Komentarz do Powtórzonego Prawa 27:12

לברך את העם [THESE SHALL STAND UP …] TO BLESS THE PEOPLE — The procedure was as is found in Treatise Sotah 32a: Six tribes ascended the top of Mount Gerizim and the other six the top of Mount Ebal, the priests, the Levites and the Ark remaining below in the midst (i.e. in the valley between). The Levites turned their faces towards Mount Gerizim and began to recite the blessing: “Blessed be the man that does not make any graven or molten image etc.”, and both these and those (the tribes on Mount Gerizim and those on Mount Ebal) answered “Amen”! Then they turned their faces towards Mount Ebal and began to recite the curse, saying: “Cursed be the man who maketh any graven [or molten image]” — and so in the case of all of them (the curses set forth here) till the last: “Cursed be he that does not uphold [all the words of this law to do them]” (cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 11:29).

'אלה יעמדו לברך וגו, according to the plain meaning the tribes mentioned forthwith were to confirm what the Levites said by answering Amen. The Levites, when pronouncing the respective blessings or curses, would face Mount Gerizim when intoning the blessings, and Mount Eyval when intoning the curses. (Sotah 32)

אלה יעמדו לברך. “These are to stand (on Mount Gerizim) to bless the people.” Our sages (in Sotah 32) state that the blessing consisted of: “Blessed be the man who has not made a hewn image, etc.,” whereas the curse consisted of the words spelled out in verses 15-26. Six tribes whose ancestors were sons of either Leah or Rachel stood on the mountain facing which the blessing was pronounced, whereas the sons of Zilpah and Bilhah as well as Reuven and Zevulun stood on Mount Eyval, in whose direction the curses were pronounced in order to complete the number of six tribes required to stand there. The reason the tribe of Shimon was also associated with the tribes in whose direction the blessings were pronounced was that the Torah lists here eleven different curses and the Torah wanted to avoid pronouncing a curse in his direction. Moses decreed that all the tribes receive a blessing, seeing, however, that the tribe of Shimon was not deserving of a blessing on account of Zimri its leader who had caused so much death amongst his own people, he wanted to at least not make it appear as if he were being cursed, i.e. of associating the word ארור with something pronounced in his direction. Had he allowed this to occur Shimon would have been beyond redemption (Rashi in the name of Rabbi Moshe Hadarshan).
Our sages in Sifri Vezot Habrachah item 348, claim that the blessing of the tribe of Yehudah contained within it an allusion to a blessing for the tribe of Shimon, seeing that Shimon’s tribal territory was described as an enclave within that of the tribe of Yehudah. The fact that the tribe of Reuven was placed on the mountain in whose direction the curses were pronounced does not constitute something negative against this tribe. I believe that this was the final part of the apology for the episode described in the Torah involving Reuven and Bilhah. Cursing someone who sleeps with the wife of his father (verse 20) was meant to draw our attention to the fact that actually Reuven had never been guilty of that sin. This is why the sages of the Midrash (Yalkut Shimoni Vayechi 157) claim that Yaakov, his father, had already told him that the stigma which had attached itself to him on account of what is described as יצועי עלה in Genesis 49,4 would not be totally removed from him until the one (leader Moses) of whom the Torah had written עלה, “arise!” would come. As soon as Moses arranged for the tribe of Reuven to take his place among the tribes facing the pronouncement of the curses, Reuven’s stigma had been completely wiped out. What occurred at Mount Eival enabled our sages to say (Shabbat 58) that anyone accusing Reuven of having committed the sin of sleeping with his father’s wife is in error.
What precisely was the arraignment of the respective tribes like on these two mountains? Our sages in Sotah 32 have described it in these words: “6 tribes ascended the top of Mount Gerizim whereas 6 other tribes ascended the top of Mount Eyval. The priests and Levites took up their position in the valley separating these two mountains. The priests would surround the Holy Ark. The Levites would surround the priests. The Israelites would be on either side of them (on the mountain). This is the meaning of ‘and all of Israel its elders and law-enforcers and judges would stand on either side of the Holy Ark facing the Priests who carried the Ark of the Covenant’ (Joshua 8,33). The Priests and Levites turned their faces in the direction of Mount Gerizim, beginning to recite the blessing, commencing with the words: ‘blessed be the man who has not constructed a hewn image, etc.’ The tribes standing on both mountains would respond by chanting “Amen.” The blessings were followed by the curses, a similar procedure being followed.” After completion of this ceremony they brought the stones and built an altar of them, covering the altar with plaster and inscribing on it the entire Torah in seventy languages. This is proven by verse 8, i.e. באר היטב. After this they took the stones with them returning to their assigned place for the night (Gilgal). Thus far the wording of the Mishnah. [The difficulty in all this is the distance from Gilgal to Mount Eival and the impossibility to accomplish all this within a day without miracle. (Compare the various commentators of the Mishnah), Ed.]

The Levi’im directed their faces toward Mount Gerizim, and began the blessing, etc. You might ask: It is written “(The following will stand to bless the people, etc.) Shimon and Levi and Yehudah, [and Yisachar and Yoseif and Binyomin,]” and this implies that these six tribes said the blessing, not only the tribe of Levi! The answer is that that it is written, “And the following will stand on (על) the curse at Mount Eival.” “On the curse” must mean “next to the curse,” that is, that the Levi'im turned their faces to them and therefore they are called “next to” [the Levi'im] more than those standing on Mount Gerizim, even though the Levi'im were equidistant from both. You cannot explain the verse according to its straightforward meaning, because you cannot say “the following will stand on the curse,” as a curse is not something tangible that can be stood upon. Therefore, (על) must mean “next to the curse,” i.e. next to those who say the curse. All this indicates that they themselves did not say the curses. Consequently, when it says [earlier], “These will stand to bless, etc.,” here too the tribes are not the ones who are actually saying the blessings. And now it is logical to say that they [the ones who said the blessing] were the tribe of Levi because it is written, “The Levi’im are to respond, etc.,” and it is written afterwards [i.e. it says regarding those who stand by the curse who are mentioned after those who stand by the blessing] that they themselves did not say the blessing. You might ask: [If so], what is the meaning of what is written, “The following will stand to bless the people, etc.,” which implies that they themselves said the blessings”? The answer is that it means that the following should stand next to the Levi'im on Mount Gerizim when the Levi'im stand to bless the people, Shimon, etc. (This I found in the name of one of the gedolim). It seems to me that his proof [that the Levites said the blessing] is because it is written, “The Levi’im are to respond and say to every man of Yisroel, etc.” This indicates that the Levi'im said the curses, and similarly they are the ones who said the blessings, because before saying “cursed is the man” they would say “blessed is the man.” You cannot say that when it is written, “The Levi'im are to respond” it means that the Levi'im proclaim [the blessing] first, and the people [respond] after them, because if so it should have said, “The Levi'im and every man of Yisroel are to proclaim and say, etc.” And also, what is the meaning of the verse “say to every man of Yisroel” if they [Yisroel] themselves were among those saying the curse? Perforce the Levi'im were the ones who said the blessings and curses, and they directed their faces as Rashi explains. And when it says, “The following will stand to bless the people, etc.,” it is as if it said, “These will stand on Mount Gerizim when the Levi'im come to bless the people.” And who are the ones to stand on Mount Gerizim? “Shimon and Levi, etc.” You might ask that it is written, “The following will stand to bless the people, etc. Levi and Yehudah, etc.,” which indicates that Levi too stood on Mount Gerizim just like the other tribes, so how could Rashi explain that “the kohanim and Levi’im and the ark [were] below, at the center”? The answer is that there are two kinds of Levi'im, those who are fit to serve, which is until they reach fifty years, and those who are not fit to serve, which is from fifty upwards. Those who were fit to serve stood below, while those who were not fit to serve stood on the mountain (Beraisa in Chapter Eilu Ne'emarin, Sotah 37a).

VV. 12 u. 13. אלה יעמדו וגו׳ על הר גריזים וגו׳ ואלה וגו׳ (siehe zu Kap. 11, 29 u. 30).

אלה יעמדו, “the following are to stand, etc.;” all the tribes that stood on the mountain listening to the blessings were descended from Yaakov’s principal wives Leah and Rachel. Seeing that Leah had so many sons, they took the oldest and the youngest of these and placed them with the four tribes that were descended from the auxiliary wives. Leah’s oldest son who had been under suspicion of having committed an inappropriate act with one of Yaakov’s auxiliary wives was placed there so that the curse on people sleeping with their neighbour’s, or their father’s wives would be impressed on the descendants of his who heard it.

לברך את העם, nicht die ברכה zu empfangen, sondern sie über die Volksgesamtheit auszusprechen. Ebenso יעמדו על הקללה ist nicht ein passives Stehen, um über sich den קללה-Ausspruch ergehen zu lassen, sondern bezeichnet ein mitwirkendes Beistandleisten bei der Ausführung einer Aufgabe. So העומדים על הפקודים (Bamidbar. 6, 2) von den Fürsten, die Mosche und Aharon bei der Volkszählung Beistand zu leisten hatten (daselbst Kap. 1, 5). Wie zu V. 11 bemerkt, sollte ja das Volk selbst ברכה וקללה aussprechen. Es sollte daher auch äußerlich durch Aufstellung sichtbar gemacht sein, dass die Leviten (V. 14) Segen und Fluch nicht eben in selbständiger Vertretung des Gesetzes über das Volk, sondern als Vertreter des Volkes und Namens desselben, somit das Volk über sich selber, aussprachen. Daher sprachen sie die Aussprüche nicht etwa von einer Höhe herab über das Volk, sondern das Volk hatte in zwei Hälften auseinander zu treten und in deren Mitte standen die Leviten. Was von diesen gesprochen wurde, war daher aus der Mitte des Volkes selbst herausgesprochen, und durch allseitiges "Amen" wurde der Ausspruch der Leviten zum Ausspruch der ganzen Nation (siehe Bereschit 15, 6 und Bamidbar 5, 22).

לברך את העם, “to bless the people;” the following tribes are to stand on Mount Gerizim, etc.” Rashi following the Mishnah tractate Sotah, folio 32, comments that six tribes ascended Mount Gerizim, and 6 tribes ascended Mount Eyval, the priests and that the Levites were standing at the respective bases of these two mountains. On the other hand, the opinion of Rabbi there, is that both the twelve tribes and the Levites stood at the base of the mountains as described in the Book of Joshua, the latter standing next to the Holy Ark. (Joshua 8,33) According to Rabbi, what has been described in Deuteronomy 11,29 means that the other tribes stood near each of those two mountains. The word על mentioned there, means the same as in Exodus 40, 3: וסכות על הארון, “you will screen the Ark with it.”Rabbi Eliezer, son of Yaakov, in tractate Sotah 37, claims that it is impossible that the members of the tribe stood at the base of these mountains as they had already been included as one of the tribes that stood on the mountain in our verse here, [which was written long before the one in Joshua 8,33. Ed.] At the same time, the verse in Joshua 8,33 clearly appears to contradict this. How are we to resolve this apparent contradiction? According to Rabbi Yoshiah, the Levites who were potentially fit to carry the Holy Ark, i.e. the ones 30 years and older but below the age of 50, stood at the base of the mountain, next to the Holy Ark, whereas the other Levites stood on Mount Gerizim. Rashi further comments on our verse here, that the Levites standing at the base faced the six tribes standing on top of Mount Gerizim commenced blessing the six tribes, using the text written for the curses but inverting it by saying that all the people not guilty of the sins described in our chapter are blessed.

In der gewöhnlichen Aufzählung der Stämme, wie Schmot 1, 2 — 4, stehen die acht Söhne Leas und Rahels zusammen — (Josef fehlt dort, da er bereits in Ägypten war) — und dann die vier Söhne Bilhas und Silpas. Sollte hier das Volk in zwei Hälften auseinandertreten, um die Leviten in ihre Mitte aufzunehmen, so mussten zwei von jenen acht Stämmen zu diesen vier hinübertreten. Um nun den Schein einer jeden Rangverschiedenheit dieser beiden Hälften zu meiden, sollten die Stämme des ältesten und jüngsten Sohnes Leas, Reuben und Sebulun, zu den von Bilha und Silpa stammenden treten. Daher die Gruppierung: Simon, Levi, Jehuda, Jißachar, Josef und Binjamin einerseits, und andererseits: Reuben, Gad, Ascher, Sebulun, Dan, Naftali. Um aber auch dem leisesten Schein zu begegnen, als werde die קללה über die בני השפחות-Gruppe ausgesprochen, hatten diese gerade ihre Stellung am Ebal zu nehmen, so dass die קללה-Aussprüche nicht an sie, sondern von ihnen ausgesprochen erschienen. Sie waren die עומדים על הקללה, und von בני אמהות-Seite wurden die ברכות ihnen zugesprochen.