Komentarz do Powtórzonego Prawa 29:32

AND MOSES CALLED ALL ISRAEL. The purport thereof is that after he finished telling them the words of the covenant he called them again, saying, “Hear, O Israel, Ye have seen etc.,” for they had not left him, since these sections are all connected.

ויקרא משה אל כל ישראל, Moses called out to the entire Jewish people, etc. Even though Moses had been addressing the whole Jewish people up until now also, he gathered the women and the children as well as the proselytes to prepare them for renewed acceptance of the covenant which is the subject of Parshat Nitzavim.

According to Nachmanides, after Moses had completed with the spelling out of the covenant between Israel and Hashem, he proclaimed the קריאת שמע, the declaration of the Jewish faith, once more. He reminded them of their visual experience of Hashem in action. They had not yet departed from that assembly. [We might have thought that the words ויקרא משה אל כל ישראל introduce a new assembly. Ed.]

Kap. 29. V. 1. ׳ויקרא וגו rief erst ganz Israel zur Beherzigung des folgenden auf:

אתם ראיתם. Unter dem in das Land ziehenden Geschlechte war doch noch ein großer Teil, welcher die Erlösung aus Mizrajim selbst mit erlebt hatte. Außer dem ganzen Stamm der Leviten und der Frauen, welche dem Verhängnis des Aussterbens in der Wüste nicht unterlagen, hatten doch auch unter der übrigen männlichen Bevölkerung alle im Alter zwischen vierzig und sechzig Stehenden den Auszug aus Ägypten mitgemacht. Es waren somit noch Augenzeugen in großer Anzahl in dem Mosche damals gegenwärtigen Geschlechte und rechtfertigt sich vollkommen die Anrede: אתם ראיתם usw.

לפרעה ולכל עבדיו ולכל ארצו, auch bei der Erzählung der über Mizrajim ergangenen Strafgerichte im zweiten B. M. werden überall, außer Fürst und Volk, die "Diener Pharaos", die königlichen Beamten, besonders genannt. Sind es doch eben die in einem Staate, die mit ihren Ratgebungen am meisten Einfluss auf den Fürsten und dessen Entschließungen zu üben pflegen und daher die größte Verantwortung für das Recht oder Unrecht zu tragen haben, das in einem Staate geschieht.

V. 2. המסות: Gottestaten, in welchen sich euch die Gottesmacht erprobte; אותות: Ereignisse, in denen sich Gott in seinem Wesen und Walten euch zeigte; מופתים: an Leib und Habe fühlbar werdende Gottesschickungen, in denen ihr Gott kennen lerntet, wie er durch Ungehorsam Ihn verleugnende Menschen und Völker zu besserer Erkenntnis und Unterordnung führen will (siehe Schmot zu Kap. 4, 21).

Deuteronomy 29:9: It appears to me to say the following about this verse: it says earlier in the Torah [in the previous chapter] that "...until this day, Hashem did not give you a heart to know, ear to hear, eye to see" [Deuteronomy 29:3]. [This means that] the entire service of Moshe Rabbeinu was for the Jewish people to hear all mitzvot from his mouth; his intent was to imbue their hearts with the power of holiness of Hashem with his holy words. The Shechina would speak from his throat, and the goal was that the Jewish people would not be able to transgress anything in the Torah. It says in the Torah, "just like snow comes from heaven and never returns... so, too, My words will not return empty-handed [Isaiah 55:10]. This was the level that Moshe spoke [to Hashem], and Hashem answered him [directly] with a voice and He wanted to place a holiness within him so that [listening to Moshe's words would] be equal to hearing them from Hashem. This is the meaning of the previous verse, "Hashem did not give you a heart to know...": The Jewish people were lifted up to a very lofty level after 4o years [of being in the desert], and it says "...on this day, you've become a people for G-d" [Deuteronomy 27:9]. [This means that] at the end [of the Jewish people's journey], when Moshe Rabbainu would speak, the experience was that of Mount Sinai (--of G-d speaking--) and thus the Torah would never be removed from their mouth. This is also explains the verse: "I heard the voice of my G-d and did according to all that was commanded me" [Deuteronomy 26:14]. "I heard to voice..." means that I did what G-d commanded and I'm listening now just like I did at Mount Sinai; I did all that I'm commanded and I haven't missed anything. [Moses] successfully elevated you so that you can stand before Hashem without any separation. Moshe Rabbainu expresses this covenant with everyone, not just the generation of the desert [Deuteronomy 29:14]. In the future of the generation, the tzaddik of the generation will also be speaking. This is [literally as if] Moshe Rabbainu [is speaking to you], which, [in turn, is as if] you're hearing it from G-d. As it says in the original verse, all will stand before G-d [meaning] in every future generation through the tzaddik.

ולא נתן ה' לכם לב לדעת YET THE LORD HATH NOT GIVEN YOU A HEART TO KNOW — i.e. to understand the loving-kindnesses of the Omnipresent and to cleave unto Him.

ולא נתן ה' לכם לב לדעת, even though He had tried by means of His teachings and His miracles to give the people a knowing heart, as we know from Exodus 10,20ולמען תספר.....וידעתם כי אני ה', “and in order that you will tell…and be aware that I am the Lord,” the lesson had not taken hold due to your overwhelming quarrelsomeness.

עד היום הזה, even though you have witnessed all His great deeds.

ואזנים לשמוע עד היום הזה, “and ears to listen, until this day.” The message is that a student does not truly appreciate the opinions and knowledge of his teacher until he reaches the age of 40. This is why the sages in Avot 5,27 characterize the attainment of the fortieth birthday as a time when one is granted בינה, a measure of insight.

To recognize Hashem’s benevolence, etc. But [the verse does not mean] not to know the great miracles and the signs and wonders, as the simple connotation of the verse implies, because regarding these the verse would not say “a knowledgeable mind, etc.”

V. 3. ולא נתן וגו׳ (siehe zu Kap. 28, 65). Alle diese euch bei eurer Entstehung zum Volke von Gott bereiteten Erfahrungen hätten genügen sollen, die Erkenntnis der Wahrheit von Gott, seiner Macht, seinem Wesen und Walten, seiner der sträflichen Verirrungen der Menschen und Völker nicht gleichgültig zuschauenden Gerechtigkeit, in euer "Herz" für immer zu pflanzen, auf dass ihr auf Grund dieser Erkenntnis die Welt und ihre Erscheinungen in ihrem wahren Lichte, mit ganz anderen "Augen" hättet anschauen, und eure "Ohren" bereitwillig und ausschließlich den Lehren der Wahrheit und der Pflicht hättet öffnen und damit zum Antritt der Verwirklichung eures Berufes als Gottesvolk im Gotteslande hättet befähigt sein sollen. Allein es hatten diese beim Auszuge aus Mizrajim gemachten Erfahrungen nicht genügt. Mit allem, was euch Gott da erleben ließ, hatte er euch noch kein לב לדעת ועינים לראות ואזנים לשמע gegeben, es musste noch alles das hinzukommen, was ihr seitdem עד היום הזה bis auf diesen Tag weiter erlebt habt.

ואזנים לשמוע עד היום הזה, “and ears with which to hear until this day.” This day is included in that statement.

עד היום הזה UNTO THIS DAY — I have heard that on the day when Moses gave the Book of the Law to the sons of Levi, as it is written, (Deuteronomy 31:9) “And he gave it to the priests the sons of Levi”, all Israel came before Moses and said to him: Teacher Moses, we, too, stood at Sinai and accepted the Torah, and it was given to us; why, then, do you give the people of your tribe control over it, that they may tomorrow say to us, “Not to you was it given, but to us was it given”? Moses rejoiced at this matter and in reference to this he said to them, (Deuteronomy 27:9) “This day have you become the people [of the Lord thy God]”, meaning, Only this day have I come to understand that you are attached to and have a desire for the Omnipresent.

I have heard: because on that day, etc.” Rashi is explaining how it is possible that before this they did not have eyes and ears.

How is it that you are empowering your fellow tribesmen over it, etc. That is, over the Torah.

ואולך אתכם, however, now that you have seen the vastness of His love for you and He has brought you to take possession of the lands of Sichon and Og, so that you are able to sustain yourselves by your own efforts, the time has come that you will finally possess the necessary sagacity, a heart which is knowledgeable.

VV. 4 u. 5. ואולך אתכם, es musste noch die vierzigjährige wunderbare Erhaltung in der Wüste hinzukommen למען תדעו כי אני ד׳ אלדיכם. Da Mosche der Redende ist, so kann sich das אני hier nicht auf den Redenden beziehen, sondern אני ד׳ ist zusammen das Subjekt von אלקיכם. Von dem ersten alle zweifelnden Fragen beantwortenden Ausspruch an Mosche (Schmot 6, 2) bildet ׳אני ד die ganze Erlösungsgeschichte hindurch das Objekt der Erkenntnis, welche die Offenbarungswundertaten Gottes vermitteln sollten, ׳וידעתם כי אני ד׳ ,בזאת תדע כי אני ד׳ ,וידעו מצרים כי אני ד usw. wie אני ד׳ dann auch die Signatur blieb, mit welcher Gott seine Gesetze besiegelte. Dass Er der einzige wirkliche und wahrhaftige, seine Persönlichkeit in sich tragende absolute eine ist, der sprechen kann אני אני הוא, das einzige wirkliche und wahrhaftige "Ich", und daß sein absolut freier Wille jeden kommenden Augenblick irgend eines Seins im Himmel und auf Erden bedingt, wie dies die Inhaltsfülle seines Namens ה׳ andeutet, das ist die Wahrheit, deren "Wissen" mit dem Hervortreten der Gottesmacht und des Gotteswillens in Mizrajim für Israels und der Menschheit Bewusstsein gegeben ist, und auf deren Basis Gott die Unverbrüchlichkeit und Folgenschwere seiner Gesetze gestellt. Es gehörte aber die ganze prüfungs- und erfahrungsreiche Wanderung durch die Wüste dazu, in Israel das "Wissen" für immer festzustellen, dass אני ד׳, eine/i: אלקינו ist, unsere Gesamtheit als solche und jeden einzelnen in ihr als solchen mit all unserem Gesamt- und Einzelgeschick, Tun und Lassen, Leiden und Vollbringen in jedem Augenblick überwacht und lenkt und prüft und richtet und fördert und hemmt, und der Einzige ist, dem wir alle zusammen und jeder einzelne für sich mit allem unserem Sein und Wollen für alle Zukunft hin uns zu eigen zu geben haben und zu eigen sind. Ich führte euch vierzig Jahre durch die Wüste, למען תדרעו, dass der in Mizrajim euch als אני ד׳ sich Bezeugende und als אני ד׳ sein Gesetz euch Besiegelnde אלקיכם ist, auf dass ihr mit diesem vollständigen "Wissen von Gott" eure Volkeszukunft im Lande antretet. — שלמתיכם Plural, נעלך Sing.: das Abtragen der Schuhe, namentlich der Sandalen, überhaupt der Sohlen, macht sich zunächst nur dem sie Tragenden fühlbar, während das Abtragen der Kleider allen in die Augen fällt. Vergleiche לא תקיפו פאת ראשכם ולא תשחית את פאת זקנך. (Kommentar zu Wajikra 29, 27).

YE HAVE NOT EATEN BREAD, NEITHER HAVE YE DRUNK WINE OR STRONG DRINK. The meaning thereof is “You have not eaten [sufficiently] thereof that you should be able to live by it,” for their principal sustenance was the manna. THAT YE MIGHT KNOW THAT I AM THE ETERNAL YOUR G-D Who keeps you alive miraculously. Now, it could not mean that they did not eat bread at all, as Scripture [says of Moses], I did neither eat bread nor drink water¹⁵¹Above 9:9. for on some occasions Israel did have bread in the wilderness, as it is written, Thou shalt sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink; as the children of Esau that dwell in Seir, and the Moabites that dwell in Ar, did unto me.¹⁵²Ibid., 2:28-29. And our Rabbis mentioned¹⁵³Yoma 75 b. that the merchants of the peoples of the world brought them [various foods] in the desert.
It is further possible that from the time the manna descended until they came to Seir they did not eat bread at all, for they travelled through the great and dreadful wilderness.¹⁵⁴Above, 8:15. But in the fortieth year they approached inhabited land, and it was said to them, Ye are to pass through the border of your brethren the children of Esau;¹⁵⁵Ibid., 2:3. Ye shall purchase food of them.¹⁵⁶Ibid., Verse 6. There it is written, these forty years the Eternal thy G-d hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.¹⁵⁷Ibid., Verse 7. And from that time on, the Edomites and the Moabites¹⁵⁸See Ramban above, 23:5. met them with food and drink and prominent Israelites would buy from them for pleasure, not for necessity, nor for satiety, because their principal sustenance was [still] the manna.
Nitzavim

לחם לא אכלתם ויין ושכר לא שתיתם, “you ate neither bread nor drank wine or other alcoholic drink;” Nachmanides writes that Moses meant that the people, during the last forty years, had not subsisted on the food relied on by ordinary human beings, but they had subsisted exclusively on the manna, the “bread” that came down from heaven.

למען תדעו כי אני ה' אלוקיכם, in order that you will know that I am the Lord your G-d.” Moses had not spoken these words (i.e. at his own initiative), but from the words: ואלך אתכם at the beginning of verse 4, until the end of this Parshah, we are reading G-d’s word, as our sages have already explained on Exodus 32,13, in respect of the words: וכל הארץ הזאת אשר אמרתי, “and this whole land of which I have spoken;” we would actually have expected there the word: אמרת, “which You spoke of,” as Moses had been the speaker at the beginning of that verse.” The truth is that as far as there we read the words of the student, from there on we read the words of the Teacher.

למען תדעו כי אני ה' אלוקיכם, “in order to convince you beyond any doubt that I am the Lord your G’d.” Moses means that Hashem had kept them alive by miraculous means during all these years. The word לחם in this paragraph is not to be understood in the same way as when Moses told the people that during the forty days he spent on Mount Sinai he had neither eaten לחם nor drunk מים. Moses meant that he had not eaten or drunk anything during his stay on the Mountain, had led an “angel-like” existence. The people of Israel, even while in the desert, had tasted bread on occasion, such as when they had bought flour from some surrounding nation, but they had not needed it for their survival. Moses himself is on record as reminding the people that the Edomites had sold them food and drink. (Deut. 2,28-29) Our sages (Yuma 75) have said that the merchants of the whole region were offering to sell food and drink to the Israelites in the desert. It is also possible that the period when the Israelites subsisted exclusively on a diet of manna began 30 days after the Exodus when the manna fell for the first time, and it continued into the fortieth year when the Edomites sold them food and drink, around the time when they made war against Sichon, after which they possessed normal lands, land on which crops were growing and on which cattle were grazing. At that time G’d had said to Moses: (Deut. 2,4) “command the people you are passing through the territory of your brethren the children of Esau you may buy food from them and you may dig for water in their soil, etc.” In that context the Torah had also written that G’d had blessed them during the forty years they traversed a fearsome desert, etc. From that point onwards the people had enjoyed access to normal food and drink, but presumably in very limited quantities. Whatever normal food they consumed, or the wealthy ones among them consumed, was in the nature of indulging themselves, not something they relied on for survival. Their basic food continued to be the manna until they crossed the river Jordan.

ותבאו אל המקום הזה AND YOU CAME TO THIS PLACE — Now you see yourselves in greatness and glory (you have defeated Sihon and Og); do not rebel against the Omnipresent nor let your hearts be proud, ושמרתם את דברי הברית הזאת BUT KEEP THE WORDS OF THIS COVENANT. — Another explanation of AND THE LORD HAS NOT GIVEN YOU A HEART TO UNDERSTAND [UNTO THIS DAY] — for no-one can fathom the depths of his teacher’s mind nor the wisdom of his teaching until after forty years of study under him. Therefore the Omnipresent has not dealt with you so strictly until this day (after forty years’ instruction of the Torah), but from now and onward He will deal strictly with you — therefore ושמרתם את דברי הברית הזאת וגו׳ KEEP THE WORDS OF THIS COVENANT etc. (Avodah Zarah 5b).

You now view yourselves in prominence and glory, etc. And “to this place” means to this situation, i.e., this importance and greatness. According to the “another interpretation” too, it means to this importance. However, according to the first interpretation that explained “a knowledgeable mind” as meaning “To recognize Hashem’s benevolence,” that all your virtues, greatness and glory are from the Omniscient, the verse means: Since you have come to this level of recognizing that all your success is from the Omniscient and not from your hands, it is fitting that you observe the tenets of this covenant in order to succeed in everything you do. According to the second interpretation that explained “a knowledgeable mind” as meaning a mind to know and fathom his master's wisdom, the verse means: Since you have come to this level of fathoming Hashem's wisdom, from now on He will be exacting with you in observing mitzvos. Therefore it is fitting that you guard the tenets of this covenant, which are Hashem's mitzvos in order for you to succeed and not stumble in all that you do. Re”m writes: But I do not how to fit in the verse “Sichon, king of Cheshbon, came out, etc.” between “Then when you came to this place” and “You are to guard, etc.,” because they [these two latter verses] are connected to one another. I think one can answer according to the first interpretation that explained, “You now view yourselves in greatness and glory,” [as follows: As an example of this viewing yourself in prominence and glory], you recognized Hashem's benevolence when “He struck great kings, Sichon and Og, Kings of the Emori, for his benevolence is everlasting” (Tehillim 136). Therefore, “do not rebel, etc.” And according to the second interpretation, the explanation is as follows: Now that you have reached this level of fathoming His wisdom, which is the Torah and the mitzvah, and also understand that you can gain every success through keeping the Torah and mitzvos, that enabled you to smite the two kings of the Emori, therefore from now on it is only fitting that you guard the tenets, etc., in order to succeed in all that you will do. And if not you will not succeed because from now on He will be exacting.

VV. 6 u. 7. ותבאו וגו׳. Und bereits seid ihr auch aus der anomalen Besitzund Hilflosigkeit der Wüste in den Anfang eines von einem eigenen Menschenboden getragenen normalen Volkesdaseins übergetreten und habt dieses "eures Gottes" Beistand im Sieg über die mächtigen Könige Sichon und Og und in der Gewinnung ihres Landes erfahren:

ושמרתם את דברי הברית הזאת, the one you will accept at Mount Gerizim and Mount Eyval.

V. 8. ושמרתם וגו׳. Wohlan, alle diese Erfahrungen, die ihr in Mizrajim und in der Wüste gemacht, und die euer "Wissen" von Gott und von seiner das Geschick der Menschen und Völker tragenden und seine Verheißungen wahrmachenden Waltungsallmacht unerschütterlich fest gestellt haben müssen, alle sie nehmet zusammen und würdigt nach ihnen דברי הברית הזאת, den Inhalt dieser mit absoluter ברית-Entschiedenheit (Bereschit 6, 18) von Gott festgestellten, lediglich von eurem Verhalten bedingten Alternative der Blüte oder des Untergangs, die ich euch verkündet nach allem, was ihr erfahren, wisst ihr, dass kein Wort dieses ברית unerfüllt bleiben wird — dann

ושמרתם את דברי הברית הזאת, “observe therefore the words of this covenant;” you are obligated to do so in light of all the favours the Lord has done for you as recorded earlier.

למען תשכילו את כל אשר תעשון, so that you will be successful both in your life on earth in all your undertakings, as well as achieving your goal to live on eternally in the world beyond physical death.

ושמרתם וגו׳, dann werdet ihr die Worte dieses ברית nicht außer Augen verlieren und in allem euren Tun sie euch zur Richtschnur dienen lassen, damit תשכילו את כל אשר תעשון. Es ist, wie uns scheint, durchaus keine Veranlassung, השכיל in irgend einer Stelle in der Bedeutung von: Beglücken zu nehmen. Die natürliche Bedeutung einer Betätigung des Verstandes und der Vernunft reicht überall aus. השכיל דרך heißt überall: seinen Wandel vernünftig gestalten, vernünftig wandeln. Auch hier ist gesagt: wenn ihr die Worte dieses ברית außer Augen lasset, so werdet ihr nicht nur unrecht, sondern auch unvernünftig, unklug handeln. Nach allem, was ihr erfahren, wisst ihr ja, dass euer Wohl und Weh von deren gewissenhaften Beachtung abhängt.

אתם נצבים YE ARE STANDING THIS DAY [ALL OF YOU BEFORE THE LORD] — This teaches that Moses assembled them in the presence of the Omnipresent on the day of his death, in order to initiate them into a covenant with Him.

YE ARE STANDING THIS DAY ALL OF YOU BEFORE THE ETERNAL YOUR G-D. The meaning thereof is that you are standing and ready before G-d to be initiated into His covenant. For, in order to accept the Torah with its interpretation, they had gathered before him [Moses], or they may have stood before the ark of G-d. The covenant was the oath and imprecation which he mentioned — that thou shouldest enter into the covenant of the Eternal thy G-d, and into His oath.¹Verse 11. It is possible that he made another covenant with them like the first covenant which he made with them at Mount Sinai,²Exodus 24:4-5. namely, that he offered a burnt-offering on their behalf, and took half of the blood to sprinkle upon the altar and he sprinkled half of the blood upon the people, but it was unnecessary for him to mention this. And by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], I have already informed you of [the secret of] this covenant.³See Ramban to Leviticus 26:12.

אתם נצבים היום, "You are standing today, etc." We have to analyse what these words are meant to tell us. Besides, why did Moses have to single out ראשיכם, טפכם, "your heads and your children," and did not simply say כלכם, "all of you?" Moreover, what was the reason for this covenant? Just a few lines ago (28,69) Moses had written: "these are the words of the covenant, etc." If Moses was anxious to include what is written in this portion in the covenant, he should have written this chapter sooner and everything would have been included in what are described as "the words of the covenant in 28,69."

אתם נצבים היום כולכם, as we know from verse 1:'ויקרא משה את כל ישראל וגו

אתם נצבים...לפני ה' אלוקיכם , so that anyone who is capable of misleading me cannot mislead Him. You will accept this covenant in His presence, on His authority, not merely on mine.

אתם נצבים ....ראשיכם שבטיכם, “You are standing…. The heads of your tribes, etc.” Rashi understands this verse as referring to ”the heads of your tribes,” as if the Torah had written לשבטיכם. Nachmanides interprets the grammatical anomaly differently. The word כלכם, “all of you,” is to be understood as a headline, whereas with the words ראשיכם Moses begins to enumerate the different groups of people that are made up by the term כלכם, “all of you.” He understands the words: זקניכם ושוטריכם as meaning that the elders and the law-enforcers are the ones who constitute the people’s heads. Moses had first referred to as ראשיכם, “your heads.” An elderly, white-haired person is normally considered as the “head” of the community in which he resides, [when there was such a thing as a patriarchal society. Ed.] Moreover, anyone who has been endowed by the people with a degree of administrative power is considered part of the “heads of the people.” Moses adds that the entire people were present down to the youngest members, the טף, and even recent proselytes. The latter were the surviving members of the ערב רב, the mixed multitude that had climbed on the Jewish bandwagon at the Exodus. Moses also divides the people into social strata, that is why he points out that even the lowest social strata, the choppers of wood and the carriers of water, were present on the occasion mentioned. Everyone present was included in the covenant, and, as we shall hear shortly, even the as yet unborn. Quite possibly, Moses considered that the very presence of even the infants ensured that they too received credit for wanting to be included in this covenant, similar to the interpretation by our sages that the reason why the mothers brought their small children was in order to hear the king or the High Priest read the Torah publicly once in seven years on the second day of the Sukkot festival, the occasion known as Hakhel. Our sages, (Tanchuma among others) some of whom feel that there were isolated cases of Canaanites wanting to convert to Judaism even while the Israelites were still in the desert, say that these are the ones described here as hewers of wood and carriers of water. Although Moses did not make a treaty with them, he accepted them as slaves and they had undertaken to observe the seven commandments applicable to all of mankind. The difference between those and the Gibeonites in the days of Joshua, was that the latter deceived the Israelites by misrepresenting their origin. The former simply wanted to make peace with the Jews, as they would have had an opportunity to do prior to an attack on them.

This teaches that Moshe gathered them, etc. You might ask: From where does Rashi know this? Perhaps he did not gather them but rather each one remained in his encampment and Moshe stood in the middle? Furthermore, why does Rashi explain To introduce them into the covenant”? This is explicitly written in the verse? The answer is that he explains to introduce them into the covenant as this proves that he gathered them together, since one cannot make a covenant except through a rite of passage as we see later (v. 11). If so, since the verse writes that He introduced them into a covenant, Moshe must have uprooted them from their place and gathered them together, in order to perform this rite of passage with them into the covenant.

VV. 9 u. 10. אתם נצבים. Mosche unterbrach die Verkündung der nationalen Zukunft, um, wie wir zu Kap. 28, 69 bemerkt, durch Erinnerung an erlebte Tatsachen die gerechte Würdigung der bis dahin gegebenen Segen- und Fluchverkündigung zu veranlassen und durch einige Erläuterungen eine missverstehende Auffassung derselben zu verhüten. Die Tatsachen, auf welche hingewiesen werden sollte, sind Verse 1 — 8 enthalten; hier, Verse 9 — 20, folgen nun die Erläuterungen. Verse 9 — 14 begegnen dem Missverständnis einer etwaigen Beschränkung der Bundesverpflichtung zum Gesetze auf bestimmte Stände und Geschlechter oder auf bestimmte Zeit. Vielmehr wird der Bund und der Eid für alles, was zu Israel zählt, und für alle Folgegeschlechter ausgesprochen. Verse 15 — 20 wird dem Irrtum begegnet, als ob die Segen- und Unsegenverkündigungen nur den nationalen Abfall im Auge hätten und somit der einzelne sich einen Freipass für ein gesetzwidriges Leben ausstellen könnte, so lange die Gesamtheit als solche Gott und seinem Gesetze die Treue hält. Dieser verderbliche Irrtum dürfte umsomehr ins Auge zu fassen gewesen sein, da Kap. 27 vor dem Auseinandergehen der Volksgesamtheit in die vereinzelnde Niederlassung im Lande gerade die bleibende Zusammenhörigkeit und die solidarische Verpflichtung aller für die Aufrechthaltung und Erfüllung des Gesetzes ausgesprochen worden war, so dass der einzelne mit der pflichtgetreuen Führung seines Einzellebens seine Aufgabe nimmer als gelöst betrachten konnte, wenn er nicht voll das Seinige für die Aufrechthaltung und Erfüllung des Gesetzes in dem ganzen Kreise seiner Gesamtheit getan hatte, daher ja auch Kap. 28 durch die ברכות und קללות, insbesondere die letzteren, wie wir bemerkt, dem einzelnen fühlbar zum Bewusstsein gebracht wurde, wie herb seine Mitleidenschaft sich gestalten könnte, wenn er dem Gesamtabfall und dem damit drohenden Gesamtruin gleichgültig zuschauen würde. Da war denn auch eine irrtümliche Auffassung der anderen Seite der Solidarität nahe gelegt, dass der einzelne für sein Heil genug getan haben könnte, wenn er das Gesetz als Gesamtanliegen gebührend aufrecht zu halten mitgewirkt, sein Einzelleben aber der Herrschaft des göttlichen Gesetzes entzogen hätte; sein Teil an dem Gesamtsegen, dürfte er glauben, bliebe ihm gesichert, wenn auch sein Einzelleben das prüfende Gottesauge nicht ertrüge. Dieser verderblichen Selbsttäuschung treten die Verse 15-20 entgegen.

אתם נצבים היום כולכם, “you are all standing at attention this day;” all at the same time; ordinary Israelites, judges, law enforcers. היום כולכם, “all of you as a unified congregation.”

אתם נצבים היום כולכם, “you are standing this day all of you;” all of you regardless of your social standing in the community are equally standing facing the Lord, in order to enter into the new covenant. (see verse 11). This had already been announced by Moses in the verses of our chapter leading up to this point.

ראשיכם שבטיכם means as much as ראשיכם לשבטיכם YOUR HEADS OF YOUR TRIBES.

ראשיכם שבטיכם זקניכם ושוטריכם, the people Moses describes as ראשיכם, are those who are heads of their tribes, elsewhere referred to as נשיאים, “princes. The term ראשalways includes the people who wield authority. זקניכם, your judges. ושוטריכם, the law enforcers empowered by the judges to enforce their judgments. Each one of these categories of people have the duty to teach the people (within the parameters of their special competence) how much better it is for them to accept Torah law than to defy it or neglect it.

On the day that he died, to introduce them into the covenant. Since it is written this day it implies, this day my years are complete, i.e., this day I will die. ([See] Re”m). Alternatively, if you do not say this, why did he gather them now more than during the entire forty years? It is understandable if it was the day of his death, because if not now, then when? But if it was not the day of his death, why [do it] now more than the entire forty years?

It appears that what Moses wanted with this new covenant was to make the Israelites responsible for one another in their מצוה-performance. Each Jew has to see to it that his fellow Jew does not stumble and commit sins. The proof that this is what Moses had in mind here is to be found in verse 28 of our chapter where the Israelites are relieved of their responsibility when the nature of the sin committed is one that is secret. The Torah emphasises הנגלות, "publicly committed sins," must be dealt with by ourselves. It is clear that that verse speaks of the mutual responsibility of one Jew for the conduct of another. Naturally, the degree to which we have to carry out this responsibility varies with our position in the community.

RASHEICHEM SHIVTEICHEM.’ In the opinion of Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra this means rasheichem rashei shivteichem (“your heads, the heads of your tribes”),⁴Since a noun in the construct form cannot have a pronoun suffix, the term rasheichem cannot mean “your heads of.” Therefore Ibn Ezra adds the words rashei, interpreting the phrase as “your heads, ‘the heads of’ your tribes.” See Vol. IV, p. 115, Note 283 for the same principle as applied to another example. like and the prophecy of Oded the prophet⁵Chronicles 15:8. Here the point is that a noun in the construct form cannot have the prefix hei indicating the definite article. Hence the word v’hanevuah cannot mean “and the prophecy of.” We must therefore add the word nevuath, meaning: “and the prophecy, ‘a prophecy of’ Oded.” See Vol. IV, p. 115, Note 284 where the same example is mentioned. [which means “and the prophecy, the prophecy of Oded the prophet”].⁵Chronicles 15:8. Here the point is that a noun in the construct form cannot have the prefix hei indicating the definite article. Hence the word v’hanevuah cannot mean “and the prophecy of.” We must therefore add the word nevuath, meaning: “and the prophecy, ‘a prophecy of’ Oded.” See Vol. IV, p. 115, Note 284 where the same example is mentioned.
In my opinion the verse generalizes and then specifies. The generalization is: “your heads and all your tribes,” and then it specifies your elders, and your officers who are your heads, for the elder and the man of rank, he is the head.⁶Isaiah 9:14. Similarly, he stated Assemble unto me all the elders of your tribes, and your officers,⁷Further 31:28. for any person who has authority and appointive power over the public is called rosh (head). Thus it is said of the princes [of the tribes], they were ‘the heads of’ the thousands of Israel,⁸Numbers 1:16. for they were the highest rank of all the thousands of Israel. And it is stated of the spies, [all of them were] ‘heads of’ the children of Israel,⁹Ibid., 13:3. meaning they were “among” the heads of the children of Israel, not the heads of all the children of Israel — and they were all included in the term your heads. He then stated again even all the men of Israel who comprise your tribes.
Then he mentioned further the little children, the women, the strangers, the hewers of wood and drawers of water¹⁰Verse 10. whom they had from among the mixed multitude.¹¹Exodus 12:38. He had made them bring the little ones, in order to include them in the covenant, for he made the covenant even with the future generations,¹²Verses 13-14. or [the children may have been brought] to make them [i.e., the parents] deserving of Divine reward for bringing them, like the reason the Rabbis gave regarding [the commandment of] the Assembly.¹³See Ramban further 31:13. And our Rabbis have said¹⁴So mentioned by Rashi. Ramban himself further on refers to a similar text from the Tanchuma. See further, Note 18. that some Canaanites [posing as proselytes] came in Moses’ days just as they came in Joshua’s days¹⁵Joshua 9:2-27. and Moses made them hewers of wood and drawers of water for the congregation, and for the Tabernacle of G-d.¹⁶Ibid., Verse 27. The verse there states: for ‘the altar of’ G-d. Now, the intent of the Rabbis is not to state that these Canaanites deceived Moses [as they misled Joshua]; instead, they came to him to make peace with him, for such is the law as we have explained.¹⁷See above, 20:11. Thus I found in Midrash Tanchuma:¹⁸Tanchuma, Nitzavim 2. “This teaches you that they [the Canaanites] came before Moses and he did not accept them.” That is to say, they could not deceive him into making a covenant with them, but he immediately made them hewers of wood and drawers of water.

ישב) יצב .אתם נצבים mit dem צ-Laut) bezeichnet nicht wie עמד nur die stehende Stellung, sondern es ist ein Stehen mit Festigkeit, Kraft und energievoller Ausdauer. Gedankenreich erläutert תנחומא z. St. die Wahl dieses Ausdrucks an dieser Stelle, statt des gewöhnlichen ja auch V. 14 gebrauchten עמד. All den geschilderten unsäglichen Leiden gegenüber seid ihr doch נצבים, seid ihr doch die Aufrecht- und Festbleibenden; sie können alle über eure Häupter hingehen, ihr überdauert sie alle, חצי אכלה בם (K. 32, 23) חצי כלין והן אינן כלין. Ja, die Leiden selbst sichern eure Dauer, weil sie eure Besserung sichern. הן מעמידות אתכם וכן הוא אומר למען ענתך לנסתך וגו׳ (K. 8, 2). Und auch: אתם נצבים, ihr seid die Bleibenden! Ich gehe hin, und auch Josua, dem ich euch übergebe, geht hin, und so auch die von Geschlecht zu Geschlecht nachfolgenden Führer, sie alle gehen hin, und die Eigenart der Führer wechselt, — nur ihr, die Nation ist das Unsterbliche, Ewige, das Bleibende, in ihr vererbt sich der Genius und der Geist, dem Gott die Fortdauer seines Werkes anvertraut und in dessen Dienst jeder Führer eintritt. Die Nation ist die מצבה, die ewige Säule seines Gesetzes. דבר אחר מפני מה עשאן משה מצבה מפני שמשתמשין מדעת לדעת מדעת משה לדעת יהושע מדעת יהושע לדעת הזקנים. ואף יהושע עשאן מצבה שנא׳ (יהושע כד א׳) ויאסוף יהושע את כל שבטי ישראל שכמה ויקרא לוקני ישראל וגו׳ ויתיצבו לפני האלקים. ואף שמואל שמשתמשין מדעתו לדעת מלכים עשאן מצבה שנאמר ועתה התיצבו ואשפטה אתכם לפני ד׳ (שמואל א׳ י׳׳ב ז׳)

The different attributes used in this verse include: even women, children, converts; these latter are included under the sub-heading of כל איש ישראל.

ראשיכם, זקניכם, the leaders of your tribes; who are these leaders? זקניכם ושוטריכם, “your elders and your appointed officials;”

זקניכם ושטריכם YOUR ELDERS AND YOUR OFFICERS — The more prominent were in front (i.e. they stood before the Lord in the order of their rank), and afterwards: “all the men of Israel”.

Your chieftains of your tribes. Otherwise, if it means your chieftains and your tribes, each category by itself, why mention the chieftains at all? Once it writes your tribes the chieftains are included? And also, why mention the other details since all are included in your tribes”? This is no difficulty if the verse means your chieftains of your tribes, for you can say that the verse first mentions your chieftains, then your elders, afterwards your law officers, and afterwards all of Yisrael, i.e., the more prominent being listed first. But if your chieftains and your tribes are two entities, why mention chieftains at all? And if you ask: Why does it write ראשיכם (your chieftains) and not ראשי שבטיכם (the chieftains of your tribes)? The answer is to teach us that the prince of the generation is equal to the entire generation.

Let us now understand the meaning of the words: "you are standing here today." We may best understand this by referring to Ruth,2,5 נצב על הקוצרים, "the one standing over the reapers." The word in Ruth means "the one appointed over the reapers." Moses added the word כלכם, "all of you," to make plain that the mutual responsibility with which he charged each member of the people applied to one and all. We have been taught in Shabbat 54 that anyone who is in a position to protest a sin being committed by a fellow Jew, and who does not exercise his power of protest will be considered as an accessory to that sin. Some people's authority extends to their entire city whereas others may have authority to do this only within the walls of their own houses. Every Jew is responsible in the parameter where he can enforce his will. ראשיכם refers to the highly placed individuals in society. Such people share in the responsibility of the conduct of the whole nation. שבטיכם refers to heads of tribes, whereas זקניכם ושוטריכם, refers to heads of households, "your elders and law enforcement officers." Finally, כל איש ישראל, every man of this people possesses some influence over other members of his household. At this point the Torah interrupts before continuing with its reference to children, women, and proselytes. They are listed separately as they are the ones who will not become accessories when they do not admonish fellow Jews about their duties to perform the commandments. Children are not culpable as they do not understand the meaning of sin. How could they be expected to call their elders to order? The same applies to the women. Proselytes most certainly cannot be expected to call to order Jews who are natural born Jews. Our sages explained in Yevamot 45 that Deut. 17,15 שום תשים עליך מלך, is restrictive and means that only a fellow Jew may be appointed over you. However, we know from Niddah 13 that there is an obligation for Jews to call proselytes to order, and that Jews who fail to do so may find themselves culpable as accessories if the proselyte commits a sin.

ראשיכם שבטיכם, nicht ושבטיכם, nicht die Stämme neben den Häuptern, sondern in den Häuptern ganz eigentlich die Stämme; nicht vor allem auf die Häupter, auf die Stämme zählt Gott auch, nachdem ihnen Häupter bestellt worden. ראשיכם שכטיכם אעפ׳׳י שמניתי לכם .ראשים וקנים ושוטרים כולכם שוין לפני שנ׳ כל איש ישראל (תנחומא) Ebenso טפכם נשיכם, nicht ונשיכם, nicht die Frauen neben den Kindern. Kinder und Frauen sind identisch. Soll Gott auf eure Kinder zählen dürfen, so muss er auf eure Frauen rechnen können; denn auf der Frauen treuen Hingebung an Gott beruht die geistige und sittliche Zukunft der Kinder.

Something deeper hinted to in the meaning of the words you all standing... is that all those who are distant from holiness (transgressors), their 'standing' is lowly and their heads are sullen; however for THIS it is written 'you all standing...' to be standing in front of Hashem--to be before Hashem...[even they] should stand and raise their heads!

מחטב עציך עד שאב מימיך (siehe Bereschit 14, 22-24).

ראשיכם שבטיכם, “your heads (leaders), your tribes, etc.” The meaning is: “your heads, who are the leaders of your respective tribes.” Moses listed the more distinguished people first, afterwards the adult males, followed by the male children who were under age, followed by the women, concluding with the proselytes.

טפכם נשיכם schaut wie alle vorhergehenden אתם וגו׳ die Nation in allen ihren Gliedern an; der גר aber ist Angehöriger der Gesamtnation, daher גרך. Auch חוטב עציך und שואב מימיך werden Jebamoth 79 a von dem Nationaldienst hörigen Arbeitern wie Josua 9, 21 verstanden.

כל איש ישראל, “every man in Israel.” The sages in Tanchuma Nitzavim 1 use this expression to teach us that every man in Israel is co-responsible for the sin of every other Israelite. They bring practical proof for this from Joshua 7,11 where G’d told Joshua that the sin of one man, Achan ben Karmi, was the reason that the entire people had suffered a military setback at the hands of a small town, Ai. The words describing Achan’s sin are: “Israel has sinned.” This spells out the extent to which every Israelite shares in the sin of another Israelite. [Obviously, there are degrees in such sharing of another Israelite’s sin. Ed.] This is also why we read in Leviticus 26,37: וכשלו איש באחיו, “they shall stumble one over the other.” Our sages in Sanhedrin 27 interpret these words as meaning “they shall stumble over the sins of one another.” This teaches the principle of reciprocal responsibility of one Israelite for the conduct of (all) other Israelites. If such reciprocal responsibility extends to all Israelites sharing misfortune on account of the sins committed by a few, how much more so will it apply to the reciprocal entitlement to enjoyment by all Israelites of good fortune (life in the hereafter), the entitlement to which was merited by the few! This is the meaning of the words of Eliphaz to Job ימלט אי נקי, “he will deliver the guilty; He will be delivered through the cleanness of your hands.” (Job 22,30) In other words, a single individual with “clean” hands can be the instrument through which all the inhabitants of an island are saved. One single individual whose lifestyle is beyond reproach may save [for a period of time, Ed.] all his peers from impending doom. It follows that seeing while a righteous person is alive he saves his compatriots from doom, the death of such a man is a signal for all his compatriots to repent their sins, as they have been deprived of the protective merit of this righteous person. We have a principle that מדה טובה מרובה על מדת פורענות, that the range of the application of measures of good exceeds the range of the application of measures of evil. Hence if the righteous shares in the guilt of the sinner, the sinner benefits even more strongly from the merits accumulated by the righteous (Sotah 11).

מחטב עציך FROM THE WOODCUTTER [UNTO THE DRAWER OF THE WATER] — This teaches that some of the Canaanites came in Moses' days to become proselytes just as the Gibeonites came in the days of Joshua, — and this is the meaning of what is stated of the Gibeonites, (Joshua 9:4) “And they also acted cunningly”; — and Moses made them woodcutters and drawers of water (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 2).

טפכם נשיכם, people who normally require the consent of their husbands or fathers to do what they do.

This teaches that Canaanites came to convert during the days of Moshe, etc. It does not mean to say that they deceived Moshe as they [later] deceived Yehoshua, for God forbid that they deceived the one [i.e., Moshe] of whom it says In My entire house he is trusted (Bamidbar 12:7). Rather, they came to him to make peace with him, but he did not receive them [by making a covenant with them], rather he assigned them to serve as wood cutters and water drawers. And the explanation of they too, etc, is that they came, but not that they were able to deceive him.

מחוטב עציך, “from the hewers of your wood for kindling,” i.e. male slaves;

מחוטב עציך, “including the hewers of wood, i.e. male servants;”

מחוטב עציך עד שואב מימיך, from the leader of the wood choppers to the most lowly of the water carriers. The construction here parallels comparisons as מעולל ועד יונק, “infants as well as sucklings,” (Samuel I 15,3) i.e. the highest ranking within its category to the lowliest ranking. Similar expressions are used when the Torah speaks of משור ועד שה, oxen as well as lambs, meaning the most expensive animals of your livestock to the least expensive. Similarly,מגמל ועד חמור, “from the camels down to the donkeys.”

עד שואב מימיך, “to the ones drawing your water, i.e. the female slaves.” This is what is meant in Job 3,19: קטון וגדול שם הוא ועבד חפשי מאדוניו, “small and great alike are there, both slaves and free men.” The word קטון, there refers to David, whereas the word גדול there refers to Moses. (Compare these attributes being used for David in Samuel 1 17,14, and for Moses in Exodus 11,3.) An alternate interpretation for the line: ועבד חפשי מאדוניו, “the slave who is free from his master;” this line refers to Israel. As long as one is alive one is free to carry out the will of one’s Creator, but once dead it is too late to do so, i.e. one is free from the obligation to perform G–d’s commandments. (Talmud tractate Shabbat folio 30) Still another interpretation “You are all standing here alive,” in spite of all the curses that have befallen your enemies, you have been spared. Both the gentiles have been in the habit of erecting monuments of stone to serve them as deities, but you, i.e. Joshua and Samuel who have both been reported as erecting stone monuments –upon which the text of the Torah has been inscribed-have been successful in that endeavour. It is not the “monument,” that G–d hates but the use it has been put to by the gentiles. (Compare Samuel I 12,7) Still another explanation of this assembly by Moses: This is the last time that all the people could be assembled in one place. Once they would cross the Jordan be dispersed each to his tribe’s ancestral land plot, it would be impossible to address them all at the same time.

עד שואב מימיך, “including the drawers of your water, i.e. female servants.”

לעברך means THAT THOU SHOULDEST PASS [INTO THE COVENANT]. It would not, however, be correct to explain it as meaning “to make thee pass” (when the suffix would be objective), but it must be explained like (Deuteronomy 4:14) לעשתכם אתם, “that ye may do them”.

לעברך בברית, you are all arranged in this order in order to signal your acceptance of the forthcoming covenant. It is clear from Moses’ addressing all the assembled, that they were of one mind at the time, all willing and eager to accept the covenant.

לעברך בברית…ובאלתו, "for you to enter (pass) into the covenant…and His curse" (if need be). The reason Moses added the word ובאלתו, "and His curse," will become clearer when we have explained the need for the covenant. Why was the Torah not satisfied with all the admonitions and curses which have already been recorded in the Torah? Some clever people who want to escape the cumulative curses and punishments recorded in chapter 28 may decide to commit a single transgression, such as violating the Sabbath or the laws of idolatry and to thereby become guilty of only a single one of all these penalties seeing that those laws are considered the cornerstones of Judaism. Such people prefer this to first accepting the authority of G'd and the Torah which would make them potentially liable to as many as 36 penalties of Karet. Moses acted astutely when he persuaded these people to accept upon themselves the covenant so that in the future they would be liable for each transgression separately. The oath (curse) would apply if any of these people deliberately flouted the laws he had undertaken to observe as a result of embracing this covenant. Once they had done this, even the intention of violating a fundamental law of Judaism would not safegaurd them against becoming culpable for each transgression separately.

לעברך בברית, “for you to enter the covenant;” Nachmanides writes that the word “covenant” here is another word for “oath.” It is possible, however, (author speaking) that the people now entered a new reciprocal covenant. Such a covenant would have paralleled the one the Jewish people entered into at Mt Sinai. At that time the covenant was sealed by a total offering, sprinkling of its blood on the people, etc. There was no need to spell out these details here.

So that you pass into the covenant. I.e., you yourself must pass and not through others. And thus he explains afterwards: But it would be improper to interpret this, etc., i.e., through others. Because if so, how could it say Into the covenant of Hashem, your God, if one explains it to mean to be passed through by others, [since a covenant implies mutual consent]? Furthermore, how can one explain that it means to be passed through? For this would serve notice against acceptance of the covenant, for they could say, We were coerced!

V. 11. לעברך בברית, alle steht ihr da in allen euren Gliedern, um zusammen einheitlich in den Gottesbund überzutreten. לעברך: wenn du in den Bund mit Gott eintreten willst, musst du deinen ganzen bisherigen Standpunkt verlassen, musst du an allem andern vorübergehen, von allem andern dich lossagen, um ganz ausschließlich in die Beziehung zu Gott einzutreten. Daher nicht לבואך, sondern: לעברך. In den Gottesbund eingetreten, stehst du auf einem ganz anderen Standpunkt als vorher.

לעברך בברית, “to enter into this covenant of the Lord your G–d;” now you are spiritually ready to embrace this covenant and none of you shall ever be able to claim that he had not been present when you agreed to accept this covenant as binding for you. Your blind, ailing, and aged would not be able to travel to such an assembly.

לעברך, “so that you will participate,” (note the singular mode) i.e. all as if you were one single person.

לעברך בברית THAT THOU SHOULDEST PASS INTO THE COVENANT — The way of “passing” was as follows: those who made a covenant used to make a partition (i.e. used to place objects in a straight line) on one side and a partition on the other and passed between them, as it is said, (Jeremiah 34:18—20) “[And I will give the men which have not performed the words of the covenant which they made before Me] when they cut the calf in two, and passed between the parts thereof … [into the hands of their enemies]”.

'אשר ה' אלוקיך כורת עמך היום, למען הקים אותך וגו, G’d’s objective in concluding this covenant with you this day is to reaffirm that you are His people and that He is your G’d. By entering into this covenant with Him you acquire eternal life, life beyond the death of your bodies. Seeing that the purpose of the covenant is of such importance, is of so elevated a nature, it is necessary that you embrace it wholeheartedly.

But, rather, as “for your performance of them.” This means to do them, i.e., you of your own volition and not through others.

כורת עמך היום, “which He concludes with you this day.” No one can ever claim that he had not been present at that time and had confirmed accepting the covenant. This was the last time the entire nation would be present at the same spot simultaneously, as after the land had been distributed to the tribes, the elderly and the mothers who had just given birth, as well as any sick people could not be expected to come to Jerusalem on the festivals designated for the annual pilgrimages.

למען הקים אתך היום לו לעם THAT HE MAY ESTABLISH THEE TO-DAY FOR A PEOPLE UNTO HIMSELF — He undertakes so much trouble (in making another covenant with you) in order that He may keep (הקים) you for a people in His presence,

למען הקים אותך היום, "In order to establish you today," etc. The reason Moses makes the Israelites potentially liable for many penalties is to make certain they would be G'd's people and would be afraid of sinning due to the terrible curses of which the Torah warns potential sinners.

He has committed Himself with such great effort, etc. Rashi has the following difficulty: You cannot say that this In order,, etc. is the reason He ratified the covenant with them, because the reason He ratified the covenant with them is stated afterwards (v. 17) where it says, Perhaps there is among you a man or a woman or a family or a tribe,, etc. If so, what is this in order referring to? Rashi therefore explains, He has committed himself with such great effort, etc. I.e., the verse is answering the question why the Holy One made the effort of binding them by oath. He should simply have given them a commandment and if they listened well and good, and if not, He will punish them as with all the other commands. However, he committed Himself with such great effort because He already swore to your forefathers not to exchange, etc. Therefore He had to bring them, etc.

V. 12. למען הקים וגו׳ והוא יהיה וגו׳ sind die beiden Seiten des Bundes. Du wirst sein Volk und Er wird dein Gott.

והוא יהיה לך לאלהים SINCE HE MUST BE UNTO THEE A GOD, because He has promised it unto you and has sworn unto your fathers not to exchange their descendants for another nation. For this reason He binds you by these oaths not to provoke Him to anger since He, on His part, cannot dissociate Himself from you. — Thus far I have given an exposition according to the literal sense of the chapter. An Agadic explanation, however, is: Why is the section beginning with the words, “Ye are standing this day” put in juxtaposition to the curses in the previous chapter? Because when Israel heard these ninety-eight curses besides the forty-nine that are contained in Torath-Cohanim (Leviticus 26:14 ff.), their faces turned pale (they were horrified), and they exclaimed, “Who can possibly stand against these?!” Therefore Moses began to calm them: “See, you are standing today before the Lord!” — many a time have you provoked the Omnipresent to anger and yet He has not made an end to you, but you still continue in His presence (Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 1).

While the imprecations and the suffering sustain you and stand you before Him, etc. Meaning that through the imprecations you are careful to never transgress the commandments. And furthermore, they atone for sins so that you live and persist eternally. And similarly they said in the first chapter of Avoda Zara (4a) and in maseches Berachos (5a).

Another meaning why Moses wrote down all this may be so that people would not complain why G'd makes them responsible for the conduct of their peers. It is difficult enough to keep all the commandments without having to worry about everybody else keeping them too. This is why Moses said that G'd's intention in all this is for the benefit of the Jewish people, enabling Him to establish the Jewish people as His people. If not for this new commitment, some Israelites would backslide starting with minor sins and eventually becoming guilty of the commission of serious sins. Ultimately, the Israelites would forfeit their status as G'd's people. G'd initiated this mutual responsibility to act as the guarantee that such backsliding would not occur.

היום THIS DAY — like the “day” which endures for ever, for though it becomes dark for a period it shines again, (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 1, Sanhedrin 110b); so has He made you shine (i.e. given you periods when you have had nought but happiness) and will again make you shine; and it is just the curses and the sufferings that give you permanence and stability (נצבים) before Him. — So, too, the section preceding this (1 ff. which follows immediately after the curses) consists of comforting words: “Ye have seen all the Lord did [before your eyes in the land of Egypt unto Pharaoh, etc.]”. — Another explanation of אתם נצבים: Because the Israelites were now passing from one leader to another, from Moses to Joshua, therefore he (Moses) made them stand in ranks (מצבה) that he might address admonitions to them. Similarly did Joshua (cf. Joshua 24:1) and similarly did Samuel, who said, (I Samuel 12:7): “Now therefore take your stand (התיצבו) that I may reason with you before the Lord”, when they were leaving his hand (leadership) and were coming under the hand of Saul (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 1).

The chapter above this, as well, is conciliatory, etc. Rashi proves that Moshe was telling them conciliatory remarks so that you do not ask: How could he be speaking conciliatory words if the whole parsha implies [that he was giving] rebuke, and also above it, everything is rebuke?!

Because the Israelites were passing from one leader to the next, etc. Because according to the first interpretation you might ask that the language of the parsha indicates that this is rebuke and not conciliation. Therefore he offers another interpretation. But according to the other interpretation you might ask why it says You stand this day? Why does the verse write this day?

ולא אתכם לבדכם…כי את אשר ישנו פה ואת אשר איננו פה, "Not only with you alone, but both with those who are present here today as well as with those who are not here today." Why did Moses have to spell out "and not with you alone?" Would it not have sufficed to write "the ones who are here today, as well as the ones who are not, etc.?" This would have made it clear that the covenant was not made exclusively with the people present at that time! However, the whole intention of these verses is to obligate the people present at this time to commit their offspring to observe the Torah, forever. In order to make this plain the Torah had to write: "not with you alone, etc." Had the Torah written only the second half of the verse I would have known that future generations are obligated to observe the Torah; I would not have known, however, that those present were charged with seeing to it that their offspring kept the Torah. By writing the words: ולא אתכם לבדכם, the Torah makes it unmistakably clear that not only the obligation to keep the Torah applied to the generation present, but even the obligation to see to it that their children would also do so.

ולא אתכם לבדכם, “And not only with you, etc.” Moses means that although G’d concludes this covenant with the present generation of Jews as well as the oath warning against non-performance, seeing that you are standing here this day, the fact is that even future generations of Jews unable to stand here today are included in this covenant. The reason that Moses is able to make such a statement is that the trunk of the tree is viewed as the father, i.e. “the root ” of all subsequent branches. All the branches are only the offshoots of the original roots. Concerning how it s possible to include unborn generations in this covenant, i.e. reciprocal undertaking, our sages in Tanchuma Yitro 11 comment that all souls ever created since the days of the creation of the earth were present at this assembly. They are not all described as “standing,” as souls without bodies cannot “stand.” The words אשר איננו פה, “who are not here,” refer to the bodies of such souls. The words עמנו היום, refer to their souls, which are present even today. The word עמנו, “with us,” refers back to the word עומד, “standing,” in verse 14. It is as if the Torah had written: “and all those not standing here with us this day.” The reason Moses uses the word “standing,” is because the angels in Zecharyah 3,7 have been described as בין העומדים האלה, “among these who are standing.”
Our sages in Tanchuma Yitro 11 also claim that all the prophets who ever lived (after Moses) all received their prophetic powers when their souls were at the assembly at Sinai; however they were not allowed to make use of their prophetic powers until their respective generations when they were alive on earth. This is also the meaning of Malachi 1,1 משא דבר ה’ ביד מלאכי. It is significant that the wording is not על מלאכי, but ביד מלאכי. The present formulation means: ”A pronouncement: ‘the word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi,’” whereas the other formulation would have meant that the “message only now came to Malachi.” The present formulation describes only the point in time when this message, which the soul of the prophet had received at Mount Sinai, was released for publication. We find something similar in Isaiah 48,16 where the prophet writes: “from the beginning I did not speak in secret; from the time anything existed I was there. And now, the Lord G’d has sent me, endowed me with His spirit.” The meaning of the verse is that the soul of the prophet had received this communication from G’d already at Mount Sinai but it had only now been released for publication.

VV. 13 u. 14. ׳ולא אתכם לבדכם וגו. Wie unbeschränkt hinsichtlich der von der Bundeseidesverpflichtung betroffenen Personen, ebenso unbeschränkt hinsichtlich der Zeitdauer ist der hiermit geschlossene Gesetzesbund. Er umfasst alle zu Israel zählenden Menschen aller Zeiten, und ist jedem Wahn einer etwa nur zeitlichen Geltung der Verpflichtung zum Gesetze, sowie jeder Möglichkeit eines etwaigen Austritts aus dieser Verpflichtung, hiermit unzweideutig begegnet. והעלה על רוחכם, liess Gott Ezechiel den vor ihm mit der Frage nach der neuen Weisung für die neuen Zeitverhältnisse erschienenen Männern von den Ältesten Israels erwidern: והעלה על רוחכם היו לא תהיה אשר אתם אומרים נהיה כגוים כמשפחות הארצות לשרת עץ ואבן חי אני נאם אדני אלקי׳ אם לא ביד חזקה ובזרוע נטויה ובחמה שפוכה אמלוך עליכם, der in eurem Sinn aufsteigende Gedanke wird nimmer zur Wirklichkeit werden, die ihr saget, wir können nun wie die Völker sein, wie die Familien der Länder, Holz und Stein zu dienen. So wahr ich lebe, spricht Gott, mit fester Hand und mit gestrecktem Arm und mit ergossenem Unwillen bleibe ich euer König (Ezech. 20, 32 u. 33).

ואת אשר איננו פה [NOT WITH YOU ALONE DO I MAKE THIS COVENANT … BUT WITH HIM THAT STANDETH HERE …] AND ALSO WITH HIM THAT IS NOT HERE — i.e. with the generations that will be in future (i.e. Moses is not referring to persons who happened to be absent from the assembly, for it states, v. 10, that all were present: “You are standing this day all of you before the Lord”) (Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 3).

AND ALSO WITH HIM THAT IS NOT WITH US THIS DAY — “that is, also with the future generations.

ואת אשר עמנו פה עמנו היום, a reference to future, as yet unborn generations. You will therefore have to explain to these unborn generations in due course that you yourselves only received this land on the understanding that subsequent generations of Jews would remain loyal to the terms of your acceptance. They will continue to inherit the land from you only on that basis.

ואת אשר איננו פה עמנו היום, “as well as those who are not here with us this day.” All these as yet unborn generations of the Jews participating in this assembly are included in this oath/covenant to be undertaken at this time.

Even with the generations destined for the future. You cannot explain the verse according to its straightforward connotation, that those who are not here had left, because it is written, “You stand, this day all of you. Also, you could [refute this explanation and] say: How can one contract a covenant with someone who is not present? Perhaps if he came back from where he went and was here, he would not accept the covenant! But if it refers to those who will be in the future, there is no difficulty as even if their bodies were not there, their souls were there and accepted the covenant. Another explanation is that “a son is the extension [lit., leg] of his father,” and being that the fathers accepted [the covenant], the sons who come after them are also included in the covenant.

כי אתם ידעתם וגו׳ FOR YE KNOW [HOW WE HAVE ABODE IN THE LAND OF EGYPT] etc. — The meaning of these verses is: Because you have seen the conduct of the other nations, and perhaps the heart of one of you might beguile him to follow them, — as it goes on to state, “Lest there should be among you a man, or a woman … [whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord]”, — on this account I must place you under an oath.

FOR YE KNOW HOW WE DWELT IN THE LAND OF EGYPT etc. AND YE HAVE SEEN THEIR ABOMINATIONS. Because you have seen the nations that worship idols, and perhaps the heart of one of you might beguile him to follow them.

כי אתם ידעתם את אשר ישבנו, and this is why you have to be concerned that there should not be among you איש או אשה, neither a man nor a woman who would seduce you to follow the vain pursuits of the nations with whom you will be living in close proximity, and who might be the cause that you would default on the undertakings in this covenant. This is the reason I have insisted that all of you be present at this ceremony, seeing that G’d examines hearts He will know who only pays lip service to this covenant and who is sincere about it. You will not be able to deceive Him.

כי אתם ידעתם, "For you know, etc." We need to analyse why the Torah suddenly provides this rationale for what it legislates in this paragraph. Nachmanides wrote that this is the introduction to what follows "so that there not be amongst you a root flourishing with wormwood, etc." I consider this explanation a little forced. It is not the custom of the Torah to write the reason for its legislation before writing the legislation itself. Perhaps the verse may be understood differently. Inasmuch as what is being legislated here is something unique, i.e. obligating unborn generations to observe a code of conduct over which they have never been allowed to make a decision, as had their ancestors at Mount Sinai, this requires an unusual approach. We have a rule in Ketuvot 11 that "one cannot hold a person responsible for committing a wrong which he had never been aware of." According to this principle the acceptance by the parents of the obligation to keep the Torah would not be binding on the children at all. This is why the Torah adds: "for you are aware what your life was like before you became G'd's people and received the Torah, etc." In other words, the Torah is reminding us that it is a privilege to be G'd's people, to keep the Torah, etc. This is not comparable to imposing duties and restrictions on your children. The purpose of a life filled with מצוה-observance is to avoid the pitfalls of the abominations and detestable idols the Egyptians were captive to. Moses tells the people present that inasmuch as they know all about this they also know that what is being asked of them is to confer benefits rather than restrictions on their children and children's children.

כי אתם וגו', “For you know, etc.” Moses reminds the people of the advantages of remaining true and loyal to Hashem, as in the event that some have a feeling of nostalgia for the abominations that they worshipped in Egypt, or the similar abominations that the Moabites and Ammonites worship, it would be appropriate that they recall how either of these attempts to backslide into idolatry ended, i.e. catastrophically for the participants.

כי אתם ידעתם, “for you have known;” a reference to the fact that among the people Moses addressed here there were some who remembered the abominations practiced by the Egyptians, whereas all of them had observed the abominations practiced by the peoples whose land they had crossed in the meantime, i.e. Edom, Moav, Ammon and Midian.

Since you have observed the idolatrous Gentile nations, etc. Rashi is answering the question: What reason is this for what comes before [in the previous verse], And with those who are not here, etc. Therefore he explains, Since you have observed, etc., therefore, I am compelled to adjure you. I.e., this is a reason for what comes before the previous verses, For your passage into the covenant, etc. (v. 11). It is explaining why the Holy One suspected that Yisroel might serve idols and made it necessary for them take an oath regarding this. The reason he suspected them was what he says here, Because you are aware, etc. These two verses, For you are aware, etc., and Where you observed their abominations, etc., are connected to the verse Perhaps there is among you, etc. that follows them, and the word פן is missing a ויו (and). That is why [in some texts] Rashi explains Where you observed, etc. after Perhaps there is among you.

V. 15. כי אתם ידעתם וגו׳ leitet den Grund ein, weshalb Veranlassung da sei, in Vorhergehendem ausdrücklich auszusprechen, dass von der Verpflichtung zu Gott und seinem Gesetze keiner, und auch in aller Folgezeit keiner sich lossagen könne. Dieser Grund folgt Verse 17 u.18. Das Götterunwesen der Völker und die davon beeinflussten Lebensweisen sind euch schon jetzt nicht unbekannt geblieben. In Mizrajim haben wir gewohnt, mit den der Wüste anwohnenden Völkern, Amon, Moab, Midjan, Edom, den Bevölkerungen von Arad, Cheschbon, Baschan, durch deren Gebiet oder an deren Gebiet wir gezogen, sind wir mehr oder minder in Berührung gekommen.

כי אתם ידעתם את אשר ישבנו בארץ מצרים, “for you (only) know that we have once lived in the land of Egypt;” this verse proves that there were still survivors of the period of slavery that had come out 40 years ago, and had not died by the decree G–d issued after the sin of the spies. They had either been younger than twenty at the time of the Exodus or had been over 60 years of age already at that time.

אשר ישבו בארץ מצרים, “who had dwelled in the land of Egypt;” together with the ones who had still dwelled in the land of Egypt (who had been minors at the time of the Exodus) and who had experienced all that you have witnessed during the last forty years in the desert, etc. The decree to die in the desert had applied only to males who had been twenty years of age at the time of the Exodus, and had not been older than 60 years at the time when it was issued.

ותראו את שקוציהם AND YE HAVE SEEN THEIR ABOMINABLE THINGS — Idols are so termed because they are loathsome like unclean things that are held in abomination.

ותראו את שקוציהם...עץ ואבן, “you have seen their detestable idols, wood and stone, silver and gold.” The former were on display openly; the latter — due to their value and the owners being afraid of theft — were kept inside their homes (Tanchuma Nitzavim 3).

Those of wood and stone, you saw in the open, etc. Rashi is explaining why the verse altered its wording and wrote you observed regarding wood and stone, but does not write you observed regarding gold and silver.

V. 16. שקוציהם ,ותראו וגו׳ und גלליהם: Beziehungen des heidnischen Götterunwesens nach seiner dem geistig und sittlich reinen Menschenwesen widerstehenden Verwerflichkeit (siehe Wajikra 11, 10-11 und 26, 30-31).

גלליהם THEIR IDOLS — thus termed because they are detestable (lit., malodorous) and loathsome like dung (גלל).

עץ ואבן כסף וזהב אשר עמהם. Nach Aboda Sara 51 b bezieht sich das עמהם ebenso wie לא תחמוד כסף וזהב עליהם (Kapitel 7, 25) auf die Götterbilder und bezeichnet נוי: das, was den Götterbildern als Schmuck beigegeben ist, und zwar wäre nach der dortigen ersten Auffassung in Raschi עץ ואבן nicht wie sonst der Stoff, aus welchem die Götter geformt sind, sondern ebenso wie כסף וזהב, das ihnen zum Schmuck verehrend beigegeben ist. Nach dem לשון אחר in Raschi daselbst scheint uns aber, würde auch hier עץ ואבן den Stoff bezeichnen können, aus welchem die Bilder geformt worden, und כסף וזהב das ihnen zum verehrenden Schmuck Beigegebene sein. Dann könnte כסף וזהב אשר עמהם hervorgehoben sein, um zu sagen: an dem den Göttern aus Holz und Stein geweihten Silber und Gold habt ihr erkannt, welchen Wert die Bevölkerungen ihren Göttern beimessen.

עץ ואבן [AND YE HAVE SEEN … THEIR IDOLS] WOOD AND STONE — Those of wood and stone you have seen exposed openly, because the heathen was not afraid lest they might be stolen; those of gold and silver, however, ARE WITH THEM (עמהם), in their “marbled halls” (cf. Rashi on Ezekel 8:12 whence he borrowed this expression), because they were afraid they might be stolen (Midrash Tanchuma, Nitzavim 3).

פן יש בכם means PERHAPS (שמא = פן) THERE IS AMONG YOU,

LEST THERE SHOULD BE AMONG YOU etc. Therefore, I must place you under an oath.” Thus far is Rashi’s language. He has commented well. And the purport thereof is to state, “I must bring you now into this covenant with an imprecation and an oath on account of my fear that perhaps the hearts of some of you have been beguiled into following the abominations of Egypt as you did at the [affair of the golden] calf, or the abominations of Ammon and Moab that you saw on the road when you had the affair with Baal-peor,” for at the first covenant at the time of the Giving of the Torah there were no imprecations and curses. He stated [lest there should be among you] man or woman because a woman is frivolous [and can easily be led into idol-worship]. He stated a similar expression in [the chapter dealing with an individual] worshipping the idols.¹⁹Above, 17:2: man or woman … He mentioned individuals, family, and tribe [lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe] meaning a multitude, but he did not say it [lest they should worship the idols] concerning all of them, out of respect [to them]. Or it may be that it was impossible for the hearts of all of them to turn to the idols on that day, because, if so, they would not have come into the covenant of G-d and His oath, for who could have compelled them. A family or tribe, however, might have come into the covenant for fear of the majority. He stated lest there should be among you [man, or woman etc.] whose heart turneth away this day referring to him who has already been beguiled to idol-worship and who secretly believes in them that day. Or lest there should be among you an evil root that will blossom and grow and in the coming days will bring forth poisonous buds and grow bitter herbs. This refers back to him that is not here with us this day,²⁰Verse 14. for the father is the root and the son is the twig that shall grow forth out of his roots.²¹Isaiah 11:1. He mentioned the root in order to state that he can bring the coming generations into this oath, for the root from which the coming generations will grow is before him this day, and it comes within this covenant and oath. He stated a root that beareth gall to suggest that from a sweet root no bitter plant will issue, and that all those whose hearts are perfect with the Glorious Name²²Above, 28:58. and gave no thought to the idols, will not give birth to a child, who will avow idolatry. Now, do not refute me in this matter on the basis of the verse If he [a man who is just, and does that which is lawful and right] beget a son that is a robber,²³Ezekiel 18:10. And, as the verses state on this subject, this son is a murderer and idolator, and yet his father was a perfectly righteous man! for the matter is true, there being a great secret therein which I cannot explain.²⁴In Abusaula’s mystic commentary on Ramban the subject is explained, based on the doctrine of the transmigration of souls.

איש או אשה, neither a man nor a woman who would seduce you to follow the vain pursuits of the nations with whom you will be living in close proximity, and who might be the cause that you would default on the undertakings in this covenant. This is the reason I have insisted that all of you be present at this ceremony, seeing that G’d examines hearts He will know who only pays lip service to this covenant and who is sincere about it. You will not be able to deceive Him.

פן יש בכם…ללכת לעבוד, "lest there be amongst you ….to go and serve the gods, etc." In this verse the Torah warns against the mere intention to practice idolatry, making the person doing this culpable. The operative word is לבבו פונה, "his heart turns, etc.

איש או אשה, “be it a man or a woman;” Moses does not wish to insult anyone; therefore he speaks of individuals possibly straying, something which might also result in peer-pressure by the other members of the family drawing in the ones who were not originally willing. He mentions the woman only after the man, precisely because women are more easily seduced by false philosophies. By suggesting that a man might be the first to fall into such a trap, Moses preserves the self-respect of the Jewish women.

פן יש בכם שרש פורה ראש ולענה, “lest there be among you a root flourishing with gall and wormwood.” Venom is considered the ראש, ‘principal’ of all bitter roots or leafs, being more bitter than any other variant. Some commentators explain the meaning of the word ראש here as a reference to the venom of the viper in whose head it is found, i.e. animal-based. The word לענה, by contrast, refers to some bitter vegetable matter. We find the expression in Numbers 30,14: לענות נפש, “to cause bitterness in a person.” It describes the person making such a vow as causing herself the utmost anguish.

In case there is among you. Some people ask: It is written above in parshas Va'eschanan (4:9), Lest you forget the words, and, Lest you raise your eyes heavenward (ibid. 19), and in parshas Eikev (above 11:16), Lest your heart be misled, yet over there, Rashi does not explain that it means perhaps. According to Re”m's explanation that this perhaps there is among you is part of Rashi's words and not that he is coming to explain it, but citing it [as part of his sentence] to explain the composition of the verse, there is no difficulty at all. Even without this, you can answer that Rashi explains the meaning of פן here and not above, is because above it connotes a negative commandment as they said (Zevachim 106a), Wherever it says השמר, פן, or אל, it connotes a negative commandment. But here one cannot explain that it is a negative commandment, i.e., that one should not do this, because it is written Perhaps there is among you, which is speaking of a case where such people are already present. Therefore Rashi explains that [here] it connotes “in case” [i.e. perhaps].

V. 17. פן יש בכם וגו׳, nun könnte schon heute unter euch ein einzelner, oder ein einzelner Familien- oder Stammeskreis sein, deren Sinn sich schon heute von Gott ab und dem Heidentum zuwendet, oder es könnte eine solche sich verirrende Gesinnung noch in der Gegenwart gar nicht zum entschiedenen Durchbruch gekommen sein, sie ist heute nur erst noch שרש, eine Wurzel, ein im Entstehen begriffener Anfang, der erst in Zukunft, vielleicht erst in der Nachkommenschaft als bittere Frucht aufgeht. Die Bedeutung von ראש ist zweifelhaft. Während hier und so auch ענבי רוש (Kap. 32, 32), ופרח כראש משפט (Hosea 10, 5) usw. es einen der Pflanzenwelt angehörigen Stoff zu bedeuten scheint, weist ראש פתנים אכזר (Kap. 32, 33) auf einen animalischen Stoff hin. Jedenfalls ist es ein Stoff von höchst schlechter Wirkung auf den Körper. Die Zusammenstellung mit לענה weist auf Geschmacksinn, während ראש פתנים אכזר einen tötenden Stoff vermuten lässt. Vielleicht bezeichnet es eine Art Gift, deren sowohl das Pflanzen-, als das Tierreich liefert.

פן יש בכם, “lest there be amongst you, etc.;” this is an additional reason for renewing the original covenants.

פן יש בכם שרש פורה ראש ולענה, “lest there be amongst you a root that bears gall and wormwood. “

אשר לבבו פנה היום [A MAN …] WHOSE HEART TURNETH AWAY THIS DAY from accepting the covenant upon himself,

פן יש בכם שורש פורה ראש ולענה, a simile for people planning to beguile the multitude to adopt their own idolatrous beliefs.

פן יש בכם...אשר לבבו פונה היום, “lest there be amongst you anyone whose heart will turn away this day, etc.;” this refers to someone whose faith and belief in Hashem has already been undermined, but who has not acted upon it; or,

Whose thoughts stray today. This is part of Rashi's text, not that Rashi is now explaining the [beginning of] the verse, Perhaps there is among you, etc., [someone] whose thoughts stray, etc. [Because Rashi is actually explaining the second part of the verse, Perhaps there is within you a root producing gall and bitter fruit.] Otherwise, [i.e., if you claim that Rashi is explaining the first part of the verse], the difficulty arises that Rashi already explained [the first part of the verse] above (v. 15) [when he explained, “Perhaps there is, among you, etc.” “Perhaps someone among you has been tempted to follow them.”] Also, our verse seems to be talking about idolatry so how can Rashi explain that it is talking about accepting the covenant”? Thus one must say that [whose thoughts stray today] is part of Rashi's text. Rashi is discussing the words, Perhaps there is within you a root producing gall, etc. and not the words, Perhaps there is among you a man or a woman, etc., because he wants to answer why the Torah writes, Perhaps there is within you, etc. twice. He explains that the reason it is written a second time is because the first instance is talking about idolatry and the second instance [is talking] about accepting the covenant. It is as if the verse says, Perhaps there is among you whose heart strays today from Hashem to go after idols, or perhaps there is among you whose heart strays today from accepting the yoke of the covenant, and thus the word today applies to both of them, because neither of them wants to accept the covenant. [Re”m]

פן יש בכם, what precisely is this "root flourishing with gall and wormwood?" If these words refer to the previous statement where the Torah describes when this person's "heart turns to go and serve idols," the words פן יש בכם should not have been repeated. The Torah should have written something of this order: פן יש בכם איש או אשה אשר לבבו פונה…שרש פרה ראש ולענה. Furthermore, what is the meaning of the words "a root of wormwood?" Apparently the Torah does not speak about wormwood and gall but about a root. How does the Israelite who plans to engage in idolatry "bless himself in his heart?" Besides what is the point of the word לאמור in this verse? What does the Torah mean with the words: "for I will walk in the path my heart sees fit," in verse 18?

‘Rosh v’la’anah’ (gall and wormwood) are bitter or poisonous herbs. These are their names in the Sacred Language. Or it may be that they are surnames, one called rosh (“the head”) because it is the head of the bitter herbs, the bitterest of all, and the second is called la’anah, from the expression ‘lei’anoth’ (to humble thyself) before Me,²⁵Exodus 10:3. for he who eats it becomes oppressed and is humbled, because he eats it only in order to afflict his soul.

אשר לבבו פונה היום, “whose heart is even now turning away, etc.;” he will entertain the thought of abandoning G–d and His Torah. Moses is frank, admitting that there is cause for worry. Furthermore,

שרש פרה ראש ולענה [PERHAPS THERE IS AMONG YOU] A ROOT THAT IS FRUITFUL IN POISONOUS HERB AND WORMWOOD — i.e. a root that brings forth herbs bitter as wormwood-plants, which are very bitter. The meaning is: Lest there be a man or woman or family or tribe that fruitfully produces and increases wickedness in your midst.

פן יש בכם שורש פורה ראש ולענה, “lest there be amongst you a root flourishing with gall and wormwood.” This refers to a development in the more distant future, the party concerned not being alive yet and not having been seduced mentally, but belonging to the ones whom Moses described as “not being with us here this day.” When, or if, this occurs, it reflects on the “root”, i.e. forefather of such a person having carried within his seed some of his own spiritual weakness that he involuntarily transmitted to his offspring. He will, however, be under the obligations of this covenant and this curse applicable to non-compliance. [It is important to understand that seeing that membership of the Jewish nation brings with it a multiplicity of advantages, the small price to pay for this, even though this unborn Jew had not given his consent to membership of the Jewish people, still renders being born a Jew a “good deal” on the whole.” Ed.]

A root nurturing bitter herbs, like the bitter gidin herb. [The latter is] a species of bitter herb. And similarly, the Targum Yonasan translates Bitter as la'anah in Mishlei (5:4), and la’anah and rosh in Eicha (3:19) as gidin.

The basic idea underlying this verse is to warn the Israelite that anyone who attempts to get away with none or only minor punishments by only thinking about sinning but not actually violating any of the Torah's commandments will be disappointed. The Torah tells such a person that at this particular stage of his thinking he is merely a root, Le. harmless in itself; however, the outgrowth of this root will be gall and wormwood. This is why, in the first instance, the Torah speaks of פן יש בכם שדש פורה ראש ולענה, "it is first and foremost a root from which unexpected plants will grow."

פן יש בכם שורש פורה ראש ולענה, “lest there is perchance amongst you a stock sprouting poison weed and wormwood.” In what follows, Moses goes into greater detail about what he is worried about.

The clever Israelite who looks for devious ways to escape the curses of which the Torah warns first blesses himself in "his heart." This means that he says to himself that merely contemplating sins is not so bad. This is why the Torah uses the words והיה בשמעו. We have explained repeatedly that the word והיה always has a joyful connotation. This Israelite says to himself that as long as he only contemplates sinning, he is not guilty of anything. This contributes to his joy. The Torah puts the record straight telling such an individual that if he thought he could cancel the oath Moses committed him to before accepting it even if he had answered "Amen", this would not help him. We have learned in Shavuot 26 that when it comes to oaths one's mouth and one's heart must act in unison, and that if someone makes up his mind to invalidate the words of an oath he will utter, only his intention commits him, not his words. When Moses speaks of שרירות לבו, he describes a person who uses the loophole we just quoted to escape culpability. Not only that, but למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה, "in order to add the watered to the thirsty," i.e. to benefit from the blessings G'd will shower upon the Torah-observant people. The word ספות is related to כריתה, an end. The word רוה is an alternative for רבה, "increase." The word צמאה describes something small, insignificant. The Israelite intends to limit or totally cut off any punishment by cancelling the oath Moses wants him to undertake.

This kind of conduct is what Moses calls שרש, from which eventually will sprout gall and wormwood. Normally, the justification of swearing an oath is to make it a bulwark against the temptations of the evil urge. David referred to such an oath in Psalms 119,106 when he said: "I have firmly sworn to keep Your just social laws." Our sages in Ruth Rabbah credit Boaz with having sworn such an oath to resist the temptation to sleep with Ruth before they were married. The person whom Moses refers to in our paragraph uses an oath to establish a circumvention of the law. This is much worse than merely not answering "Amen" when required to do so. Moses considers this the root of all the evil that will develop from such an attitude.

The Torah singles out such a person for worse punishment than that in store for people who accepted the covenant but who violate it from time to time.

לא יאבה ה׳ סלוח לו "G'd will not be willing to forgive him;" Although it is one of G'd's major attributes to pardon and forgive man's sins, the kind of devious scheming person described here does not qualify for G'd exercising this attribute. As a result of G'd's unwillingness to forgive such a person, He will punish him with all the severity at His command once such a person has translated sinful thoughts into sinful deeds. He will be subjected to all the curses written in the Torah.

Even though the Torah refers here to האיש ההוא, "that man," the same applies to a family or tribe which conduct themselves in the same manner.

והתברך בלבבו AND HE BLESS HIMSELF IN HIS HEART — The word והתברך has the meaning of “blessing”. In his heart he will imagine for himself a blessing of peace, saying, “These curses will not come upon me, I shall have peace”.

AND HE BLESS HIMSELF IN HIS HEART, SAYING: [‘I SHALL HAVE PEACE’]. When he will hear others imprecating themselves with these oaths, he will in his imagination bless himself, saying in his heart, “I shall have peace from any curse when I follow the desire of my heart.” G-d will not pardon him; instead, His anger will then be kindled against him²⁶Verse 19. whenever he sins, in that generation or [when his descendants sin] in later generations.²⁷This is to be understood in the light of Ramban’s explanation above, that the expression whose heart turneth away this day applies to one who has already been beguiled after the idols; or lest there should be among you an evil root refers to the descendants. It is with reference to these two types of idol-worshippers that Ramban says here that G-d’s anger will be kindled when he sins in that generation, or when his descendants sin in future generations (Kur Zahav). Or the sense of the verses may be as follows: “Because he says [publicly]: I shall have peace, since in my heart I do not accept the oath upon myself, for I shall walk in the stubborness of my heart all my days and carry out all my desires. And the Eternal will not be willing to pardon him²⁶Verse 19. because he did not accept His imprecation; instead, His anger will be kindled against him²⁶Verse 19. since he came into the covenant in My presence with all [the people of] Israel.” [Therefore the refusal of an individual to accept the covenant constitutes a punishable defiance.]
A desire that grows stronger and more in one’s heart is termed [in Hebrew] shriruth [‘ki bishriruth libi eileich’ — for I shall walk in ‘the stubborness’ of my heart], similar to the expression of the Sages:²⁸Baba Bathra 160b. “sharir (strong) and established.” So also, ‘bishrirei’ (in the muscles of) his body.²⁹Job 40:16.

והתברך בלבבו, while accepting the covenant with his lips, he already resolves in his heart to honour it in the breach, comforting himself, thinking שלום יהיה לי כי בשרירות לבי אלך, “I will be alright even though I will do my own thing.” He considers that seeing that he already planned to breach the covenant at the very moment when he accepted it with his lips, the covenant is not binding upon him.

למען ספות הרוה, the deliberate sinner, whose motivation is that seeing he is so well off, he does not worry about possible consequences for himself

למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה, “thereby adding the watered to the thirsty.” Nachmanides explains this turn of phrase as “adding that which is already satisfied to the list of the ones still unsatisfied,” i.e thirsty. The word רוה describes someone sated as in Jeremiah 31,11 והיתה נפשם כגן רוה, “their soul will be like a watered garden.” When applied to the soul, i.e. essence of a human being, it means that the human being is not aware of his lacking anything, desirous of something that has not been granted to him, hence not in need of G’d as the One Who could supply his non-existing needs. On the other hand, Moses describes any person who feels that some of his needs have not been fulfilled, as צמאה, “thirsting after something.” [Nachmanides qualifies the thirst as including a desire for something that, if granted, would prove harmful to him. Ed.] The person who had felt completely fulfilled is at a disadvantage compared to those who have learned to do without on occasion, as when such a person does feel the need for something, he is so eager to satisfy that need that he feels it a great imposition if the laws of the Torah impose restrictions on the manner in which he can satisfy his “need.” If, as a result of this supposed “need,” he forthwith proceeds to satisfy it without due regard to the Torah’s laws, he will henceforth experience more desires more frequently, in line with the psychological axiom of our sages that when one trains oneself to resist improper impulses one will experience ever fewer of them, whereas when one gives in to them easily, one will progressively experience such impulses becoming more and more powerful and frequent. Eventually, one will even experience a burning desire for things from which one had already weaned oneself. Moses describes this process as בשרירות לבי אלך, “I will follow the dictates of my heart.” The word למען in our context does not introduce a reason or purpose of what the “free-spirited” person is thinking, but means something similar to: “as a result of which such and such will occur.” [In this case a gradual but steady spiritual decline. Ed.] Rabbi Yehudah the Spaniard explains the word ספות, as the cutting off of something as in האף תספה, when Avraham asked G’d if He would also cut off the righteous in the process of punishing the Sodomites for their wickedness. (Compare Genesis 18,23) The sinner reasons to himself that he can get away with ignoring, and even make irrelevant the words of the righteous. The righteous, in the scenario painted by Rabbi Yehudah, is the רוה, “watered one”, in our verse. He is compared to the proverbial עץ שתול על מים, “tree planted alongside a steadily flowing well of water”, who, according to our sages is the symbol of the righteous that is unperturbed by the turbulence and poverty surrounding him, as he has the מים חיים, the waters of the living Torah to sustain him come rain or shine. (Compare the simile in Jeremiah 17,8) The wicked person is likened by the prophet to a tree that does not have sound roots and will be dried out by the slightest natural disaster, such as the first month of drought. Moses explains that such people will not experience any help from G’d in withstanding even temporary setbacks, as they have not only given in to the slightest temptation, but considered themselves as smart in riding on the coattails of the righteous expecting to participate in the reward G’d metes out to the vast majority who are Torah-observant. The grammarian Rabbi Yonah, also sees in the word ספות a reference to כריתה, being cut off; he attributes the sinner’s attitude to Torah to the fact that he observes in “real” life that both the righteous and the wicked die the same death of the essential life force, the נפש. He reasons that just as the body dies the same death as the animals, so does the spirit.

He will imagine blessings of tranquility, etc. Rashi is answering the question: Even if [the person imagines that] no oath-curse will affect him, why should this be considered a blessing if it confers him no benefit, i.e., the great good [that results from a blessing]? Therefore Rashi explains blessings of tranquility, i.e., when there is peace that is a blessing as it is written (Tehillim 29:11), Hashem will bless his people with peace. He will imagine this blessing of tranquility.

V. 18. שרירות .והיה וגו׳: die Wurzel שרר findet sich in לא כרת שרך (Ezechiel 16, 4). שררך אגן הסהר (Hohel. 7, 3) als Nabel, und ebenso ואונו בשרירי בטנו (Hiob 40, 16), in welcher letzten Stelle es das bezeichnet, worin sich die Kraft des Tieres konzentriert. Im Rabbinischen drückt הכל שריר וקים ,שריר, das Feste, Rechtskräftige aus. Lautverwandt ist es mit צרר: zusammenbinden, zusammendrängen, welches auch dem Begriff des Gedrungenen, Festen entspricht. Im Sinne des rabbinischen שריר וקים wäre נשרירות לב die vom Herzen gegebene Bestätigung, Bekräftigung. Er wandelt nur in solchen Wegen, welche nicht von Gott, sondern von seinem eigenen Herzen ratifiziert sind, die sein Herz als שריר וקים erkennt. — ספות von ספה, der Wurzel von מספא, Futter, verwandt mit שבע ,סבא usw. rabbinisch der ganz gewöhnliche Ausdruck für: zu essen geben, אספי ליה כי תורא (B. B. 21 a) דלא ליספו להו בידים (Jebamot 114 a) u.s. Der Sinn wäre: er denkt sich, die Segen- und Fluchverkündigungen haben nur das nach der Majorität zu beurteilende Verhalten der Gesamtheit im Auge, und wenn die Gesamtheit Segen verdient und Segen erhält, so, meint er, werde auch dem Einzelnen, obgleich er den Segen nicht verdient, doch der Anteil an der allgemeinen Wohlfahrt nicht entgehen. Ebenso wie, wenn Regen auf einen Acker fällt, das eigentlich ungetränkt bleiben sollende Unkraut mit getränkt wird. Das seiner Güte willen Getränkte ist das רוה, das eigentlich durstig bleiben sollende Unkraut ist das צמאה. Vergleiche והיית בגן רוה (Jes.58, 11), אצק מים על צמא (daselbst 44, 3), הנה עבדי ישתו ואתם תצמאו (daselbst 65, 13). Auch hier träte dann die bereits zu Bereschit 18, 24 erwähnte Verwandtschaft mit ספח hervor, indem auch hier das Unwürdige dem Geschicke des Würdigen angeschlossen wird, ebenso wie dort das Gegenteil.

'והיה בשמעו את דברי האלה הזאת וגו, “and when he hears the wording of this curse [which appeared to him as addressed to the community, as opposed to individuals in the community, Ed.]

את דברי האלה הזאת, “the words of this curse.” This is a reference to the curses pronounced at Mount Eyval, in chapter 27, 15-26.

והתברך is benoir soi in old French, i.e. the verb is reflexive like והתגלח, “he shall shave himself”, והתפלל, he shall pray lit., he shall make himself the object of intercession.

The only reason he had mouthed acceptance of the covenant was to become at one and the same time a beneficiary of the overwhelming number of people for whose sake G’d was going to bestow so many blessings on His people. This is the meaning of the words שלום יהיה לי כי בשרירות לבי אלך למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה; he knows full well that the holy community of the Jewish people, his brethren, have attained that status by resisting the lures of the evil urge instead of succumbing to it. This is why they will benefit from G’d’s largesse in such abundant manner. He therefore decided to have the best of both worlds by at least paying lip service to a covenant he knows he will not live by.

הצמאה, because of the urgings of his desire. He does not sin in order to make a statement against G’d asserting his freedom to do as he pleases and thereby rejecting G’d as the world’s Master. He is merely unable to resist his urges.

Because I shall punish him additionally, etc. Rashi is answering the question: The verse I shall follow what my thoughts envision” implies that his sins are intentional; if so, what is the meaning of that the unintentional may be added”? Rashi answers, Because I shall punish him additionally.

L’MA’AN’ (THAT) THE WATERED BE SWEPT AWAY WITH THE THIRSTY. The meaning thereof is “‘to supplement’ the watered with the thirsty,” for the satisfied soul is called ravah (satiated), similar to, And I will ‘satiate the soul’ of the priests with fatness, and My people shall be satisfied with My goodness;³⁰Jeremiah 31:13. and their soul shall be as a watered garden,³¹Ibid., Verse 11. while the desiring soul is called tz’meiah (thirsty): My ‘soul thirsteth’ for Thee.³²Psalms 63:2. Therefore, the sense of the verse is: when into a person’s satisfied soul — one that does not desire harmful things — there comes a slight craving, and he satisfies his lust, then there will grow in his soul a craving even greater than the original one, for the thing that he ate or that he did, and it [the soul] will lust [even] after evil things for which he never craved at first. Thus, if someone craves for lewdness with beautiful women and becomes carried away in unchastity, his lust will ultimately bring him to sodomy and to bestiality and the like with other forms of lust. This is akin to what the Sages have mentioned [with respect to sexual craving]:³³Succah 52b. “The more one satisfies it, the more it hungers, the more one starves it, the more it is satisfied.” Therefore Scripture states concerning him who follows the stubborness of his heart, that if he will satisfy his soul with those stubborn and overpowering desires for which it thirsts, his soul “will add the watered to the thirsty,” for then he will desire and thirst after things for which he had been satisfied, and with which his soul was satiated [meaning that, up to then, he felt no desire for them]. And, because he used the expression ‘shoresh poreh’ (a root that beareth),³⁴Verse 17. he follows this usage, saying that this root shall add a branch that will be satiated and leafy to the thirsty one and they will all become thirsty. Thus the word l’ma’an (that) in this place does not refer to the reason [i.e., “so that”]: “I will go in the stubborness of my heart so that I supplement the watered with the thirsty.” Instead its meaning is like “to add” — Scripture is saying that because of his conduct, this will be the result.³⁵In other words, it is not the sinner who says: “L’ma’an (so that) I supplement the watered etc.” but it is Scripture which declares “L’ma’an etc.” that “to add” the watered etc., will result from his conduct. For in every result of a particular action, Scripture uses the term l’ma’an, whether the responsible person does it intentionally to effect that result, as ‘l’ma’an’ (so that) it may be well with us,³⁶Jeremiah 42:6. See my Hebrew commentary p. 478, Note 32, that the reference in the Hebrew text of Ramban is to above, 4:40, but the word l’ma’an is not found there in connection with this expression. or whether the person effecting the result does so unintentionally, as in the expressions: ‘l’ma’an’ (that) their heart may melt;³⁷Ezekiel 21:20. ‘l’ma’an’ (that) your altars may be laid waste;³⁸Ibid., 6:6. Of their silver and their gold have they made them idols, ‘l’ma’an’ (that) they may be cut off,³⁹Hosea 8:4. The result referred to in each of the last three verses is involuntary. Here, too, it cannot be said that they made idols of gold and silver “so that” they may be cut off. Rather, Scripture states that the undesired result will be that, in punishment, they will be cut off. and many other similar verses. In my opinion this is the best and most correct of all that has been written about this verse from many aspects.
It is also possible to explain that the phrase [that the watered …] refers back to the expression a root that beareth gall and wormwood,³³Succah 52b. the verse stating that he will bless himself in his heart, saying, ‘I shall have peace,’ so that his watered branch, on which grow and sprout the wormwood and gall, should be added to the thirsty one on which nothing has grown.⁴⁰The difference between the two interpretations is: In the first interpretation “the watered” was not lustful — it was “the thirsty” that was the sinful part of the soul. In the second interpretation, however, the sinful aspect of the soul is “the watered” part, for on it has already grown “the gall and the wormwood;” and “the thirsty” is the pure part of the soul, for nothing evil has yet grown on it. The third explanation which follows is similar to the second with a minor change, as explained in the text (Kur Zahav). Or the watered may be a surname for the aforementioned wormwood, meaning that the watered wormwood which sprouts and grows exceedingly will be added to the thirsty which until now has grown but little — so that now both will sprout. Thus the intent is to state that anyone who will hear the imprecation and will imagine himself to be immune against it, holding strongly to [this] stubborness, and, as a result, his thoughts will bring him to [further] sin sprouting transgressions greater than the first [the Eternal will not be willing to pardon him etc.].²⁶Verse 19. This also is a correct interpretation.

והתברך, “and he will personally feel immune in his heart;”

והתברך, “and he blesses himself, i.e. he reassures himself; he considers himself immune from these curses (by interpreting them as applicable only to the community, not to individuals.)

בשררות לבי אלך means IN THE VIEWS OF MY HEART WILL I WALK, שררות being of a root which means to look, to see, as (Numbers 25:17): “I shall see him (אשרנו), but not now”; it is as much as to say, I will follow what my heart sees good to do.

כי בשרירות לבי, only because of assertion of self, of ego.

Now, however, he has provoked me into combining them with the intentionally sinful, etc. With this, Rashi emends a number of things. He explains that the term ספות connotes adding and not destruction as in lest you be swept away (תספה) (Bereishis 19:17). He also alters the verse by saying למען שאוסיף (lit. so that I will add), because ספות is a gerund and could be interpreted as meaning that that transgressor will add. He also adds the word him, because without the word him, we would not understand to whom He is adding. If Rashi had not explained that I shall punish him additionally, one could understand that adding unintentional acts to intentional acts means that the intentional acts will be regarded as unintentional, or vice versa. The explanation of [word so that in the] verse is as follows, that his acts of following what his thoughts envision will be reason for Me to add the punishment for his unintentional sins to the punishment of his intentional sins.

שלום יהיה לי, “I, personally will be quite safe;”

למען ספות הרוה TO ADD DRUNKENNESS [TO THE THIRST] — In order that I may add punishment for him even for the sins he has committed until now inadvertently (for which the figurative expression in this sentence is הרוה, drunkenness: cf. the following passage in Rashi), and which I used to overlook; — but now he causes Me to combine them with those committed with premeditation and to exact punishment from him for everything. Onkelos, too, rendered it in a similar sense: “in order to add for him the sins of inadvertence to those of premeditation”, which can only mean. “In order that “I” may add sins of inadvertence to those of presumption”.

בשרירות לבי אלך, ”and therefore I will follow whatever my heart dictates to me;”

כי בשרירות לבי אלך, “even though I do my own thing,” i.e. I ignore rules meant for others.

הרוה DRUNKENNESS figuratively describes the condition of a שוגג, one who acts inadvertently. The expression is an apt one because he acts like a drunken man who does things unwittingly,

למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה, “so that the irrigated will be swept away with the dry;” [the sinner’s logic is that on account of one single sinner G–d will not withhold blessings such as rain from a whole community. Ed.] Alternate meaning, the author’s: “he will commit sins that are not the result of the evil urge as well as sins that are the result of his evil urge.”

למען ספות הרוה, “the irrigated plants will be swept away with the dried out ones.” He feels that if the community has sinned and G-d will punish them, it makes no difference that he adds a few extra sins which he as an individual indulges in. [He denied G-d’s supervision of individuals who are sinful, as otherwise the community would be made to pay for the sins of each individual. We can perhaps understand this logic as the deluge swept away everyone and they could not all have been equally guilty. He also distinguishes between sins that are due to the evil urge, such as indulging in forbidden but tasty food, and others such as not wearing garments with a mixture of wool and linen, which did not require him to resist temptation. Ed.] An alternate interpretation of the line: למען ספות הרוה את הצמאה; he cannot wait until violation of Torah laws becomes popular, so that he may indulge in it openly rather than secretly and make an outcast of himself. In the meantime he has to suffer like a plant suffers that is not irrigated. He may even have restrained himself from sinning although harbouring a fervent desire to do so as he is afraid of being caught and convicted. The Torah appears to compare the righteous to the well watered plant, and the sinner or potential sinner, to the plant that thirsts for water. (Compare Yehudah Halevi quoted by Ibn Ezra)

הצמאה THE THIRST aptly describes the attitude of one who acts wittingly and out of desire.

לא יאבה ה' סלוח לו, כי אז יעשן אף ה' וקנאתו, “not only will the Lord not consider forgiving him his foolishness, but His anger and jealousy will be kindled against such an individual and He will single him out for especially harsh punishment. By doing this the remainder of you will be shielded against copying his conduct, and you will remain loyal to G–d’s covenant. For if you collectively would fail to remain loyal

ורבצה בו כל האלה, “the Lord will blot out his name,” so that no descendants of such a sinner will remain alive under the sky. Neither an already an existing grandson or great-grandson will be allowed to live.

יעשן אף ה׳ THE ANGER OF THE LORD SHALL SMOKE [AGAINST THAT MAN] — Through anger the body becomes heated and smoke, as it were, issues from the nostrils. And thus does it state, (Psalms 18:9) “Smoke rose up in his nostril”. Although this idea is not really applicable to God, Scripture makes the human ear hear the matter (i.e. it tells it to him) in the manner that it is accustomed and able to understand according to the ordinary course of the world (i.e. when speaking of God it uses language that properly is applicable only to human beings because this the only language we have at our command).

THE ANGER OF THE ETERNAL AND HIS JEALOUSY SHALL BE KINDLED AGAINST THAT MAN — this refers to the curse against the individual sinner, man or woman.

לא יאבה ה' סלוח לו, when he will violate the covenant which he accepted as a sacred oath with his lips, although he had mentally had his reservations at the very time when he confirmed the covenant with his mouth.

כי אז יעשן, G’d is not willing to forgive such a person, but considering his attitude, His anger will “smoke.”

יעשן אף ה', “Hashem’s anger will smoke, etc.” Ibn Ezra interprets this metaphor as meaning that G’d’s anger will become so hot that smoke will be observed.

Adherence to the vengeance mode, etc. Rashi is explaining how the word קנאה connotes revenge. See above at the beginning of parshas Pinchas (Bamidbar 25:11) where this is well explained.

V. 19. לא יאבה וגו׳ Gott wird sein Verlangen nicht bewilligen, seiner Erwartung nicht entsprechen (siehe Bereschit 24, 5). אלה .כל האלה heißt durchaus in erster Bedeutung nicht Fluch, sondern Eid. והיית נקי מאלתי (Bereschit 24, 41). תהי נא אלה בינותינו (daselbst 26, 28). ושמעה קול אלה (Wajikra 5, 1). Es ist, wie ja auch in השבע liegt (siehe zu Schmot 20, 7) das Sichunterstellen unter Gott, für den Fall, dass das im Eide gesprochene Wort nicht wahr ist oder nicht wahr gemacht wird. Daher ja auch נשא שם und אלה geradezu die Wurzel des Gottesbegriffs. Da jedoch die im Eide aufgerufene Gottesmacht zunächst in dem den Eidbruch strafenden Verderben des Eidbrüchigen sich zu zeigen hat, so bezeichnet אלה auch besonders diese Verderben bringende Seite des Eides, den Fluch, den der Meineidige auf sich herabzieht. So Bamidbar 5, 21 bei der סוטה, wo אלה neben שבועה genannt ist.

וקנאתו — This is a term denoting wrath, emportment in old French; it means: retaining one’s hold on the 'garment of vengeance', and not forgoing one’s right to punish.

באיש ההוא, “against that man;” the word איש does not literally mean “man,” but “person;” the Torah tells us that G’d will deliberately single out that sinner for His personal attention, regardless of whether he is male or female.

AND THE ETERNAL SHALL BLOT OUT HIS NAME — this is the curse against a whole family [if they all be sinners] for there is a common name to the head of their father’s house [and that name will be erased].

ומחה ה' את שמו, “and Hashem will erase his name, etc.” This is a reference to the sinner’s family, seeing that all family members bear the same name.

הכתובה בספר התורה הזה — Above, however, (Deuteronomy 28:61) it says: And every sickness and every plague … [which is not written] הזאת) בספר התורה הזאת the feminine form, whilst here we have הזה, the masculine)?! But the explanation is: הזאת, the feminine form, refers to the feminine word התורה, whilst הזה, the masculine form, refers to the masculine word הספר in our text. Through the division into clauses by means of the tonic accents (which serve also as marks of interpunctuation) they (the two phrases) are shown to be two different expressions: in the chapter containing the curses (ch. Deuteronomy 28:61) the Tipcha (a disjunctive accent) is placed beneath the word בספר, and the words התורה הזאת are connected one with the other, therefore it says הזאת, the feminine form, (since it has to be connected with a feminine noun), whilst here the Tipcha is placed beneath the word התורה, and consequently the words ספר התורה are connected one with the other (i.e. they form one phrase), — therefore it is a masculine word that is applicable after it, because the term (the pronoun) refers to הספר (which is masculine).

ומחה ה׳ את שמו מתחת השמים, "and G'd will blot out his name from under the heaven." Remember that the root of the souls of all the Israelites originates in a sacred part of heaven, immediately below the throne of G'd.

והבדילו ה' לרעה, “Hashem will single him out for evil;” a reference to the whole tribe.

AND THE ETERNAL SHALL MARK HIM OFF FOR EVIL. This refers to a tribe from among the remaining tribes of Israel.

V. 20. והבדילו וגו׳. Es trifft ihn das ganz spezielle Gottesgericht, das durchaus nicht bloß Gesamtheiten, sondern in ganz spezieller השגחה פרטית auch jeden einzelnen in seinem Einzeltun und Lassen überwacht und richtet.

והבדילו ה' לרעה, “and the Lord will single him out for misfortune; that sinner had thought that he alone of all the Israelites could get away with being disloyal to the covenant. I will show the Israelites that he alone will be singled out for such harsh treatment by Me. The punishment will fit the crime.

והבדילו, “and the Lord shall separate him, etc;” his punishment will correspond to the principle of the punishment matching the sin. He used his individualism as a way to escape punishment; as a retribution he will be singled out for punishment while G-d is not (yet) dealing with communally committed sins.

מכל שבטי ישראל, “from among all the tribes of Israel.” The remaining ones.

In this instance, a unique instance, the Torah threatens that in spite of the sacred origin of his soul, it will be utterly blotted out in retribution for the devious plan to be parasites and to benefit from the blessings granted to the Torah-observant majority while at the same time violating all the commandments.

לרעה, “for evil;” this had to be spelled out as G-d also singles out people “for good,” when the occasion justifies this. A well known example is the tribe of Levi, who, as the only tribe not to worship the golden calf, was rewarded by being singled out to become a special tribe.

והבדילו ה׳ לרעה, "And G'd will single him out for misfortune, etc," This seems a paradox. After the soul of the person has already been blotted out, how can G'd separate it from other souls? We may have to understand this in connection with Isaiah 60 that all the Jewish souls originate in the same place as we have been told by Vayikra Rabbah 4,6 on Genesis 46,26 where all the 70 souls of the family of Jacob are described as כל הנפש, "the whole soul" (singular), as opposed to the souls of Esau which are described in the plural (Genesis 36). When the Torah writes that "G'd will blot out his name from under the heaven, this means that G'd will not take action against this man and consign him to the forces of the קליפה which is here called רעה, "evil," until He has separated his soul. This "separation" implies certain restrictions G'd imposes on the forces of the קליפה concerning the soul of this person. G'd makes it a point to always set some limits on the forces of destruction though He Himself allocated to these forces the parameters within which they may operate. We have quoted an example of such restrictions placed on the forces of destruction when Rava's father warned his son not to sleep in his bed in order not to be killed by these forces ( Taanit 24).

מכל שבטי ישראל, from all the tribes of Israel. Seeing that a Jewish soul has an affinity to all the tribes, G'd has to separate this person's soul from all the tribes lest the evil which befalls it will have negative repercussions on those tribes.

Alternatively, the word והבדילו may mean that after G'd has wiped out the name of this person, i.e. his soul, from under the heaven, He will transfer it to a spiritual region reserved for destroying such souls. ככל האלות, "like all the curses, etc." this means that the רעה, "evil" in store for this soul will include all the curses mentioned in the Torah thus far.

AND THE REMOTE GENERATION, YOUR CHILDREN THAT SHALL RISE UP AFTER YOU, SHALL SAY. For the tribes of Israel in the first generation already knew [the cause of the disaster] for they heard the imprecations of the covenant [and therefore he states that the future generation will inquire into the cause of the disaster]. It is possible that this verse refers back to the root that beareth gall and wormwood,³³Succah 52b. that when this occurs in future generations, they will inquire into its cause.

ואמר הדור האחרון..וראו את מכת הארץ, "The later generation will say,…when they see the destruction and the conflagration, etc." Clearly, the Torah envisages that such punishment will not be something isolated. Why does the Torah mention the reaction by a later generation viewing the destruction of the Holy Land before mentioning the fact that they have seen it? The Torah should have written: "the later generation will see what destruction happened to this country and they will ask what caused it." Besides, the word ואמר is totally superfluous here seeing the Torah repeats in verse 23 that "they will say" i.e. all the other nations who came face to face with the destruction in the Holy Land. Furthermore, why did the Torah begin the verse in the singular, i.e. ואמר, only to switch to the plural, i.e. ואמרו כל הגוים, "and all the nations will say?"

ואמר הדור האחרון וגו', “and the later generation will say, etc.” these words already refer to what follows, i.e. “why has Hashem dealt in such a fashion, etc.?”

VV. 21-27. ואמר הדור וגו׳. Mit V. 20 sind die zur richtigen Würdigung und Auffassung der verkündeten Zukunft des Segens oder Unsegens eingeschalteten Tatsachen und Erläuterungen vollendet, und setzt dieser V. 21 die mit V. 69 im vorigen Kapitel unterbrochene Zukunftsverkündigung fort. ואמר הדור וגו׳ schließt sich unmittelbar dem V. 68 des vorigen Kapitels an. Sowohl für eure Nachkommen, als für die Gesamtheit der Völker wird die bis dahin geschilderte über euch und euer Land einbrechende Katastrophe und der dauernde Leidenszustand beider, zusammengehalten mit der längst voraus in dieses Buch niedergeschriebenen Verkündigung, zur sprechendsten offenkundigen weltgeschichtlichen Dokumentierung Gottes und seiner Waltung (vergl. Kap. 28, 46).

ואמר הדור הארון, “and the next generation will say, etc.” Moses refers to a generation that had not yet been born at the time when this covenant was entered into by the Jewish people.

I believe the best approach to understanding the sequence in our verse is as follows: "the later generation will say, etc." who is this later generation? Your children. The Torah had to spell this out seeing that other nations also have later generations. The Torah adds that not only your own children will raise this question, but even the Gentile who lives nearby and the nations who come from afar. וראו When all these nations from near and far will observe how this land has been devastated, they (too) will say: "what has caused this destruction?" It is taken for granted that your children who live in the land did not have to come and see the destruction. This is why the Torah could commence with describing only their reaction. The reason the Torah speaks of כל הגוים, "all the nations," is that those who have seen the desolation in the Holy Land will tell all those who have not seen it with their own eyes.

אשר יקומו מאחריכם, nicht אחריכם: die euch unmittelbar nachfolgenden, sondern אשר יקומו מאחריכם, auch die aus denen, die nach euch kommen, erstehenden Geschlechter, also auch die fernsten.

והנכרי אשר מארץ רחוקה, “as well as a stranger who had come from a distant land;” and had not heard about the solemn covenant; he will be astounded at the desolation in the land of Israel between the Jewish people and their G-d; the people around who knew about this covenant and its having breached by the Jewish people will not be surprised at all at what happened to this nation and its land.

The desolation described in this verse refers to the people of whom the Torah spoke in verse 17, the ones who decided to become idolators. The curses which had been mentioned immediately prior to this verse referred to the individual who tried to outsmart the Torah by hedging his acceptance of the oath of the covenant prior to affirming it with his mouth. The warning that G'd would erase that man's name applied only to the individual described in verse 18. Exile and desolation of the land of Israel are the result of idolatry.

אלהים אשר לא ידעום, Gott/i, den Gott ihrer Väter, kennen gelernt haben. ולא חלק להם (siehe zu Kap. 4, 19).

From a distant land. Even if they come from a different land, and know nothing of the nature of this country, they will still know and understand that these plagues are caused by Hashem harming the land, and not that it was always the nature of the land to be like this.

הכתובה בספר הזה, das Land und das Volk und dieses Buch, — Palästina, Israel und die Bibel — das sind die drei zusammengehörigen, sich gegenseitig erläuternden, ewigen Bezeugungen Gottes vor den Augen der Völker bis auf diesen Tag.

וישלכם das ist das mit dem großen ל über die Zerstreuten dieses Volkes für ihr und der Völkerbewusstsein sich aussprechende Wort. Wo immer sie sind, da ist nicht ihre ursprüngliche Heimat, und wo sie sich befinden, da sind sie nicht zufällig dort. Der Gott der Menschen- und Völkergeschichte hat dorthin sie "geworfen". וישלכם, als ein "großes Lamed", als ein großes "Lehr- und Wahrzeichen" für die Entwicklungsgeschichte der Völker, vielleicht auch, mit das ש in den Schatten stellendem ויליכם :ל sie dorthin "geführt", auch dort in der Verweisung aus dem ureigenen Lande, unter den Völkern Seinen Menschheitzwecken — vorbereitend — zu dienen.

'גפרית ומלח....במהפכת סדום אשר הפך ה, the people seeing this know full well that this was not something accidental but that it is a finger of G’d. The comparison is based on Sodom seeing that its destruction had both been predicted to Avraham and confirmed by Lot and his daughters who were survivors of that event.

גפרית ומלח שרפה כל ארצה, “all of its land having become salt and brimstone;” what is the connection between salt and brimstone? Nothing can withstand fire better than salt, and nothing can be destroyed more totally that when it is treated with brimstone. The Torah means to tell you that if the Israelites had remained loyal to their covenant, they could have withstood any attempt at destruction as salt can withstand it; seeing that they had not, they were destroyed utterly as if they had been rubbed out with brimstone. Brimstone destroys even what the fire had not been able to destroy.

ומלח, “and salt;” the Torah had reported that the wife of Lot who had failed to obey the instruction of the angel not to look back, was turned in a pillar of salt. (Genesis 19,26(

שרפה כל ארצה, “its whole land is as if burned.” Is it conceivable that G-d would become so angry on account of a sin committed by a single individual? The fact is that the destruction of the area occupied by the Ten tribes and the population being sent into exile, had nothing to do with an individual’s sins, but with erection of public idols, two golden calves built to block the route to Jerusalem during the lifetime of Solomon’s son Rechavam, hundreds of years before theKingdom of the Ten Tribes went into exile and the idol erected by Michah, and the appointment as Levites by people not born to members of that tribe. (Judges chapter 8,33) The latter phenomena happened already prior to the time of the prophet Samuel and the dynasty of David/Solomon, long before the Kingdom of Solomon was divided.

ואמרו כל הגויים, when they are faced with these incontrovertible facts.

ואמרו כל הגויים, “and all the nations will say, etc.” their attention is drawn to the extraordinarily long time that the blight of that land will continue.

על מה עשה ה' כה לארץ הזאת, “what has caused the Lord to do this to this land?” If there were murderers and adulterers among the Jews, this is a world wide phenomenon and G–d has not reacted similarly against them? Why has only their land been laid waste?

על אשר עזבו, because, contrary to previous occasions, G’d’s anger could not be tempered by the consideration that the gentiles would consider G’d’s killing His people as proof that He was unable to keep His promise to the. I already explained on Deut. 9,28 that after the people had crossed the river Jordan such excuses could not longer be cited in their defense.

ואמרו, “then they will say, etc.” even the gentiles will come to the conclusion that the G–d of the Jews had done to them was justified; they had entered into a covenant with their G–d voluntarily, and had abandoned their part of the bargain without reason. It is therefore no more than just that they had to pay the price for their treachery. The prophet Ezekiel has spelled this out clearly in Ezekiel 20, 32-37: “that which entered your thoughts- it shall not be! What you say: “let us be like the other nations, like the families of the lands, to serve wood and stone. As I live-the words of my Lord Hashem/Elohim,-with a strong had and an outstretched arm and with outpoured fury will I rule over you. And I shall take you out from among the nations, and gather you from the lands into which you were scattered, with a strong hand, and an outstretched arm and with outpoured fury. And I will bring you to the “Wilderness of the Nations” and I will wrangle with you face to face. As I wrangled with your fathers in the Wilderness of the Land of Egypt, so I will wrangle with you- the words of my Lord Hashem/Elohim- and I will make you pass under the rod, and bring you into the bond of the covenant, and separate those among you those who rebel and transgress against Me, from the land of their sojourning I will take them out, but to the soil of Israel none shall come.” The Talmud, in tractate Rosh Hashanah, folio 32, quotes a sage on verse 33 there as saying: “wish that the Lord redeem us from every place;” we would be willing to endure the punishments preceding this, knowing the result would be the redemption.” [The subject matter under discussion in the Talmud there is the reciting of scriptural verses depicting G–d’s fury and anger in our liturgy on a day such as new Year’s; it would be better to recite only verses depicting G–d’s attribute of mercy. Ed.]

לא ידעום [FOR THEY … SERVED OTHER GODS] WHOM THEY KNEW NOT — i.e. in whom they had never experienced any Divine power.

GODS THAT THEY KNEW NOT — “gods in whom they had never experienced any Divine power. ‘V’LO CHALAK LAHEM’ (AND THAT HE HATH NOT ALLOTTED UNTO THEM) — He did not give these [gods] to them [Israel] to be their portion. And Onkelos rendered this expression: v’lo otiva l’hon, meaning, ‘they had not done them any good.’ [Onkelos thus explained] the term chalak as meaning, ‘that god which they have chosen for themselves has never chalak (apportioned) them any inheritance or portion.” This is Rashi’s language. The correct interpretation is: “gods that they knew not as gods, that is to say, [they worshipped gods] whom they knew not as having acted with any Divine power inherent to their essence. And the Eternal, the G-d of their fathers did not allot them [these gods] to them, meaning that He did not designate them as lords over Israel as He placed them over the nations.” I have already explained this.⁴¹See Leviticus 18:25, and above, 4:19.

אלוהים אשר לא ידעום, they did not even know of such a deity’s existence. For such unproven and almost anonymous deities they abandoned their G’d, the One Who had been proven as true, powerful, through all the miracles He had performed for them.

אלוהים אשר לא ידעום, “a deity that had been unfamiliar to them.” Nachmanides explains that what is meant is that the people had not had any evidence that this so-called deity possessed and exercised powers that would be helpful for its worshippers.

וישתחוו להם, אלוהים אשר לא ידעום ולא חלק להם, and they served their gods; gods they did not know of and which He did not apportion to them.” Moses meant that the Jewish people had never known that these idols were supposed to possess independent divine powers. Not only this, but G’d had not assigned these powers to the Jewish people but only to the Canaanites (Nachmanides). This is based on Deut. 4,19 where we discussed it and pointed out that Israel had been assigned as its protective Power the Creator of the entire universe, and that the Lord Himself is described as מנת חלקי וכוסי, “the Lord is my allotted share and portion” (Psalms 16,5). We also have a verse in the Torah itself, Deut. 32,9 כי חלק ה’ עמו, “for He is the share of His people.”

They had no notion that they possessed Divine omnipotence. [In some texts] Rashi explains the text out of order because he wants to prove that when the verse writes unknown to them, it means, They had no notion that they possessed Divine omnipotence. Because once Rashi explains the verse that Which He had not apportioned to them means He did not allot them as their portion, it is obvious that they were unknown to them. If so, why does the verse write unknown to them”? Therefore we must say it means they had no notion that they possessed Divine omnipotence. Re”m explains that [Rashi explains the verse out of order] because the verse [too] should have written, “gods [which] He had not apportioned to them and were unknown to them, in order to first say that they prostrated themselves to those gods not because Hashem had allotted them as their portion. And afterwards he adds that they also did not choose them of themselves for they saw that they possessed Divine omnipotence.

ולא חלק להם, “and whom He had not allotted to them.” (Compare Deut.4,19-20) The fact that the Torah and the land of Israel is not part of the heritage of the gentile nations has been made in the Holy Scriptures on numerous occasions such as Lamentations 3,24, and Psalms 16,5.

ולא חלק להם means, He did not give them (the gods) to be their portion (cf. Rashi on Deuteronomy 4:19). Onkelos, however, renders it by לא אוטיבא להון, i.e. they did not bestow upon them any good. As for the expression לא חלק, Onkelos took it thus, explaining also the singular form of the verb: that god which they have chosen for themselves has never given them any חלק, any inheritance or portion.

ולא חלק להם, a deity, be it a horoscope or whatever which He had not assigned to them. The reason G’d had never assigned such a horoscope to them had been to show them that they did not need it, as did the other nations. Moses had mentioned in Deut. 4,19-20 that G’d had assigned such intermediaries to the gentile nations.

ולא חלק להם, “and that Hashem had not assigned to Israel as a protective power.” This is a reminder that whereas the fates of nations of the world are guided by angels, assigned by Hashem to each nation, the Jewish people are under His direct supervision so that there is no protective angel assigned to them.

ויתשם ה׳ — Understand this as the Targum has it: וטלטלינון, “and He cast them out”. Similar is, (Jeremiah 12:14) “Behold, I cast them out (נתשם) from their land”.

AND THE ETERNAL ROOTED THEM OUT OF THEIR LAND, for He will exile the tribe that will do evil in the sight of the Eternal, as it is stated, and he [the king of Assyria] carried them away, even the Reubenites, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Menasheh.⁴²I Chronicles 5:26. The correct interpretation is that he is now alluding to the exile of all Israel, all of them being evil, and they will be banished in a complete exile. Similarly, the following chapter, And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee⁴³Further, 30:1. is a reference to the exile of all Israel, as he said, among all the nations whither the Eternal thy G-d hath driven thee,⁴³Further, 30:1. and so he concludes the entire chapter.

ויתשם ה’ מעל אדמתם, ”the Lord uprooted them from their soil.” This whole paragraph refers to the period of the first Temple, seeing that this was the period during which the people were guilty of idolatry. The expressions ויתשם and וישליכם refer to the fate of the ten tribes, exiled by Shalmanesser, who never returned to their homeland. Such people are considered נדחים, “outcast.” This is why the Torah uses the expression כיום הזה, i.e. their fate became similar to yours as of this day. Just as you are all together in one place, not spread out over the area comprising your homeland, so these exiles will be in a closely confined area. As long as you (the Jewish people) have not yet come to your homeland, i.e. אל המנוחה ואל הנחלה, (compare Deut. 12,9) you too can be considered as נדחים. Your descendants will once more face such crowded conditions, if and when they are exiled due to breaking the conditions of this covenant. Whenever a people are not on their own land where they have space to spread out they are considered as נדחים, outcast.

וישליכם אל ארץ אחרת, “He expelled them to another land.” The letter ל is anyway the largest of the letters in the א-ב. Here it is written even larger. This may be an allusion to the exceptionally high spiritual level from which the people were flung down at the time they were exiled. The prophet Jeremiah (Lamentations 2,1) already speaks of this when he says: השליך משמים ארץ תפארת ישראל, “the Lord has cast down from heaven to earth the majesty of Israel.” Another verse referring to the same experience of the Jewish people is found in Psalms 78,61: “His majesty is in the hands of an oppressor.” This is similar to Daniel 8,12: ”it hurled truth to the ground.” This is a reference to the countenance of Yaakov engraved on the throne of G’d [he is known as personifying “truth” just as is G’d Himself, Ed.] This is also what we read in Midrash Eychah 2,2: “G’d said to Israel the reason you have the audacity to anger Me is that you rely on the fact that the picture of your patriarch Yaakov’s countenance is engraved in My throne, This is why I will fling it back at you right into your faces.” This (according to the author of this Midrash) is the meaning of the verse we quoted from Lamentations 2,1 that “He hurled the majesty of the people of Israel from the heaven.” This is also what David referred to when he wrote (Psalms 102,11) כי נשאתני ותשליכני, “for You had lifted me up high only to cast me down.” G’d flung down the Jewish people whom He had raised previously to such great heights (spiritual). It is as if the psalmist said that the very great height to which the Jewish people had risen previously was a reason why their fall became so phenomenal. Seeing that G’d had flung the Jewish people down from such great heights, “He no longer remembered the footstool of His feet on the day of His wrath* (Lamentations 2,1). [the thrust of this commentary, if I understand correctly, is that the upheaval caused to the Jewish people by its exile was matched by a similar upheaval in the celestial spheres. Ed.] The various portions of verses from Lamentations (5,16) or Amos (5,2), as well as from Ezekiel (19,12) cited by the author, all tend to describe the decline of Israel’s image in the celestial regions before this was followed by Israel’s physical decline and exile. It is part of the mystical aspect of what is referred to in our verse.

הנסתרת לה' אלהינו THE SECRET THINGS BELONG UNTO THE LORD OUR GOD — And if you say, “But what can we do? Thou threatenest the many (the whole community) with punishment because of the sinful thoughts of one individual, as it is said, (v. 17): “Lest there should be among you a man, [or a woman or a family … whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord …]”, and afterwards it states, (v. 21) “And they will see the plagues of that land”. But surely no man can know the secret thoughts of his fellow! Now, I reply: I do not threaten to punish you because of secret thoughts for these belong to the Lord our God and He will exact punishment from that individual; but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children that we may put away the evil from our midst; and if we do not execute judgment upon them, the whole community will be punished. — There are dots on the words לנו ולבננו to suggest that even for the revealed sins (those committed openly), He did not punish the community until they had crossed the Jordan — from the moment when they took upon themselves the oath on Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal and had thus become responsible for one another (Sanhedrin 43b; cf. Sotah 37b).

THE SECRET THINGS BELONG UNTO THE ETERNAL OUR G-D. In the opinion of the commentators⁴⁴Ibn Ezra and others. the verse states: “It is for the Eternal our G-d to execute judgment upon those who worship idols secretly, for all hidden matters are revealed before Him, but the things that are revealed are upon us and our children that we may do to them all the words of this Law — to smite the idol-worshippers in accordance with the law of the Torah. According to the interpretation of the Rabbis, too, it is so.⁴⁵Sanhedrin 43b.
By way of the simple meaning of Scripture it is my opinion that the secret things are the sins that are hidden from those who commit them, as it is stated, Who can discern errors? Cleanse Thou me from hidden faults.⁴⁶Psalms 19:13. The verse states: “[Our] hidden sins belong to G-d alone; for them we bear no guilt for having transgressed [unknowingly]. But the things that are revealed, namely our conscious sins, belong unto us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this Law as an eternal statute. As such we accepted it, obligating the one who was present [when the covenant was made] and the one who was not present. And because he included in the imprecation [the obligation] to perform all the commandments, he excluded from the ban whoever commits a sin unintentionally, so that he should not be afflicted by this curse. The words of Onkelos indicate this, for he rendered it, “The secret things are before the Eternal our G-d,” [thus implying that we will not be punished for sins we have committed unknowingly], but if he agreed with the [aforementioned] interpretation of the commentators [that it is for G-d to punish conscious sins committed secretly] then Onkelos should have said, “The secret things are ‘to’ the Eternal our G-d” [to punish].

הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו, even though I have said that all of you are standing in the presence of the Lord whom it is impossible to mislead and deceive, so that He will collect His dues from everyone who owes him, G’d collects directly only from those whom it is not possible for His appointed representatives, i.e. a legally constituted judiciary to bring to justice.

הנסתרות לה׳ אלוקינו, והנגלות לנו, "The hidden sins are G'd's business, but the visible ones (are our business to deal with)." We have to understand this verse as the response by the Jewish people to Moses that he cannot hold them responsible for sins committed by fellow Jews in private. However, they accept the responsibility to try and stop sins being committed in public. לנו ולבנינו עד עולם, "for us and our children forever." This is the official acceptance by the Israelites of the oath Moses wanted them to swear.

הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו, I have already explained this on Deut. 26,15 in connection with the curses pronounced at Mount Gerizim and Mount Eyval. It is precisely because sins committed in secret cannot be dealt with by the courts, that the Torah has to go on record that the sinner will still not get away with his sin.

הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו, “The hidden [sins] are for Hashem our G’d, etc.“ Nachmanides writes that all the commentators understand the verse to mean that sins committed in private, unobserved, will be taken care of by Hashem, instead of by a human tribunal, whereas sins committed in public and witnessed, must not be simply left to His discretion to deal with. He adds, that from the plain meaning of the text it would seem that the sins described as הנסתרות, are the ones concealed even from the sinner, i.e. he was not aware of having committed them. Our sages have composed prayers in which we constantly ask G’d to protect us against committing such sins inadvertently committed. (Compare Psalms 19,13) In appreciation of not being made responsible for such sins, Moses says that we will take care of knowingly committed sins, do penance, etc., and ask G’d’s forgiveness and undertake not to be negligent again. The curses Moses has called down on sinners do not apply to people who have sinned unintentionally.

If you should ask, What are we capable of doing? etc. Rashi is explaining the relevance of the hidden [matters], etc. in this parsha.

V. 28. הנסתרת וגו׳. An diese Gott und seine Waltung dokumentierende Bedeutung Israels im Exil knüpfen sich weitaussehende in die fernsten Zeiten ausblickende Zukunftgestaltungen. Doch diese, als נסתרות, überlassen wir Gott. Was für uns das Offenbare für immer und für jede Zeit das klar Bewusste, Zweifellose ist, das ist: dass, wie sich auch unsere Zukunft gestalten möge und welche Zeiten und Geschicke wir noch zu bestehen haben mögen, unsere und unserer Kinder ewige Aufgabe bleibt überall und immer, im Lande und im Exil: Gottes Gesetze treu zu erfüllen.

הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו, “concealed acts concern the Lord our G–d;” seeing that the Torah had written in verse 20 of our chapter that G–d singles out individual sinners for retribution,” and verse 21 sounds as if the sins of a single individual could cause G–d to react angrily against the whole people, or at least against a whole family all on account of that single rebellious Jew, Moses now reassures the people that precisely because He is omniscient and knows what goes on in the hearts of each one of us, He will deal with the individual who is guilty and not engage in punishing the innocent as “collateral damage.” However, sins committed openly, and ignored by the judiciary, thereby constituting collective guilt by the people who had appointed corrupt judges, will become the subject of what for the uninitiated looks like collective punishment. In fact, the retribution for openly committed sins and tolerated by the courts, will result in the punishment extending beyond a single generation as long as we do not wipe out the phenomenon of open rebellion against the covenant that the whole people had voluntarily entered into with Hashem. The Talmud in tractate Sanhedrin, folio 43 points out that the dots above the letters לנו ולבנינו and above the letter ע of the word עד, are to inform us that as long as the Israelites had not crossed the river Jordan and been on sacred ground, G–d had not punished anyone for sins committed in private, not witnessed by even family members. The reason for this was that only after crossing the Jordan did the Jews accept the Torah [most of whose commandments did not apply outside the Holy land. Ed.] individually and collectively, so that each Israelite became responsible also for the sins committed by his fellow Jew. At that point what is written the words לנו ולבנינו, “for us and our children,” became applicable. If you were to query that if the above were correct, why is the last dot on the word על instead of on ה' אלוקינו, perhaps the reason is that it would be inappropriate to do this when it is subject to being erased. The words: lashem elokeynu in Hebrew including the tetragram that I cannot spell out here, comprise eleven letters, and that is why our sages place 11 dots to hint to us that this is where the dots really should have been. [Since no Israelite who had not yet crossed the river Jordan ever saw a Torah scroll with these eleven dots, I find the interpretation offered quite irrelevant. Ed.] According to a text known as massoret hag’dolah, the dots are attributed to when Ezra had to rewrite the Torah after the redemption when different scrolls had variations in the text, and the time would come when Moses would challenge him why he had not done it differently, he would explain that because of his doubts he had placed the dots on top. If Moses would be satisfied with the way Ezra had done it, it would be easy to erase the dots without harming the text of the Torah scroll. From this it is clear that Ezra had his doubts about G–d not holding us responsible for not interfering when becoming aware of sins committed prior to crossing the Jordan.

הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו, “sins committed in the privacy of one’s home, (which could not be witnessed and brought to court) will be taken care of by the Lord our G-d;” this had to be stated specifically in light of what we read in verse 18 about individuals who feel safe from punishment for their personal sins in periods when the community at large is Torahobservant.

והנגלות לנו ולבננו עד עולם, however, any sins committed publicly must be dealt with by this judiciary, forever, [I suppose the words עד עולם mean that there is no statute of limitations as in gentile countries. Ed.] לעשות את כל דברי התורה הזאת, to avenge G’d‘s having been slighted by the public commission of violations of Torah law, especially those affecting other people directly.

לנו ולבנינו עד עולם, it is up to us to administer the penalties prescribed by the Torah subject to the offender being convicted on the basis of reliable witnesses.

As it is said, “Perhaps there is, among you a man, etc. This implies that an individual sinned. But afterwards [it is written], They will see the plagues of that land, which implies that the entire land will be punished on account of him.

Sanhedrin 43 b wird das נסתרות und נגלות in Beziehung auf die Verantwortung gefasst, die nach der mit diesem Gesetzesbunde eingetretenen Solidarität für die Erfüllung des Gesetzes (siehe Kap. 27, 1 u. 9) der Gesamtheit und jedem einzelnen obliegt und die mit dem לנו ולבנינו עד עולם לעשות וגו׳ erneut zum Ausspruch gekommen, da dies nicht nur zur Selbsterfüllung, sondern überhaupt für die Verwirklichung des Gesetzes alle verpflichtet erklärt. Diese solidarische Verpflichtung, ערבות, das: כל ישראל ערבין זה לזה, wird hier nur auf die נגלות, auf das offenkundige Tun und Lassen beschränkt, in welcher Beziehung alle, die durch ihren Einfluss Gesetzübertretungen oder Pflichtunterlassungen hätten verhüten können und diesen Einfluss nicht geübt, שהיה בידן למחות ולא מחן, mitverantwortlich sind. נסתרות aber, geheime Vergehungen gegen das Gesetz, bleiben jedoch לד׳ אלקינו, der göttlichen Waltung allein. Und zwar stehen nach den dort sich ergebenden Erläuterungen über לנו ולבנינו und dem ע von עד, den Buchstaben von לד׳ אלקינו entsprechend, elf Beschränkung bedeutende Punkte, um zu sagen, dass auch für נגלות die Solidarität erst mit der Überschreitung des Jordans und der Bundesproklamierung am Gerisim und Ebal eingetreten, bis dahin jedoch, wie die נסתרות, auch die לד׳ אלדינו :נגלות gewesen (siehe תוספו׳ daselbst ד׳׳ה א׳׳ל ר׳ נחמיה nach Raschis Auffassung). Demnach wäre die moralische Zusammenhörigkeit aller, die in der Solidarität aller für alle ihre so folgenschwere Bedeutung gewinnt, gerade erst mit der durch die Niederlassung im Lande eintretenden Vereinzelung zur wahren Wirklichkeit gelangt, und dürfte dafür wohl das Motiv in der Erwägung zu finden sein, dass gerade erst in der mit dem normalen Erwerbs- und Nahrungsstreben sich erzeugenden bürgerlichen Verkehrsgemeinsamkeit alle Einzelpersönlichkeiten diejenige Bedeutung gewinnen, welche auch den gegenseitigen moralischen Einfluss bedingt.

לה׳ אלוקינו, “it is His duty to punish sins committed in places inaccessible to witnesses.”

That, even with regard to what is exposed [the community was not punished] until they had crossed the Yarden, etc. Rashi explains that if not for the dots one would think that this has always been Hashem’s attribute, so the dots come here [for us] to expound that when it says ours and our children’s, that this attribute did not apply until now, but only from now on [i.e., once they cross the Yarden], because dots always come to exclude. You might ask that the dots should only appear on Hashem's Name [in this verse], as this would clearly indicate that [without the dots, certain] sins are Hashem our God’s, and with the dots it would also indicate that [certain] sins are ours and not Hashem's. How is this so? To to teach that, even with regard to what is exposed, etc. You might ask why there is a dot on the עין of עד (forever)? The answer is that there is a dot on the עין of עד so that [a total of] eleven letters have dots, corresponding to the eleven dots of Hashem's name [in the verse], to teach you that the dots should have been on Hashem’s Name to exclude [what is exposed, etc.], but it is not proper to put dots on Hashem’a Name. (I found this in the name of Maharitz). Re”m writes that the dot on עד is to indicate that this word עד should not be here but next to the hidden [matters], to indicate that this rule [that the public is not punished for hidden matters] is [in effect] for all time [even before crossing the Yarden]. Even though we would know that it refers to the hidden matters and not the exposed matters as explained above [because of the other dots], nevertheless, were it not for the dot on עד that teaches that it is written out of place, it would have seemed like an error because it is written next to the revealed matters. But once it has the dot, it is as if the Torah explicitly writes that its place is not here but above. You might ask, why was [the public] punished in the incident of Achan? The Gemora (Sanhedrin 43b) already answers because his wife and children knew [of his sin].

והנגלות, ”but the sins committed publicly, etc,” dealing with deliberate sins committed in full view of the public must be dealt with by the judiciary by both you and your children, as otherwise such phenomena cannot be eradicated from your midst. This law becomes effective from the moment the Jewish people will cross the river Jordan. From that moment on their acceptance of the covenant with G-d meant that each individual Jew shared in the responsibility for the conduct of each fellow Jew. From that moment on we also became responsible. In order that you should not say that this approach applies forever (under all circumstances), the words והנגלות לנו ולבנינו, “and the publicly committed sins are also the responsibility of us and our children,” have been dotted, i. e. as long as we observe that part of the law, by letting our judiciary punish sinners of sins committed in public, G-d will take care of those that were committed secretly.[The dots, wherever they appear, have been added by learned scribes long after the Torah had been given, i.e. have been added by human initiative. There are dots only on ten letters, whereas there are eleven sins that were listed in the list of curses as being typical of sins committed secretly in Deuteronomy chapter 27, commencing with verse 15. This is deliberate in order to avoid giving the impression that we are telling G-d how to administer His laws. This is also the reason why the dots which we would have expected over the words לה' אלוקינו, where they would have made more sense, appear instead over the words לנו ולבנינו, Ed.]

הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו, when the prophet Isaiah, at the end of describing the idyllic state of mankind on earth after the arrival of the Messiah, states that G-d will also select priests and Levites from among the gentile nations,(Isaiah 66,13) this is also something reserved for G-d’s judgment, covered by the line הנסתרות לה' אלוקינו, “that there are hidden matters which only G-d is aware of,” not man.