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ונתתי משכני AND I WILL SET MY DWELLING [AMONGST YOU] — This means the Temple at Jerusalem (Sifra, Bechukotai, Chapter 3 2; Eruvin 2a).

AND I WILL SET MY TABERNACLE AMONG YOU. “This means the Sanctuary [at Jerusalem].” AND MY SOUL SHALL NOT ‘THIG’AL’ (ABHOR) YOU. “This means that My spirit shall not reject you. Every [form of the term] ge’ilah is an expression of spewing out something that has been absorbed in another substance, such as: for there ‘nig’al’ the shield of the mighty,²⁷II Samuel 1:21. The reference is to King Saul and Jonathan who fell in battle with the Philistines, and David in his eulogy mentions that their shields were of no avail to them, as Ramban explains. meaning that the shield was not receptive to the oil with which it was anointed; for they used to anoint a leather shield with boiled [fat], in order to make the blows of arrows or spears glance off it, so that it should not pierce the leather.” This is Rashi’s language.
But I do not know what would be the meaning of this, that the Holy One, blessed be He, should say that if we keep all the commandments and do His will, He will not reject us and His soul will not abhor us! Similarly when [speaking of] our transgressing His covenant [with us], and committing great provocations,²⁸Nehemiah 9:18. He said, I will not reject them, neither will I abhor them!²⁹Further, Verse 44. And the prophet [Jeremiah] said at the time of cursing [i.e., the prediction of the destruction of the First Sanctuary], Hast Thou utterly rejected Judah? Hast Thy soul loathed Zion?³⁰Jeremiah 14:19. But this subject is one of the secrets of the mysteries of the Torah.³¹The allusion is to the transmigration of the soul (Bei’ur Ha’lvush to Ricanti, and so also clearly in Rabbeinu Bachya’s commentary to the Torah (Vol. II, p. 575 in my edition). Scripture is thus stating that He will set His Tabernacle among us, and that “the soul”³²Here referring to a term which in the Cabalistic sense signifies the very source in one of the Divine Emanations from which the human soul originates (Abusaula). from which the Tabernacle³³I.e., the Divine soul within us. comes, will not spew us forth as a pot which we scour in hot water [in order to cleanse it of substances it has absorbed], but instead our garments will always be white³⁴Ecclesiastes 9:8. — Ramban is thus intimating that human life will be so perfect when we observe the commandments, that man will achieve his goal in one lifetime, and his soul will not be rejected on its return to its original heavenly abode. and new. For the term ge’ilah denotes, as Rashi said, “casting out,” related to the expression, his bull gendereth and doth not ‘yag’il’ (allow the cow to reject as loathsome), his cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.³⁵Job 21:10. He states here My soul [and ‘My soul’ shall not abhor you] similar to the expression, the Eternal G-d hath sworn by His soul.³⁶Amos 6:8. And the prophet [Jeremiah] thus is saying by way of amazement: “Hast Thou loathed Zion, itself³⁰Jeremiah 14:19. which is a city and a mother in Israel,³⁷II Samuel 20:19. and hast Thou cast her from before thee, so that all her sons are clothed with filthy garments,³⁸Zechariah 3:3. polluted [with sin]?”
Now according to their simple sense, these blessings, which are many and [stated in] general terms [affecting the people as a whole], — such as rain, plenitude, peace and the fruitfulness of people — are unlike the blessings with which He has already blessed [the people] in brief, saying, And He will bless thy bread, and thy water, and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee.³⁹Exodus 23:25. For there He assured them that their food and drink would be [a source of] blessing, so that no sickness will occur to our bodies, and therefore the organs of procreation will be complete and healthy and we will give birth properly, and live full lives, as He said, None shall miscarry, nor be barren in thy Land, the number of thy days will I fulfill,⁴⁰Ibid., Verse 26. and similarly He said at the beginning, for I am the Eternal that healeth thee.⁴¹Ibid., 15:26. The reason for this [division of the blessings into two sections] is that [all] the blessings [mentioned in the Torah], although they are miraculous, are hidden miracles of which the whole Torah is full, as I have explained.⁴²See in Genesis 17:1 (Vol. I, pp. 215-216), and 46:15 (pp. 556-558). See also at the end of Seder Bo in the Book of Exodus (Vol. II, pp. 174-175). They apply even to an individual who serves [Him], for when there is a pious man who keeps all the commandments of his G-d, the Eternal G-d will guard him from sickness, barrenness and bereavement, and he will live out his days in goodness. But these blessings which are stated in this section are general ones applying to the people [as a whole], and they [take effect] when the whole of our people shall all be righteous.⁴³Isaiah 60:21. Therefore He mentions here always the Land: and the Land shall yield;⁴⁴Above, Verse 4. in your Land safely;⁴⁵Verse 5. peace in the Land;⁴⁶Verse 6. out of the Land;⁴⁶Verse 6. it shall not go through your Land.⁴⁶Verse 6.
Now we have already explained⁴²See in Genesis 17:1 (Vol. I, pp. 215-216), and 46:15 (pp. 556-558). See also at the end of Seder Bo in the Book of Exodus (Vol. II, pp. 174-175). that all these blessings are miracles, for it is not natural that the rains should come [in their due season], and that we should have peace from our enemies, and that they should have faintness of heart so that a hundred of them flee before five, as a result of us observing the statutes and commandments of G-d, nor that everything should be the opposite [i.e., that none of these things should happen] because of us planting in the Seventh year [which we are forbidden to do]. But although they are hidden miracles, for they are [brought about] by means of the natural events of the world occurring according to their habit, yet [the Torah mentions them separately because] they come to be known [as miracles] because of their constant and continuous occurrence in the whole Land. For if one righteous man lives and G-d takes away sickness from him, and he lives out his days, this also happens to some wicked people [and is thus not acknowledged as miraculous]. But when an entire land and a whole people always have rains coming in their season, and plenitude, security, peace, health, strength and defeat of their enemies, in a manner unparalleled in the whole world, it becomes known to all that this is the Eternal’s doing.⁴⁷Psalms 118:23. Therefore He said [in connection with these blessings], And all the peoples shall see that the Name of the Eternal is called upon thee, and they shall be afraid of thee.⁴⁸Deuteronomy 28:10. And the opposite of this will occur because of the curses, when punishments will come upon the [whole] Land, just as He said, and I will make your heaven as iron,⁴⁹Further, Verse 19. and punishments of sickness, as He said, and sore sickness, and of long continuance,⁵⁰Deuteronomy 28:59. meaning that the food will be spoiled and bring about sickness, and thus the miracle will be made known to all because of its continued existence amongst the whole people. Therefore it is written, And the generation to come, your children that shall rise up after you, and the foreigner that shall come from a far land, shall say when they see the plagues of that Land, and its sicknesses.⁵¹Ibid., 29:21. For they will not wonder at that [single] man upon whom all the curse that is written in this book shall lie⁵²Ibid., Verse 19. for it happens many times in the natural order of the world, among all nations, that bad happenings come upon a certain individual. It is only with reference to that Land⁵¹Ibid., 29:21. that they will wonder, and that all the nations will ask, Wherefore hath the Eternal done thus unto this Land?,⁵³Ibid., Verse 23. for all will see and understand that the hand of the Eternal hath done this.⁵⁴Isaiah 41:20. And [by way of reply] they will say, Because they forsook the covenant of the Eternal, the G-d of their fathers.⁵⁵Deuteronomy 29:24.
In general then, when Israel is in perfect [accord with G-d], constituting a large number, their affairs are not conducted at all by the natural order of things, neither in connection with themselves, nor with reference to their Land, neither collectively nor individually, for G-d blesses their bread and their water, and removes sickness from their midst, so that they do not need a physician and do not have to observe any of the rules of medicine, just as He said, for I am the Eternal that healeth thee.⁵⁶Exodus 15:26. And so did the righteous ones act at the time when prophecy [existed], so that even if a mishap of iniquity overtook them, causing them sickness, they did not turn to the physicians, but only to the prophets, as was the case with Hezekiah when he was sick.⁵⁷See Isaiah Chapter 38. And Scripture states [of Asa, king of Judah, by way of rebuke], Yet in his disease he sought not to the Eternal, but to the physicians.⁵⁸II Chronicles 16:12. Now had the practice of [consulting] physicians been customary among them, why should the verse mention [as a sinful act Asa’s consulting] the physicians, since his guilt was only because he did not [also] seek G-d? But the verse can be compared to someone saying: “That person did not eat unleavened bread on the Festival of Passover, but instead [ate] leavened bread.”⁵⁹The intent of this statement is that the transgressor has committed two sins: not only has he failed to fulfill the positive commandment of eating unleavened bread (see “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 168-169), but he has also eaten chametz during Passover, which is forbidden by a negative commandment (ibid., Vol. II, pp. 194-195). In the same way Scripture states that Asa committed two sins: he failed to seek G-d, and he consulted the physicians. This shows that consulting the physicians was not customary. For he who seeks the Eternal through a prophet, will not consult the physicians. And what part do the physicians have in the house of those who do the will of G-d, after He has assured us, and He will bless thy bread, and thy water, and I will take sickness away from the midst of thee,³⁹Exodus 23:25. whereas the physicians are concerned [mostly] with food and drink, warning [the patient] against [eating] certain foods and commanding him [to eat] others.⁶⁰Rambam writes in a similar vein: “Most maladies that afflict people are the result of bad food, or of overeating even wholesome food” (Mishneh Torah, Hilchoth Dei’oth 4:15). Thus also the Rabbis said:⁶¹Horayoth 14 a. To understand the full significance of this Talmudic statement about Rav Yoseph, and especially about Rabbah’s connection with it [“During all the twenty-two years that Rabbah reigned …”] it is necessary to know the background of a certain event that transpired in their lives. When the post of chief of the Academy of Pumbeditha became vacant the Rabbis of Babylon were in doubt as to whom they should appoint — Rabbah or Rav Yoseph. Rabbah’s distinction was that he was the outstanding dialectician of his generation, while that of Rav Yoseph was that he was the greatest erudite scholar. When an inquiry was made of the Rabbis in the Land of Israel the answer came back: “An erudite scholar is preferable.” It was thus Rav Yoseph’s turn to become the head of the Academy. Yet in his humility Rav Yoseph refused to accept the post and insisted that Rabbah should reign. And thus for twenty-two years Rabbah continued to rule over the Academy of Pumbeditha. In recompense for his humility, the Talmudic story continues, Heaven rewarded Rav Yoseph that “During all the twenty-two years that Rabbah reigned Rav Yoseph did not call even a bloodletter to his house,” as was customary in those days, for his health was in such perfect condition. — See in Ein Ya’akov at end of Horayoth, in the commentary Hakotheiv, at end, for source of this beautiful interpretation. It expresses no doubt the intent of Ramban’s words here before us. “During all the twenty-two years that Rabbah reigned [as head of the Academy at Pumbeditha], Rav Yoseph did not call even a blood letter to his house” [as he, being a righteous person, was protected directly by G-d and needed no physicians], and they also say by way of proverb:⁶²Shir Hashirim Rabbah 6:17. “A gate which is not open for the commandments [i.e., a house wherein the commandments are not observed] is open for the physician.” This is also the meaning of their saying:⁶³Berachoth 60 a. “People should not have to take medicaments, but they have become accustomed to do so.” [That is to say]: had they not accustomed themselves to [taking] medicines, people would become sick according to the degree of punishment corresponding to their sin, and would be healed by the will of G-d, but since they accustomed themselves to medicaments, G-d has left them to natural happenings. This is also the intent of the Rabbis’ interpretation:⁶⁴Baba Kamma 85 a. “And he shall cause him to be thoroughly healed.⁶⁵Exodus 21:19. From here [you deduce the principle] that permission has been given to the physician to heal.” They did not say that “permission was given to the sick to be healed” [by the physician], but instead they stated [by implication] that since the person who became sick comes [to the physician] to be healed, because he has accustomed himself to seeking medical help and he was not of the congregation of the Eternal whose portion is in this life,⁶⁶See Numbers 27:3; Psalms 17:14. the physician should not refrain from healing him; whether because of fear that he might die under his hand, since he is qualified in this profession, or because he says that it is G-d alone Who is the Healer of all flesh, since [after all] people have already accustomed themselves [to seeking such help]. Therefore when men contend and one smites the other with a stone or his fist⁶⁷Exodus 21:18. the one who smote must pay for the healing,⁶⁵Exodus 21:19. for the Torah does not base its laws upon miracles, just as it said, for the poor shall never cease out of the Land,⁶⁸Deuteronomy 15:11. knowing [beforehand] that such will be the case. But when a man’s ways please the Eternal,⁶⁹Proverbs 16:7. he need have no concern with physicians.

ונתתי משכני בתוככם, “My Shechinah will reside amongst you, everywhere;” The meaning is that the close relationship which had existed between the Jewish people and its G’d before the sin of the golden calf would be restored. Prior to that traumatic break in the Israel-G’d relations, G’d had been on record (Exodus 20,21) בכל המקום אשר אזכיר את שמי אבא רליך, “I will come to you to any place where My name will be mentioned.” [In other words, there was not even a need for a Sanctuary. Ed.]

ונתתי משכני בתוככם, "And I will place My Sanctuary among you." We must understand this in a sense similar to Psalms 78,60: "the tent He had set among men." The reference is to the souls of His holy people within whom G'd had made Himself at home.

ונתתי משכני בתוככם, “I shall place My Sanctuary among you.” According to Ibn Ezra the meaning is that you should not worry that you will ever experience scarcity of basic supplies seeing that My glory dwells among you, and I am not like human beings whose nature it is to get bored with a certain location and to look for greener pastures. Furthermore, even if you will be forced to take up residence in the land of your enemies, where My Sanctuary will no longer be among you, My glory will not abandon you, so that you will have evidence that I will still consider Myself as your G’d, and all that this entails. This was the reason why I took you out of Egypt in the first place. Nachmanides explains the words והתהלכתי בתוככם, (verse 12) “I shall be taking walks among you,” to mean that My special providence which guides your fate will be in evidence just as when a king travels through his domain his impending presence will be advertised ahead of time and will be brought to the attention of the masses. He will be recognized as the One supplying his subjects’ needs. The Torah, at this stage, makes no mention of the reward for keeping the mitzvoth that accrues to us in the world of disembodied souls after our death. Neither does it mention the reward that accrues to such people after the resurrection of the dead in G’d’s own good time. There is no need to do this as such “reward” is an integral part of man’s having been created as G’d’s most favoured creature. This latter “reward” is automatic unless the creature (man) has forfeited it by committing serious sins without confessing them, repenting them and changing his way of life as a result of such repentance. (Nachmanides had explained his understanding of how this works in his commentary at the end of acharey mot, adding that the concept is rooted in the verse כי נר ה' נשמת אדם, “that the soul of man is part of G’d’s light.” Proverbs) The Torah by repeating all the time the words על הארץ, makes sure that we do not misinterpret the parameters within which all these blessings apply. He writes further that although all these blessings are of a collective nature, applying to the people as a whole on the understanding that the majority observes the Torah, as opposed to when the Torah, briefly, spoke about G’d blessing “your bread, etc.,” addressing each Israelite individually, in the singular mode, the difference is that even though collectively we may have lots of food and drink this does not necessarily mean that each one of us benefits in equal measure from such abundance of food and drink. Individual supervision by G’d of our well being, is always in the nature of a miracle, though not what we call a נס גלוי, a manifest miracle. When addressing the people in general terms such as here, this is part of השגחה כללית, G’d’s broad supervision of the nation (or nations as the case maybe) and this is made clear by the emphasis on the ארץ, i.e. nature, providing the visible aspects of these blessings. [Naturally, nature works under the guidance of Hashem, but that guidance is not usually manifest, and man does not attribute crop failures, destructive acts of nature by hurricanes, etc., to divine intervention, but to nature’s caprice. Ed.] Nachmanides quotes such phrases as שלום בארץ, לבטח בארץ, חיה רעה בארץ, חרב לא תעבור בארצכם, as examples of such indirect blessings, blessings emanating from השגחה כללית, G’d’s general supervision of the fate of man and nations. Anyone familiar with rainfall patterns realizes that if beneficial rains occur year after year at times when they are most welcome to the farmer that this is more than nature at work. It proves that nature is “inspired.” In other words, the Torah promises as a reward for collective mitzvah performance, and refraining from violating negative commandments, that “nature” will display its appreciation by making the individual as well as the national lives of the Jewish people free from the major problems life on earth is beset with. This, in turn, will convince the nations surrounding the Holy Land, that the Jewish G’d takes care of His own, and if G’d forbid, we should fail to live up to the standards expected of us, it will be the nations of the world who will be the first ones to attribute our misfortunes to G’d’s displeasure with the Jewish people, as pointed out by Moses in Deuteronomy To sum up, when the Jewish people behave in the manner expected of them, their lives will not be subject to natural law at all, but G’d will intervene on their behalf all the time, both manifestly and behind the scenes. Expressions such as אני ה' רופאך, “I the Lord am your Healer,” do not mean that G’d will have to heal our diseases when the medical practitioners are unable to do so, but the expression is an oblique way of saying that we will never even have occasion to call on the services of a physician made of flesh and blood. Righteous people in former times would not call on the services of a physician even when they did fall sick, but they would turn to the prophet during their time. When the Talmud B’rachot 60 states in connection with a short prayer invoking G’d’s help that one should say before undergoing even minor surgery, by adding אין דרכן של בני אדם לרפאות, mistakenly understood as “because man has not mastered the art of healing,” the meaning of the Talmud is that we are not to call on a physician as an alternative to G’d, but that the physician when becoming aware of our sickness is allowed to practice his art, as the Torah issued specific permission for him to do in Exodus 21,19 writing (about the physician) ורפוא ירפא, “he shall certainly provide the healing,” the assumption being that the physician does so at his own initiative. The Torah nowhere gave permission for the sick or injured Jew to turn to the physician instead of turning to G’d. [If many great scholars earned their livelihood by curing the sick, they did so primarily to help gentile patients. Ed.] It is interesting that the Torah commanded all of us to pay the physician for services rendered (Maimonides 1,1 hilchot chovel umazik) the reason being that Torah laws do not assume G’d’s miraculous intervention on our behalf, [we must not be arrogant enough to assume that we deserve such miracles. Ed.] After all, the Torah has told us כי לא יחדל אביון מקרב הארץ, “destitute people will never disappear from earth completely.” (Deut. 16,1) [I believe the author uses this verse to make sure that we do not use His intervention in our fates as an excuse not to do all we can to relieve all manner of pain, economic hardship, etc. among our fellow human beings if we feel that we can be helpful to them. Ed.] Nachmanides writes also that the blessings spelled out above never all materialized at any one time in Jewish history, as the conduct of the Jewish people thus far had never been on such a level that we deserved all of these blessings. This is precisely the reason why our sages when speaking of blessings, cite the ones mentioned here as the kind which are reserved for a future after the arrival of the Messiah, as only then will we be on the spiritual level when the conditions are ripe for the fulfillment of all these promises. Fulfillment of such promises as G’d walking with the righteous presupposes a kind of perfect world which is hardly conceivable until our total redemption from the galut.

This is the Temple. But not the Tabernacle, as implied, because there was no Tabernacle in the Land of Israel, only in the desert. [Alternatively], the first sugyah of Maseches Eiruvin (2a) writes, “It is all right to say that the Temple is called a Sanctuary, because it is written, “I will set My Sanctuary among you.” Rashi explains that when this verse was said the Tabernacle was already erected, since this verse appears in Vayikra and this whole book was [of Vayikra was dictated by God] in the Tent of Testimony [the Sanctuary] as it is written (Vayikra 1:1), “And Hashem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting.” Therefore, concerning what [future] Tabernacle could he be promising them, if not the Temple, etc.etc? So far are Rashi’s words.

ולא תגעל נפשי אתכם This means AND MY SPIRIT SHALL NOT LOATHE YOU. The root געל wherever it occurs denotes the casting out (as though spewing) or something that has been absorbed in another substance. In a similar sense the verb is used in (II Samuel 1:21) “For there the shield of the mighty was נגעל, [the shield of Saul, as though it had never been anointed with oil]”, i. e. it did not show itself receptive to being anointed, but ejected, as it were, the oily substance with which it had been smeared; for they used to smear leather shields with boiled fat in order to make the blow of the arrow or the spear glide off, so that it should not penetrate the leather. (Thus, when two things have been in the closest association, the term געל may be used of that which finally discards the other. It spews it out, as it were, it is sick of it, loathes it.)

ולא תגעל נפשי אתכם. Forever. This has been rephrased by Jeremiah in Lamentations 4,22 when he said that Israel would never again become subjected to exile. We find that Isaiah 54,9 writes in the same vein. [If I understand the author correctly, this whole passage is not to be interpreted as chronologically preceding the passage of the תוכחה, which predicts the retribution for non compliance with Torah legislation, but is the Torah’s vision of the ultimate idyllic future of the Jewish people on the soil of the Holy Land. Ed.]

ולא תגעל נפשי אתכם, "and My soul will not abhor you." It was not enough to say that G'd will make His home inside people's souls seeing G'd was afraid that people would not take such a promise seriously. It seemed to exceed their fondest hopes. They could not imagine how a creature of flesh and blood could become "home" to G'd's presence. They would have imagined that G'd merely exaggerated out of His love for the Jewish people. People imagined something akin to what Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai explained in the Zohar volume 3 page 241 on Song of Songs 5,1: "I came to My garden My sister My bride, I ate My honeycomb and drank My wine, etc." The entire verse is a parable describing the relationship between a groom and his bride, i.e. G'd and the people of Israel. Rabbi Shimon's words are worth studying. Nothing in that verse is remotely comprehensible if we try and stick to the literal meaning. The very idea of someone such as G'd Who is totally spiritual being described in such physical terms is repulsive. What G'd is trying to say to the Jewish people is that although by definition His very Essence should be revolted at the mere thought of intimacy with His creatures made of flesh and blood, this will not be the case.

והתהלכתי בתוככם, "And I will walk among you, etc." "Not only will I not find intimacy with you loathsome but I will continue to walk among you." The expression is one which one normally applies to kindred souls. It is remindful of a statement by our sages that seeing that the souls of the Jewish people originate in G'd's own Light, their having been despatched earthwards does not mean that they have become estranged from their sacred origin. The author continues in this vein elaborating on this concept of the intimacy that can exist between man and G'd and how through man's failure to choose the path of Torah this very intimacy turns into loathing.

Another (esoteric) way of explaining our paragraph is to see in it both promises for success in this world as well as promises of even greater bliss in the hereafter. The paragraph commences with the promise of adequate food supply i.e. "I will provide your rains at the proper times," followed by a promise of a secure and serene existence in the Holy Land, i.e. "and you will dwell in it in safety."

From here on in the Torah addresses blessings which will accrue in the hereafter. The most basic is "I will grant peace." Although man may live the life of the completely righteous, the fact is that the mere thought of leaving this life casts a pall over his serenity. This is especially so since man never knows when that day on which he will die will occur. G'd compensates us for this anxiety by promising that on the day such a person will depart this earth he will not experience fright of what lies beyond this physical life, i.e. "you will lie down and no-one will frighten you." G'd will see to it that the transition from one form of life to another will be smooth and painless.

When the Torah speaks of "I will grant peace," you may understand this in light of the Talmud Shabbat 10 that the name of the Almighty is שלום. At the time death approaches, G'd's Light will approach the righteous; this is the mystical dimension of the term "the kiss of death" experienced by people such as Moses and Aaron. The experience of death will thereby be transformed into an experience similar to lying down to sleep, i.e. ושכבתם. The Torah has used this expression when describing the death of the patriarchs. The secret of this is that the soul which experiences the approach of that Light which is so welcome to it longs for a closer union with it so much that it is eager to tear itself loose from whatever still binds it to this life on earth. The process feeds upon itself. I have written more about this at the beginning of my commentary on פרשת אחרי מות (page 1306). This is what Solomon had in mind when he said in Kohelet 5,11 that "the sleep of the labourer is sweet." The "sleep" he referred to is the departure of the soul from the body. The person who was a true עובד, servant of G'd, will find this experience "sweet," i.e. pleasant. The Torah adds the words ואין מחריד, to tell us that the angel of death who has the power to frighten ordinary people, making them afraid of death, does not possess the power to frighten the truly righteous.

Still another meaning of the words ונתתי שלום may relate to the preservation of the body after death so that the 4 basic raw materials of which the body is composed do not disintegrate. You are familiar with the story of Rabbi Achai bar Yoshia related in Shabbat 152 whose remains were found in good shape by Rabbi Nachman many years after his death. Obviously this could only have been due to G'd commanding the basic raw-materials man is made of not to disintegrate in this instance. We are told that this could happen by Solomon in Proverbs 6,22: בשכבך תשמר עליך, "when you go to sleep (die) it will preserve you." The "it" are the Torah study and performance of good deeds by the person Solomon speaks of. When the Torah writes ושכבתם ואין מחריד this may also be understood in the sense of what the prophet said in Isaiah 57,2 where he described the righteous as "resting comfortably in their slumber" meaning they will not be disturbed by their remains being worm-eaten. We have confirmation of this in a story in Baba Metzia 84 where it is related that the remains of Rabbi Eleazar bar Shimon which had been kept in an upper story in his house had remained intact for a number of years (18 or 22). His widow had examined them almost daily and they did not deteriorate. One day she found that a hair had fallen out and there was some blood at the spot where the hair had come out. We have numerous such stories all of which prove that when the conditions are right a body may rest in its grave without disintegrating. This may also be the reason why the Talmud Shabbat 13 describes the body's reaction to worms as being as if a living body would be pierced by a needle. Every creature is sensitive to an invasion of its body by an alien body in accordance with the general capacity for sensitivity with which it has been endowed by G'd.

The words והשבתי חיה רעה מן הארץ in verse 6 refer to the spirit of impurity which is called חיה רעה, a spiritually negative vitality which surrounds the body after death. The reason a priest is forbidden to remain in the roofed domain of a body is the very presence of that חיה רע around the dead body. This is why contact with the dead or even remaining under the same canopy with him results in such a person contracting ritual impurity for a period of not less than seven days. G'd promises here that if the lifetime of the person who has now died was marked by his observing all the commandments, his remains will not be surrounded by such a spiritually negative force so that anyone in touch with such remains would not contract ritual impurity.

As to the meaning of the words וחרב לא תעבור בארצכם, "a sword will not traverse your land," this is the Torah providing the rationale why impurity will not be allowed to surround the corpses of such righteous people. Man's death is perceived as his succumbing to the flawed sword of the Angel of Death. This results in the body becoming נבלה, unfit to serve as a sacrifice as would a body which was slaughtered with a ritually pure and unblemished knife. The Torah has described a נבלה as the kind of corpse fit to feed to the dogs (Exodus 22,30). Impurity itself is often compared to a dog, an inferior animal, representative of all that is despised. The Torah assures us that people who live the kind of life they ought to live will not experience that the sword of the Angel of Death touches their bodies.

The Torah goes on to write: ורדפתם את אויביכם, "And you will pursue your enemies." From this point on the Torah deals with the activities of the invisible spirituality which results through a person's having lived a life dedicated to Torah and its precepts. The purpose of studying Torah and performing its commandments with vigor is to pinpoint isolated "sparks" of holiness. These "sparks" are to be joined one to another so that they can reunite with their origin. They had become isolated as a result of Adam's sin and the power of the forces of the קליפה, the spiritually negative forces in our universe, to separate them from the main body of holiness. This is the mystical dimension of Isaiah 59,2: "your iniquities have created a division between yourselves and your G'd." Please read what I have written in connection with Exodus 19,5 והייתם לי סגולה and how the קליפות are described by such terms as שונאים and אויבים. See my commentary on Psalms 92,10: כי הנה אויביך ה׳ יאבדו. Here the Torah reveals how these forces of the קליפה can be pursued through the preoccupation with Torah and its commandments and how the pursuit will result in these forces collapsing, i.e. ונפלו לחרב. In short, this paragraph describes the defeat of the phenomenon called impurity. The prophet Zachariah refers to this when he writes in Zachariah 13,2: "And I will abolish the spirit of impurity." We may understand the word לחרב in our verse in the same spirit as Song of Songs 3,8: איש חרבו על ירכו, "each with his sword at his side." Concerning this verse we read in Tikkuney Hazohar chapter 7 that people who keep the covenant with the Lord by never touching anything which is forbidden to them possess the power to kill the enemies of the Lord with the breath of their lips. This is the reason the Torah did not write here the usual בחרב, but לחרב.

The words ורדפו מכם חמשה מאה, may be understood as a reference to the five Books of Moses. In other words, that which emanates from you, the teaching of the five Books of Moses, will pursue one hundred manifestations of the קליפות. You may apply Proverbs 16,26 to this situation. "A person who toils, toils for himself." Our sages in Sanhedrin 99 understand this verse as follows: "When a person toils by studying Torah in one place the Torah will toil on his behalf in another place by annihilating G'd's enemies.

The end of this verse i.e ומאה מכם רבבה ירדפו, may be understood in light of a comment by Tanchuma at the end of Parshat Korach on Deut. 10,12: מה ה׳ אלוקיך שואל ממך, "What does the Lord your G'd ask of you, etc.?" the Midrash suggests that we substitute for the word מה, "what," the word מאה, "one hundred." The word would refer to the recital of one hundred benedictions daily. The Torah promises that the merit of reciting 100 benedictions daily enables us to pursue and destroy ten thousand manifestations of the power of the קליפות.

When the Torah repeats the words ונפלו אויביכם לחרב a second time this reflects a statement by our sages in Berachot 5 according to which anyone who recites the קריאת שמע is compared to someone who seizes a double-edged sword. This is based on Psalms 149,6: "when they have the exaltations of the Lord in their throats this is equivalent to being armed with a double-edged sword." The first verse mentioning the enemies falling by the sword detailed the result of performing sacred deeds. The second verse speaks of the result of uttering holy words.

The Torah goes on: ופניתי אליכם, "and I will turn to you." This is a description of the purpose of the destruction of G'd's and Israel's enemies. As a result of the destruction of these enemies all the "sparks" of holiness will return to their roots, i.e. the "umbrella" called כנסת ישראל, the concept of the Jewish people. They will resume their classification as being part of the domain of G'd whence they had originated. From then on they will increase and multiply. Please read what I have written at the end of פרשת ויגש on Genesis 47,27 (page 382).

Another meaning of the words ופגיתי אליכם is that inasmuch as the iron curtain dividing Israel from its G'd has collapsed with the defeat of the concept of impurity, G'd can once more turn to us and cleave to us.

Furthermore, there is a message here that if Israel has made the first move in battering the wall between it and G'd, G'd in turn will help us so that we shall become ever more successful in tearing down that wall.

The words והפריתי אתכם, "and I will make you fruitful" are an allusion to the "sparks" of our holiness which had become prematurely lost and had been aborted and had therefore lost their "sparkle;" they would now resume their appointed function. The Torah adds: "and I will multiply you," to reassure us that we should not think that due to our lengthy sojourn in the domain of the קליפה we have sustained permanent impairment of our ability to develop. The Torah states that this is not so, but that our light would shine forth like the "Light of the King's face."

Another interpretation of the words והרביתי אתכם is based on the root of the word being רב, in the sense of רבנות, authority, or superiority. Accordingly, the promise here is similar to G'd's promise in Exodus 19,6 where G'd defines our purpose as a nation to be a kingdom of priests, a holy nation." We have explained in that context that the reference is to the Jewish people exceeding even the angels in holiness. The Torah continues with the words והקימותי את בריתי אתכם; this is a reference to the promise that the dead will be resurrected. G'd restricts this promise to those who have studied Torah. We base this on Ketuvot 111 כל העוסק בטל טל תורה מחייהו, "everyone who is preoccupied with dew, the dew of Torah will revive him." [Actually, this is an inaccurate quotation. The Talmud first said that the word טל may refer to the Light of Torah basing itself on a verse in Isaiah 26,19 i.e. that G'd's dew is equivalent to illumination. In an extrapolation of this, the Talmud continues by saying that if one did not study this divine illumination, i.e. Torah, one cannot look forward to resurrection. Ed.]

The promise contained in the words: "and I will keep My covenant" may also refer to something we learned in Sanhedrin 90 that the patriarchs personally will arise and take possession of the land of Israel as G'd had promised to each one of them separately in different chapters of the Book of Genesis. In Exodus 6,4, G'd made a specific promise that the patriarchs would be resurrected and receive the land He had promised to them. G'd is on record here that everyone who keeps the covenant with G'd will be resurrected; G'd will keep with Him the covenant pertaining to making the land of Israel his eternal possession.

We also find an allusion to where the souls will be stored during the time they wait for resurrection. The ברית the Torah speaks about is the ultimate ברית, i.e. שלום. The domain in which the souls of the Israelites will repose during that period of awaiting resurrection of their assigned bodies is what we usually refer to as the צרור החיים.

The Torah continues ואכלתם ישן נושן, this is a hyperbole for the meal G'd will serve the righteous in the hereafter when wine dating back to the days of Adam in גן עדן will be served as well as the meat of the Leviathan which G'd had salted away since time immemorial. There is nothing more ancient seeing it dates back to a time preceding the creation of man himself.

The meaning of the words וישן מפני חדש תוציאו "that you will clear out the old on account of the new," may refer to a verse in Job 38,15 which is the subject of discussion in Chagigah 12. G'd speaks about the wicked being deprived of their light. The Talmud understands that this refers to the original Light G'd created by means of which Adam was able to see from one end of the earth to the other. As a result of his sin, he and subsequent human beings were deprived of this Light. Our verse may allude to the withdrawal of the "new" light which substituted ever since for the original Light. G'd promises that in the future under discussion He will make available the original Light for the righteous.

The Torah continues: ונתתי משכני בתוככם, "And I will make My Sanctuary among you;" this means that in the future G'd will lower a Sanctuary from the Heaven as we learned in Baba Batra 75. Some of our rabbis claim that that Sanctuary will be made of Shoham stones. Others claim it will be made of Joshpeh stones, each one basing himself on scripture, i.e. Exodus 15,17: "The Sanctuary of the Lord which You have established with Your own hands." G'd promises that this Sanctuary which He has fashioned with His own hands He will erect among us and this is why it will endure forever. The reason G'd will not loathe us is because He will have done away with the spirit of impurity in this world.

Another meaning of this statement is based on what we explained in conection with Numbers 23,23 that the Israelites will form the inner circle around the Presence of G'd so that the angels will have to ask us what G'd is in the process of doing.

והתהלכתי בתוככם, "And I will walk among you." This is best understood as reflecting the promise of the prophet in Yoel 3,1 that "your sons and daughters will all prophesy." G'd's Light will walk among them i.e. a reference to the spirit of prophecy. This reminds us of Moses' wish that all the Jewish people should be granted the spirit of prophecy (Numbers 11,29).

The promise may also refer to something we learned in Taanit 31 that in the future G'd would provide a circle for the righteous and He would take up a position amongst them so that everyone of them would look at G'd and exclaim "This is My G'd let me glorify Him." The reason the Torah chose the expression והתהלכתי "I will walk is that His Light will travel to provide spiritual nourishment to the souls who are sitting around Him. This is called הליכה. The Torah continues with: "I shall be your G'd," referring either to the verse we have just equated the righteous as proclaiming, or that the very dwelling [נוה in the verse זה קלי ואנוהו Ed.] of the righteous is considered something of a divine nature. The additional promise: "and you will be My people" means that the Jewish people will be closer to G'd than any of the hosts of the heavens.

The words: "and I will be your G'd," may also reflect the contrast between then and now. Nowadays the faith in G'd is due to G'd having provided prophets for us who help us maintain our faith. In the future described in our verse there will no longer be a need for prophets as G'd will be recognised as such directly by everyone without any external assist. This is in line with the prophet's Zachariah's promise that "on that day G'd and His name will be one." The words: "and you will become My people" refer to the fact that the degree of recognition of G'd by various layers of the population will be the same; there will no longer be such distinctions as עם on the one side and בני ישראל on the other.

אני השם. "I am the Lord." We may understand this in light of the comment in Berachot 12 that in the future the outstanding attribute of G'd will no longer be the fact that He took us out of Egypt but His new manifestation as the G'd who brought the Messiah (compare Jeremiah 23,7). The first half of our verse refers to G'd who manifested Himself through orchestrating the Exodus from Egypt, whereas the second half refers to G'd redeeming us from any kind of exile, i.e. the final redemption. Please compare what I have written on Exodus 20,2.