신명기 33:4의 주석

תורה THE LAW which צוה לנו משה MOSES COMMANDED US, מורשה is AN INHERITANCE to THE CONGREGATION OF JACOB: we have taken it and we will not abandon it.

MOSES COMMANDED US A LAW. The meaning thereof is that Israel will always “take” [receive His words] and say “Moses commanded us a Law and this will be an inheritance of the congregation of Jacob, for all the children of Jacob shall possess it forever and observe it, for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed.”⁵⁹Above, 31:21. And our Rabbis interpreted⁶⁰Tanchuma, Vayakheil 8. that he did not say “an inheritance of the house of Jacob” or “the seed of Jacob” — he stated of the congregation of Jacob in order to suggest that many [strangers] would join them and the Torah will always be an inheritance of Jacob and of all who congregate to him, these being the strangers that join themselves to the Eternal, to minister unto Him,⁶¹Isaiah 56:6. and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob,⁶²Ibid., 14:1. and they will all be called “His congregation.”

ישא מדברותיך, a reference to when the people said to G’d at the revelation at Mount Sinai that He should make Moses His intermediary, elevate him to communicate G’d’s words, conveying His words to them, as they were afraid they would i.e. if they had to listen to G’d’s voice directly any longer. (This is the meaning of Moses hearing the voice of the Lord speaking to him (only) in Numbers7,8 The word מדברותיך in this verse refers to the Torah, which was attributed to Moses, on account of the people preferring to hear its words from Moses’ mouth. This is why the Torah describes the people as saying תורה צוה לנו משה, “Moses has commanded the Torah to us,” instead of “G’d has commanded the Torah to us.” (verse 5)

תורה צוה לנו משה. Moses commanded the Torah to us. Seing that Moses is speaking, why did he not write: "I commanded the Torah to them? Perhaps we have to view this verse as a continuation of the previous verse as follows: "He will uplift the people of Israel due to their cleaving to His words of Torah which Moses had commanded them." Similarly, the meaning is that all the people of Israel will raise their collective voice jointly protesting that since Moses had commanded them the Torah and they had accepted it they deserved some consideration even in exile, etc.

The heritage of the congregation of Yaakov. Like a heritage, which one receives without personal effort. Similarly, the merit of the Torah in which the Torah scholars toil, is a heritage to the congregation of Yaakov, who are the masses of the Jewish people. For the true in depth study is impossible unless one is without any financial worries, and in this way those who support it receive their reward.

מורשה קהלת יעקב, “the heritage of the congregation of Yaakov.” Our sages pointed out that Moses did not describe Israel here as “the descendants of Yaakov,” or as “the house of Yaakov,” but as “the congregation of Yaakov.” The implication is that when proselytes join the Jewish nation, i.e. they congregate around us, that they too will be so much part of our nation that Torah is their heritage as much as it is ours. Alternately, the reference is to “resident strangers,” who have not converted but who desire to live near us even if in a state of semi-servitude.

V. 4. תורה צוה וגו׳. "Die Lehre hat uns Mosche geboten", so lautet das Nationalbekenntnis, das sich von Geschlecht zu Geschlecht in Israel vererben soll. Diese Lehre ist מורשה, ist das eigentliche Erbgut, nicht das Land und was es bietet, die Lehre ist das jüdische Nationalerbe, Land und Macht sind nur die bedingten Folgen dieses Gutes. קהלת יעקב ist Vokativ. Und bedeutsam ist hier יעקב und יעקב .קהלה Israels Name nach seiner materiellen Winzigkeit und dazu: קהלה, nicht קהל. Nur hier dies eine Mal heißt die jüdische Gesamtheit קהלה, sonst immer in ihrer Selbstständigkeit קהלה .קהל ישראל ist der schwächere, abhängige Begriff von קהל, entweder die Gesamtheit in Schwächezuständen, oder jede einzelne Zweiggemeinde der großen Gesamtheit. Nicht einzelnen, der Gesamtheit hat Gott sein Gesetz zur Vererbung übergeben; denn nur die Gesamtheit ist ewig und nur die Gesamtheit hat Mittel für alles, אין צבור מת ואין צבור עני. Und nicht nur für die Zeiten der Blüte und nicht nur der großen Gesamtheit im ganzen war die תורה übergeben. Auch als יעקב ist sie durchzutragen und zu verwirklichen, und jede kleinste Zweiggemeinschaft, jede "Kehilla" hat für die Vererbung und Verwirklichung der תורה in ihrem Kreise einzustehen.

תורה צוה לנו משה, “Moses commanded the Torah to us;” whereas G-d had commanded them the first two commandments, Moses commanded them the remaining 611 commandments. (This is why the numerical value of the letters in the word תורה total 611) In spite of the extraordinary spiritual high level the whole people had attained at that time, i.e. they were able to “see” thunder not just hear it, they could not listen to the voice of the Lord any longer and had feared they would die.

מורשה קהלת יעקב, when something has not been acquired directly but is inherited, i.e. handed over from another owner, it is described in terms of ירושה, an inheritance. Had the Jewish people not requested to hear the words of the Torah from Moses instead of from G’d Himself, Torah would not now be described as מורשה.

The words צוה לנו may be understood as describing the authority which Torah exercises over the people of Israel which even includes the king who rules only by dint of the Torah and who is obligated to personally write two copies of the Torah (Deut. 17,18). This is also one facet of the verse we quoted from Proverbs 8,15 that the "kings rule through Me."

'תורה צוה לנו משה וגו, this verse appears in a truncated mode and should by rights read: תורה צוה לנו משה להיותה מורשה לנו קהלת יעקב, ”Moses commanded us this Torah in order for it to become a heritage to the congregation of Yaakov.”