Chasidut do Powtórzonego Prawa 20:16
רַ֗ק מֵעָרֵ֤י הָֽעַמִּים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה אֲשֶׁר֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ נֹתֵ֥ן לְךָ֖ נַחֲלָ֑ה לֹ֥א תְחַיֶּ֖ה כָּל־נְשָׁמָֽה׃
Wszakże z miast tych ludów, które Wiekuisty, Bóg twój, oddaje ci w posiadanie, nie zostawisz przy życiu żadnej duszy.
Kedushat Levi
Leviticus 14,34. “I will give (inflict) an eruptive plague upon the house that has become your ancestral possession.” The reader is referred to Rashi who sees in this verse good tidings for the owner of such a house. This is because the plague of tzoraat which requires the owner to tear down the whole house will reveal treasures buried underneath by the previous owner, amounting to far more in value than the whole house is worth.
We must remember the rule that the true joy man experiences is when he elevates the “fallen” sparks from the Shechinah bringing them to the level of serving their Creator. When he succeeds in doing that, the spirituality contained within these “sparks” elevates not only the spirituality that is part of him, but even has a sublimating, spiritually elevating effect on the parts of him that are secularly oriented, known as his חצוניות, so that he is enabled to discard that part of himself.
Once he has succeeded in getting rid of this essentially physical part, his house is liable to develop a נגע, i.e. the evil smelling residue of what remains of the physicality that has been transported to spiritually higher regions.
When the Torah in our verse speaks of the house’s exterior suddenly displaying signs of a plague, this is nothing other than the evil smelling residue left behind in their house after the Israelites had fulfilled G’d’s commandment (Deuteronomy 20,16) not to allow any of the Canaanite residents to survive. When Rashi speaks of this verse containing glad tidings for the Jewish people, he refers to their joyful discovery that the sparks themselves had left (for spiritually higher regions)?
We must remember the rule that the true joy man experiences is when he elevates the “fallen” sparks from the Shechinah bringing them to the level of serving their Creator. When he succeeds in doing that, the spirituality contained within these “sparks” elevates not only the spirituality that is part of him, but even has a sublimating, spiritually elevating effect on the parts of him that are secularly oriented, known as his חצוניות, so that he is enabled to discard that part of himself.
Once he has succeeded in getting rid of this essentially physical part, his house is liable to develop a נגע, i.e. the evil smelling residue of what remains of the physicality that has been transported to spiritually higher regions.
When the Torah in our verse speaks of the house’s exterior suddenly displaying signs of a plague, this is nothing other than the evil smelling residue left behind in their house after the Israelites had fulfilled G’d’s commandment (Deuteronomy 20,16) not to allow any of the Canaanite residents to survive. When Rashi speaks of this verse containing glad tidings for the Jewish people, he refers to their joyful discovery that the sparks themselves had left (for spiritually higher regions)?
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy
Kedushat Levi
Another approach to our verse: The words: שלח לך אנשים should be viewed in connection with Rashi’s commentary on Joshua 2,4 where we are told that the innkeeper who resided within the walls of Jericho welcomed Joshua’s spies and hid them. On the word: ותצפנו commonly translated as “she hid them,” (but literally meaning: “she hid him”) Rashi explains that the reason why the text uses the word in the singular mode was that Rahav, (the innkeeper) hid each spy separately so that if one were to be discovered the other one would still be able to save himself. Alternately, her reason –according to our sages- was that only Caleb needed hiding as Joshua was able to make himself invisible. When the sages speak about someone being able to make himself invisible, they mean that he could strip himself of his physical desires so that his body had become an אין סוף, as if non-existent. Or, expressed in terms of our explanation above, he could dispose of the potential obstacles, ניצוצות, to his serving G’d with all of his spiritual potential. Accordingly, we have to assume that Calev was not yet on that level.
It is a fact that the Canaanites whom the 12 spies of Moses encountered were on such a low spiritual level that they could not elevate themselves sufficiently to enter celestial regions even in the presence of 12 such outstandingly good men as Moses had chosen as the spies. As proof of this we need only look at Deuteronomy 20,16 where the Torah commands the Israelites about to conquer the Holy Land not to allow a single soul, נשמה, not merely נפש, to remain alive. Keeping all this in mind, i.e. the strength of these Canaanites, viewed as the spies’ potential obstacles in fulfilling their mission, they had to strip themselves completely of any residual earthly concerns if they were to have a chance to fulfill their mission successfully. The fact that Rahav, almost 40 years later had to “hide” Calev, is proof that he had not succeeded completely in divesting himself of earthly concerns when fulfilling G’d’s commandments. At any rate, we see that Rashi already alludes to the absolute single-mindedness necessary in order to serve our Creator optimally.
It is a fact that the Canaanites whom the 12 spies of Moses encountered were on such a low spiritual level that they could not elevate themselves sufficiently to enter celestial regions even in the presence of 12 such outstandingly good men as Moses had chosen as the spies. As proof of this we need only look at Deuteronomy 20,16 where the Torah commands the Israelites about to conquer the Holy Land not to allow a single soul, נשמה, not merely נפש, to remain alive. Keeping all this in mind, i.e. the strength of these Canaanites, viewed as the spies’ potential obstacles in fulfilling their mission, they had to strip themselves completely of any residual earthly concerns if they were to have a chance to fulfill their mission successfully. The fact that Rahav, almost 40 years later had to “hide” Calev, is proof that he had not succeeded completely in divesting himself of earthly concerns when fulfilling G’d’s commandments. At any rate, we see that Rashi already alludes to the absolute single-mindedness necessary in order to serve our Creator optimally.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy