Pensamento Judaico sobre Deuteronômio 31:17

According to my understanding, [there is a correlation between these verses]. Our Sages state¹⁵Berachos 40a. that “the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge” that Adam ate was wheat, because knowledge is dependent on grain. [The Sages derive this from the fact that] an infant does not acquire knowledge until he partakes of bread. Thus, when “infants ask for bread” and thereby gain knowledge and begin to speak, that is the age at which¹⁶Sukkah 42a. “a father is obligated to teach his son the verse, ‘The Torah Moshe commanded us…’¹⁷Devarim 33:4. and the first verse of the Shema.” Hence, eating grain generates the possibility that, “Out of the mouths of babes and sucklings, You established strength.” This verse uses the word oz for strength. Oz refers to the Torah, as our Sages state, ¹⁸Midrash Tehillim 8:4. “The [sole] meaning of oz, ‘strength,’ is Torah.”Olelim are young children who have enough intelligence to be able to ask for bread. Similarly, the term yonkim is used to refer to children who study Torah, as stated in the several places in the Talmud, e.g.¹⁹Chagigah 15a, b. See also Gittin 56a, 68a, and Chulin 98b for other examples where yanuka refers to an older child. “He said to the child (yanuka), ‘Tell me the verse you are studying.’” “Out of the mouths” [of such children] – i.e., because of their Torah observance – “strength is established” for God to disrupt the celestial order [in favor of the Jewish people. Conversely, when the Jews] neglect [Torah observance], God vows,²⁰Devarim 31:17. “I will hide My face from them, and they will be consumed,” i.e., the fate [of the Jews] will be given over to the natural order.

To come back to the Midrash quoted at the beginning, when man's eyesight is perfect, he makes few errors in perception. Denial of physical health does not originate in heaven. On the contrary, heaven helps in the attainment of perfect health. Therefore, since failing health is usually the result of some moral failure, the deterioration in Isaac's eyesight seems doubly baffling. When someone looks into the king's bedchamber accidentally, observing the most intimate aspects of the king's private life, such a person may become a source of major embarassment to the king. If the person in question happens to be an average citizen, the king might have him executed to save himself future embarassment. If he is the king's son, however, the king may prefer to shutter the son's windows rather than to execute him. At the time of the akeydah, Isaac had become privy to some of G-d’s secrets while he was lying bound on the altar. Afraid that what Isaac had seen might become a source of future embarassment, and to help Isaac avoid making fatal mistakes in the use of his eyes, G-d decided to shutter his "windows," as it were. When Moses complained about his speech defect, using it as an excuse to decline the role of leader of the Jewish people, G-d countered by saying, "Who gave man a mouth?" (Exodus 4,11). This means that imperfections in man's physical attributes do not occur through oversight on the part of G-d, but on the contrary; since they are the results of G-d’s actions, they serve a constructive purpose, even though that purpose may not yet have been recognized by the person suffering the handicap.

The verb “to come out” is thus employed to designate the manifestation of a certain work of God, as we noticed in our interpretation of the phrase, “Behold, the Lord cometh out of his place.” In a similar manner the term shub, “to return,” has been figuratively employed to denote the discontinuance of a certain act according to the will of God, as in “I will go and return to my place” (Hosea 5:15); that is to say, the Divine presence (Shechinah) which had been in our midst departed from us, the consequence of which has been the absence of Divine protection from amongst us. Thus the Prophet foretelling misfortune says, “And I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured” (Deut. 31:17); for, when man is deprived of Divine protection he is exposed to all dangers, and becomes the butt of all fortuitous circumstances: his fortune and misfortune then depend on chance. Alas! how terrible a threat!—This is the idea contained in the words,” I will go and return to my place” (Hos. 5:15).