신명기 5:16의 Musar

The eleventh—We find in the Scripture (Deuteronomy 30:19), “Therefore choose life that thou mayest live, thou and thy seed.” And it says (Ibid., 5:30), “That ye may live.” And it says (Ibid., 8:1), “We will live and multiply.” And it says (Ibid., 5:16), “That thy days may be long.” We see that the wicked seem to live like the righteous, and, in many cases, they enjoy the goodness of the world. Therefore, the life of which the Scripture speaks must be the life that comes after death.

The subject of the three gifts the Jewish people received must be understood on two levels. One level is the manifest one, i.e. נגלה, a gift which everyone can see as having been received. The other level is what we call the נסתר the hidden aspect of these gifts. We find that the word Tov is spelled with different vowels on different occasions. Most of the time it is spelled with the vowel חולם i.e. Tov, whereas sometimes it is spelled with the vowel שורוק i.e. Tuv.

Whenever it is spelled as Tov the reference is to the manifest good. When it is spelled Tuv the reference is to the hidden good. [The author discussed this in Parshat Ba'halotecha, in connection with Moses' offer to Yitro to join the Jewish people. Ed.] In connection with Torah we find the word spelled טוב with both the vowels חולם such as in Proverbs 4,2: כי לקח טוב נתתי לכם, as well as in Psalms 119,72: טוב לי תורת פיך. It is also spelled with a שורוק as in Psalms 119,66: טוב טעם ודעת למדני. In connection with ארץ ישראל we find ארץ טובה in Deut. 8,7 spelled with the vowel חולם, whereas in Isaiah 1,19 we are promised by the prophet "טוב הארץ תאכלו," spelled with the vowel שורוק. With respect to עולם הבא, we find in Deut. 5,16: למען ייטב לך, which our sages (Kidushin 39b) explain as a reference to a world which is totally good.