Komentarz do Powtórzonego Prawa 20:18

למען אשר לא ילמדו [BUT THOU SHALT DOOM THEM TO DESTRUCTION …] THAT THEY TEACH YOU NOT TO DO [AFTER THEIR ABOMINATIONS] — Consequently if they repent of their abominations and wish to become proselytes you are allowed to accept them as such (Sifrei Devarim 202:1).

THAT THEY TEACH YOU NOT TO DO AFTER ALL THEIR ABOMINATIONS, WHICH THEY HAVE DONE UNTO THEIR GODS. The purport thereof is that they will teach you to worship the Glorious Name³⁵³Further, 28:58. with the burning of your sons and daughters and every abomination to the Eternal, which He hateth,³⁵⁴Above, 12:31. and so ye sin against the Eternal your G-d³⁵⁵In Verse 18 before us. Who has warned you against saying, How used these nations to serve their gods? even so will I do likewise.³⁵⁶Above, 12:30. Now the Torah warned them, They shall not dwell in thy Land, lest they make thee sin against Me, for thou wilt serve their gods, for they will be a snare unto thee,³³¹Exodus 23:33. which is an admonition against idolatry, for if you make a covenant with them and their gods, they will dwell in your Land and many of them will entice you to worship the idols. He added here to explain that thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth,³²¹Verse 16. for even one of them that remains among you to serve you, will remind you of the worship of their gods and perhaps you will be persuaded to do so to the Glorious Name³⁵³Further, 28:58. and you will sin against Him, blessed be He.

למען אשר לא ילמדו אתכם לעשות, וגו', “so that they will not teach you to act, etc.” so that they will not teach you how to worship Hashem by burning your children in His honour, as they do to their respective deities. Actually, the Torah had already warned the people not to allow these former inhabitants of the land of Canaan to remain in their land, as Hashem was afraid they would lead the Israelites to sin by adopting part of the religious mores that had prevailed in that land. (Exodus 23,33) This was part of the prohibition not to enter into any pact or alliance with those people, because, if they felt secure, they would remain behind in large numbers. Moses reinforces that original command by adding that the Israelites must not allow any of those former inhabitants of the land of Canaan to survive, without ifs or buts. Even individuals allowed to survive pose a spiritual danger to his environment. Observing such a person performing his cult arouses curiosity among the onlookers.

This infers that if they repent, etc. You might ask: If they repent and convert it is obvious that one may be received, so what is the verse teaching us? One answer is that it is teaching us that one is permitted to receive them even if they only accepted upon themselves the seven Noachide mitzvos. (Re”m). Another answer is that one may have thought that they may not be received even if they repented and converted, for perhaps they converted only out of fear but they did not fully repent. So it teaches us [otherwise].

V. 18. הא למדת שאם היו חוזרין בתשובה היו :למען אשר לא ילמדו אתכם מקבלין אותן die Vernichtung war nur geboten, wenn sie mit ihren polytheistischen Entartungen im Lande ein verführerisches Beispiel bleiben, nicht aber, wenn sie zu der allgemein menschlichen Sittenpflicht zurückkehren wollten (ספרי und Sota 35 a; siehe oben).