Cytowanie Komentarza do Powtórzonego Prawa 4:7

Why standest Thou afar, O Lord? – David did not utter this Psalm of any one particular occasion; it is rather a prayer which anyone who is in trouble by reason of an enemy might use. In it he tells of the ways of the wicked in his persecution of the poor and him who is helpless to escape him. And because usually the persecutor does not act openly, he tells of the persecution by the wicked, how he oppresses the poor by means of ambush and secret place; and that (the poor) has no means of safeguarding himself from him but (in turning) his eyes upon the Lord. And he tells of the deeds of the wicked individually and generally, for the wicked is one and his helpers many. And he includes in the Psalm likewise (a reference to) the persecution with which the nations of the world would persecute Israel in their land; therefore he says (5:16), the heathen are perished out of his land. And he says: that mortal man (shall no longer) oppress (5:18). He says: Why standest Thou afar, O Lord? For when help comes from Him to the poor and to him that crieth, it is as if He were nigh and helping him, as it says (Deut. 4:7): “that hath a God so nigh unto them”; and it says (Ps. 145:18): “The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon Him”; and when the enemy prevails it is as if God were far away, and hiding His eyes from the poor – therefore he says: Why standest Thou afar, O Lord? And the beth of ברחוק stands really for two words; I mean רחוק במקום, “in a place afar.”

החודש הזה, “this month. [Seeing that the word “month” is an abstract term that cannot be described as visible, ”the meaning of G–d’s words are; “when you observe the position of the moon in which you see it at this time, this is when the lunar cycle enters a new phase, i.e. when the month in the Jewish calendar begins.” This event is to be sanctified by you on each occasion. The members of the Jewish High Court will have to officially proclaim this event. The word לכם, ”for you,” is G–d’s authority to appoint the High Court as competent to declare when the moon has renewed itself. If the members of the High Court deem it in the national interest, they have the authority to postpone the new moon for an extra day. [They do not have the authority to advance it for a day. Ed.] When Rosh Hashanbah approaches, G–d informs the angels that He will sit in judgment of mankind, and He gave them a preview similar to what He did with Avraham when He was about to destroy Sodom and its satellites. According to Rabbi Aushiyah, after He had told the angels that He was afraid He would have to destroy mankind, it happened once that when the day came and He had not sat in judgment, the angels approached G–d asking Him if He did not say to them: “Tomorrow I’ll sit in judgment over all of mankind and the judgment will result in our allowing mankind to disintegrate”? G–d replied: “My children have forced Me to delay this for a day when I authorised them to decide on making adjustments to the calendar.” [The editor of my edition of this edition of the Daat Z’keynim, points to a similar, but not identical statement in Sh’mot Rabbah 15,2, the prediction of mankind being destroyed being missing. Ed.] [If I understand the point of the Midrash correctly, if G–d had sat in judgment on the day on which Rosh Hashanah should have been according to His calendar, on that day the balance of good and evil on earth would have resulted in mankind having forfeited the right to exist. Due to the Rabbis having decided to observe Rosh Hashanah one day later, the pendulum by then will have swung to a positive balance allowing G–d a chance to continue to give mankind another chance. Ed.] Being aware of this, Moses said in Deuteronomy 4,7:כי מי גוי גדול אשר לו אלוקים קרובים אליו כה' אלוקינו בכל קראנו אליו, “for what great nation is there that has G–d so close to them, as the Lord our G–d whenever we call upon Him?" The word קראנו in that verse is to be understood as if it had been spelled קריאתנו, “our calling,” i.e. proclaiming the times of the new moon, or an additional calendar month making leap years.” According to our sages in the Talmud, tractate Menachot folio 29, this subject was one of three that Moses had had difficulty in comprehending without Divine assistance. [He had to be shown what the moon looked like at time of its monthly renewal. Ed.] Our author does not follow this, saying that anyone of us can see that at the end of the month it almost disappears completely, and at the beginning of the month it reappears gaining is visibility until full moon. Moses’ difficulty was that on the last day of the month the moon is just as invisible as on the first day of the month. How are we then to know if today is the last day of last month or the first day of the month just commencing? The answer is that the difference is that when approaching the end of the month, the hollow area of the semicircle points in the opposite direction from what it does at the beginning of the month. The hollow area faces west when the moon is in its second half, while it faces east when in its first half. Another way of determining this is that near the end of its monthly orbit it is visible in the south-eastern corner of the sky, whereas at the beginning of its monthly orbit it faces south-west.

The reference to the house of bondage also alludes to the souls whom Israel came to rescue during its enforced stay in Egypt. I have explained this at length on Genesis 46,3 in connection with the expression: "I will make you (Jacob) a great nation there." Kabbalists go further and believe that Deut. 4,7: "for who is a great nation whose G'd is close to them, etc.?" is also a reference to the fact that all Jewish souls past, present, and future participated in the revelation at Mount Sinai. Accordingly, G'd repeated the statement concerning the Exodus because it referred not only to the bodies but also to the souls. The many stray souls which had been imprisoned in Egypt as part of the loot captured by the forces of the קליפה after Adam's sin had also been freed at that time.

of His holy name that you have a holy God like our God, and so (Deut. 4:7): “... like the Lord our God whenever we call out to Him.”