Komentarz do Powtórzonego Prawa 13:1

את כל הדבר EVERYTHING [I COMMAND YOU] — light precepts as well as grave ones (Sifrei Devarim 82:1),

לא תוסף עליו, for you might add something which is despicable in the eyes of the Lord. If, perchance, you would add new ways of the serving the Lord, you have no assurance that such innovation is acceptable to G’d, for instance the burning of one’s children in G’d’s honour.

Five totafos within the tefilin, etc. See my explanation above in Parshas Va’eschanan (4:2). Rashi’s statement, “five species with the lulav,” refers to where he binds them so that the five species are all bound together — For [only] then does he transgress. But if he did not bind them together, he does not transgress. Even according to the viewpoint that a lulav does not need binding, it is nevertheless understood that if he binds them together he transgresses the prohibition of, “Do not add.”

Kap. 13. V. 1. את כל הדבר וגו׳. Der masoretischen פרשיות-Abteilung nach bildet dieser Vers den Schluss des Vorhergehenden, und sagt: Darum erfinde dir keine neuen Götterverehrungen und suche das Wohlgefallen deines Gottes nicht mit anderen Weisen, als den von Ihm dir vorgeschriebenen. In treuer gewissenhafter Vollbringung dessen, was Er dir geboten, zollst du allein die Huldigung, die Er von dir erwartet. Die Mizwot, die Er dir geboten, und wie Er sie dir geboten, sind der Ausdruck seines Willens an dich und sagen dir, was Er von dir erwartet und was du zu tun hast, um dein Leben auf Erden seinem Wohlgefallen gemäß zu gestalten. Wie sie nicht die Eingebungen deines Beliebens, sondern das Diktat deines Gottes sind, so hast du auch nichts an ihnen zu modeln, hast nichts hinzuzufügen und nichts abzulassen. Mit jedem Mehr oder Minder sind sie eben das Diktat deines Gottes nicht mehr (siehe zu Kap. 4. 2. — ע׳׳ן דמב׳׳ם הל׳ ציצית פ׳׳א ט׳׳ן פלוגתא דרמב׳׳ם וראב׳׳ד)

לא תוסף עליו, “do not add thereto;” the letter ס here has the vowel tzeyre under it.עליו, additional numbers of sheep, goats of bulls to the offerings. Neither must you add other categories of offerings, such as your sons or daughters.

תשמרו לעשות OBSERVE TO DO — This statement is intended to attach also a prohibition (לאו) to the positive commands mentioned in this section (Sifrei Devarim 82:2), for wherever השמר is used it is a term that implies a prohibition, but the difference between this and an ordinary prohibition is that flagellation is not inflicted for infringing a prohibition resulting from the use of the term השמר in connection with a positive command.

ולא תגרע ממנו, even if, in your judgment, the rationale for observing the commandment in question no longer applies, is no longer relevant. An example would be Solomon’s reasoning that the restrictions placed by the Torah on the number of wives a king may have did not apply to him as none of these wives could possibly incite him to turn away from G’d. (compare Sanhedrin 21).

ולא תגרע ממנו, “neither are you to detract from the categories of offerings” designated by the Torah.

לא תסף עליו THOU SHALT NOT ADD THERETO — as, for instance, to place five chapters in the Tephillin, to employ five species of fruit and plants in the fulfilment of the command of Lulab, to recite four instead of three blessings in the Benedictions of the priests (Sifrei Devarim 82:4; cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 4:2).