Powtórzonego Prawa 10:14 Komentarz: Rashi, Kli Yakar, Sforno & Tur HaArokh

הן לה׳ אלהיך BEHOLD, UNTO THE LORD THY GOD BELONGS the whole Universe (“the heavens … and the earth and all that therein is”), and yet רק באבתיך חשק ה׳ ONLY IN THY FATHERS DID THE LORD TAKE PLEASURE.

“Behold, to the Lord your God belong the heavens, etc., only in your forefathers did the Lord delight.” The word only comes to exclude the heavens and the heaven of heavens, that in all of them the Lord did not delight, but rather in your forefathers, according to the view of the Sages of Truth who said that the righteous are greater than the works of heaven and earth, and they agreed to say that all were created for the sake of man. This is not like the view of Rambam who wrote that man is the primary creation in the lower realms but has no comparison with the higher realms. And according to Rambam’s reasoning, there is room to interpret this verse that the entire narrative continues from what was written and you shall love the stranger, etc. because God desires that you cling to converts even though they are lowly, nevertheless from Him, blessed be He, you shall see and so shall you do. For behold, to the Lord your God belong the heavens, etc., and despite His great exaltedness, nevertheless, only in your forefathers did the Lord delight even though they were lowly in comparison to the heavenly beings who are close to God. And furthermore, He gave a second proof that the Lord your God is the God of gods, etc. and even so, He executes justice for the orphan and widow and loves the stranger. And from this verse Rabbi Yochanan said: Wherever you find the greatness of the Holy One, blessed be He, there you find His humility, etc. (see Megillah 31a). And from these two premises, he derived the conclusion that says and you shall love the stranger.

הן לה' אלוקיך השמים...והארץ, the fact that He owns the entire universe is convincing proof that whatever He asks of you is only for your own good, not for His, seeing that He has everything. The phenomena in the heavens and on earth are indestructible, permanent, and if you observed that at times they performed out of character to their nature, this was only because I, G’d, made them perform so in your interest. However, G’d was fond of your forefathers