von וממר ליולדתו ,מֶמֶר (Prov. 17, 25). גדה verwandt mit גדע ist aber die Wurzel von גדי, der vom Mutterkörper gelösten Frucht, das Tierjunge (siehe Schmot 23, 19). מגד dürfte daher überhaupt ein jedes Fruchterzeugnis bedeuten. מגד שמים ist der Tau. תבואות שמש sind die Ernten, welche die Sonne bringt, die Früchte, welche durch die Sonne gezeitigt werden, die vom Kreislauf der Sonne bedingt sind, somit die Früchte des Pflanzenreichs; מגד גרש ירחים dagegen sind wohl die Früchte, die an eine Zahl von Monaten gebunden sind, welche durch eine Zahl aufeinander folgender Monde gefördert werden; es sind dies die Leibesfrüchte der Tierwelt. ירחים (siehe Schmot 2, 2).

וליוסף אמר מבורכת ה' ארצו, “and of Joseph he said: “blessed by the Lord be his land;” When Adam, the first human being, had sinned by allowing himself to be seduced by his wife, the land on which he lived afterwards was cursed as a result, and his livelihood became one that required hard toil. Joseph, who had withstood the deduction by the wife of Potiphar, was rewarded (his tribe) in that the land his descendants dwelled on was especially blessed.

ממגד — this means dainties and sweet food.

ממגד שמים מטל, He now prays that in addition to this “natural” fertility, G’d should also endow Joseph’s portion with the attributes provided only by Divine assistance, such as regular dew from the skies so that it will not have to depend on rain, and on the underground springs, all of which will help to produce bountiful crops.

ומתהום רובצת תחת, “and from the deep waters crouching below.” This is a reference to the waters on terrestrial earth, i.e. Moses blessed Joseph in that both the waters from above and from below should be beneficial for his land. You may perceive the relationship between the upper waters and the lower waters as analogous to the relationship between light and darkness; hence the choice of the word תהום, by Moses, a word which meant “darkness” already in the second verse of the Torah. The reason the word טל was left to the end, was to place it next to the word תהום, seeing dew descends at night when it is dark.

As the waters of the deep rise. Meaning, they rise from below.

גרש. Die Scheidung der Leibesfrucht von dem Muttertier, mit welchem das Junge bis zur Reife so innig verbunden war, und die sich, sobald das Junge der Mutter nicht mehr bedarf, völlig fremd werden (vergl. שגר).

ומתהום [BLESSED OF THE LORD BE HIS LAND] BY THE DEEP — for the deep ascended and moistened it from below (תחת). — You will find that in the case of each tribe Moses' blessing corresponded in some way with Jacob's blessing (cf. for instance this verse with Joseph's blessing in Genesis 49:25).

You find that, with all the tribes, etc. Rashi wants to prove how he knows that his explanation of and the depth that lie below is correct? Perhaps it is speaking of something else that lies [in] the depth [and not the waters of the depth]? Therefore he explains, You find, etc. And there with Yaakov it is written (Bereishis 49:25), The blessings of heaven from above, blessings of the depths that lie below. And there its meaning is certainly that the depth itself rises up from below, similar to the dew that comes from above, and if so, here too it is so.

ארץ ומלאה ,גבעות עולם ,הררי קדם. Der Seherblick umfasst zuerst Josefs Land in einen Segenskreis. Die Himmel aus der Höhe und die Tiefe im Erdengrunde spenden die allererste Vorbedingung aller Fruchtentwicklung: die Feuchtigkeit. Innerhalb dieses vom Segen umschlossenen Kreises senkt sich der Blick aus der Höhe in die Niedere: Sonne, Mond, Berge, Hügel, Land, geben alle, was sie an Segen zu spenden haben. Berge ihre Waldungsgipfel, Hügel, die an ihren Abhängen reifenden Früchte, die Landesebenen ihre Ackerfülle. Alle diese materielle Fülle bedingt aber noch nicht den Segen, Segen wird dies alles nur dadurch, dass die Bewohner sich des Wohlgefallens dessen würdig zeigen, der Mosche gegenüber im Dornbusch Stätte nahm, dessen Gegenwart dieser ganzen Fülle nicht bedarf, der selbst im Dornbusch sich zeigt, wenn der rechte Mensch dort vorhanden ist, — diese reiche Fülle wird daher den Söhnen Josefs zuteil in der Voraussetzung, dass sie ihres Ahnes eingedenk und würdig bleiben, der mitten in Glanz und Reichtum bescheiden und menschlich sich erwies und selbst als Jüngling sich nicht vom Reiz der Sinnlichkeit bestricken ließ, der נזיר אחיו war (siehe Bereschit 49, 26). תבואתה mit verdoppeltem Optativzeichen, eigentlich zwei ה, wovon das eine wie gewöhnlich in ת verwandelt ist. So viel als: o, dass es kommen möge, eigentlich ja: heimkommen möge, dass in diesem von Gottes Wohlgefallen getragenen Segen seiner Nachkommen Josef der Lohn seiner sittlichen Größe reifen möge! Da dieser Wunsch von einer bleibenden sittlichen Vollkommenheit abhängig gemacht ist, deren Verwirklichung im Schoße der willensfreien Entwicklung der Söhne Josefs ruhte, so begreift sich das Bedingte dieses doppelten Optativs in Mosche Mund. Die spätere Geschichte des Stammes Efrajim zeigt zur Genüge, wie viel von diesem Wunsche — Wunsch geblieben. Das materiell gesegnete Efrajim riss 10/12 des Volkes mit in den Abfall hinein.