Commento su Deuteronomio 33:19

עמים THE PEOPLES of the tribes of Israel,

עמים הר יקראו, Issachar and Zevulun will call the nations of the earth to the “good mountain” with choice wares not to be found among those nations.

They shall assemble at Mount Moriah, etc. Meaning, at the pilgrimage festivals. You might ask: If so it should have said assemble and not invited. Therefore Rashi explains, Every assembly is through invitation, etc. Therefore, even though [the assembly] here is not by invitation, rather they came on their own, the verse still writes an expression of “invitation.” Re”m writes, My heart is dissatisfied with this [explanation] because יקראו should have been written with a kamatz under the קוף and the ריש with a tzeirei to make it reflexive. [Whereas according to the punctuation of our verse, יקראו means ‘they assemble them,’ wrongly implying that Yisachar and Zevulun assemble the people]. It seems to me that אסיפה here means inviting as we explained, and [the active conjugation means not that Yisachar and Zevulun assemble them, but that] they assemble on their own to fulfill Hashem’s commandment to come up on pilgrimage festivals. And because other assemblies are by invitation, Scripture here writes יקראו instead of יתאספו. And it is not reflexive and therefore it is not punctuated with reflexive punctuation. (So it seems to me). Re”m further writes, However, I do not know what relevance there is to mentioning the assembling of the tribes at Mount Moriah within the blessing of Yisachar and Zevulun?” In truth, I do not know why he does not know, because [apparently] Rashi himself was aware of this question and he writes, Based on their arrangement of the time [divisions] and of the leap year—‘Peoples,’ of the tribes of Yisroel, — ‘Shall assemble at the mountain,’ Mount Moriah, etc. Perhaps Re”m wrote what he wrote because he had a [different] erroneous text. This is easy to understand. (So it seems to me).

עמים הר יקראו, “being aware of the dangers of seafaring they would make frequent trips to Mount Zion to thank G–d for their success and ask Him for continued protection. Once they were there, they would present many voluntary offerings in the Temple. (Compare Talmud tractate Chulin, folio 13, based on Leviticus 22,18)

ושפני טמוני חול, “and the hidden treasures of the sand.” Sometimes when ships break up when at harbour and are buried deep in the sand; when the waters of the sea retreat, it is revealed that this sand which buried their ships had also hidden treasures which would have remained undiscovered if the ship had not broken up.

הר יקראו THEY CALL TO THE MOUNTAIN, i.e., they assembled at Mount Moriah on the Festivals; — it speaks of calling them there because every assembly was (took place) in general by means of a summons to it — and שם THERE יזבחו THEY SACRIFICED on the Festivals, זבחי צדק SACRIFICES OF RIGHTEOUSNESS.

שם יזבחו זבחי צדק, even the merchants of the gentile nations who had been offering sacrifices to “dead” deities all their lives, when they come to Jerusalem, the ”good mountain,” will offer sacrifices which qualify for the description “offerings of righteousness” (to the real G’d).

And there slaughter, during the festivals, righteous offerings. Rashi wants to show the connection between the verses. Therefore he adds a vav [and] to indicate that they will [all] slaughter righteous offerings on the festivals, even though they bring offerings there every day of the year. Therefore Rashi adds and in order to connect the phrases of the verse together.

כי שפע ימים יינקו, “for they will suck the abundance that the seas have to offer;” the seas will make them prosperous.

כי שפע ימים יינקו FOR OF ABUNDANCE OF THE SEAS SHALL THEY — Issachar and Zebulun — SUCK, and they will consequently have leisure to busy themselves with the study of the Torah.

כי שפע ימים יינקו, for Issachar and Zevulun draw from the riches of the sea among which are found such rare sources of colours as the chalazon worm from which techelet, blue wool is dyed. There one can also find a type of “white glass” or silicon on the beaches of the sea, much treasured for use in exotic goblets.

Affording them the opportunity, etc. Rashi explains, what blessing is there in this [unless they can study Torah]?

ושפוני טמוני חול, “and the treasures hidden in the sand.” This is a reference to ships which foundered and went to the bottom of the sea laden with treasures. Eventually, when the hull breaks up they are revealed. The treasures then become the property of the finders. According to the plain meaning of the text, we have to ask why Moses listed Zevulun here before Yissachar, seeing that Yissachar was the older of the brothers? The answer is provided by the Midrash, (B’reshit Rabbah 99,9) according to which Yissachar and Zevulun made an agreement according to which the merits acquired by the Torah study of the members of the tribe of Yissachar would be shared equally with the tribe of Zevulun, who would look after the members of the Torah studying members of the tribe of Yissachar financially.

ושפני טמוני חול means, covered things that are hidden in the sand — the Tarith (a kind of fish; Rashi in his comment on the Talmudical passage afterwards quoted states that it is the tuna fish), the Chalazon (from which purple dye was obtained) and while glass (all valuable articles of commerce) which come out of the sea and the sand. This was in the territory of Issachar and Zebulun, as it is stated in Treatise Megillah 6a: The Scriptural text (Judges 5:18) is to be explained as follows: “Zebulun was a people that cursed his soul even unto death” because that “Naphtali was on the high places of the field“, i.e., Zebulun complained about his territory, saying, To my brother (Naphtali) you have given fields and vineyards (while to me you have given hilly and mountainous land; to my brother you have given land while to me you have given seas and rivers! God replied. “All your brethren will be in need of you”, as it states, “And the treasures hidden in the sand”, which the Talmud goes on to explain are the marine creatures Rashi mentions above, deriving each of them from the words of the text, For they shall suck … of the concealed treasures of the sea).

טרית (tuna). טרית is a kind of fish named tunina.

ושפני has the meaning of “covering”, as it is said (1 Kings 6:9) “And he covered (ויספן) the house”; (Jeremiah 22:14) וספן בארז, which the Targum renders by: “And it was covered with panels of cedar”. — Another explanation of עמים הר יקראו THEY CALL THE PEOPLES TO THE MOUNTAIN — Through Zebulun’s trading, merchants of the world’s nations will come to his land, he living at the coast, and they will say, “Since we have taken so much trouble to reach here, let us go to Jerusalem and see what is the God of this people and what are His doings”. When they behold all Israel serving one God and eating one kind of food (only that which is permissible to them), they are astonished because as regards the other nations, the god of one is not as the god of another, and the food of one is not as the food of another, so that they will say, “There is no nation as worthy as this”, and they will therefore become proselytes to Judaism there, as it is said, “There shall they sacrifice sacrifices of righteousness” (Sifrei Devarim 354:5).

Zevulun, a people disdainful of their souls in seeking death, etc. It is talking about Zevulun there, who wished death for himself because Naftoli was on the loftiest ground. The Gemara asks on this [verse]: A people disdainful of their souls, that just because Naftoli was on the loftiest ground he should seek death for himself? The Gemara answers, Zevulun lamented, etc. and to me you only gave seas. The Holy One, Blessed Is He answered him, To you I gave the sea from where you can take tuna, etc.

כי שפע ימים יינקו FOR OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THE SEAS SHALL THEY SUCK — “they” means Zebulun and Issachar; for the sea will give them wealth in abundance.

Translated by Targum as “lined with a cedar covering.” Meaning that it covers the beams with cedar.

Another interpretation. “Gentile nations shall assemble at the mountain, etc.” Because according to the first interpretation you might ask why it says There will they slaughter righteous offerings, are not all offerings slaughtered there? Also, what is [the meaning of] righteous offerings? Are not all offerings [wherever they are permitted] righteous offerings? Therefore he gives another interpretation, etc. And according to the other interpretation too, you might ask that it should have said explicitly [that they at least retract from idolatry], because before bringing offerings they need conversion, [retraction] from their idolatry! Therefore he also needs the first interpretation.