Комментарий о цитате к Дварим 14:1

אף חובב עמים, he says to G’d that: “I am aware that You are fond of other peoples also, as when You said that the Jewish people are the most precious מכל העמים, from among all the nations, You meant that the species of mankind is something precious to G’d, as our sages said in Avot 3,18 חביב אדם שנברא בצלם, the species of man is especially dear to G’d among all of His creatures, seeing that only man has been created in the image of G’d.” [i.e. there are other nations to which Your relate with fondness. Ed.] כל קדושיו בידיך, You have said that You are holding all Your holy possessions (the Torah) in Your hand [people hold their most precious possessions in their hand, do not entrust them to a briefcase, for instance, which they may deposit somewhere and forget to pick up. Ed.] When You told us in Exodus 19,5 that we are to You an especially precious nation, a kingdom of Priests, You also singled us out as being Your children, (same paragraph in Avot), as well as in Deuteronomy 14,1 “You are children to the Lord your G’d.”

אלו על גבי אלו – they would loan their utensils one to the other. And in the Gemara (Tractate Yevamot 14a), raises an objection on that which is taught [in our Mishnah]: “The School of Shammai declares that the rival/co-wives are permitted [to enter into levirate marriage with] the brothers and the School of Hillel [prohibits] . They call it here (Deuteronomy 14:1): “You shall not gash yourselves/לא תתגדדו “ – do not form yourselves into religious [factions]. And they responded – such as the case of one Jewish court in one city – where half teach according to the School of Shammai and half teach according to the School of Hillel, but [where there are] two Jewish courts in one city, and all the more so, two Jewish courts in two towns, it does not matter.

will gossip about you And what is the gossip?...whose name is so befouled This is she who befouled her name, for they were called a holy people, sons of their Creator, and they caused themselves to be called (Isa. 6:5) “a people of unclean lips.”

לא יקרחו קרחה THEY SHALL NOT MAKE BALDNESS [UPON THEIR HEAD] for the dead. But were not the ordinary Israelites also forbidden in respect of this? Why then is this law especially stated with reference to the priests? But because in the prohibition addressed to the ordinary Israelites it is stated, (Deuteronomy 14:1) “[Ye shall not make anybaldness] between your eyes [for the dead]”, I might think that one is not liable to punishment for making baldness on any other part of the whole head, Scripture therefore states here: “upon their heads”; and now that we have both commands, the law regarding the Israelites may be derived from that addressed to the priests from a similarity of terms used in both prohibitions: the term “קרחה” is used here, and in the prohibition regarding the Israelites it also uses the term “קרחה”; what is the case here? The prohibition applies to the whole head! So, also, there the whole head is included in the prohibition. And, on the other hand, how is the case there? The prohibition is limited to making baldness for the dead! So here too it applies only to such baldness as is made for the dead (Makkot 20a; Kiddushin 36a).

and they shall not cut their flesh nor shall they tear their hair for them It is the custom of mourners to cut and tear their flesh and to tear their hair our of their head. In any case, it is forbidden for Jews, but he mentions it here only as an example of mourning.