Deuteronomy · Chapter 1

These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel on the far side of the Jordan. He rebuked them for having sinned in the wilderness, and for having provoked anger in the plain opposite the Sea of Reeds: in Paran they complained about the manna; at Hazeroth they provoked anger over the meat; and for what they did with the golden calf.

אלה הדברים THESE ARE THE WORDS — Because these are words of reproof and he is enumerating here all the places where they provoked God to anger, therefore he suppresses all mention of the matters in which they sinned and refers to them only by a mere allusion contained in the names of these places out of regard for Israel (cf. Sifrei Devarim 1:1; Onkelos and Targum Jonathan). אל כל ישראל [THE WORDS WHICH HE SPAKE] TO ALL ISRAEL — If he had reproved only some of them, those who were then in the street (i.e. those who were absent) might have said, “You heard from the son of Amram, and did not answer a single word regarding this and that; had we been there, we would have given him an answer!". On this account he assembled all of them, and said to them, "See, you are all here: he who has anything to say in reply, let him reply!” (Sifrei Devarim 1:6-7). במדבר IN THE WILDERNESS — They, however,were not then in the wilderness, but in the plains of Moab (cf. Numbers 36:13 and further on verse 5): What, therefore, is the meaning of במדבר? It does not mean "in the wilderness”, but the meaning is: he reproved them on account of that wherein they had provoked Him to anger in the wilderness — that they said, (Exodus 16:3) “Would that we had died [by the hand of the Lord]” (cf. Sifrei Devarim 1:11). בערבה IN THE PLAIN — i.e. he reproved them regarding the plain: that they had sinned through Baal Peor at Shittim in the plains of Moab (cf. Sifrei Devarim 1:13) מול סוף OVER AGAINST SUPH — i.e. he reproved them regarding that in which they had shown themselves rebellious at the Red Sea (סוף): viz., on their arrival at the Red Sea — that they said, (Exodus 14:11) “Is it because there are no graves in Egypt [that thou hast brought us to die in the wilderness?]"; and similarly when they left the midst of the Sea, as it is said, (Psalms 106:7) “They murmured because of the Sea, at the Red Sea”, as it is related in Treatise Arakhin 15a (cf. Rashi on Numbers 14:22 and Sifrei 1:14). בין פארן ובין תפל ולבן BETWEEN PARAN, AND TOPHEL AND LABAN — R. Jochanan said: We have gone through the whole Bible and we have found no place the name of which is Tophel or Laban! But the meaning is that he reproved them because of the calumnious statements (טפלו) they had made regarding the Manna which was white (לבן) in colour — that they said, (Numbers 21:5) “And our soul loathes this light bread”; and because of what they had done in the wilderness of Paran through the spies. וחצרת AND HAZEROTH — i.e. regarding what they had done there at the insurrection of Korah. — Another explanation: He said to them, “You ought to have taken a lesson from what I did to Miriam at Hazeroth because of the slander she uttered, and yet you even after that spoke against the Omnipresent (Sifrei Devarim 1:15). ודי זהב AND DI ZAHAB (the name is taken in the sense of “sufficiency of gold”) — He reproved them on account of the golden calf which they had made in consequence of the abundance of gold which th...

THESE ARE THE WORDS WHICH MOSES SPOKE UNTO ALL ISRAEL. [The reference is] to the commandments which he will mention in the entire book beginning with the Ten Commandments in the section of Va’ethchanan, as Scripture stated, Moses began explaining this Law, saying, clearly indicating that he is speaking of the Law [which begins with the Ten Commandments in the next section of Va’ethchanan]. And in that case [we must say] that in the [following] verse The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us an introductory expression of “saying.” is omitted. Similarly [there is an omission in the verse] And Joseph called the name of the firstborn Menasheh: ‘for G-d hath made me forget all my toil’ … And the name of the second he called Ephraim: ‘for G-d hath made me fruitful.’ Both verses omit the expression “for he [Joseph] said” [that G-d hath made me forget … “for he said” that G-d hath made me fruitful]. And the purport of these verses here is as follows: “These are the commandments which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the fortieth year from their departure from Egypt on the first day of the eleventh month according to all that the Eternal had commanded him for them, this being after he had smitten Sihon and Og, in the land of Moab, there Moses began to explain to them this Law, as follows. And he said: The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us in Horeb, saying: ‘Ye have dwelt long enough etc.’” And the meaning thereof is that when Moses began explaining the commandments to them, he said to them at the outset of his words: The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us in Horeb, after He gave us the Ten Commandments, [ordering] that we conquer the Land at once and that we cross the Jordan. But your sins caused you this and that consequence [as Moses goes on to relate]. The words of this introduction continue until he concludes with the verse, And thou shalt keep His statutes, and His commandments, which I command thee this day, that it may go well with thee, and with thy children after thee, and that thou mayest prolong thy days upon the Land, which the Eternal thy G-d giveth thee, forever. Then Moses called all Israel that were before him and said, Hear, O Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears this day, and then began the explanation of the Torah with the Ten Commandments in order that they hear them with the explanation from the mouth of the one who received them from the mouth of the Holy One, blessed be He. Afterwards he informed them of the Unity of G-d, as it is said, Hear, O Israel: the Eternal our G-d, the Eternal is One, and all the commandments in this book. This is why Scripture explained here which Moses spoke unto ‘all’ Israel, and there it is stated, And Moses called unto ‘all’ Israel [emphasizing that all were present], because the explanation of the Torah and the completion of the commandments must be in the presence of “all” Israel just as was the Giving of the Torah [itself on Mount Sinai]. Now, because he [Moses] prolonge...

Some say that the sense of "eleven days from Horeb by way of Mount Seir" is that they walked in the wilderness forty years, and this explains the phrase "and it was in the fortieth year." But these commentators are mistaken, for they reached Kadesh-barnea in the second year. Rather, "and it was in the fortieth year" connects with Moses' speech. The correct interpretation, in my view, is that "these words" refers to the words of the commandments written in the portions beginning Reeh Anokhi, Shofetim, Ki Tetze, and Vehaya Ki Tavo — he had already stated them while they were in the wilderness, and the speech of Moses draws itself along with what follows it. Thus: Moses spoke in the wilderness, in the Arabah, opposite Suph — from the day they journeyed from Sinai. "Between Paran and between Tofel and Lavan and Chatzerot and Di-Zahav" — these are places not mentioned in the portion of Eleh Masei, or mentioned under different names, for Senir, for example, has three names, and many places are likewise.

'אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה אל כל ישראל וגו, he means that in all the locations mentioned by him here he had communicated what follows to the people, some in each location. In all of these locations the people had angered G’d. Each time he reminded them that if it had not been for their sins they would have long since reached their destination. The locations in question were the following: 'אחד עשר יום מחורב וגו, all the 38 years that they were wandering in the desert they did not travel in a straight line, nor did they travel on well marked routes used by desert travelers. Each time they arrived at a spot where they made camp Moses reminded them that the reason that they had still not reached their final destination was due to their having committed so many sins. The proof was that אחד עשר יום יש מחורב עד קדש ברנע...דרך הר שעיר, the shortest route to Kadesh Barnea, the southern boundary of the Land of Israel is only 11 days’ march away from Mount Chorev when traveling via Mount Seir. In fact, G’d made them reach Kadesh Barnea after they set out from Chorev in only three days by leading them through the great and terrible desert. If they were still not in the Holy Land this was only due to their sins. The delay had been designed to make them have remorse and to return to G’d without mental reservations.

אלה הדברים, These are the words, etc. The word אלה is restrictive, especially in regard to what has been written previously. Seeing Moses recorded in this Book only words which he had spoken on his own initiative, the Torah wishes to emphasise that only the words of admonition recorded in this Book were spoken by Moses on his own initiative. We are told in Megillah 31 that Moses personally composed the curses recorded in this Book, and that even legislation which Moses repeated in this Book he had not been commanded to repeat but did so of his own volition. The Torah was concerned that we might conclude that just as Moses had felt free to say things of his own volition in this Book he might have done so in the previous four Books. This is why this Book commences with the words אלה הדברים, "only these are the words Moses spoke of his own volition, none other." The Torah also wanted to go on record that during the entire preceding 40 years when Moses had been the faithful shepherd of the people of Israel, he never spoke harshly to the children of Israel unless instructed to do so by G'd. Even though we find Moses reported as having addressed the Israelites with the words: "listen you rebellious people" in Numbers 20,10, he did not include the whole people in that description but only referred to those reluctant to accept authority. This view is supported by the Zohar. The only time Moses included the entire people in an address consisting primarily of words of admonition is in this Book. This is why the Torah here stresses: "to the whole of Israel." Furthermore, the Torah wanted to provide the time frame during which Moses admonished the people with these words. He began to speak to them on the first day of Shevat as the Torah speaks of "the eleventh month on the first of the month." We know that Moses died on the seventh of Adar, (Kidushin 38) so that he allowed himself 36 days for these admonitions. These 36 days correspond to the numerical value of the word אלה. The word אלה is also an allusion to a statement by Rava in Yuma 19 that the words ודברת בם "and you shall speak about them" in Deut 6,7 mean that the only legitimate subjects of conversation are Torah learning and the instilling of fear of G'd in the minds of people, i.e. words of admonition. The Torah wishes to testify that throughout his life the only words which Moses permitted himself to speak unbidden were of a compelling nature; other than that he only spoke words which G'd had bidden him to speak. Anyone who peruses the words in this Book can see at once that they are either instructions in Torah or words designed to strengthen the people's faith in G'd. Still another meaning of the word אלה is based on the words of Bereshit Rabbah 12 which we quoted at the beginning of Parshat Massey that this word separates from what precedes it, the previous subject matter being regarded as something inferior by comparison to what is being introduced by the word אלה. The subject matter being...

אלה הדברים, “these are the words, etc.” wherever a paragraph is introduced with the word: אלה, it is not to be considered as continuation of what preceded it. Up to now we read about commandments involving ritual and social legislation, whereas from here on in we are reading words of admonition and warnings about a dire future for the Jewish people if these warnings should be ignored. There is no point in countering that Numbers 36,13 also begins with the word: אלה, or to point to Leviticus 26,3 27,34, as in those instances the verse itself concludes the subject matter that had been under discussion. אל כל ישראל, “to all the Israelites.” This teaches that Moses’ voice was powerful enough to be heard throughout the camp without megaphones. בעבר הירדן, the term here refers to the Israelites on the east bank of the Jordan, on the plains of Moav as mentioned in verse 5, not to the area settled by the tribes of Reuven and Gad, previously owned by the Emorites. במדבר בערבה, in the desert, the Aravah. In other words, the things Moses was about to speak to the Israelites here, he had already spoken to them about in the various places that will be named forthwith. We find a similar formulation in Deuteronomy 4,46: במדבר in the desert;” this is the desert facing Mount Sinai. בערבה, “another place in the same desert known as Aravah. It is referred to again in our portion in chapter 2,8: 'ונעבור....מדרך הערבה מאילת ומעציון גבר וגו; which location precisely was this? The one opposite the reeds, the great desert of Paran which commences at a place known as Eytam. This is why the Torah wrote (Numbers 33,6) ויחנו באיתם אשר בקצה המדבר, “they encamped at Eytam which is at the edge of the desert.” Now we are told that this was also extending to the boundary of the land of Moav. We have proof of this in Deut. 2,8, as well as in Deut. 8,2. The place also appears in Ezekiel 20,35 as מדבר העמים, “desert of nations.” Several nations had a border touching the edge of this desert. This is why sometimes it appears as מדבר שור, or ,מדבר קדמות or מדבר מואב בין פארן, between Paran, etc., seeing that the desert was very large, Moses supplies more detail concerning where what had occurred. ובין תופל ולבן, “and between Tofel and Lavan;” we are forced to use our logic concerning these names, as we have no documents to even prove that they existed. It is most likely that they were names of sites where the Israelites had encamped, but many may have received their names only as a result of having served as a base for the Israelites during those years. Quite a few of these names did not appear in the list of the Israelites’ journey enumerated chronologically in parshat Massey. The Hermon for example, according to tradition - appear four times, each time with a different name. Compare our author on Numbers 33,19, and 46. וחצרות, and Chatzerot; according to Rashi this refers to the rebellion of Korach, which had taken place there. If you were to argue that according to the sequence in which the Torah has documented all these events, the rebellion of Korach must have occurred when the Israelites were encamped in the desert of Paran, shortly after the return of the spies, and you would further argue that according to Targum Onkelos the Israelites were angry at the absence of meat at Chatzerot, whereas the Torah wrote that they journeyed to Chatzerot from Kivrot hataavah, the place where they had received the quails, (Numbers 11,35) you will realise the difficulty in reconciling what appear to be contradictory statements. The desert of Paran is many days’ march long, and to fix a place’s name based on that loose definition is not really helpful at all. [Some of the places named here were quite clearly given names after the occurrence of the event the place was to commemorate. There is no guarantee that the name was given immediately after the event in question.]

מוכיח אדם אחרי חן ימצא ממחליק לשון, “He who rebukes a man (after me) will ultimately find favor; [more so] than he who flatters with his tongue.” (Proverbs 28,23) Solomon was in the habit of rebuking everybody (through his writings) and he warned everybody who was fit to rebuke others to follow in his footsteps and to take his place. Seeing that the person who has been so rebuked had tended to relate to earth (rather than heaven) when he committed deeds which provoked the rebuke, Solomon uses the expression מוכיח אדם instead of מוכיח איש, i.e. that the rebuke was provoked through the rebuked person having identified too closely with אדמה. It is well known that most rebukes are directed at the average person, the masses; the masses have different views, are not homogeneous. If they would all be of one mind and had similar outlooks they would be known as יחידים and not masses (common people). [I believe that our author distinguished between people who have a mind of their own whom he calls יחידים, individuals, i.e. people with a mind of their own, whereas he calls the people to whom we attribute a herd instinct המון עם, masses. Ed.]. Seeing that all these people do have minds of their own they do not easily accept rebukes seeing that what one person likes another dislikes. What is pleasing to one person is unacceptable to others. This is what prompted Rabbi Tarfon to say (in Erchin 16) “I am convinced that there is hardly a person nowadays willing to respond positively to rebukes. If one tells one person to remove the splinter in his own teeth the person told this would retort that the rebuker should first remove the wooden beams which blocked his own vision.” It was typical of the people of his time that if one pointed out that someone wore a soiled garment, he would respond that the rebuker’s garment was even dirtier. People like to be flattered and not to be criticized. This recalls a statement in Ketuvot 105 according to which the reason that young scholars enjoy more popularity than their senior colleagues is the fact that the former refrain from rebuking people’s religious misconduct. Keeping all this in mind, Solomon said that, eventually, he who rebukes a man will find favor more so than the flatterer. Solomon was not unaware of the psychology of the people enduring rebukes; rather he spoke in terms of what is favored by G’d. He meant that the fact that people do not like to be rebuked is not decisive in the eyes of the Lord. He wanted to encourage people, especially leaders, who would live after him not to commit the error attributed to the young scholars in Ketuvot 105 by complimenting their parishioners rather than pointing out areas in which they should improve. Ultimately, only severe rebukes will have an effect on habitual sinners and save them from the results of their errors. G’d appreciates people who respond positively to rebukes; He accepts repentant sinners seeing that these people responded to rebukes and changed their ways. Ultimately, even the person who has been rebuked realizes that this is preferable to losing his life or even his soul by not being called to order and continuing in his wicked ways. When Moses rebuked the Jewish people with harsh words, he found a favorable echo in the eyes of G’d. Moses invariably used tough language when rebuking the people as we know already from Kadesh (Numbers 20,10) when he called the people “rebellious.” Even as early as Exodus 16,7 Moses criticized the people for accusing Aaron and himself for leading them into the desert as if it had been Moses’ idea to do so. We are told in Devarim Rabbah 2 that when Solomon above spoke of the flatterers he referred especially to Bileam (who had flattered the Jewish people as opposed to himself) and pointing out that as a direct consequence of Bileam’s flattery the Israelites suffered 24,000 dead at Shittim. Solomon portrayed Moses as the opposite of Bileam when he encouraged leaders to rebuke people for their shortcomings. This is what prompted him to say in Proverbs 27,6: “wounds inflicted by a loved one are long lasting; the kisses of an enemy are profuse.” He meant that discipline administered by a well-meaning father is effective, whereas the compliments of someone who hates you evaporate into thin air. Moses would rebuke the people every time they sinned and would pray for them thus endearing them to their father in heaven for tolerating the rebukes. This is why now, a few weeks before leaving the people permanently, he recalls to them all the sins they had committed while under his care. Moses listed some of the names where the more fateful sins had been committed. אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה אל כל ישראל בעבר הירדן במדבר בערבה מול סוף בין פארן ובין תפל ולבן וחצרות ודי זהב, “These are the words which Moses addressed to the whole of the people of Israel, on the east bank of the Jordan, in the desert, in the wilderness of Moav, opposite Suf, between Paran and Tafel; at Lavan, Chatzerot, and Dee Zahav.” The reason the Torah writes the word במדבר, is not to repeat that the people were in the desert, but to tell us that Moses rebuked the people for sins committed in the desert. Compare Psalms 78,40: “How often did they defy Him in the wilderness, did they grieve Him in the wasteland!” Concerning the expression בערבה, Rashi comments that the word is to be understood as בשביל הערבה, that on account of being in the wilderness they sinned at Baal Peor, Shittim, sins which occurred in the area described as ערבות מואב. The word מול סוף was meant as a reminder of the Israelites having said sarcastically at the ים סוף, the Sea of Reeds: “did you take us here to die because there was a shortage of burial places in Egypt?” The people again complained when moving away from the Sea of Reeds as we know from Psalms 106,7: “they rebelled at the sea, at the Sea of Reeds.” The words בין פארן is an oblique reference to the episode of the spies; the words ובין תפל ולבן are references to the complaints uttered against the manna (Numbers 21,5) and the word חצרות is a reference to what occurred when Korach and his supporters rebelled, as well as to the inappropriate comments made by Miriam against her brother Moses. The words די זהב are a reference to the sin of the golden calf, a sin which was possible because they had a surfeit of gold. Compare Hoseah 2,10 who attributes sin to excess material wealth, “I who lavished silver on her and gold, which they used for the Baal.” Midrash Devarim Rabbah (an edition by Lieberman, according to Rabbi Chavell) concerning the meaning of the words ודי זהב, says that the word ודי is an acrostic of the 6 days in which G’d created the world, the four directions of the globe, and the Ten Commandments. Moses meant that if the comments of the Israelites had been restricted to these three subjects they would not have been guilty of any misdemeanor, they would have been as pure as gold. All the words mentioned in this verse, which appear as if relating to locations, are only allusions to occurrences as these places do not exist (are never mentioned by these names). At the time when Moses made the speeches which form a large part of the Book of Deuteronomy, the people had already left the desert and were encamped on the fringe of civilisation near the banks of the Jordan. It follows that these descriptions must refer to sins committed in the desert. This is the opinion of Onkelos who explains these names as being oblique references to where the Israelites sinned, i.e. Moses was concerned with the image of the people and did not want to sound too harsh. Seeing that this Book is the fifth and last of the five Books of the Torah I want to explain to you the reason why the Torah has been divided into 5 separate Books and why the sequence is that which we find in front of us. You are aware already that although this fact has already been alluded to (Midrash on Genesis 1,3 on the words “let there be light”) these “Books” are essentially all closely tied to one another. The reason that the Torah commenced with the Book of Bereshit is that the record of the world coming into existence is a basic foundation of our faith. Without this knowledge the concept of G’d supervising and taking an interest in all life on earth would not exist and all of us would consider ourselves as being no more than “accidents” on earth. Once we have established that G’d the Creator takes an interest in what He has created, and especially in the human beings, it follows that there is such a thing as “reward and punishment.” Seeing that these concepts are critical to the Torah they have all become part of the Book of Genesis. The Book of Bereshit therefore had to include some basic commandments, else, the fact that a system of reward and punishment for obedience to the Creator exists could not be demonstrated. These commandments must include positive as well as negative commandments. As far as the reward for observing the commandments is concerned, the expulsion of Adam from Gan Eden illustrates punishment on a personal level, whereas the deluge demonstrates punishment on a collective level. Noach’s being saved demonstrates reward on a personal level. The prediction of both this reward and punishment demonstrated to both the victims and the survivors that G’d must be Master of the universe, i.e. of nature, ergo its Creator. What befell the people concerned proved that He (unlike a painter who completes a painting) did not sit back and leave His universe to self-destruct but made sure that it would endure (even while allowing man free will). After conclusion of the Book of Bereshit, the second Book of the Torah commencing with the names of the sons of Yaakov is the corollary of the story of the patriarchs who imbued their descendants with this faith in G’d and His Justice. Once a person possesses faith in the fact that G’d was the Creator, it is only a small step to believe that He is Unique, and the Only G’d. The second Book of the Torah which contains so many examples of the Uniqueness of the Creator, and His revealing Himself to the people of Israel is a natural sequence to the Book of Bereshit. The Book Vayikra, the Book dealing with the sacrificial service, follows next seeing that the sacrifices represent the bringing closer together and unifying the various forces in this universe until they ultimately reach the Original Cause. The righteous person succeeds in unifying these apparently different and heterogeneous forces through his devotions. Once the unifying force of these sacrifices has been demonstrated the next Book is that of Bamidbar Sinai which contains the story of Eretz Yisrael. It is the logical corollary of the Book of Vayikra, to point out that the sacrificial legislation applies only to the land of Israel. As soon as the Israelites had received the Torah, and the legislation concerning the sacrifices, they were meant to proceed directly to the land of Israel. Had it not been for the sin committed by the spies (and the people who accepted their estimate of their situation), the people’s progress would not have been delayed for 40 years by their wandering in the desert. After the Book of Bamidbar has been concluded and the people’s unity with G’d had been restored we come to the fifth Book, אלה הדברים. Seeing that the principal residence of the Jewish people in Eretz Yisrael was not the period during which the two Temples stood, but commences only with the final redemption which is not followed by another period of exile, the Torah wanted to conclude with a Book in which the ultimate redemption is discussed or alluded to. This will be an event comparable to a renewal of the universe itself (compare author’s comments on Deut. 30,3). This event will represent the true purpose and culmination of the creation of the universe, i.e. essentially another Book of Bereshit. We need to understand still why this Book opens with the words אלה הדברים, [traditionally a term which separates from the foregoing. Ed.] instead of ואלה הדברים, just as the Book of Shemot had commenced with the words ואלה שמות in order to demonstrate that it was the logical continuation of the Book of Bereshit. The reason is that although the fifth Book is a continuation in the sequence of the five Books, it is at the same time something unique, just as the etrog, although part of the four species over which we recite benedictions on the festival of Tabernacles is in a class by itself and therefore not bound together with the other three plants, the lulav, the hadass and the aravah. The second letter ה in the tetragrammaton, i.e. the name י-ה-ו-ה, although part of that name, is nonetheless not quite an integral part of the name which basically represents the attribute of Mercy, as this very letter ה at that point represents the element of Justice. We have explained many times that neither attribute ever appears in a pure form, i.e. the attribute of Justice is always accompanied by at least a small proportion of the attribute of Mercy, and vice versa, the attribute of Mercy is always accompanied by a small proportion of the attribute of Justice. The letter ה at the end of the tetragrammaton represents that portion of the attribute of Justice. It is described by Kabbalists as the “weak,” i.e. diluted form of the attribute of Justice. It is perceived as disciplining Israel for seven specific sins. In our case, the Book of Devarim, the fifth Book of the Torah, is better known as משנה תורה, “a second” version, repetition, of the Torah. This is why Moses commences with severe words of rebuke, recalling seven sins committed by the people under his stewardship of them. The seven sins are: the complaints in the desert, the sin of Baal Peor, the rebellion at the Sea of Reeds, the sin of the spies, the belittling of the heavenly food, the manna; the revolt of Korach, and the sin of the golden calf. “Tofel and Lavan,” are two references to the same sin. The seven sins are also alluded to in the Tochachah in Leviticus 26,18: “therefore I will punish you further seven ways for your sins.” Keeping this in mind, you will find that Moses, instead of speaking in the name of Hashem, as he did generally in the other Books, uses the attribute ה' אלו-הינו, i.e. a deliberate combination of the attribute of Mercy and the attribute of Justice when he refers to what G’d has commanded in this Book. The most pronounced example of this is Devarim 4,24: כי ה' אלו-היך אש אכלה הוא א-ל קנא, “for the Lord your G’d, He is a consuming fire, a jealous G’d.” This is a reminder of the manifestation of G’d’s Presence the people had experienced at Mount Sinai.

These are the words that Moses spoke to all of Israel. We do not find anywhere else in Scripture that Moses spoke to all of Israel at once, and how could it be possible for him to speak to 600,000 men at one time? This phrasing is not found anywhere else in Scripture except here and in the section about Hakhel [the gathering], where it says, You shall read this Torah before all of Israel in their hearing (Deuteronomy 31:11). And the Sages said (Sotah 41a) that the king would read from These are the words and onward. For certainly there is a connection and similarity between them, because throughout the Torah it says “the children of Israel,” but here it says Israel. Did he speak to Israel? Wasn’t it to the children of Israel that he spoke all his words? And now it is reasonable to understand that whenever it mentions “the children of Israel,” it is speaking about the general masses of the people, for they are all the children of Israel. But in places where it mentions “Israel,” it is speaking to the great individuals of Israel, each of whom is called by the name of Israel the patriarch and resembles him. And since the great individuals of Israel have the obligation to rebuke the people, and if they do not rebuke them, then the guilt of the people rests upon them, therefore Moses urged them about this. This is because they have no excuse to exempt themselves from punishment by saying, “It is revealed to us that rebuke will not be effective because rebuke will not help a stiff-necked people.” For if it is revealed before God, who has revealed it to them? And the prophet similarly blamed them, saying And after things that do not profit they have gone (Jeremiah 2:8). They attributed their lack of rebuke to the claim that it would not benefit the people because they refused to listen, but this is truly not a valid claim because in any case, the one who rebukes should do his part. Nevertheless, he taught them the way of rebuke, for any rebuker who wants his words to be heeded and not rejected should rebuke with hints rather than explicitly, in a way that only the person who feels within himself that he is the one being addressed will understand the words. But with open rebuke, they will likely reject it. Therefore, the Holy One, Blessed be He, told Moses to read this Torah, which refers to the words of moral instruction in this portion, and these are directed at all of Israel, because all rebuke consists of harsh words that challenge all of Israel. And he should read them “in their ears,” meaning with hints, which is like speaking in whispers in a way that will only enter the ears of the one who knows within himself that he is guilty of the matter. And this is the hint in These are the words that Moses spoke to all the great individuals who are called by the name of Israel. And what did he speak to them? In the wilderness, in the Arabah, etc. — meaning, “Learn from me and do likewise” to rebuke with hints, for this is a significant factor in the acceptance of rebuke. And some say that specifically to the great ones, whom he called “Israel,” he spoke in hints out of respect, but in the following it says Moses spoke to the children of Israel meaning the common people, and to them he did not show respect but explicitly told them about the incident of the spies and the golden calf. And even though the great ones presumably were not guilty of all the things he spoke about in hints, nevertheless, since they did not rebuke the people, he attributed the blame to them in hints. And it seems to me that this resolves what the commentators have asked: why doesn’t it say “And it was in the fortieth year” at the beginning of the portion? Because the main reason for mentioning this time is to inform us that rebuke is best given close to death so that one does not rebuke and then rebuke again. That is to say, perhaps today or tomorrow the rebuked person would have a chance to say to the rebuker, “Remove the beam from your own eye, etc.” (Arakhin 16b). And such a bad thing, while it might possibly be found among the general populace, nevertheless, any person of valor with many accomplishments would never utter such words. Therefore, for the first rebuke, which was directed only to the great ones, there was no need to write this timing, because even at other times, rebuke is good for them, as they would not kick back by saying “Remove the beam from your own eye,” which only a despicable, contemptible person who holds onto cords of scorn would say. And any God-fearing person would not let such words be heard from his mouth. Furthermore, specifically the rebukes that were said explicitly, from And it was in the fortieth year and onward, for these there is concern that one should not rebuke and then rebuke again, lest they say “Remove the beam, etc.” But regarding this first rebuke, which was said in hints, there is no concern for this, because each person can act as if he does not know [it is a rebuke]. Another explanation: The first rebuke, since Moses said it on his own initiative, therefore he mentioned it in a hint, because he was afraid lest he be burned by their coals, as happened to him when he said Listen now, you rebels (Numbers 20:10). But shortly after it says Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord had commanded him for them — he needed to say the words as they were [directly]. Between Paran and between Tofel. The phrase between… and between does not make any sense or have any reasonable explanation according to Rashi’s interpretation. Furthermore, it is difficult to understand why Moses did not at least hint at the incident of the waters of Meribah, as it is written They provoked Him at the waters of Meribah, and it went badly for Moses because of them (Psalms 106:32). If they were the ones who provoked God, why didn’t Moses mention this incident among all the provocations they committed? It must be that he hinted to them with the language of between… and between, because in Paran was the incident of the spies, and “Tofel” refers to when they complained [taflu] about the manna, saying our soul loathes this worthless bread (Numbers 21:5). And in between these two incidents occurred the matter of the waters of Meribah. Even though Korah’s rebellion is written after the incident of the spies, it nevertheless preceded it, as Rashi explained that “Hazeroth” refers to Korah’s rebellion which took place in Hazeroth, and it is written They journeyed from Hazeroth and camped in the desert of Paran (Numbers 12:16). And from there the spies were sent out. This indicates that between the incident of the spies in Paran and the incident of “Tofel,” they had committed only the provocation at the waters of Meribah. It is as if Moses was saying, “Remember what you did between these two boundaries.” This is a hint within a hint, because Moses also sinned in this matter and was afraid they might say to him, “Remove the beam from between your own eyes,” therefore he embedded this sin between what came before and after, using their actions as evidence that they were the cause, and the main sin depends on them. For see what you did in Paran, when you said let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt (Numbers 14:4), and similarly at Tofel you said, Why did you bring us up from Egypt? (Numbers 21:5). And likewise at the waters of Meribah you said, Why did you bring us up from Egypt? (Numbers 20:5). From this there is evidence that one transgression leads to another similar one, and the before and after indicates that this sin which was committed in between should also be attributed to you and not to me. Between Paran and between Tophel. The phrase between… and between gives me room to add my own hand and explain it about that which occurs between the 17th of Tammuz and the ninth of Av. For “Paran” refers to the incident of the spies, where they cried needlessly, and crying was established for generations on the night of the ninth of Av. And “Tophel” refers to the golden calf that they made. For what Rashi explained, that they complained about [made “taflu”] the manna, has no parallel in Scripture. It would have been more appropriate if Rashi had explained it from the language Can that which is tasteless [tafeil] be eaten without salt? (Job 6:6), for anything without taste is called “tafeil,” and this would have agreed with Rashi’s words. But according to our approach, it makes more sense that “tophel” alludes to the incident of the golden calf, because we find this term used for idolatry in several places. In Jeremiah (23:13) it is written: And in the prophets of Samaria I have seen folly [tiflah]; they prophesied by Baal, etc. And it is written (Lamentations 2:14): Your prophets have seen for you false and deceptive [tafeil] visions, etc. And similarly, Ezekiel called them plasterers of folly [tafeil] (13:11). And so said the makers of the golden calf, These are your gods, O Israel (Exodus 32:4). With this, they attributed falsehood [tiflah] to God, and this occurred on the 17th of Tammuz, and on that same day the tablets were broken. And the breaking of these stones was established for generations, for on the 17th of Tammuz the wall of the city and its stones were breached. And between these two boundaries, Israel lies crouching between the borders, and this is the meaning of between… and between mentioned here, as it is written (Lamentations 1:3): All her pursuers overtook her between the straits. For between the sin of the golden calf and the sin of the spies, [Israel] crouched and bowed down, and they could not rise, because naturally there is no salvation from the distress of the enemy except in one of two ways, or both together: Either through the providence of God, who saves all who cling to Him, even if they are not naturally strong, nevertheless when they fulfill you shall love the Lord your God, which causes attachment to God, then He saves all who cling to Him; or naturally, when they fulfill love your neighbor as yourself. Then each person helps his fellow, even if they are sinners and God has departed from them. Still, they have some hope naturally if the heavenly orchestration does not oppose them. And in these two times, Israel lost both at once, and if so, to whom shall they flee for help? For on the 17th of Tammuz when they made the [Golden] Calf, on that very day they turned backwards and turned their backs, not their faces, to God, in the month whose zodiac sign is Cancer, whose manner is to walk backwards — so too did they turn backwards, and thus they lost the salvation that comes from Divine providence. And on the 9th of Av was the incident of the spies; on that very day was born the trait of baseless hatred among Israel, as it is written And you said: Out of the Lord’s hatred for us, He brought us out [of Egypt]… (Deuteronomy 1:27). Rashi interprets, “What is in your heart about your friend, you assume is in his heart about you” (Yalkut Shimoni, Deuteronomy 805). For they reasoned that since each of them hates his fellow, so presumably the Holy One, blessed be He, also hates them. And furthermore, since they erred in saying that the Holy One, blessed be He, hates them without cause, then certainly the nature of the matter compels each one to hate his fellow. And this trouble conceived and gave birth to this evil trait which destroyed the First and Second Temples. For in the First Temple, there was baseless hatred among the leaders of Israel, and in the Second Temple, the affliction spread among all of Israel, as stated in Yoma (9b). And this was in the month of Av, whose zodiac sign is Leo, for each one’s likeness is as a lion longing to tear apart his fellow. And thus they lost also the natural salvation, for if there is no love between them and there is no one supporting and helping his fellow, who will stand up for Jacob, for he is small and poor (Amos 7:2). Thus, between these boundaries, the bundle came completely apart, for they turned quickly away from God, and they also turned away from each other. And so it was that the 17th of Tammuz and the 9th of Av are a fence on this side and a fence on that side, and there is no way to turn right or left; therefore, all her pursuers overtook her between the straits (Lamentations 1:3). All implies that even a weak pursuer of any kind could prevail over them, because at one time they spurned the Holy One of Israel, they profaned the holiness of Israel which depends on the unity of the nation, and at another time they turned backwards from the Divine Presence, and to whom shall they flee for help? Therefore, Moses said in this rebuke, “See that you stand between these two boundaries, between the straits, due to the incident of Paran and the incident of Tofel.” And to urge them to repentance, he said this, because if they do not repent, then the incident of Paran will establish for them weeping for generations, for in it they rejected the Holy Land; therefore their judgment will be to be exiled from it, as they were indeed exiled on the ninth of Av. And through the incident of Tofel, they will cause the breaching of the city on the seventeenth of Tammuz. And in between, they will lie between the boundaries, and [even] a meager enemy will pursue them. And according to this interpretation, we need to say that the word and Lavan [White] hints at their complaint about the manna, which was white, as Rashi explains. And Di-zahav [Enough gold] hints at the sin of the children of Gad and Reuben, whose wealth was more precious to them than their own bodies, even though they had enough. And in my composition “City of Strongmen” we explained by way of allusion, the verse eleven days journey from Horeb as referring to the 11 days that we mourn for the destruction of the Temple throughout the year, namely the nine days of the month of Av, the 17th of Tammuz, and the 10th of Tevet. And since this explanation is far from the plain meaning, we have kept it brief [here], but the language of between… and between supports the interpretation [before it] even according to the plain meaning.

אלה הדברים, “These are the words, etc.” Nachmanides writes in a separate introduction to this Book that seeing that the generation Moses was addressing was the one that would enter the Holy Land, Moses detailed most of the Torah’s commandments that applied inside the Holy Land, omitting sacrificial offerings, purity laws as they relate to the priests, seeing that he had already outlined those, and at any rate, the priests do not need a refresher course, being by definition eager and willing to observe the laws in all its ramifications. He did, however, repeat most of the laws which applied to the ordinary Israelite a second time, adding warnings in many instances, especially laws connected to idolatry which he repeated more than twice. We also find in this Book a number of commandments that have not been mentioned in the first four Books at all, such as the laws pertaining to the levirate marriage, ייבום, or the laws about a groom who slanders the supposedly unchaste bride of his as having not entered marriage as a virgin. Moses himself had, of course, been made familiar with these laws by G’d when he had been on the mountain, before the spies had been dispatched. The thrust of the verse beginning here is that although these laws were communicated by Moses in ערבות מואב, the plain of Moav, not a single one of these commandments was new. The only “new” aspect of these commandments was the fact that they were now spelled out to the people. Another notable fact in this Book is that we do not find such sentences as וידבר ה' אל משה, “Hashem spoke to Moses, etc.” Neither do we find such lines as דבר אל בני ישראל, “speak to the Children of Israel (and tell them about such and such a commandment!)” It is possible that the reason the commandments mentioned here for the first time were not included in the first four volumes of the Torah may be that those commandments were not practiced in the desert. They would be practiced only once the people were in the Holy Land, although some of these commandments pertain to their bodies rather than to the land. Another reason for the non-publication of those commandments before now could be that they are not the type that are observed daily, the opportunity to observe them presenting itself only rarely and not to the average person. Before Moses got ready to relate all these various commandments, he used the present opportunity, a few weeks before his death, to admonish the people, and to remind them of past sins, and how they had caused Hashem a lot of grief during these years. He reminded them how G’d had treated them by invoking His attribute of Mercy and loving kindness time and again. He warned them not to become corrupt again by gambling that G’d would forever employ such forgiveness, etc. They should not rely on the fact that because they were human they were bound to err and sin from time to time, and that G’d, knowing this, would overlook their trespasses. While it is true that if G’d were not to take into consideration their evil inclination and their sometimes falling victim to its lure, neither they nor subsequent generations would ever qualify to conquer the Holy Land, however their daily conduct must not be based on such considerations. They must not forget that in spite of the prevalence of the attribute of Mercy, the attribute of Justice constantly tries to oppose that attribute and they could not rely on the attribute of mercy always prevailing. אלה הדברים, the words that Moses is about to speak refer to the words that are recorded in this volume of the Torah. Moses will first review the whole Torah, commencing with the revelation at Mount Sinai and the Ten Commandments. In verse 6 we would have expected the verse to begin with the words ויאמר משה, something that is missing here. We do find a similar construction where such an introductory remark is missing when Joseph names his first son Menashe, and the Torah reports that he said: כי נשני אלוקים את כל עמלי, “for the Lord has made me forget all my troubles,” (Genesis 41,51, as well as verse 52 concerning Ephrayim) where we would have expected at least the introductory words כי אמר. The reason that Moses used this introduction was to remind them that not quite a year after that G’d had told the people that they had encamped around Mount Sinai long enough, and that it was time to begin their journey toward their ultimate objective, the Holy Land. This was a pointed reminder that as far as G’d was concerned they had been sufficiently prepared to make war successfully against the Canaanites, whose measure of guilt by then was full, so that the Israelites should have every chance to defeat them. These introductory words continue until 4,40 ושמרת את חוקיו ואת מצותיו אשר אנכי מצוך היום, “you shall observe His decrees and His commandments that I command you this day, to carry them out, etc.” After this Moses called upon the whole nation of Israel that stood assembled before him saying: שמע ישראל וגו', 5,1 and began with a restatement of the Ten Commandments. Having concluded with that restatement, including minor additions, he emphasizes the uniqueness of G’d, i.e.שמע ישראל ה' אלוקינו ה' אחד, “Hear O Israel, the Lord our G’d, the Lord is One,” followed by all the commandments contained in this volume of the Torah. This is the reason why we have the formula here: דבר משה אל כל ישראל that Moses spoke to all of the Children of Israel, and the same formula is used in 5,1 when he is described as calling to all of the Children of Israel when exhorting them to learn and to keep the commandments. It was important that just as 40 years ago at the revelation to the previous generation all the people were assembled, now when the covenant is about to be renewed with a new generation the whole people must be in attendance at that event. When the Torah describes Moses as באר את התורה הזאת “explaining this Torah,” (verse 5) this is a reference to the Torah which the people had already heard from his mouth once before. He now reviews this part of the Torah and in a number of cases expands on it, filling in details not revealed up until now. He emphasized that all of this had been commanded to him by Hashem, i.e. he had not added anything of his own. The meaning of the word הואיל is that the initiative for this review is his own; he had not been told by Hashem to do so. The term is used several times in Scriptures for free-willed agreement, as for instance in Joshua 7,7 ולו הואלנו ונשב בעבר הירדן, “if we had only been willing to remain and settle on the east bank of the Jordan.” When Moses responded to Yitro’s invitation to dwell in his house, his willingness is also described by the word ויואל משה לשבת את האיש, “Moses agreed to dwell with that man.” (Exodus 2,21). במדבר, “in the desert.” Although at this time the people were already no longer in the desert but in the land adjoining Moav, accessible to civilization, Moses mentions that the Torah had been revealed in the desert. Onkelos claims that all the locations referred to by Moses are merely allusions, thinly veiled, to places where certain events had taken place, particularly the people’s misdemeanours that Moses at this point is not anxious to spell out.

אלו הדברים, according to the plain meaning of the text the names mentioned in this verse all are names of locations, as we find that it is customary for the text of the Torah to give detail followed by further detail of the places whose exact location the Torah wishes to elaborate on in greater detail. For instance, in Genesis 12,8 when describing Avraham as pitching his tent in some place, it refers first to Beyt El, and then elaborates by saying that the he found himself with Beyt El on his east and Ai on the west. In Exodus 14,2, the Israelites are described as making a turnabout before a place described as Pi Hachirot, elaborating by saying that this Pi Hachirot is between Migdol and the sea to the north of Baal Yzefon. In Judges 21,19 an annual festival was observed at Shiloh which is described as situated north of Beyt El, east of the highway which runs from Beyt El to Shechem and south of Levonah. If locations which did not have the distinction of serving as places where parts of the Torah were revealed to the Jewish people were described in such detail, it is not surprising that places where such parts of the Torah were revealed are described in detail. (compare Numbers 9,1, Exodus 12,1-2, Leviticus 25,1 Numbers 33,3) Here too, the locations are described with detail upon detail; they are the places that served Moses to explain the laws of the Torah, the ceremonial laws, the statutes, and the social laws. (compare 4,45-46, as well as verse 5 in our chapter.) בעבר הירדן, followed by which side of the Jordan this took place on, i.e. במדבר, on the bank of the Jordan facing the desert in which the Israelites had spent the last 40 years, which is know as עבר הירדן, “the far bank of the Jordan” to the people residing west of it. It did not refer to what would be called עבר הירדן near Jerusalem that is also referred to as the far bank of the Jordan by people traveling in the desert through which the Israelites had been traveling all these years. בערבה, a narrower definition of where precisely in the desert. The location is narrowed to the Aravah of Moav מול סוף, the Sea of Reeds begins somewhere to the east of the land of Israel as we know from Exodus 23,31 where it is described as bordering the land of the Philistines, the eastern border being the Dead Sea, described as south-east in Numbers 34,3. We have a repetition of these data in Deuteronomy 4,49, where it is clear that what is called ים סוף is the Sea of Reeds facing the Aravah of Moav. בין פארן ובין תופל, a description paralleling that in Genesis 13,3, i.e. בין בית אל ובין העי. ולבן, וחצרות, ודי זהב. All these are names of locations, according to the simple meaning of the text. ודי זהב, an expression similar to בת מי זהב in Genesis 36,39 which is also the name of a location.

אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה, “These are the words that Moses spoke, etc.” This introduction to the Book of Deuteronomy is similar to what Solomon said in Proverbs 28,23: מוכיח אדם אחרי חן ימצא ממחליק לשון, “he who rebukes a man will find favour eventually; more so than he who flatters with his tongue.” Solomon refers to Moses when he speaks of the rebuker, seeing that he rebuked Israel, as the prophet Ezekiel said in Ezekiel 34,31: ואתנה צאן מרעיתי אדם אתם, “Now, you My sheep, sheep of my pasture-are Adam, i.e. after having responded to the rebuke appropriately, you are entitled to be called Adam, not animal.” אחרי, “after Me,” this word in the line quoted from Proverbs, refers to G–d, Who had been the first One to rebuke Israel. Israel had found favour on account of that, so that after enduring the slavery in Egypt (rebuke), when He redeemed them they accepted His Torah. G–d confirmed this when He said to Moses in Exodus 33,12: וגם מצאת חן בעיני, “and you too, have found favour in My eyes.” ממחליק לשון, “more than the flatterer with his tongue;” with these words Solomon in the above quoted line, refers to Bileam, who instead of rebuking Israel, heaped words of flattery upon them (Numbers 24,5). He referred specifically to what Bileam had said there, i.e. מה טובו אהליך יעקב, “how goodly are your tents, Yaakov. (Compare D’varim Rabbah 1,2.) Our author elaborates with a parable. A prince had two ministers, one of whom he loved and the other he had grown to hate. He cautioned the minister whom he loved not to commit any misdemeanours, as if such would come to the attention of the King he would be severely punished, the king not exercising any mercy. He encouraged the minister he hated to live his life without restraints as even if he did become guilty of a misdemeanour he had someone at court who would intervene on his behalf. Moses acted similarly; seeing that he loved Israel, he warned them not to become guilty not to follow the wrong path as this would lead to disaster for them. (Deut. 11,16) Bileam, on the other hand, seeing that he hated Israel, would praise them, hoping that in their exuberance they would commit acts through which they would forfeit the goodwill of their heavenly Father. Concerning the Jewish people, Bileam had said in Numbers 23,19: לא איש א-ל ויכזב, “G–d is not like man who threatens and relents,” in dealing with the gentile nations He never relents; but when dealing with the Jwewish people, דבר ולא יקימנו, “even though He had expressed verbally His wrath and threatened punishment, in the end He will not carry out what He had threatened.” (same verse) Concerning the Jewish people, Solomon said in Proverbs 27,6: נאמנים פצעי אוהב ונעתרות נשיקות שונא, “wounds inflicted by a loved one are long lasting; the kisses of an enemy are profuse.” Concerning Moses, Solomon said in Proverbs 24,25: ולמוכיחים ינעם ועליהם תבא ברכת טוב, “but those who rebuke the wicked will experience delight; blessings of good things will come upon them.” You will note that Solomon does not conclude with the word עליו, “upon him,” the rebuker, but he uses the plural mode, עליהם, “upon them,” i.e. the ones who have been rebuked. בין פארן ובין תפל ולבן, “between Paran, Tofel and Lavan;” Words of תיפלות, critique, against the manna which was white in colour. What precisely were these words of critique? They said: “who has ever heard of a food which requires grinding which is so absorbed by the body that none of it is excreted?”

It is an eleven-day journey from Horeb by way of Mount Seir to Rekam-Geah.

אחד עשר יום מחרב ELEVEN DAYS JOURNEY FROM HOREB — Moses said to them: “See what you brought about! There is no route from Horeb to Kadesh-Barnea as short as the way through Mount Seir, and even that is a journey of eleven days. You, however, traversed it in three days!” — for you see that they journeyed from Horeb on the twentieth of Eyar, as it is said, (Numbers 10:11—12) “And it came to pass in the second year, in the second month, on the twentieth of the month, [the cloud went up and the children of Israel journeyed out of the desert of Sinai” (which is Horeb)] and on the twenty-ninth of Sivan they sent out the spies from Kadesh Barnea, (an interval of 40 days; cf. Taanit 29a); deduct from these the thirty days they spent at Kibroth Hataavah, where they ate the flesh “a month of days”, and seven days they spent at Hazeroth for Miriam to be shut up there as a leper, it follows that in three days they traversed all that way. — To such an extent did the Shechinah exert itself to hasten your coming to the land of Canaan, but because you became degenerate, He made you travel round about Mount Seir for forty years (Sifrei Devarim 2:2).

IT IS ELEVEN DAYS’ JOURNEY BY THE WAY OF SEIR UNTO KADESH-BARNEA. The meaning thereof is that Scripture informs us of the vastness of the wilderness, that from Horeb, which they left, to Kadesh-barnea is a journey of only eleven days, since by way of Mount Seir it is near. Kadesh-barnea is at the end of the wilderness at the border of the hill-country of the Amorites which is the inheritance of Israel. There are the lands of Sihon and Og where Moses explained the Torah in the valley over against Beth-peor. Afterwards Scripture says, they went by way of the mountain of the Amorites all that great and fearful wilderness, and, following that, it narrates that in Kadesh-barnea, which is at the boundary of their inheritance, they requested spies [to see the Land]. As a result, their journey was disrupted and they went [into the wilderness] toward the Red Sea — backward and not forward — until the completion of forty years. And because Israel was presently not in the wilderness, since they had already entered the land of Moab, earlier mentioned [i.e., the part which they took from Sihon and Og], Onkelos interpreted the expression in the wilderness, in the plain [These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel beyond the Jordan ‘in the wilderness, in the plain’] as being allusions to reproof [thus rendering: he reproved them “on account of that which they provoked Him in the wilderness, etc.”]. Moreover, why should Scripture mention all these places [in the wilderness, in the plain, over against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab] and specify signs and borders more than [the law requires] in selling a field! [Therefore these place-names were interpreted by Onkelos as being allusions to certain deeds about which Moses reproved them.] And the sense of the Scripture according to Onkelos’ opinion is: “These are the words which Moses spoke unto all Israel beyond the Jordan; he spoke of [that which they did] in the wilderness, in the plain, and over against Suph, between Paran and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Di-zahab, and the eleven days’ journey from Horeb,” because he mentioned to them all that they had done in these places. Afterwards Scripture states that there, beyond the previously mentioned Jordan, Moses wanted to explain the Torah after he reproved them, and he spoke and said, The Eternal our G-d spoke unto us in Horeb, saying. And so it is interpreted in the Sifre according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah. Rabbi Yosei ben Durmaskis, however, holds that they were actual places called by these names.

"Eleven days" — the meaning is that he spoke these words over those eleven days of travel from Horeb to Kadesh-barnea. I have already told you that from Kadesh-barnea the spies went out, and after Hashem swore that they would not enter the land, no new commandments were given until the fortieth year, as we find. The proof is in the phrase "he explained this Torah" — behold, he explained the Torah spoken of "between Paran and Tofel," for most of the commandments are in this book. And so the meaning of "as Hashem had commanded him to them, beyond the Jordan, in the wilderness, in the Arabah." And if you understand the secret of the [twelve — emended from "princes"] — also "and Moses wrote" and "the Canaanite was then in the land" and "in the mount of Hashem it shall be seen" and also "and behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron" — you will recognize the truth.

אחד עשר יום מחורב, “eleven days’ march from Mount Chorev.” Some of the speeches recalled by Moses here occurred during the journeys of the Israelites after leaving Mount Sinai, during the first eleven days. It took them eleven days to cover the distance from Mount Sinai to Kadesh, the place from which the spies were dispatched. The fact is that no new commandments were revealed to the Jewish people after the return of the spies until the fortieth year, after the last of the men of military age at the Exodus had died, and G-d’s presence returned to be visible. אחד עשר יום, “eleven days,” there is a letter ב missing in the word אחד, which according to the rules of grammar should have been spelled באחד, so that the phrase would read: באחד עשר יום, “we find a similar anomaly in Exodus 31,17: כי ששת ימים עשה ה' את השמים, “for during six days G-d made heaven, etc,” there too we would have expected the letter ב at the beginning of the word ששת. Our author cites a few more examples of this, adding that it occurs frequently. (Judges 14,12; Samuel II 20,4) אחד עשר יום, Rashi understands this line as a reproof by Moses, who is telling the people that although normally it takes eleven days to cover the distance from Mount Chorev to Kadesh, with the help of G-d they had covered that distance in only three days, seeing that the Torah had reported that they had broken camp on the twentieth day of the month of lyar. When you consider that the people had spent thirty days at Kivrat Hataavah consuming the quails, and seven days waiting for Miriam to recover from the affliction of Tzoraat at Chatzerot, it followed that they covered the distance in three days, as there had been only three way stations and by the 29th of Sivan the spies had been sent out, so that only thirty eight days had elapsed since their departure from Mount Chorev. (Compare author’s commentary on Numbers 9,1.)

אחד עשר יום מחורב, “eleven days’ journey (distance) from Mount Chorev.” These words are also part of the rebukes. Moses reminded the people that the traveling time from Mount Chorev to Kadesh Barnea is normally eleven days. The people had traversed this distance in only three days. This very fact should make them understand that the reason they had remained in the desert for so many years was only due to their sins. Had they not sinned G’d would have shortened their travel time instead of lengthening it. How did the people travel during the three days we just mentioned? The Torah tells us that the people broke camp after having remained around Mount Sinai since the 1st of Sivan in the first year of the Exodus (10 days short of a full lunar year). The cloud lifted on that day as we know from Numbers 10,11. One month and nine days later, i.e. on the 29th of Sivan, Moses sent the spies on their mission from Kadesh Barnea. If we count backwards to the 20th of Iyar, we have to consider that during these 39 days at least 30 days were spent at a place named Kivrot Hataavah, where the people gorged themselves on meat (Numbers 11,21). In addition, they were stuck at Chatzerot, waiting for Miriam to be cured from her tzoraat (Numbers 12,14-16). You will note that there were only a total of three days left during which the people could have traveled between the 20th of Iyar and the 29th of Sivan. It follows that they must have covered the entire distance from Sinai to Kadesh Barnea in three days. According to Devarim Rabbah (an edition by Lieberman, according to Rabbi Chavell), the words אחד עשר יום מחורב, “eleven days from Chorev,” must be understood to mean that for only eleven days after leaving Mount Chorev could the people of Israel be described as perfect vis-a-vis G’d. The Midrash speaks of the 40 days that Moses was on the Mountain. During the last 29 days they were already contemplating making the golden calf. Another opinion quoted in that Midrash claims that the people remained completely loyal to G’d for only two days out of the 40 days that Moses had absented himself. The author of that view bases himself on Isaiah 58,2: ואותי יום יום ידרשון “As to Me, they seek Me out one day, one day (daily).” A third opinion quoted in that same Midrash claims that the people remained completely loyal only for a single day basing itself on Deut. 4,10: “the day you stood before the Lord your G’d at Mount Chorev.” Yet another opinion expressed in that Midrash claims that the people were not even totally loyal for an entire day, but committed idolatrous acts even on that very day. The source quoted for such an extreme view is Isaiah 17,11: “on the morning you sow, you see it bud but the branches wither away on a day of sickness and mortal agony.” [The author of the Midrash presumably searched for the source of the corruption as the thought that a people perfectly loyal to G’d could not have committed the sin they did just because they saw that Moses was six hours late returning from the Mountain. Ed.]. Another approach to these words: the word אחד and עשר are not to be understood as “eleven,” but have to be read separately, i.e. “one,” “ten.” The first of the Ten Commandments, the אנכי ה' אלו-היך was the theological problem the people could not deal with satisfactorily. Moses reminds the people that the anger they caused G’d stems from their not accepting that commandment properly.

'אחד עשר יום מחורב וגו, who is wise enough to understand these words [that after 40 years the Israelites found themselves only 11 days from Mount Chorev? Ed] We must understand that the reason why Moses inserted this verse here is that in verse 19 we are told: “we set out from Chorev and traveled the great and terrible wilderness that you saw, along the road to the hill country of the Emorites and we came as far as Kadesh Barnea (which is close to the land of Israel and from where the spies were sent out.) As a result, we remained in this desert for forty years. This was due to our sin as recorded in Deuteronomy 2,1-7. Moses is simply contrasting the fact that the journey from the Sea of Reeds to the borders of the Holy Land was a distance of 11 days’ travel and had been covered in that amount of time [after deducting the encampments, especially the eleven and a half months at that mountain Ed.] whereas the rest of the journey, on account of the sin of the spies, took all these years.

And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that Hashem had commanded him concerning them.

ויהי בארבעים שנה בעשתי עשר חדש באחד לחדש AND IT CAME TO PASS IN THE FORTIETH YEAR, IN THE ELEVENTH MONTH, ON THE FIRST OF THE MONTH, [MOSES SPAKE] — This tells us that he reproved them only shortly before his death (Jewish tradition holds that Moses died on the seventh day of the twelfth month; cf. Megillah 13b). From whom did he learn this? From Jacob, who reproved his sons only shortly before his death. He said, “Reuben, my son, I will tell you why I have not reproved you for your unfitial conduct during all these years: it was in order that you should not leave me and go and join Esau, my wicked brother". — And on account of four things one should not reprove a person except shortly before one's death: that one should not reprove him and again have to reprove him; and that his fellow whom he reproves should not, when he afterwards happens to see him, feel ashamed before him, etc.; as it is set forth in Siphre. And similarly, Joshua reproved Israel only shortly before his death (cf. Joshua 24:1—29), and so, too, Samuel, as it is said, (I Samuel 12:3) “Behold, testify against me", and so, also, David reproved his son Solomon only shortly before his death (cf. 1 Kings 2:1—9).

Some say that on the first of [Adar] (variant: Shevat) Moses died, arguing that they mourned thirty days, and they rested there [six — emended from "two"] weeks. Their proof is "on that very day," suggesting that this entire book was read to all Israel in one day and Moses died on that same day. But this is no proof, for "on that very day" refers to the Song, and it is written there "you are crossing the Jordan this day." "Beashti" — I have explained it in the portion of Naso.

ויהי בארבעים שנה, after the men slated to die in the desert had finished dying. דבר משה אל בני ישראל, to those who would enter the Holy Land. ככל אשר צוה ה' אותו אלוקים, he reviewed the whole Torah for them that had been revealed up until this point.

ויהי בארבעים שנה, “it was during the fortieth year, etc.” the Torah reveals here that Moses addressed the people on the east bank of the Jordan, recalling what he had told the earlier generation already while they were at Mount Sinai. בעשתי עשר חדש באחד לחדש, “in the eleventh month , on the first day of the month. In other words, he began this speech 36 days prior to his death. ככל אשר צוה ה' אותו, “in accordance with all the Lord had commanded him.” The word אותו which is not really needed, was added to emphasise that Hashem had not issued such instructions to any other prophet.

ויהי בארבעים שנה בעשתי עשר חודש, “It was in the fortieth year, during the eleventh month, etc.” Moses rebuked the people when he was already close to death; you find that our patriarch Yaakov also waited until he was close to death before rebuking those of his children whom he wanted to rebuke (Genesis chapter 49). Joshua also waited until he was close to death before he rebuked the people (Joshua chapter 24). The prophet Samuel was also close to death when he challenged the people to tell him if they had any complaints against him (Samuel I 12,2-3). King David also waited with telling his son Solomon who needed to be rebuked (Kings I 2,1).

After he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites who dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Matnan who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.

אחרי הכתו AFTER HE HAD SMITTEN [SIHON] — Moses said: If I reprove them before they enter at least a part of the land, they will say, “What claim has this man upon us? What good has he ever conferred upon us? He only comes (his purpose is only) to vex us and to discover some pretext for leaving us in the wilderness, for he really has not the power to bring us into the land” On this account he waited until he had defeated Sihon and Og before them and had given them possession of their land — and only after that did he reprove them (Sifrei Devarim 3:2). סיחן … אשר יושב בחשבון [AFTER HE HAD SMITTEN] SIHON … WHO DWELT IN HESHBON — Even if Sihon himself had not been difficult to defeat, but had resided at Heshbon, he would have been difficult to defeat, because the city was a difficult one to capture: and if it had been a matter of some other city, but Sihon had resided in it, it would have been difficult to capture, because its king, at least, would have been difficult to defeat. How much more was this so now when the king was difficult to defeat and the land difficult to capture (Sifrei Devarim 3:3; cf. Rashi on Numbers 21:23). אשר יושב בעשתרת [AND OG] WHO DWELT AT ASHTAROTH — here, too, the king was difficult to defeat and the city difficult to capture (Sifrei Devarim 3:4). עשתרת — This is an expression denoting rocks and anything hard, just as (Genesis 14:5) “Ashtaroth Karnaim”, (i.e. the hard rocks of Karnaim) (Sifrei Devarim 3:5)). And indeed this Ashtaroth is identical with Ashtaroth Karnaim where the Rephaim (the giants) were, whom Amraphel smote, as it is said, (Genesis 14:5) “And they smote the Rephaim in Ashtaroth Karnaim". Og, alone, escaped of them, and that is the meaning of what is stated, (Genesis 14:13; cf. Rashi) "And the one who escaped (הפליט) came", for it further states, (Deuteronomy 3:11) "For only Og, king of Bashan, remained of the remnant of the Rephaim", באדרעי IN EDREI — the name of the royal city.

AFTER HE HAD SMITTEN SIHON, THE KING OF THE AMORITES, WHO ‘DWELT’ IN HESHBON — for Heshbon was not his, but he conquered it from the king of Moab and he built it to be his royal capital. Similarly, and Og the king of Bashan, who ‘dwelt’ in Ashtaroth, at Edrei means that it was previously the land of Rephaim [and then it was occupied by the king of the Amorites] as I will explain with the help of G-d. And because Scripture states, who dwelt in Ashtaroth, at Edrei, it indicates that Ashtaroth is the name of a place in which Edrei is located [as will be explained further]. The text of the Sifre is as follows: “‘B’ashtaroth’ — it was as hard as ashtaroth. ‘B’edrei’ — this was the seat of the government [i.e., the royal city].” Rashi wrote: “Ashtaroth — is an expression denoting rocks and hardness. Ashtaroth is Ashteroth-karnaim where the Rephaim were, as it is said, and they smote the Rephaim in Ashteroth-karnaim. ‘B’edrei’ — this was the name of the kingdom [indicating that the kingdom of Edrei was located in Ashteroth-karnaim]. And so it is written, ‘ashteroth’ of thy sheep, meaning, as Targum [Onkelos] rendered it [‘the flocks of thy sheep’]. And our Rabbis have said: Why is the name ashtaroth given to them [i.e., flocks of sheep]? It is because they ‘enrich’ [from the Hebrew word ashir — rich] their owners and strengthen them like these ashtaroth which are strong rocks.” [This is Rashi’s language].Now the Rabbi [Rashi] incorporated into the word [ashtaroth] two meanings [strength and riches], but we do not know from what source the Rabbi inferred that ashtaroth is a name for rocks and stones. But it is possible for us to say that ashtaroth is a term for flocks of sheep, from the word ashir (rich) as in the words of the Sages [quoted above: “Why is their name ashtaroth? It is because they enrich their owners”]. Ashteroth-karnaim was a place of high mountains upon which there were strongholds of stone, these being likened by Scripture to “the horns of cattle,” just as Scripture likens them to “teeth,” as it says upon ‘the crag’ [literally: “the tooth”] of the rock, and the stronghold. Similarly, upon ‘the horns’ of the altar. So also, ‘b’keren’ ben shamen [literally: “in a fruitful ‘horn'”] which the Targum [Yonathan ben Uziel] renders: “On a high hill, in a fruitful land.” There, [upon these high hills,] the flocks of sheep ascend, the he-goats, the she-goats, and the wild-goats and their like; and therefore the place is called Ashteroth-karnaim [because the flocks which “enrich” their owners (ashtaroth) ascend to the “horns” of the mountain (karnaim)]. So also, and they served Baal and the Ashtaroth — ‘Ashtaroth’ because the idol was made in the form of a sheep in order to protect them [the flocks of sheep], in accordance with their foolish belief. [This is in line with our explanation of the word ashtaroth as a synonym for sheep.] Now at the foot of the mountain they built a city whose name was Edrei, this being intimated in the verse which s...

אחרי הכותו, he did this after the Jewish people had achieved a degree of quiet in a land which was inhabited, or fit to be inhabited.

אחרי הכותו את סיחון, “after He had smitten Sichon, etc.;” we have been told in Deut. 2,30 that Sichon was not willing to allow the Israelites to cross his territory on their way to the land of Canaan. Both the campaigns against Sichon and Og took place in the fortieth year of the Israelites’ wanderings. This comes to teach you that Moshe gave all the speeches in Deuteronomy after the war with Sichon.

אחרי הכותו, “after he had defeated, etc.” a reminder of how G’d had been on the side of the Israelites and had defeated the mighty kings Sichon and Og using Moses as His agent. Moses now decided the time had come to rebuke the people for past errors. [Moses reminded them that if anyone had the right to do so he possessed those credentials. Ed.] אשר יושב בעשתרות באדרעי, “who was dwelling in Ashtarot at Edre-i.” We find that the Bible uses the term Ashtarot to describe three totally different phenomena. The term is used to describe 1) mountains, 2) flocks of sheep; 3) a form of idolatry. In this instance the Torah tells us that Og lived in mountainous country. The reason the Torah tells us this is that not only was Og, the giant, personally powerful and awe-inspiring, but the terrain in which he had his capital was easy to defend and most difficult to conquer. The same applied to a place called עשתרות קרנים which the Torah mentioned in Genesis 14,5 when it described Kedorlaomer defeating the giants residing there. The reason that place was called not just עשתרות, but עשתרות קרנים, is that the sheep which have horns קרנים, used to graze in those mountains just as did the mountain goats and gazelles. The flocks, sheep, are referred to as Ashtarot in Deut. 7,13 where the Torah writes עשתרות צאנך, when referring to flocks of sheep and goats. The word’s root is עשר, “wealth,” i.e. these flocks provide wealth for their owners through their milk, their wool and their young. We have been told in Chulin 84 that one should make a practice of selling land (a field, but not ancestral land in the land of Israel) and buy עתודים, he-goats with the proceeds, based on Proverbs 27,26: ”the he-goats, the price of a field.” We also have a verse making a similar point in verse 27 of the same chapter, i.e. “the goat’s milk will be sufficient for the food of your house, and for the vital needs of your maids.” The term Ashtarot is used to describe idolatry in Judges 12,6 ויעבדו את הבעלים ואת העשתרות, “they served the Baalim and the Ashtarot.” The reason this term is used is that the image representing the deity was a sheep (and the fertility it represents). באדרעי, “in Edre'i.” This is the name of a province in which the king’s capital was located. They used to build it at the edge of a mountain in the flat land, and there would be assembled his entire army. This is the meaning of that word in Numbers 21,33, where the Torah describes where the battle took place.

אשר יושב בחשבון, “who dwells in Cheshbon.” Nachmanides comments that the fact that Sichon is mentioned as “dwelling” in Cheshbon confirms that it was not his originally, but that he had captured the city from the Moabites. He had converted it to become his capital. אשר יושב בעשתרות באדרעי, “who dwelled in Ashtarots which is in Edre-ee.” This land belonged to the Re-fa-im of old, a race of giants, whereas Og was the King of the Emorites. Seeing that the Torah describes Og as having dwelled in Ashtarot it is clear that this is the name of a place (a region) within which is found the town of Edre-ee. Ashtarot was a valley, and the giants had built a town in that valley. This becomes clearer when we consider that Og has been described as gathering his troops there. (Numbers 21,33).

On the far side of the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses began to expound this teaching of the Torah, saying:

הואיל means HE BEGAN, just as (Genesis 18:27) "Behold, now I have begun (הואלתי)" (cf. Sifrei Devarim 4:1). באר את התורה [MOSES BEGAN] TO EXPLAIN THIS LAW — in the seventy languages of the ancient world did he explain it to them (Midrash Tanchuma, Devarim 2; Genesis Rabbah 49; cf. Sotah 32a and Rashi on Deuteronomy 27:8).

"Hoel Moshe be'er" — two transitive verbs joined without a vav-conjunction, as in "chamak avar." Moses began to explain to the children born in the wilderness what had befallen their fathers, and he told them all the commandments, including the Ten Commandments which their fathers had heard directly from Hashem — these too they were to hear from the mouth of a faithful messenger.

בעבר הירדן בארץ מואב הואיל משה באר, seeing that they were no longer moving around all the time, for the encampment in the steppes near Moav was their last stop before crossing the Jordan. Now, seeing that Moses himself had already given up hope of personally crossing the river Jordan he began to explain the parts of the Torah concerning which he thought some doubts could arise after his death. He did this by starting with a reminder of the covenant concluded between Israel and G’d at Mount Chorev. (compare 5,2) לאמר, before beginning with reviewing portions of the Torah, Moses explained the reason for the need to do this as being that they were about to cross into what would become their homeland where many commandments of the Torah would apply for the first time. Seeing that he could not do this at the time when they actually applied already, he had to do this now before his death. While on the subject, Moses reminded the people how, indirectly, due to their sinful conduct he was now unable to cross the Jordan with them, and that as a result he wanted to make sure that they would not again become guilty of such sinful behaviour.

הואיל משה באר, “Moses undertook to expound this Torah;” he expounded all the commandments in the Torah, including the Ten Commandments that the people had heard from G-d directly. Hashem wished that the new generation which had been born after the revelation at Mount Sinai, should hear the Ten Commandments at least from the mouth of Moses. He was the most reliable human being that this task could be entrusted to.

הואיל משה באר את התורה הזאת, “Moses began explaining this Torah.” According to the plain meaning of the text Moses wanted to explain to the people at this time all the commandments and the fact that the essence of the Torah is contained in the Ten Commandments. Seeing that the parent generation of the people assembled had heard the Ten Commandments ,directly from from G’d, Moses repeated the text so that at least they would hear it from his mouth. Even though the people were already familiar with the Ten Commandments, having heard them from their fathers, and they believed in the divine origin of these commandments, the fact that Moses was an accredited prophet in their eyes made hearing them from him equivalent to hearing them from G’d Himself. A Midrashic approach: Moses commenced explaining the Torah in the land of Moav explaining 49 facets of the Torah in a way that would yield authentic exegesis, [our sages call it טהור, ritually pure] and also demonstrating that one can pervert Torah exegesis by 49 ways and obtain 49 inadmissible, “ritually unclean” ways of exegesis. The number 49 corresponds to the numerical value of the word מואב. [This explains that the words בארץ מואב are not to be translated as “in the land of Moav,” seeing the people of Israel had been forbidden to violate the borders of Moav. Ed.]. We have a similar explanation on Song of Songs 5,10: דודי צח ואדום, where these words do not mean “my beloved (simile for Hashem) is clear-skinned and ruddy,” certainly not an appropriate description for G’d. The word דודי is a simile for the 24 Books of the Bible, seeing that its numerical value is 24. The word צח has a numerical value of 98, reflecting the 2 sets of 49 ways to interpret the Torah (pure & impure) discussed above. We also have an allusion to this kind of exegesis in Proverbs 2,4 כמטמונים תחפשנה, “search for it as you would for treasures.” The word מטמונים is understood as מ'ט טמונים, that the Bible or Torah contains 49 (מ'ט) “hidden meanings.” The word מונים as “times” appears already in Genesis 31,7 when Lavan changed Yaakov’s wages עשרת מונים, “ten times.”

Hashem our God spoke to us at Horeb, saying: You have dwelt long enough at this mountain.

רב לכם שבת — Explain this according to its plain sense: YE HAVE DWELT LONG ENOUGH [IN THIS MOUNT]. — But there is an Agadic explanation: He has given you much distinction and reward for your having dwelt in this mount: you made the Tabernacle, the candlestick and the other sacred articles, you received the Torah, you appointed a Sanhedrin for yourselves, captains over thousands and captains over hundreds (cf. Sifrei Devarim 5:2).

THE ETERNAL OUR G-D SPOKE UNTO US IN HOREB, SAYING. In my opinion Horeb was the name of a place near Mount Sinai where Israel dwelled in the year [of the exodus]. The wilderness was large and therein was the mountain which G-d hath desired; its name was Sinai and it is for this reason that the entire wilderness is called the wilderness of Sinai, as it were, “the wilderness of Mount Sinai.” Thus Scripture states, and they came to the wilderness of Sinai, and they encamped in the wilderness; and there Israel encamped opposite the mount, meaning that they encamped in the wilderness in a place called Horeb, this being opposite the mountain. It is possible that both the mountain and the wilderness were called “Sinai” because many sneh (thorn-bush) trees were there, and near that mountain was a locality or an inhabited city called Horeb, and there they stopped. And the verse which states, and he [Moses] came to the mountain of G-d, unto Horeb [which might indicate that the name of the mountain itself was really Horeb or, perhaps, that the mountain was in the region called Horeb], means that he came to Horeb where the mountain of G-d was. Now the sneh (thorn-bush) [out of the midst of which the angel appeared to Moses] was on that mountain. Moses [at that moment] was in Horeb, the place before it, nearby, where the camp of Israel stood for [close to] a year [after the exodus]. Therefore Moses said, I will turn aside now and see [this great sight, why is the bush not consumed], meaning that he will turn aside from Horeb [and walk] up to the mountain. At times Scripture calls the mountain itself [Horeb], as it is said, And the children of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments from Mount Horeb, that is to say “from the mountain which was in the area of Horeb, in its vicinity or before it.” Or it may be that Horeb was the name of the entire region and the mountain was within it. Similarly, Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, even statutes and ordinances, alludes to all that he was commanded on the mountain, and in the Tent of Meeting which was there in Horeb. Now I have seen a Midrash in Yelamdeinu Rabbeinu: “Yea, thou knewest not — at Sinai; yea, thou heardest not — at Horeb; yea, from of old thine ear was not opened — in the plains of Moab.” The Midrash thus intimates that Horeb is the place where the Tent of Meeting was, [thus confirming the view that Sinai and Horeb are different places]. However, Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra states that Horeb is Mount Sinai, for, because of its desolation and dryness, the sneh (thorn-bush) grows there, so the mountain is known by two names [Horeb and Sinai], both being similar in meaning [“Horeb” referring to its desolate nature, and “Sinai” indicating the thorn-bushes that are products of the dryness].

"At Horeb" — that is Sinai, as I have stated.

דבר אלינו בחרב, “which He spoke to us at Chorev.” He commenced with words of encouragement (Compare Aruch hashalem under the entry בדח.

ה' אלו-הינו דבר אלינו, “the Lord our G’d spoke to us, etc.” You have to remember that throughout this Book Moses always refers to G’d with both attributes, i.e. Hashem and Elokim. I have already mentioned this at the end of verse 1. בחורב, at Mount Chorev. This is the same as Mount Sinai.

“You have dwelt long enough at this mountain. Turn and journey on.” This is the first rebuke regarding the people who hated the Land and settled at this mountain as a permanent dwelling, and did not turn their faces toward the Land, the special place for fulfilling the commandments. And you have dwelt long enough [rav lachem] is in the same sense as you take too much upon yourselves, sons of Levi (Numbers 16:7), meaning, “Is this rebellion and trespass too little? For truly it is too much [rav] for you to dwell permanently at this mountain. Turn, direct your faces toward the Land, and journey on [seu lechem, literally, journey to yourselves], to your essential source, for from there the material of Adam was formed,” just as He said to Abraham, Go forth [lech lecha]. And later he gives a clear explanation of this rebuke, saying, So we traveled from Horeb and went through all that great and terrible wilderness (Deuteronomy 1:19). He should have said, “And we turned and traveled from Horeb,” as he said [here], Turn and journey. But this is what he said to them: “You are still persisting in your recklessness, for I said Turn and journey, meaning that when you leave Mount Horeb, the place where you learned Torah, you should turn your faces toward the Land, the place of observing the Torah, for study is not the main thing, but rather deed. But when you left Horeb, another spirit was with you, to journey from a place dedicated to Torah study, and you did not turn your faces toward the place of observing the commandments, and you persist in your rebellion by hating the Land.” Therefore he said, So we traveled from Horeb and went through all that wilderness — each of you set your face toward the wilderness and not toward the Land, for the spies said, Let us return to Egypt (Numbers 14:4). But after the incident with the spies, when a great punishment was decreed for them, they repented unwillingly, and there it says, Then we turned and journeyed (Deuteronomy 2:1). There is an opinion that says He [Moses] accused them of fleeing from Mount Horeb like a child running away from school, and about this he said It is much for you because the days that you dwelled on the mountain were not in your eyes like a few days that you loved, but rather like many days of suffering. And this is the meaning of It is much for you — that it was much and excessive for you to dwell on this mountain — for you and not for me. And it seems that this resolves what is written, You have come to the mountain of the Amorites, which the Lord our God gives to us (Deuteronomy 1:20). From the fact that it says to us, he should have said “we have come to the mountain of the Amorites.” Rather, this is what he meant: “You have come to the mountain of the Amorites” — but not I, because you have diverted your minds and thoughts completely from Mount Horeb, but my thoughts are constantly wandering there as if I am still there, because that glorious event is always before my eyes.

בחורב לאמור, “at Mount Chorev, saying;” Nachmanides writes that Chorev is not a mountain but a region adjoining Mount Sinai where the Israelites were encamped during that year. [In light of Exodus 33,6, where Chorev is clearly described as a mountain, this is somewhat difficult to follow. Ed.] Nachmanides is aware of the difficulty and suggests several alternatives, basing himself on the fact that Sinai is both referred to by the Torah on some occasions as a mountain, and on other occasions as a region in the desert. [I suppose it is reasonable to say that the sheep which had lost its way and which Moses followed only to be confronted by a burning bush, did not climb a mountain. (compare Exodus 3,1) Ed.] Possibly, in the words of Nachmanides- Moses’ hesitation before investigating that spectacle was based on the very fact that the bush was burning on the mountain whereas he was standing at the bottom at that time. Ibn Ezra simply understands the word חורב as an alternate name for Mount Sinai, explaining that the bush was burning on account of the extreme dryness in that region. The people of Israel used either name for that mountain, interchangeably.

Turn and journey forth, and go into the mountain of the Amorites and all its surroundings: the plain, the hill country, the lowland, the south, and the seacoast — the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.

פנו וסעו לכם TURN YOU AND JOURNEY — this was the journey to Arad and Hormah mentioned in Numbers 21:1—3. ובאו הר האמרי — Understand this according to what it literally implies. ואל כל שכניו AND TO ALL ITS NEIGHBOURING PLACES — Ammon, and Moab, and Mount Seir. בערבה IN THE PLAIN — this is the plain of the forest. בהר IN THE MOUNTAIN — this is the King’s mountain. ובשפלה AND IN THE LOW LAND — this is the low land of the south country. ובנגב ובחוף הים AND IN THE SOUTH COUNTRY AND BY THE SEA COAST — Ashkelon and Gaza and Caesarea, etc., all as is stated in Sifrei Devarim 6:1. עד הנהר הגדל TO THE GREAT RIVER [THE RIVER EUPHRATES] — Because it is mentioned in connection with the Land of Israel, it terms it "great". A popular proverb says: A king’s servant is a king, attach yourself to a captain and people will bow down to you; go near to an anointed (a distinguished) person and you become anointed (distinguished) yourself (cf. Rashi on Shevuot 47b and Genesis 15:18).

TURN YOU, AND TAKE YOUR JOURNEY, AND GO TO THE MOUNT OF THE AMORITE etc. He mentioned to them the Land and the road that they are to traverse in their stages, and afterwards He said, Behold, I have set the Land before you which I swore to your fathers; go in and possess the Land — this being a command, not just an assurance and promise, as I have explained.

"Penu" — leave this place and journey. This is a manner of speech like "lech lecha" [get yourself going].

פנו וסאו לכם וגו׳, “turn around and start journeying, etc.” ראה נתתי לפניכם, see, I have given before you’” (verse 8) Moses refers back to Exodus 23,20-32, where G-d had told Moses that He appointed His angel to proceed ahead of the people on their journey to the Holy Land. בערבה, “on the plains,” this is the plain that Moses had spoken of earlier in verse 1.

ואל כל שכיניו, “and to all its neighbors,” i.e. Ammon, Moav, and the Mountain of Se-ir. והחוף הים, “and at the beaches of the Sea.” This refers to the coast of Ashkelon, Azzah, and Caesaria and other coastal towns along the Mediterranean.

See, I have placed the land before you; go in and take possession of the land that Hashem swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their children after them.

ראה נתתי SEE, I HAVE GIVEN [THE LAND BEFORE THEE] — With your own eyes do you see this: I do not tell you this by conjecture or hearsay (Sifrei Devarim 7). באו ורשו GO IN AND POSSESS [THE LAND] — There is no one who will contest the matter, and you will not need to wage war. Indeed, had they not sent the spies, but had trusted in God's promise, they would not have needed weapons of war (cf. Sifrei Devarim 7). לאבתיכם [THE LAND WHICH THE LORD SWARE] UNTO YOUR FATHERS … [TO GIVE TO THEM] — Why does he further mention their names: to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob? But it is to suggest the following: The merit of Abraham would itself suffice, that of Isaac would itself suffice, that of Jacob would itself suffice, that I should give the land to you (cf. Sifrei Devarim 8:1; see also Rashi on Leviticus 26:42).

WHICH THE ETERNAL SWORE. The reason [for using the third person the Eternal swore rather than the first person “I swore” which would be more appropriate, since G-d is the speaker] is similar to that in the verse, And unto Moses He said, Come up to the Eternal, [rather than “Come up unto Me”]. There I have explained it.

נתתי לפניכם את הארץ , the inhabitants of that land whose courage had already melted and who would not offer much resistance. באו ורשו את הארץ, the various districts in which the people reside for they are afraid of you and will either flee or will die without your having to engage in battle.

ראה נתתי לפניכם את הארץ, "Behold, I have set the land before you;" The Torah switches from the singular ראה, to the plural לפניכם, "before you (pl), because when it comes to looking at the land they were all alike. However each individual Jew was different from his brethren in character, mentality, etc. Similarly, the nature of taking possession of the land and what it meant to each individual Israelite differed, so that the balance of the verse is in the plural. באו ורשו את הארץ, "Enter and take possession of the land, etc." Why did the Torah have to repeat the words את הארץ, instead of merely saying אותה, "it?" The reason is that the land which had been mentioned previously was the land which used to belong to Sichon and Og which G'd had allocated to Reuven and Gad. Now that Moses gave instructions to take possession of the land he had to make plain that the land which G'd had sworn to the Patriarchs had not included the lands now inherited by Reuven and Gad. I have already explained this in connection with Numbers 32,7 and have proved the point from the Sifri there.

לתת להם ולזרעם אחריהם, “to give to them and to their descendants after them.” Our sages in Yalkut Shimoni 801 understand these words to mean: “to the people who took part in the Exodus and to their descendants,” i.e. the ones who took part in the Exodus from Babylonia. The additional word אחריהם, “after them,” refers to the people alive at the time of the final redemption, the ingathering of the exiles from the present Diaspora. It appears that the reason the Midrash had to interpret the text in this way is the fact that the Torah spent 3 verses on the subject. Each verse adds a new dimension not stated previously. The next verse on the subject is Deut. 11,21; in verse 9 of the same chapter the Torah repeats this message but without the words: “as long as there is a heaven over earth.” This prompted our sages to understand Moses as referring to three separate inheritances.

And I said to you at that time, saying: I am not able alone to bear you.

ואמר אלכם בעת ההוא לאמר AND I SPAKE UNTO YOU AT THAT TIME, SAYING — What is the force of לאמר, (lit., to say. i.e. being bidden to say)? Moses, in effect, said unto them: Not of myself do I tell you that I am not able to bear you, but by the bidding of the Holy One, blessed be He (Sifrei Devarim 9:1), לא אוכל לבדי וגו׳ I AM NOT ABLE [TO BEAR YOU] ALONE — Is it possible that Moses was not able to judge Israel? The man who brought them forth from Egypt, and divided the sea for them, and made the Manna fall, and collected the quails, was not he able to judge them?! But thus did he say unto them, ה' אלהיכם הרבה אתכם THE LORD YOUR GOD HATH MADE YOU GREAT (הרבה) — He has made you superior to and has placed you higher than your judges, inasmuch as He takes the punishment off you and places it upon your judges if they could have prevented your wrongdoing and did not do so. Solomon made a similar statement (namely that the Jewish judge may easily make himself liable to punishment): “For who is able to judge this thy grievous people?” (1 Kings 3:9). Is it possible that he of whom it is said, (1 Kings 5:11) “He was wiser than all men”, should say, "Who is able to judge”? But this did Solomon mean: The judges of this people are not like the judges of other peoples, for if one of the latter gives judgment and wrongly sentences a person to death by the sword, or to flagellation, or to strangulation, or wrests his justice and thus robs him of his due, it is regarded as of little importance (lit., there is nothing at all in that); I, however, if I unjustly sentence a person to pay even a sum of money, my life is required of me, as it is said, (Proverbs 22:23) “And He robs of their life those who rob them" (Sifrei Devarim 9:2; Sanhedrin 7a).

AND I SPOKE UNTO YOU AT THAT TIME, SAYING: ‘I AM NOT ABLE TO BEAR YOU MYSELF ALONE.’ [Moses’ statement here in this verse was actually said] before the Eternal said to us in Horeb, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mountain, according to the opinion of those who say that Jethro came before the Giving of the Torah. And the meaning of the expression at that time [in the verse before us] is “while we dwelled at Horeb.” But Moses mentioned it here [in Verse 9, rather than before Verse 6] to convey the following thought: We received the Torah, and you had judges and officers to judge you and lead you, and we were thus ready to enter the Land. And we journeyed from Horeb in our [four] divisions with our judges and our elders, and then ye came near unto me every one of you with your wise men and your leaders and you wanted spies to be sent, and thus the plan [for an immediate entry into the Land] was frustrated.

"I cannot [bear you] alone" — in the sense of "you cannot do it alone."

לא אוכל לבדי שאת אתכם, "I am not able to bear you myself alone." This does not mean that Moses said so in these very words; rather it means that Moses said something which was equivalent to these words.

ואומר אליכם בעת ההיא, “and I had said to you at that time;” this includes everything until verse 18 that Moses had commanded the people. It had been the subject in Exodus 18,18 where Moses’ father in law Yitro had cautioned him against overexerting himself, and Moses’ response by appointing judges to act as his delegates.

ואומר אליכם בעת ההיא לאמור, “I spoke to you at that time, saying:” the word לאמור here refers to Yitro, Moses’ father-in-law who had given this advice. When G’d indicated His approval, Moses accepted this advice in practice (Exodus 18,23).

And I said to you at that time, saying. At that time points with a finger to the time when he said to them, Come and possess the land, for I saw that at that time there was a necessity of the hour to appoint judges, because this merit would be sufficient for you to settle on the land, as it is written: Justice, justice shall you pursue, that you may live and inherit the land (Deuteronomy 16:20). Rashi explained: “The appointment of proper judges is worthy to give life to Israel and to settle them on their land.” And so we explained above in Parashat Yitro on the verse And all the people will come to their place in peace (Exodus 18:23). Since it does not say “will return in peace,” we can learn that it speaks of a place they have not yet reached, and since it does not say “each man to his place,” we learn that it speaks of a place designated for all the people collectively, and this is the entire Land of Israel in general, which all of Israel will inherit by the merit of appointing judges. Therefore he said, Provide for yourselves men — if you do not want to do it for my sake, to ease my burden, nevertheless do it for yourselves, for your own benefit, so that you may inherit the land. And furthermore, as it is said: You will surely wear out, both you and these people (Exodus 18:18), therefore it says Provide for yourselves if not for my sake. And what is said, “I cannot bear you alone.” And afterwards he said, How can I bear alone your burden, etc. This can be interpreted in two ways. The first is that the expression I cannot indicates something that is impossible and completely unfeasible, while the expression “how can I bear” indicates something that is possible but not appropriate to do. I cannot also implies the future, because at that time, in that place, the matter was possible and not impossible, as Rashi explains: “Is it possible that Moses was not able to judge Israel, the man who brought them out of Egypt, etc.?” If so, in that generation, according to the number they were at that time, he certainly was able, but if the Lord your God adds to you a thousand times more, then it would certainly become impossible. And when he said, How can I bear alone, he was speaking about that time, even though it was possible, it was nevertheless not appropriate. And when he said, I cannot, he meant that eventually, in the future, “I will not be able to bear alone,” and he gave a reason for this: because now the Lord your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are today as the stars of heaven in multitude. Your own merit alone, from the aspect that He is your God, has established you at this numerical level, and this amount I can endure. However, when the merit of the forefathers is added to this, from the aspect that He is the God of your forefathers, He will certainly add to you a thousand times more, etc. And regarding this time that is bound to come at any moment, I am saying that I will eventually not be able at all, and even now it is not appropriate, and about the present I am saying, How can I bear alone, etc. The second interpretation agrees with Rashi’s explanation that “the Lord your God has multiplied you.” He took the punishment from you and placed it on the judges. This judgment is true justice, because one who wrongfully holds onto money believes the law is on his side, since the judge ruled in his favor, and thus he truly believes it belongs to him. Therefore, it is proper that the judgment stands while the judge bears the burden of this person’s actions. It seems this is why he said, And behold, you are today like the stars of heaven, which are enduring, and this endurance comes to you because the Lord your God has multiplied and magnified you and placed your punishment on the judges. This is also why he said, I will place them as your heads, meaning the guilt of the people is always suspended upon their leaders, as the role of judges serves as the prototype for the entire Torah. Regarding the punishment, he said I cannot bear you alone — he did not say “I cannot bear your troubles and burdens,” because one who bears the punishment of another is like carrying that person’s very being upon himself. The punishment I cannot bear at all, because the Lord your God has multiplied you, etc., as Rashi explained. But afterward, concerning bearing their troubles, burdens, and disputes — although this is possible, it is nevertheless not appropriate, and about this he said, How can I bear alone, etc.

ואומר אליכם בעת ההיא לאמור, ”at that time I said to you, saying:” Moses refers to the period before G’d had said to the people to get moving away from the region around Mount Sinai. At least, that is what we must assume according to the view that Yitro visited the Israelites prior to the revelation at Mount Sinai. The meaning of בעת ההיא is ”during the period that we were encamped around Mount Sinai.” The reason why Moses mentions this now is as if he were saying: “here we had received the Torah and you already had all the tens of thousands of judges installed as well as the law enforcers and were ready to begin the journey, and we began our trek from Sinai (Chorev) with all our elderly, etc., and suddenly you delayed us by demanding to first dispatch spies, a demand which resulted in all our plans becoming upset.

Hashem your God has multiplied you, and behold, today you are as numerous as the stars of the heavens.

והנכם היום ככוכבי השמים AND, BEHOLD, YE ARE THIS DAY AS THE STARS OF THE HEAVEN — But were they that day as the stars of the heaven? Were they not, indeed, only sixty myriads? What, then, is the meaning of “And, behold, ye are this day (היום lit., the day)"? It means: Behold ye may be compared to the day (the sun), existing for ever just as the sun and the moon and the stars (cf. Sifrei Devarim 10:1).

"He has multiplied you" — in Egypt, and the blessing that your father blessed you was fulfilled. The sense of "like the stars of the heavens" is figurative.

ה׳ אלוקיכם הרבה אתכם, "The Lord your G'd has multiplied you, etc." This sounds peculiar as we have not read anywhere that the Jewish people had multiplied and become more numerous than the number of people who had participated in the Exodus. Neither did the Israelites increase since the census in the second year of their wanderings. Our sages in the Sifri understood the reference as meaning: "He has made you greater than your judges." Perhaps another thing which Moses had in mind with these words is something we have been taught in the Zohar volume 3 page 211 that when one mentions the abundance of good, its power is increased when it comes to warding off evil influences. The Zohar writes there that whenever one mentions G'd's name as the supreme G'd, the spiritually negative influences lose their power to exercise dominion. Seeing that Moses had first complained that he himself could not handle the Jewish people by himself, he felt it necessary to invoke this Name to counteract any negative influences he might have awakened by his comment. והנכם היום, "and here you are as of this day, etc." Moses was very careful to say היום, "today," to alert us to the fact that the statement is to be divided into two separate time frames. The first time frame related to the period during the second year of their wanderings when he had told G'd that he was unable to bear the burden of leadership all by himself. Concerning that period, he had said "G'd has mutiplied you, etc." The second time frame concerned the present, i.e. the fortieth year of their wanderings as he pointed out "as of today you are as numerous as the stars in the sky." ככוכבי השמים, "as the stars in the sky." When Moses said these words he referred to something we have learned in Sanhedrin 26 that אין מנין לרשעים, "that the wicked do not really have a number." What the Talmud means is that though from a numerical point of view the wicked may appear to number a great many, their increase in number does not imply an increase in importance. The very reverse is true of the righteous. Though, numerically speaking, they may appear as insignificant, their influence is totally disproportionate to their actual number. This is precisely what Moses had in mind when he compared the "number" of the Israelites to the stars in the sky. Just as each of the stars is an important unit in its own right, so each one of the Israelites contributed to the importance represented by their collective רבוי, multiplicity.

ה' אלו-היכם הרבה אתכם, “the Lord your G’d has multiplied you, etc.” Moses referred to the increase of the Jewish people during their sojourn in Egypt. They had arrived there comprising only 70 persons, whereas by the time they left Egypt they numbered over 600,000 fighting men. As of the time when Moses was addressing them they were so numerous they could not be counted. It is also possible to understand the words הרבה אתכם as not referring to quantitative increase in the people of Israel but to the qualitative increase; they had developed into a powerful nation. The word רבי המלך in Jeremiah 39,13 means the distinguished people of the King, גדולי המלך. והנכם היום ככוכבי השמים, “and here you are to-day as the stars in heaven.” Moses compared the people to the stars from a quantitative perspective; this is why he added the word לרוב, “in quantity.” A Midrashic approach, found in Devarim Rabbah (Lieberman edition 16 only) the words “and you are as the stars in heaven” are a reference to the encampment of the Jewish people, and are similar to when G’d showed Avraham that all the zodiac signs in heaven surrounded the Shechinah. Similarly, the flag of the Jewish people, three tribes and their flag in each direction is perceived with the Shechinah in the centre of the camp (the Tabernacle). G’d had told Moses: “just as the zodiac signs surround Me and I am in the centre, so your children will multiply and encamp according to their respective flags while My Presence will dwell in their midst. In other words: “your encampment as of this day (on earth) is similar to My camp in heaven.”

May Hashem, the God of your fathers, increase you a thousand times more than you now are, and bless you as He has spoken to you.

יסף עליכם ככם אלף פעמים MAY HE ADD TO YOU A THOUSAND TIMES AS MANY MORE AS YE ARE — What is the force of saying further: ויברך אתכם כאשר דבר לכם AND MAY HE BLESS YOU EVEN AS HE HATH SPOKEN CONCERNING YOU? But the explanation is: They said to him, “Moses, you are setting a limit to our blessings (only a thousand times)! The Holy One, blessed be He, has already made a boundless promise to Abraham (Genesis 13:16) “… if one can count [the dust of the earth, then can thy seed also be counted]"! Moses replied to them: This (a thousand times) is from me (it is my blessing); but may He bless you even as He hath spoken concerning you!" (Sifrei Devarim 11).

"Times" is used together with "a thousand," as is "a hundred" — the reverse of lashon Kedar [the usage of Kedar].

ה׳ אלוקי אבותיכם יסף עליכם, "May the Lord G'd of your fathers add to your numbers, etc." "May you number 1000 times as many righteous people as you are as of today." Concerning the multiplicity, Moses added: "and may He bless you as He has said." Our sages in the Sifri claim that the words: "may you number a thousand times as many righteous people as you are now," were Moses' own blessing, as distinct from the words "may He bless you as He has said." The thrust of the entire passage is to mention the name of the Lord in connection with the Israelites even at a time when Moses mentioned G'd's generosity to the Israelites in the greatest imaginable manner.

ככם אלף פעמים, “like you, one thousand times.” According to Devarim Rabbah, 13, quoted by Rashi, Moses explained that this blessing was his personal one, and therefore limited. G’d, however, would bless the people without placing a limit on His blessing. This is the meaning of Moses’ rider “as He has said to you,” i.e. “you will be like the dust of the earth (Genesis 28,14).

How can I alone bear your burden, your affairs, and your disputes?

איכה אשא לבדי HOW CAN I MYSELF ALONE BEAR [YOUR CUMBRANCE, etc.]? — If I were to say, "I will do so in order to receive a reward for it", I may not do so. This is what I have already said to you: not of myself do I tell you that I am not able to bear you, but by the bidding of the Holy One, blessed be He (see Rashi v. 9). טרחכם YOUR CUMBRANCE — Moses' use of this word regarding them teaches us that the Israelites were troublesome: if one of them perceived that his opponent in a law suit was about to be victor in the case he would say: I have witnesses to bring, further proof to adduce, I will add judges to you who are sitting (Sifrei Devarim 12:1) . ומשאכם YOUR BURDEN — this teaches that they were Epicorsim (that they treated the judges with scant respect): if Moses went forth early from his tent they said, “Why does the son of Amram leave so early? Perhaps he is not at ease at home?" If he left late, they said, “What do you think? He is sitting and devising evil schemes against you, and is plotting against you" (Sifrei Devarim 12:2). וריבכם AND YOUR STRIFE — this teaches that they were always contentious (Sifrei Devarim 12:3).

HOW CAN I MYSELF ALONE BEAR ‘TORCHACHEM’ (YOUR TROUBLE) ‘UMASA’ACHEM’ (AND YOUR BURDEN), V’RIVCHEM (AND YOUR STRIFE)? According to the simple meaning of Scripture, Moses our teacher alluded to them the three things which he told Jethro that he was doing for the people, as I have explained there. He now mentioned them to Israel by implication. He said torchachem corresponding to and I make known to them the statutes of G-d and His laws, for it was a difficult “task” to teach those who had come forth from Egypt, the statutes and the laws of G-d, their meanings, interpretations, and secrets. He said masa’achem corresponding to the people come unto me to inquire of G-d, a reference to prayer, for he used to pray on their behalf. The word masa’achem is related to the expression: ‘v’nasatha t’filah’ (and thou lift up prayer); nor ‘tisa’ (lift up) entreaty or prayer in their behalf. [He stated] ‘v’rivchem’ (and your strife) which is to be understood in its plain sense — matters of judgments [because judges must rule when there is strife among people]. Moses continued to state: Get you men who are wise, and understanding, and known among your tribes — referring only to [the qualities of] judges. But he said unqualifiedly, and I will make them heads over you by way of humility. Now Rashi quotes from the Sifre: “‘Torchachem’ (Your trouble). This teaches that they were troublesome. If one perceived that his opponent was winning a litigation, he would say ‘I have witnesses to bring; I have evidence to present; I [exercise my right to] add judges to you [thereby increasing the size of the court].’” But I do not know [the validity of] this law that one of the litigants should have the right to add judges above [the usual number of] three in cases concerning monetary matters, and surely he has no such right after presenting his case before them and perceiving that his opponent was winning the case! For, had he voluntarily accepted upon himself a relative or an unqualified person as a judge, he could indeed retract prior to the rendering of the final judgment, but from those qualified to judge he cannot retract [his acceptance]! Perhaps we can deduce from here the principle that a man can say, “I choose two judges and you choose two other ones, and they [i.e., the four judges] will choose one more, and let the suit be decided by five or more judges,” just as the Rabbis have said: “A suit decided by five [judges] is not comparable to one decided by ten [judges].” Although three judges [have the power to] compel parties to come before them for judgment when one refuses to be bound by their decision, yet if one [of the litigants] desires to choose additional judges, he may do so, because it is similar to [the case of] one [of the litigants] who says, “Let us go to the main meeting place of the scholars [to bring our suit before them on the assumption that superior scholars are better qualified to judge],” in which case we accede to him, provided it does not enta...

"Torchakem" — from the root of "they have become a burden to me"; and the meaning of "your burden" is the task of making simple people understand the commandments. "Umasa'achem" — their demands for bread, water, and meat, as in "to bear the burden of all this people." "Ve-rivchem" — your quarrels with one another.

טרחכם, your petty arguments which did not even involve financial claims. ומשאכם, your bicckering involving the provision of the needs for the many. וריבכם, and your mutual financial claims upon one another. He reminded them of all this in order that they should remember their sins. He hoped that the people repented their past conduct honestly, for in the past, in spite of Moses having told them that they would take over the land of Canaan without even having to fight for it, something that should have been their major concern seeing that they were in the desert. Rather than focusing on their major problem, how to get out of the desert into the promised land, they had wasted their time and efforts in the pursuit of petty concerns, undermining their inter-personal relationships in the process. Due to this interminable quarreling, Moses had been forced to appoint a large number of judges that had to exert authority over the individuals down to every 10 people requiring at least one such judge. This could only have been due to some character weakness, some pre-disposition to be quarrelsome.

איכה אשא לבדי, "How can I bear alone, etc.?" Moses now reverts to what he had said in verse 9: "I cannot bear you myself alone." He had interrupted this train of thought in order to counteract any negative results which would accrue to the people from a complaint about them by their leader. At this point he feels it is safe to carry on with what he had to say in verse 9.

וריבכם, “and your quarrels;” this refers to internal quarrels between Jew and fellow Jew.

איכה אשא לבדי טרחכם, “How am I able to carry alone the trouble of you, and the burdens, etc.” The “trouble” Moses was referring to was that he had to explain the meaning of the commandments to foolish people. Our sages in Sifri Devarim 12 explain that the Israelites were bothering Moses with a great deal of litigation and the loser in litigation would never be content with the judgment but would claim that he had witnesses whom he had not presented, arguments which he had not used, etc., all in order to reopen the matter. Moses would have to add more judges to review the case. משאכם, “your burden.” A reference to the demands for meat and water. We know that in Numbers 11,11 Moses had asked G’d to relieve him of משא כל העם הזה עלי, “the burden of this whole people.” וריבכם, “and your bickering.” This teaches that the people had a habit of quarreling with one another.

טרחכם ומשאכם וריבכם, “your contentiousness, your burdens, and your quarrelsomeness.” Nachmanides explains that the plain meaning of the text is that Moses here repeated in an oblique manner what he had said to his father-in-law Yitro when the latter had enquired what Moses was busy with all day long. At that time (Exodus 18,15-16) he had referred to his duties as threefold: He had stressed that his duties included the settling of disputes arising between one Israelite and another. He told Yitro that the duty to teach the people who had just left hundreds of years of slavery, involved only with the physical effort to survive such bondage, G’d’s law, was not only time-consuming, but difficult. This is what he alluded to when mentioning טרחכם, they were not such brilliant students who immediately grasped the knowledge offered, especially when it came to laws which did not appear logical to them. The word משאכם was a substitute for תפילה, prayer, as in ונשאת תפילה, (Isaiah 37,4) “if you will offer up a prayer.” A prophet, such as Isaiah in the verse quoted- is expected to offer up prayers to G’d on behalf of people who need their prayers for relief from problems to be heard by G’d. Finally, the word ריבכם used by Moses is self-explanatory. The words הבו לכם אנשים וגו', refer only to the attributes of the judges who are to be appointed. Alternatively, the word משאכם refers to the incidents when the people had demanded water, meat, etc., all matters that were beyond their leader’s ability to provide. The word משא is found in connection with that episode. (compare Numbers 11,11)

Provide for yourselves men who are wise, discerning, and knowledgeable, from your tribes, and I will appoint them as heads over you.

הבו לכם means GET YOURSELVES READY for the matter (cf. Rashi on Genesis 11:3). אנשים MEN — But would it enter your mind that he would take women? Why then does it state here men? It means that he should take righteous, desirable men (cf. Sifrei Devarim 13:2). חכמים ונבנים WISE AND UNDERSTANDING [MEN] — i.e. men who can understand a matter out of (i.e. by comparison with) another matter. — This is what Arius asked R. Jose: what is the difference between wise men and understanding men? A wise man is like a rich money changer: when people bring him dinars to examine (to value) he examines them; and when they do not bring to him, he sits and does nothing (he does not go out to seek any). An understanding man, however, is like a merchant money changer: when they bring him coins to examine, he examines them; and when they do not bring to him, he goes about and brings of his own money (i.e. he himself buys coins) (cf. Sifrei Devarim 13:3). וידעים לשבטיכם AND [MEN] KNOWN AMONGST YOUR TRIBES — i.e. men who are known to you. For if he were to come before me wrapped in his robe, “I" would not know who he is and of what tribe he is, and whether he is fitted for the office: but you know him for you have been brought up with him. On this account it states: known amongst your tribes (Sifrei Devarim 13:4). בראשיכם [AND I WILL PLACE THEM] AT YOUR HEADS — as chiefs and persons honoured by you., i.e., that ye should pay them respect and reverence. ואשמם — This word lacks the letter י (after the ש: our editions, however, have it): this teaches that Israel's transgressions (אשם) are placed upon the heads of their judges, because it is their duty to prevent them from sinning, and to direct them into the right path (Sifrei Devarim 13:6).

VIDU’IM L’SHIVTEICHEM’ (AND KNOWN AMONG YOUR TRIBES) — “men who are known to you. For if he were to come before me [Moses] wrapped in his robe, I would not know who he is and of what tribe he is, but you know him for you have raised him.” This is Rashi’s language quoting the Sifre. And if so, ‘l’shivteichem’ (among your tribes) is connected with the word ‘vidu’im’ (and known). But in line with the plain meaning of Scripture the purport of the verse is as follows: “Get you, from each of your tribes wise men.” And the meaning of the word vidu’im in my opinion is that “they are known as judges,” that is to say, their capability is known and recognized as qualifying them to be appointed judges. Now [Moses] epitomized the qualities of the judges in the word vidu’im, because the judges need to be able men, such as fear G-d; men of truth, hating unjust gain, as Jethro said. And these men [that were appointed] were known from the beginning to be judges, for everyone was saying, “This one is fit to be a judge.”

"Havu" — a peculiar word; the heh should by rule take a sheva and a patach. "Ve-yduim" — meaning those who are known, recognized by all.

הבו לכם אנשים חכמים, "get for yourselves wise and understanding men, etc." He advisedly used the word "for yourselves" before mentioning that they should be from their respective tribes as the fact that the judges would be selected from within the respective tribes would result in many beneficial effects for the members of these tribes. Please compare what I have written in Parshat Pinchas on Numbers 27,16 "may the Lord of all spirits appoint a man over the congregation." ואשימם בראשיכם, "and I will place them as heads over you." Moses means that although he told the people that the appointment of these judges would be for their benefit, i.e. that they themselves would be allowed to select these judges, the fact remained that these judges would exert their authority over the people, if necessary backed up by means of enforcing same.

ואשמם, “I will appoint them;” the letter י before the first letter מ, is missing hereRashi comments on this as follows: this י was deliberately removed in order to tell us that when the Israelites commit sins, much of the blame can be laid at the doorstep of the heads of the legal system that have not enforced Torah laws diligently and fairly. (one version of Rashi) Our author’s version did have the letter י in his Torah scroll. Clearly, Rashi’s Torah scroll did not have that letter.

ואשימם בראשיכם, “I shall place them as heads over you.” Moses gave these people positions of honour so that the people would respect them. Our sages (Rashi) point out that the word ואשמם is written defectively, the letter י being missing after the letter ש. This converts the word into אשם, “guilt.” The spelling teaches that the sins of the people of Israel are largely blamed on their leaders if these had been in a position to stop the people from committing these sins and they had failed to exert their authority. (The author notes that in our version of the written Torah the letter י described by the sages as missing is part of the text.)

“Give yourselves men, etc.” At first he [Moses] delegated to them, to Israel, that they would appoint [judges] from among themselves. And afterward he said, and I will place them at your heads, implying that they would be appointed by Moses. Furthermore, what is the purpose of the letter “bet” in “berasheichem” [at your heads]? For it should have said, “and I will place them [as] your heads.” And our Sages interpreted (Sifrei 1:13) that the guilt of the people is dependent on their leaders. However, it is necessary to explain this according to the plain meaning, and I say that the heads that are mentioned are not the judges but rather the tribal chiefs. And Moses said: “You have the power to appoint judges who will govern your tribes, but you do not have the power to make them rule over the chieftains as well — only I [have that power].” And therefore he said, You give yourselves men… for your tribes who will govern all your tribes, and I will place them at your heads, that they will also govern the chieftains who are your leaders.

And you answered me and said: The thing you have spoken is good to do.

ותענו אתי וגו׳ AND YE ANSWERED ME, etc. — You at once decided the matter to your benefit. You should really have replied: Our teacher, Moses! From whom is it more fitting to learn, from you or from your disciple? Is it not from you who have taken such pains about it? But I knew your thoughts: you said, “Many judges will now be appointed over us; if one of them does not happen to be an acquaintance of ours, we shall bring him a gift and he will show us favour (Sifrei Devarim 14). לעשות TO DO — If I showed myself remiss, you said: act quickly (Sifrei Devarim 14).

ותענו אותי ותאמרו טוב הדבר, "you responded to me by saying that the matter was good, etc." Our sages in the Sifri claim that Moses' answer implied that he was critical of the people having approved so readily of his proposal. He felt that they should have objected by saying that surely it was preferable to be instructed by the teacher himself to being instructed merely by the pupil or even by the pupil's pupil. I believe it is possible to explain this verse as a compliment for the Israelites. Actually, the Israelites were sorry not to be instructed forthwith by Moses personally. However, they were willing to put up with this realising that they were doing Moses a personal favour by relieving him of some of the constant pressure he was under. This is the meaning of the words טוב הדבר, "it is a good thing to relieve the pressure from our teacher Moses, even though it is difficult for us to start learning from your pupil instead of from you directly." The words אשר דברת, "which you have spoken," refer to the harsh words Moses had said to the Israelites concerning things which they would have to do. Even though this statement is encapsuled here within the general admonitions, it is possible that Moses was angry also concerning the response of the Israelites. On the other hand, Moses was astute enough to formulate his words in such a way that they could be understood as a double-entendre. 1) They could be construed as a criticism as pointed out by Sifri; 2) they could also be interpreted positively as we have tried to explain. The reason Moses did so was because the Israelites could be divided into two categories. There was a category of righteous people; there was also, however, a category of cantankerous people, people who did not miss an opportunity to find fault. The righteous people accepted Moses' words as complimentary; the cantankerous people saw in Moses' words a criticism of the attitude they had revealed.

וידועים לשבטיכם, “and familiar to your respective tribes.” Rashi explains that the word ידועים means that the men in question are well known to fellow members of their tribes, whereas if the same man appeared before Moses, he, Moses would not know who he is. Nachmanides writes that if Rashi were correct this would mean that that the word לשבטיכם would be inextricably linked to the word וידועים. In his opinion the reason why the Torah added the word וידועים is to teach that the judges must be capable and fearless men, i.e they must be known to the people as men of outstanding caliber. They must be known for the piety, fear of the Lord, etc., etc. Every member of their tribe should agree immediately that the person in question is fit to be a judge.

So I took the heads of your tribes, men who were wise and knowledgeable, and appointed them as heads over you: commanders of thousands, commanders of hundreds, commanders of fifties, commanders of tens, and officers for your tribes.

ואקח את ראשי שבטיכם SO I TOOK THE HEADS OF YOUR TRIBES — I took them by fine words: Happy are you! Over whom are you about to be appointed? Over the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob — over the sons of people who are called God's brethren and friends, God's portion and inheritance and to whom is applied every other expression denoting affection (Sifrei Devarim 15:1; cf. Targum Jonathan). אנשים חכמים וידעים [AND I TOOK] MEN, WISE AND KNOWN — but understanding men I could not find (Nedarim 20b). This, too, was one of the seven qualifications which Jethro mentioned to Moses, but he found only three: men, i.e. righteous men, wise and known (Sifrei Devarim 15:2). ראשים עליכם [AND I MADE THEM] HEADS OVER YOU — i.e. that you should pay them respect — regard them as first in buying, first in selling, first in all matters of business — coming into the Synagogue and House of Study last and leave first (so that all should rise out of respect) (cf. Sifrei Devarim 15:3). שרי אלפים means, one officer who is appointed over one thousand. שרי מאות means, one who is appointed over one hundred. ושטרים AND COURT-OFFICERS — i.e., and also I appointed court-officers over you, לשבטיכם ACCORDING TO YOUR TRIBES — these are they who bind and flog with the lash at the bidding of the judges (cf. Sifrei Devarim 15:5).

"Commanders of thousands" — I have explained this [elsewhere].

אנשים חכמים וידעים, “wise and knowledgeable men;” Rashi points out that apparently Moses had not found men possessed of בינה, insight, one of the criteria Yitro had told him to look for in men appointed to judge others. He had only found men that could be called: righteous, wise, and knowledgeable. If you were to ask what happened to the other four qualifications stipulated by Yitro as a precondition for acting as a judge? (Compare Exodus 18,21) The fact that the seven qualifications do not appear consecutively, but only four of them appear in the verse quoted, is a hint that if all these virtues could not be found in one man, then we would have to settle for less. Solomon in Proverbs 31 already pointed out how difficult it is to find even one woman who can be described as אשת חיל, “a woman of valour.”Rabbi B’rechyah in the name of Rabi Chama, son of Rabbi Chanina, is quoted in Deuteronomy Rabbah, 1,10, as having said: judges must possess seven virtues: wisdom, insight, knowledge, plus the four listed in Exodus 18,21. The reason that do not all appear together is to teach that the seven virtues are meant as in the best case scenario. If it is impossible to find people with all these virtues, naturally we have to settle for less, [just as we never had a king that possessed all the virtues listed in Deuteronomy 17,15-20.]

אנשים חכמים וידועים, “wise men, knowledgeable ones.” Moses does not mention נבונים, “men of insight,” one of the criteria suggested by Yitro that he look for. He had not found people who possessed this quality (Sifri Devarim 15). שרי אלפים, “chiefs of thousands.” This means that one such “chief” would be in charge of 1,000 Israelites. Similarly, there would be judges in charge of 100 Israelites, judges in charge of 50 and judges in charge of 10 men. ושוטרים, “and law enforcers.” Men who would enforce the judges’ decisions by physical force.

And I charged your judges at that time, saying: Hear between your brethren and judge with truth between a man and his brother and his sojourner.

ואצוה את שפטיכם AND I COMMANDED YOUR JUDGES — I said to them: be deliberate in judgment: if a certain point of law comes before you once, twice, three times, do not say, "This point of law has already come before me several times”, but discuss it well on that occasion also (Sifrei Devarim 16:1). בעת ההוא [AND I COMMANDED YOUR JUDGES] AT THAT TIME — As soon as I appointed them, I said to them, "It is not now as heretofore: heretofore you were your own masters (lit., under your own control), now you are in the service of the Community!” (Sifrei Devarim 16:2). שמע — This grammatical form expresses constant doing: oyant in old French, be hearing, just as זכור and שמור (see Rashi on Numbers 25:17). ובין גרו AND BETWEEN HIS גר — this is his opponent in the lawsuit who merely heaps up (אוגר) words against him. Another explanation of AND BETWEEN HIS גר — also in a matter concerning a dwelling house (גור = to dwell), — in the division of property amongst brothers, even if it be a dispute about an oven and a kitchen range (cf. Sifrei Devarim 16:8-9; Sanhedrin 7b).

"Shamo'a" — an infinitive used as a verbal noun, like "zachor et yom ha-shabbat" [Exod. 20:8]; it means either "hear in hearing" or "they heard, hearing." "Gerekhem" — I have already explained it.

בעת ההיא לאמוד, at that time, saying, etc. The word לאמור, as in many instances, indicates that the words to be communicated were not intended to be literally these words and immediate. In this instance Moses did not command the judges to say specific things; he informed them that an essential part of the judicial process was to listen to the arguments of a litigant only when the opposing side was present. Perhaps Moses also wanted to hint at something we have learned in Talmud Jerushalmi Sanhedrin 3,8. We are told there that when Rav Hunna watched litigation and observed that one of the defendants did not argue a point in his favour which he could have argued (out of ignorance) he interfered in the proceedings and drew the defendant's attention to an argument he should use. He based himself on Proverbs 31,9: "open your mouth, speak righteously." This is precisely what Moses may have alluded to when he said לאמור, "to say." No steps must be neglected if they help to establish true and fair judgment. Another meaning of the word לאמור may be related to something we learned in Sanhedrin there and which is reflected in a ruling by Maimonides in chapter 21 of his treatise Hilchot Sanhedrin. Here is what he writes: "The judge must listen to the arguments of both litigants and repeat them as it is written in Kings I 3,23: 'the king said this woman says: "my son is alive and your son is dead," whereas this woman says: "my son is alive and your son is dead."' [The verse proves that Solomon himself repeated the arguments of both litigants. Ed.] This is what Moses alluded to when he said לאמור, i.e. that the judges themselves have to repeat the arguments of the litigants. The words לאמור שמוע are to be read together and mean that the judge has to articulate what he has heard from the litigants. שמוע בין אחיכם ושפטתם צדק, "listen to your brethren so that you can judge fairly." This whole verse is problematical. How could the judges arrive at a fair judgment unless they had first listened to the arguments of the litigants? Secondly, why did the Torah not simply write an imperative such as שמעו, instead of writing the word שמוע in the infinitive? Clearly, Moses' intention was to make the listening to the litigants' argument an ongoing rather than a one time process. The judges should not give way to the feeling that they had already listened to the litigant enough times so that they are sick and tired of hearing the same thing again and again. There are two aspects to the matter. 1) The judges should not display reluctance to hear renewed arguments by a litigant who claims that he has another point in his favour. 2) The judges should not postpone continuation of the hearing to another date as they are tired of hearing anymore on that particular day, but the proceedings should be wound up in one session if possible. Basically, the subject Moses instructs the judges on is what is called ענוי הדין, postponement of sentence. Moses also wanted to warn the judges...

ואצוה את שפטיכם, “I commanded your judges.” This refers to the judges being cautioned that although they might feel that similar cases had been judged by them many times, each case has to be addressed as if it were the first of its kind. שמוע בין אחיכם ושפטתם צדק, “listen among your brethren and judge righteously.” This means that the judges should attempt to settle conflicting claims by getting the litigants to agree to arbitration. Technically, the wording suggests: משפט, “judgment,” which is the result of צדק, “charitable attitudes” by both litigants. ובין גרו, “and his litigant.” Our sages (Sanhedrin 7) derive the word from לגור, to sojourn; they mean that even if the dispute concerns minor matters such as arguments about use of a dwelling, a stove, between people who live in the same house.

And I commanded your judges at that time, saying. What is meant by saying? To whom should the judges say this? And at that time seems completely superfluous. It appears that he warned them about delaying justice, but [the meaning is] at that time, saying — at the time when it is clear to the judge which way the judgment leans, immediately he should say “So-and-so, you are innocent; so-and-so, you are guilty.”And what Rashi explained — “from here [we learn] to be deliberate in judgment” — perhaps Rashi also believes that its meaning is to warn against delaying justice. Nevertheless, we learn from this also to be deliberate in judgment, because otherwise, why would the verse mention it? Are we dealing with wicked people who delay judgment needlessly? Rather, certainly every judge needs to be deliberate in judgment, and there is concern that through this he might come to delay justice and take longer than appropriate. Therefore it says at that time, saying. And it could be that Rashi’s intention is to explain and I commanded similar to what is written in Parashat Va’etchanan (4:23): And you make for yourselves an image of anything that the Lord your God has commanded you [not to do] (Deuteronomy 4:23). Rashi explains commanded you means “commanded you not to do,” and the word commanded is a language of warning — that He warned you not to do. Similarly, and I commanded your judges is a language of warning, meaning: I warned you about at that time, saying — that one should not decide the judgment hastily at that time, but rather be deliberate in judgment. And this is a correct interpretation from a linguistic perspective.

You shall show no partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not fear before any man, for judgment belongs to Hashem. And any matter that is too difficult for you, bring to me and I will hear it.

לא תכירו פנים במשפט YE SHALL NOT RESPECT PERSONS IN JUDGMENT — This is addressed to him whose office it is to appoint judges — that he should not say, Mr. So-and-so is a fine or a strong man, I will make him a judge; Mr. So-and-so is my relative, I will make him a judge in the city, — while in reality he is not expert in the laws, and consequently he will condemn the innocent and acquit the guilty — I will account it unto him who appointed him as though he had shown favor in judgment (Sifrei Devarim 17:1). כקטן כגדל תשמעון YE SHALL HEAR THE SMALL AS WELL AS THE GREAT, i.e. that a lawsuit regarding a peruta shall be as dear to you (shall be as of equal importance) as a lawsuit regarding a hundred maneh — that if it (the former) comes before you first, you should not set it aside until the last (Sanhedrin 8a). — Another explanation of YE SHALL HEAR THE SMALL AS WELL AS THE GREAT — Understand it as the Targum has it: Ye shall hearken unto the words of the small as to those of the great — i.e. that you should not say: This is a poor man and his fellow (opponent) is rich, and is in any case bidden to support him; I will find in favour of the poor man, and he will consequently obtain some support in a respectable fashion (see Rashi on Leviticus 19:15). — Another explanation is: that you should not say, “How can I offend against the honour of this rich man because of one dinar? I will for the moment decide in his favour, and when he goes outside (leaves the court) I will say to him, ‘Give it to him because in fact you owe it to him'" (Sifrei Devarim 17:3). לא תגורו מפני איש means: YE SHALL NOT FEAR [ANY MAN]. — Another explanation of לא תגורו: Ye shall not gather in (shall not restrain) your words before any man. The word has the same meaning as in (Proverbs 10:5), "Gathering (אוגר) in summer” (cf. Sanhedrin 8a). כי המשפט לאלהים הוא FOR THE JUDGMENT IS GOD’S — Whatever you take from this man unjustly you will compel Me to restore to him; it follows, therefore, that you have wrested judgment against Me (Sanhedrin 8a). תקרבון אלי [AND THE CAUSE THAT IS TOO HARD FOR YOU] BRING TO ME [AND I WILL HEAR IT] — On account of this utterance (that he could decide difficult cases) the law regarding the daughters of Zelophehad evaded him (Sanhedrin 8a; see Rashi on Numbers 27:5). Similarly, Samuel said to Saul (I Samuel 9:19), “I” am the seer. Whereupon the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, “By your life, I will let you know that you are not a seer”. And when did he let him know this? When he came to anoint David. For Scripture states, (I Samuel 16:6, 7) “And when he saw Eliab he said, Surely before the Lord stands his anointed one”. The Holy One, blessed be He, said to him: "Did you not say, “I” am the seer? Look not at the outward appearance” (Sifrei Devarim 17:7).

FOR THE JUDGMENT IS G-D’S. The meaning thereof is as expressed in the verse, for ye judge not for man, but for the Eternal; and He is with you in giving judgment, meaning to say: “It is for G-d to execute justice between His creatures for He created them with the intention that there be fairness and justice among them, and to deliver him that is robbed out of the hand of the oppressor, and He designated you [the judges] in His stead. And if you will be afraid and act corruptly ye have sinned against the Eternal and you will have betrayed His mission.”

"Takiru" — to force the verdict in favor of one whom he [the judge] recognizes, i.e., showing partiality.

לא תגורו מפני איש, (Moses is speaking to the judges, or potential judges) “do not display fear of anyone;” [you cannot be commanded not to have fear just as you cannot be commanded to love; but you can be commanded not to display your fear. Ed.] If a judge is afraid that the party whom he will convict will hate him henceforth, he is reminded that ultimately the judgment is G-ds and he had only carried out G-d’s will.

לא תכירו פנים במשפט, “Do not show favoritism in judgment.” This is a warning to a judge not to display a stern attitude versus one of the litigants and a mild attitude versus the other party. כקטון כגדול תשמעון, “listen to claims involving minor sums of money as if it concerned major sums.” Do not relate to disputes involving pennies as a waste of the court’s time. לא תגורו מפני איש, “do not display fear before any man.” The warning is addressed particularly concerning litigants who enjoy a reputation of being violent. כי המשפט לאלו-הים הוא, “for the judgment is G’d’s.” This is a reminder to the judges that they are not representatives of man but of G’d. If they base their decisions on what pleases man instead of on what pleases the Lord, G’d will find other ways to repay them for their sin. If they convict an innocent party, thus enriching the guilty, G’d will redress the imbalance in His own way. We find this sentiment expressed by King Yehoshaphat in Chronicles II 19,6: “Consider what you are doing, for you judge not on behalf of man, but on behalf of the Lord, and He is with you when you pass judgment.” A kabbalistic approach: the words כי המשפט לאלו-הים הוא,“for judgment is G’d’s,” emphasise the connection between שופט and דין, “judge” and “justice.” The judge receives his input, inspiration from the attribute of גבורה, also known as the attribute of Justice, מדת הדין. This is the reason why the judge of the universe is known as אלו-הים, seeing He draws on that emanation גבורה situated on the left side of the diagram of the emanations. Seeing that G’d, i.e. the attribute אלו-הים is described by Assaph (Psalms 82,1) as both G’d and judge, it is not surprising that the attribute אלו-הים is applied by the Torah to judges who perform G’d’s work. משפט=דין הנחתך, “Justice= the result after the “discussion of the legal points, לדון, have been concluded.” It is the finished product, “cut and dried,” i.e. separated from the theoretical discussion. When the Torah (Exodus 22,8) speaks of עד האלו-הים יבא דבר שניהם, the meaning is not that the dispute has to be submitted to G’d, but that it be submitted to mortal judges. Seeing the judge performs G’d’s function, he is accorded this title. If such title is accorded to man, on occasion, it is most certainly also accorded to angels who, by definition, always perform G’d’s work as His agents. Both the angels and the mortal judges receive their input from the attribute of Justice, the emanation גבורה. You should appreciate that seeing the emanation is situated on the left side of the diagram of the emanations, as we know from Ezekiel 1,10 “and the face of the ox was on the left” (of the chayot), the Great Sanhedrin was also known as שררך (Song of Songs 7,3). Rashi explains that its seat was at the navel of the earth, in the centre, at the Temple. The office where the deliberations were held was known as לשכת הגזיז, the office of “cutting,” i.e. where definitive judgments were made, where after deliberations the judgment became (in colloquial terms) “cut and dried” (compare Midot 5,4). תקריבון אלי ושמעתיות , “submit (bring close) to me so that I can hear it.” Our sages in Sanhedrin 8 considered that these words of Moses were words for which he was punished. The reason the law of inheritance which the daughters of Tzelofchod submitted to him was concealed from him was because he had given the impression that he could deal with the most difficult cases unassisted. I commented on this in connection with Numbers 27,4. We must nevertheless wonder what sin did Moses commit here against Hashem, and why he should be punished for it? How do the words תקריבון אלי, express arrogance on Moses’ part? How else was he to have phrased the message that matters which the chiefs of thousands had been unable to resolve should be brought to him as the Chief Judge so that he could attempt to resolve them? Perhaps the fact that Moses, who had already said in the first half of this verse that “judgment belongs to G’d,” now made it seem as if he equated his own knowledge with that of G’d is the reason why our sages felt that Moses was punished for this.

כי המשפט לאלוקים הוא, “for the judgment is G’d’s.” Nachmanides writes that it is one of G’d’s tasks to see to it that His creatures practice justice among themselves. He has created man so that he practices fairness, etc., and the judges on earth are performing their task as G’d’s delegates when they save the oppressed from his oppressor, etc. If they (the judges) were to display fear of any man they would at the same time commit a serious breach of the trust placed in them by G’d.

And I commanded you at that time all the things that you are to do.

את כל הדברים אשר תעשון [AND I COMMANDED YOU …] ALL THE THINGS THAT YE SHOULD DO — These are the ten things that constitute the difference between civil cases and capital cases (Sifrei Devarim 18:1; cf. Sanhedrin 32a).

AND I COMMANDED YOU AT THAT TIME ALL THE THINGS WHICH YE SHOULD DO. “These are the ten differences between monetary and capital cases.” This is Rashi’s language quoting the Sifre. And if so, Moses is speaking here to the judges [previously] mentioned, and he abridged on the ten differences [by not enumerating them], for they are all deduced from verses. And in line with the plain meaning of Scripture, the reference here is to the statutes and laws, the way wherein they must walk, and the deeds they must perform, for he [Moses] personally commanded, warned, and taught Israel all these matters. And the reason for mentioning this [subject] here is because it is known that this was the substance of Jethro’s counsel when he told Moses, Be thou for the people before G-d, meaning that he was to pray in their behalf in the time of their affliction, and he further told him, And thou shalt teach them the statutes and the laws etc., meaning that he, himself, was to teach them the Torah. But regarding the execution of the law, Jethro advised him to appoint judges to assist him, and I have already explained it there. Therefore, Moses related here that when he designated the officers over thousands and hundreds he delegated them only over the execution of justice. He, however, would personally teach them [the people] everything they were to do in accordance with the Torah, because he hearkened to his father-in-law’s counsel and did all that he had said. Now Moses did not mention Jethro’s advice here, nor did he attribute to him anything that Jethro proposed. It appears to me that Moses did not want to mention it [the fact that he was following his father-in-law’s advice] in the presence of all Israel because of his humility, or it may be that it would not be to his honor to mention to that generation that he had married a Cushite woman. It is also possible that the reason [for not mentioning Jethro’s name] was because he had consulted the Divine Glory and this matter was done at the command of the Almighty.

"Asher ta'asun" — these are the statutes and ordinances that he taught them.

ואצוה אתכם בעת ההיא, I commanded you at that time;” you have not been held up in the desert for 40 years in order to study the Torah, because I could have taught you the Torah in a few hours, but you were held up on account of your sins.

“And I commanded you at that time, etc.” Rashi explains these are the ten differences between monetary cases and capital cases, which are listed in the Sifrei, mentioned by the Re’em. Among these is that monetary cases can be concluded on the same day, whether for acquittal or conviction, while capital cases can be concluded on the same day for acquittal but only on the following day for conviction. It seems that regarding this he said, And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do, and this is an inverted verse, as if he said, And I commanded you all the things that you should do at that time, or on the following day. And about this the prophet rebuked them, saying It was full of justice, righteousness lodged in it, but now murderers (Isaiah 1:21). For in capital cases, they would delay the conviction and conclude immediately for acquittal, but they reversed the method: righteousness lodged in it — if it seemed to them that he was righteous in his judgment, then lodged in it — they would delay the acquittal, perhaps they would find grounds for conviction. But now murderers — if on that same day it seemed to them that he deserved conviction, then now immediately, without delay, they were ready to murder him and conclude his judgment for conviction. I still have difficulty with this interpretation, why did it say and I commanded you — it should have said “and I commanded your judges.” It seems we can resolve this in the way we find (in Sanhedrin 8a) where Rabbi Nachman bar Yitzchak explained what is said, And the matter that is too difficult for you, bring to me and I will hear it. Meaning “I will hear it from the Almighty,” and this is appropriate because how could Moses, a humble man, attribute this to himself? Yet Moses had not mentioned that after he hears from the Almighty, he would answer them what God said. It appears that regarding this he said, And I commanded you at that time all the things that you should do. This verse is connected to what was stated above: For the matter that is too difficult for you, bring to me, and I will consult with the Almighty and hear it, and after I hear from the Almighty, I will command you. That is to say, I will give you an answer immediately without delay, but at that time when you ask me, I will answer you what you should do. And do not think “who knows if at such a time I will reach the King of Kings to ask Him a matter of law” and perhaps because of this there will be a delay of justice. Rather, immediately at that time I will answer those who ask a question, for I am assured of this, as it says Stand still and I will hear what the Lord will command concerning you (Numbers 9:8). Rashi explains: “Fortunate is one born of woman who is so assured that whenever he wished, he could speak with the Divine Presence.” Therefore it says, Stand still and I will hear — do not go from here, but stand here and immediately I will hear what the Lord commands. And regarding this he said, And I commanded you at that time, etc. And this is a precious interpretation.

ואצוה אתכם בעת ההיא את כל הדברים אשר תעשון, “I had commanded you at that time all the things that you have to do.” Rashi, quoting Sifri, explains that the “things” referred to by the word הדברים are the ten judicial difference between adjudging disputes involving only money or its equivalent, and judging matters involving life and death. (compare Sanhedrin 32). Nachmanides writes that if that were the meaning, Moses would be addressing the judges. [Nachmanides’ problem may be that if Rashi were right, why would Moses suddenly add the words “I commanded you at that time,” when this is what he had been doing all the time? Ed.] He considers that the plain meaning is that Moses here refers to what he had taught the people in Exodus 18,20 i.e. החוקים והתורות, הדרך אשר ילכו בה, “the decrees and teachings and the path they should pursue,” the ones Yitro had told him to make his primary concern. The reason that Moses reiterates what had occurred at that time was that the people knew that the plan to appoint all the judges had originated with Yitro, and that he had told Moses that if he were to adopt it G’d would be with him and he would be able to cope with the tremendous burden imposed upon him. Moses was at pains to explain, especially to the new generation, that none of these judges had the authority to formulate new laws. They had been instructed by Moses, who had received al the laws from G’d directly. Yitro’s function had been to help Moses how to successfully disseminate G’d’s laws and teachings, and how to ensure that it could be applied with a minimum of inconvenience to the people. His suggestions had been purely administrative, not legislative. Moses had not mentioned the author of these suggestions at this time, not giving Yitro credit for his suggestions, either because he did not want to embarrass the whole people assembled before him by reminding them that what had prompted Yitro to make these suggestions was that he had observed what a difficult people the Israelites were and what a hard time they had been giving their saviour. Perhaps Moses did not want to remind the people at that time that he had married a daughter of Yitro instead of a girl who had been Jewish by birth. It is also possible that the simple reason is that Moses had not adopted any of Yitro’s suggestions until he had consulted with G’d and obtained His consent, thus making the entire appointment of the judges part of G’d’s legislation.

And we journeyed from Horeb and went through all that great and fearful wilderness that you saw, by way of the mountain of the Amorites, as Hashem our God commanded us, and we came to Rekam-Geah.

המדבר הגדול והנורא [THAT]. GREAT AND FEARFUL WILDERNESS — [It is termed fearful] because there were in it serpents thick as beams and scorpions as bows (Sifrei Devarim 18:2).

"All that great wilderness" — this refers to the eleven days' journey. "And the sense of 'the hill-country of the Amorite'" — for so it is written regarding Seir, until Hormah. The meaning is that we set out toward the hill-country of the Amorite.

ונלך את כל המדבר הגדול והנורא, a way no one had crossed on foot before because of the many snakes and other predators and their size. These are referred to once more in 8,15. Our sages in Sifri 18 have described that the snakes were as large as beams and the scorpions as bows. If G’d had nonetheless chosen to lead them on this route, it had been to shorten the distance they would have to travel so that they could get to their destination before their tendency to quarrel, etc., would result in major sins. Nonetheless, G’d’s efforts in this respect had not proven to be sufficient; they had sinned on numerous occasions at locations Moses recalls by name.

ונסע מחורב, ”we journeyed from Mount Chorev;” Moses referred to what the Torah had written in Numbers10,1. כאשר צוה ה' אלוקינו אותנו, “as the Lord our G-d commanded us;” our author has explained this already in verse 7. ונבא עד קדש ברנע, “and we came as far as Kadesh Barnea.” This was on the 29th day of Sivan, as I have already explained on verse 2.

ונלך את כל המדבר הגדול, “we went through this great desert.” This refers to the wanderings during the eleven days of which Moses spoke earlier. והנורא ההוא, “and that awesome one.” [This is a reference to the dangerous reptiles inhabited by this desert;] there were snakes as large as beams and scorpions the size of bows.

And I said to you: You have come to the mountain of the Amorites, which Hashem our God is giving to us.

ואומר אליכם, באתם עד הר האמרי, “and I said to you: you have arrived at the Mountain of the Emorite;” here Moses refers to what has been written in Numbers 13,17: עלו זה בנגב ועליתם את ההר, “ascend here in the south and climb the mountain!” it also says there in chapter 14,40: וישכימו בבקר ויעלו על ראש ההר, “they arose early in the morning and ascended the top of the mountain.”

See, Hashem your God has placed the land before you; go up and take possession, as Hashem, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you. Do not fear and do not be dismayed.

"Resh" — on the pattern of "shav," from the root of yerushah [inheritance]. "Tahat" — like "yadal kevod Yaakov" — from doubled-root verbs.

עלה רש, for no one will oppose you.

ראה, נתן ה' אלו-היך לפניך את הארץ עלה רש, “See, the Lord your G’d has given the land before you. Ascend and take possession!” Instead of the word ראה at the beginning of this verse we would have expected the words הנה נתן ה' אלו-היך לך את הארץ, “Here the Lord your G’d has given you the land.” Why did Moses change the usual syntax? He wanted to indicate to the people that seeing the protective angel of these people had already been dealt with by G’d, the people themselves should certainly not present any obstacle. All the Israelites had to do was ascend and take possession. The word עלה is to be understood as “climb on to, or over the protective angel of these people who had already been brought low.” The word ראה here refers to the mental eye of the people, their ability to understand the situation of the Canaanites after the Lord your G’d has already given the land “before you,” This is also what prompted the sages of the Midrash (Tanchuma Massey 4) to write concerning the above words: “did then G’d literally place the land of Canaan at the feet of the Jewish people?” They answer that the meaning is that G’d made their protective angel fall to earth in front of the Jewish people. This is why we find similarly worded verses in verse 8 of our chapter, and a similarly worded report in 2,33: “go and take possession of the land” had been used in verse 8; the Torah, at this point should have written only: “take possession of it,” instead of repeating the words את הארץ. The apparent repetition means that an obstacle which had existed in verse 8 had meanwhile been removed; the obstacle was the protective angel of the Canaanites. Rashi makes a similar point in explaining the wording of Deut. 2,31. As to the word החל רש used by G’d in 2,31 as compared to the word רש without the preamble החל in our verse here, G’d meant that seeing He had commenced giving possession of the lands of Sichon to the Jewish people (at the time), it was now time to complete the work of taking possession of all the lands of the Canaanites and to complete the process. This is why in our verse the word החל, “begin!” would have been out of place. There was no reason to add the word גמור, “finish, complete,” in our verse because as soon as the Israelites would have commenced to do their part (if the report of the spies had been uniformly favorable) the whole campaign would have ended almost as soon as it started. When G’d commences a war, it does not last long. We have a Midrash Rabbah in Exodus 21,5 in which the same point is made concerning the demotion of Nevuchadnezzar of which Daniel speaks in Daniel 4,28 when a heavenly voice announced that the king had already lost his kingdom (although he still occupied the throne and bragged about his accomplishments). Rabbi Joshua ben Avin interprets the words קל מן שמיא נפל in that verse as “an angel named קל, i.e. Nevuchadnezzar’s celestial counterpart, had fallen from heaven.” This is why the verse in Daniel did not speak about a voice from heaven being heard, or calling, but “falling.” It was not “a voice” but that angel. Immediately after that, heavenly voices saying: “your kingdom Nevuchadnezzar has departed from you, (and much worse)” were heard.

And you all drew near to me and said: Let us send men ahead of us to scout out the land for us and bring us back word — what route we should go up by, and what towns we should enter.

ותקרבון אלי כלכם AND YE APPROACHED ME ALL OF YOU — all of you: in a crowd. But further on (Deuteronomy 5:20, 21) it states, “Ye approached me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders, and ye said, Behold [the Eternal our God] hath shown us [His glory and His greatness]’’: That approach to me was a fitting one — young people showing respect to their elders, letting these precede them, and the elders showing respect to the heads of the tribes that these should precede them. Here, however, ye approached me, all of you, in a crowd, the young pushing aside their olders, the elders pushing aside the heads (Sifrei Devarim 20:1). וישבו אתנו דבר AND THEY SHALL BRING US WORD — i.e. they shall report to us in what language they speak (Sifrei Devarim 20:3). את הדרך אשר נעלה בה BY WHAT WAY WE MUST GO UP — you will rarely find a road in which there is not some zigzag course (Sifrei Devarim 20:4). ואת הערים אשר נבא אליהן AND UNTO WHAT CITIES WE SHALL COME first to capture them (cf. Sifrei Devarim 20:5).

AND BRING US BACK WORD OF THE WAY BY WHICH WE MUST GO UP. “There is no road which does not have crooked segments. AND THE CITIES UNTO WHICH WE SHALL COME — first to capture.” This is Rashi’s language. And so it is also stated in the Sifre: “There is no road which does not have crooked parts. There is no road which does not have traps. There is no road which does not have intersections. And the cities unto which we shall come — so that we may know by which road to come.” That is to say, from which direction we are to come into the Land so that we may capture those cities first. This is as I explained in the section Shelach Lecha that the Israelites requested spies only to show them the way.

"Vayachperu" — like "to explore all the land," for the one who digs searches out what is hidden. "Asher navo aleihen" — meaning first, at the outset.

ותקרבון אלי כלכם, even though you had leaders appointed to act as your representatives, appointed to concern themselves with your communal concerns, you all ganged up on me. נשלחה אנשים, “we ourselves want to appoint these men and dispatch them.” This was something G’d did not approve of, and this is why He told Moses: “you dispatch them!” (Numbers 13,2) The men that were to spy out the land were to be appointed by Moses himself, not by a mob. G’d was afraid that the people would appoint totally unsuitable people to be their spies. The Torah had therefore made a point of reporting that the men selected for this task by Moses were all known as outstanding people, כלם אנשים, including such men as Joshua and Calev. Even those among them, who in the end expressed their belief that they could not hope to conquer this land, did not have the effrontery to badmouth the land itself, but praised it as an excellent land. This was also why it was possible for the people to repent their sin, i.e. they had made a faulty judgment in believing the 10 spies’ assessment of the chances of conquering the land. (compare Numbers 13, 41-45.

ויחפרו לנו, “and espy on our behalf;” the expression חפר describes someone searching for something, generally below the surface of the earth; the principal meaning is to search for something which has been deliberately hidden. (Ibn Ezra)

ותקרבון אלי כלכם, “and all of you approached me;” the people did not come to Moses as a delegation in an orderly fashion but they mobbed him. (Sifri Devarim 20). ויחפרו לנו את הארץ, “so that they will spy out the land on our behalf.” The reason that the Torah uses the term חפר for what was really רגול, spying, is that digging is designed to uncover hidden objects; spying is also designed to reveal hidden things.

“And you all approached me.” Rashi explained that they came in a confused throng… the approach at the giving of the Torah was proper… Why would he mention now the approach at the giving of the Torah? Rather, this is all part of the rebuke, saying “Now I am faulting you regarding the approach at the giving of the Torah.” And thus he said to them: At the giving of the Torah, I judged you favorably when I saw young people honoring the elders and sending them ahead, I said, “If only their hearts would remain like this always.” However, when you came to send the spies, you came in a disorderly crowd, with young people pushing aside the elders. This revealed retroactively that even the approach at the giving of the Torah was not properly done for the sake of Heaven. On the contrary, it is evidence that all your desires were for bodily acquisitions, while the acquisition of Torah was far from your innermost thoughts. That is why the young people sent the elders ahead, saying, “You should be first to receive the Torah because wisdom is found in the elderly, and we will come last because the Torah is not fitting for us.” For you said, “Since every elder’s natural heat [passion] has already diminished and he doesn’t yearn after the desires of this world as much, as it is said Can your servant taste what he eats? (Second Samuel 19:36), therefore it is appropriate for them to engage in wisdom, while we will indulge in pleasures while the day is still long, and there will be plenty of time for the voices of God to be in our tents in old age when our strength fails.” This was the reason for their honor — that they honored the elders. And the proof of this is that its end reveals its beginning, for when you came to send spies in order to inherit the land which lacks nothing good, you pushed aside the elders with both hands, saying “We take precedence in enjoying the delights of this world which originate from the land.” And even today, this trait persists among Israel: specifically in matters of Torah study they honor each other, and sometimes the honor is to lighten one’s own burden and place the yoke of Torah upon others. But when it comes to matters of money, honor has departed from Israel, for the young never honor the elders to say, “This is an elder and it is beneath his dignity to deal with silver and gold, and it is proper to give him precedence in a certain benefit.” Rather, whoever is stronger prevails, and wisdom and understanding count for nothing before them. It appears that Rashi deduced all this from their saying and they will explore the land for us. The word for us is superfluous, but this is its interpretation: When Moses saw this approach, that the young ones preceded the elders, he asked them why this was so, and they answered him, “So they will explore the land for us” — for us and not for them, because all the desirable things of the land are valuable only to us. This implies that specifically the land is “for us,” but the acquisition of Torah is for them. From this I understood from their words that even their approach at the giving of the Torah was improper. And regarding what is said, And the matter pleased me, he [Moses] said, “Even if it would be as you say, that the land will be yours, and for me and all my elderly peers, the Torah will be our inheritance, for this division is certainly proper in my eyes and I am willing to accept it. Nevertheless, you are guilty both for removing the yoke of Torah from yourselves and for being so eager for the acquisition of wealth.” Another explanation for “as you said ‘they will bring us back word’”: And it was good in my eyes the matter that they would bring back [a report], because I was confident in the Holy One, blessed be He’s promise that they would bring back [news that] the land is good. And before I heard their response, it was good in my eyes the matter that they would ultimately respond. But all of their affairs were not good in my eyes — both the matter of sending the spies and the improper approach [of the people]. Therefore, he detailed the matter. And from this improper approach, it seems to me to resolve what our Sages said (Chagigah 14b), “Isaiah cursed Israel with 18 curses, and his mind was not cooled until he said, The youth will be insolent toward the elder.” Were the prophets, God forbid, happy at their [Israel’s] downfall, to say that his mind was cooled? Rather, this is the explanation: In all the curses, his heart was heated within him from the burning doubt to know why and for what reason God had made their blows so wondrous, and which particular sin caused them all this. And his mind was not cooled by his heart not telling him from whose belly all these troubles came forth, until the Holy One, blessed be He, said to him, The youth will be insolent toward the elder. Then it became known to him that all these punishments stemmed from the sin of the spies, where the children pushed ahead of the elders, and by this they established weeping for generations. Even today we have not purified ourselves from this bad trait, which is what destroyed both Temples, and its hand is still outstretched until God looks down and sees.

את הדרך אשר נעלה בה, “the road in which we should ascend, etc.” This is a reference to the initial steps prior to the conquest. The spies (people) did not voice any other purpose of the spies’ mission than to select the most effective route of approach.

The matter was good in my eyes, and I took from you twelve men, one man per tribe.

וייטב בעיני הדבר AND THE MATTER WAS GOOD IN MY SIGHT — in my sight, said Moses, but not in the sight of the Omnipresent God. — But if it was good in Moses' sight why did he mention it in these reproofs? A parable! It may he compared to the case of a man who says to his fellow, "Sell me this ass of yours”. He replies to him, "Yes”. He asks him, "Will you give it to me on trial?” He replies: "Yes”. — "May I try it on hills and mountains?” Again he replies, "Yes" — When he sees that he puts no obstacles in his way, the would-be purchaser says to himself: “This man is quite confident that I shall not find any defect in it", and he at once says to him, “Take your money, I need not now put it to trial”. I, too, consented to your words, thinking that you would perhaps turn back on yourselves (re-consider the question of sending spies) when you saw that I put no obstacle in your way, but you did not re-consider (Sifrei Devarim 21:1). ואקח מכם AND I TOOK OF YOU — of the choicest that were amongst you, of the finest that were amongst you (Sifrei Devarim 21:2). שנים עשר אנשים איש אחד לשבט [AND I TOOK] … TWELVE MEN, ONE MAN FOR A TRIBE — This (the statement: “twelve men”) tells us that the tribe of Levi was not with them in this request (Sifrei Devarim 21:3; cf. Rashi on Numbers 31:4).

AND I TOOK TWELVE MEN OF YOU. He did not praise them as being princes [of their tribes] and their being leaders of the children of Israel, for, since they acted wickedly, he would not speak in praise of wicked men.

"And the matter seemed good to me" — because you all agreed upon it with your own reasoning.

וייטב בעיני הדבר, I thought that none of you would not believe G’d when He had said that He would bring you to that country and that it was a good land and that you would be able with His help to conquer it. I believed that the thought behind your desire to send out spies was not that you wanted to see if you could conquer it, but that you wanted to select for yourselves the best sections of the land, and that this was what you had in mind when you said (verse 22) “the cities which we will come to.” This seemed totally reasonable, since you were aware that the conquest would not be immediately of the whole country, seeing G’d had told us this in Exodus 23,29.

וייטב בעיני הדבר, "the matter was pleasing in my eyes." Moses meant that the reason the people advanced for dispatching the spies, i.e. to spy out the country, seemed to be a valid reason in his eyes. Yalkut Shimoni on the relevant verse in Parshat Shlach Lecha explains that the spies wanted to find out where the Canaanites had hidden their valuables, etc. The word בעיני, "in my eyes," with the emphasis on the suffix "my," means that Moses meant to say: "inasmuch as I only have eyes of flesh and blood, I was deceived; anyone who viewed things objectively would have perceived your real intent." Please compare what I have written on this subject in connection with Numbers 13,2.

שנים עשר אנשים, “twelve men;” on this Rashi comments that there was no representative of the tribe of Levi among these 12 men. The reason was that they would not inherit any ancestral land in Eretz Yisrael, as Rashi already explained on Numbers 13,16.

וייטב בעיני הדבר, “the matter appeared good (worthwhile) in my eyes.” Moses felt that seeing the entire people were in agreement it was probably all right. The word בעיני, “in my eyes,” makes it clear that the suggestion did not find favour in G’d’s eyes. This is why, when G’d related to the project He told Moses: שלח לך, “send for yourself,” i.e. “not on My behalf. I am not ordering you to do this.”

ואקח מכם שנים עשר אנשים, “I selected from amongst you twelve men, etc.” Moses did not mention any titles these spies had been distinguished with, seeing that after they had disgraced themselves and led their peers into sin one is not allowed to make any complimentary remarks about the wicked.

They turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the Wadi of Eshkol and scouted it out.

עד נחל אשכל [AND THEY CAME] TO THE BROOK OF ESHCOL — This tells us that it was so called on account of what was eventually, to happen there [— that they took from there a cluster (אשכל) of grapes] (Sifrei Devarim 22:2). וירגלו אתה AND THEY SPIED IT OUT — This teaches that they passed through it along four lines, along the length and the breadth (Sifrei Devarim 22:3; cf. Rashi on Numbers 13:21).

ויבאו עד נחל אשכול; in accordance with Moses’ instructions to ascend from the south (Numbers 13,17) from Kadesh Barnea, where the people had been encamped at the time. This was located at the southern tip of the country, as spelled out in Numbers 34,4.

ויפנו ויעלו ההרה, They turned and ascended towards the mountain, etc. Moses chose the expression ויפנו, "they turned," to indicate that they departed from the straight and narrow which they had pursued up until that time. Until the mission commenced, all these 12 men had been righteous;, they only turned from what reason dictated at that point. Please compare what I have written on Numbers 13,26. וירגלו אותה, "they spied it out." This means that they did not act in accordance with what the Israelites had said to Moses when they explained the mission as ויחפרו לנו את הארץ, "that the spies will spy out the land on our behalf, etc.," but "they spied it out." They wanted to investigate the nature of the land, its people, not where they had hidden their valuables.

עד נחל אשכול, “as far as the valley of Eshkol;” Rashi comments that the spies walked in a formation of crisscrossing the land in four directions. This has been explained already in the Talmud tractate Baba Metzia, folio 91.

They took in their hands some of the fruit of the land and brought it down to us, and brought us back word and said: Good is the land that Hashem our God is giving to us.

ויורדו אלינו AND THEY BROUGHT IT DOWN TO US — This tells us that the land of Israel is situated higher than all other countries (Sifrei Devarim 23:2). ויאמרו טובה הארץ AND THEY SAID, THE LAND IS GOOD — Who were they who spoke of it being good? Joshua and Caleb (Sifrei Devarim 23:3).

AND THEY SAID: ‘GOOD IS THE LAND WHICH THE ETERNAL OUR G-D GIVETH UNTO US.’ “Who were those who spoke well of the Land? Joshua and Caleb.” This is Rashi’s language quoting the Sifre. But I wonder. If so, what is this complaint against them [the people]? It was proper that they should believe ten people more than two? Perhaps Moses complained against them: “Since the Holy One, blessed be He, had informed you that it is a good Land, and the leading emissaries and the most righteous among them had also testified to that effect, you should have believed that the others spoke their piece out of lack of courage.”The correct interpretation is as I have already explained there: All the spies admitted before Moses and Aaron and the whole congregation, saying, We came unto the Land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it. Thus they were all in consensus on the goodness of the Land itself, but, with reference to the strength of those nations living there, they melted the people’s hearts. Then, when [the ten spies] saw that Joshua and Caleb were encouraging the people to wage war, the spies came to the children of Israel not in the presence of Moses and they disseminated a slanderous report about the Land to the effect that it is a Land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof. This is [what Moses meant when he stated here], and ye murmured in your tents. The people also did not mention this slander in the presence of Moses for he would refute them because they [the spies themselves] did not say so at first [that the Land kills its inhabitants]; instead they admitted that it is a good Land, and surely it floweth with milk and honey. Rather, they said to Moses, Whither are we going up? our brethren have made our heart to melt, saying: The people is greater and taller than we. Therefore, Moses now said to them: “It is true as you say that that people is great and tall, but the Eternal will fight for you according to all that He did for you from Egypt even till now.” This, then, is the sense of the verse, Yet in this thing ye do not believe the Eternal your G-d, which means that the hindrance [to your immediate entry into the Land] was only a result of insufficient faith [you had in G-d]. Thus the whole section is explained in accordance with the simple meaning of Scripture and its purport.

"And they brought down" — because of the height of the trees; and the truth is because they were in the Negev.

ויאמרו טובה הארץ, even the wicked spies acknowledged the goodness of the land when they said “it is also flowing with milk and honey.” (Numbers 13,27).

ויקחו בידם מפרי הארץ, They took from the fruit of the land in their hands, etc. Why did the Torah have to add the words בידם, "in their hands?" It would have sufficed for the Torah to write that the spies brought with them some of the fruit, etc. Besides, why did the Torah have to write: "they brought us back word, and they said?" It would have sufficed to write: "they brought us back something good." The reason Moses phrased it thus was to remind us that there were two categories of spies. The first category of spies were the evil ones, the ten who brought back a negative report. The second category consisted of Joshua and Calev. Moses referred to both their reports in what he said. Concerning the negative report brought back by the ten spies he said: "they took from the fruit of the land in their hands and brought us back word." Moses did not want to repeat the negative comments made by these 10 spies in order not to arouse the attribute of Justice. He made certain that we would appreciate that he referred to the ten spies by saying: "they took in their hands, etc." We have been taught in Sotah 34 that eight spies between them carried one cluster of grapes, one of them took a fig and a tenth one took a pomegranate. Joshua and Calev, on the other hand, did not take anything, as explained in the Talmud. Moses alluded to this by speaking separately of the spies who brought back fruit with them. He added: וישיבו אותנו דבר, "they brought back word to us, i.e. whatever word they brought back." It is also possible to interpret this exegetially by comparing the use of the word דבר in Numbers 13,26 and the use of the same word here. Just as the ten spies were described there as having brought back the negative report, so Moses used the word דבר here to hint that he was speaking of the same people. It is true that we have a rule that similar-sounding words may be used exegetically out of context only if there is a historic tradition for their having been understood in this way; the rabbis did permit the historically unsupported use of such exegesis if the objective is merely to establish the plain meaning of the verse [as opposed to a new religiously binding ruling, Ed.]. In our situation application of the גזרה שוה is quite unobjectionable. Concerning the report brought back by Joshua and Calev Moses said: "they said the land is good." One could also understand Moses' words: "the land is good" as referring to all of the spies without exception; however, according to our approach Moses made a distinction between the two categories of spies.

ויאמרו טובה הארץ, “they said: “the land is very good!” According to Rashi (based on Sifri) the two spies that reported on the land being so good were Joshua and Calev. Nachmanides writes that if it were correct that only Joshua and Calev had praise for the land, how could one accuse the entire people for believing the majority report of the other ten spies? Perhaps Moses’ accusation against the people for believing the ten spies was based on the fact that what these spies had reported was in direct contradiction to G’d’s own assessment of that land. If, in addition to G’d’s assessment and that of the most outstanding of the twelve spies G’d was considered as proven correct, the people had no excuse to side with the ten spies against the testimony of both G’d and the two senior spies. Once the ten spies realized that Joshua and Calev were firmly in favour of capturing the land of Canaan by war, they began to disseminate evil reports about that land, describing it as a land that consumed its inhabitants, and this is what Moses meant when he said (verse 27) ותרגנו באהליכם, “you slandered in your tents.”I believe, in accordance with what I have already explained in Parshat Shelach lecha on the relevant verses, that publicly, all the spies sang the praises of the land of Canaan. It was only in the privacy of their tents that the campaign of slandering the land and spreading fear was carried on. This is what Moses alluded to here when he recalled that the former generation of Israelites had slandered the land in their tents. The people themselves also had not dared to come out openly against the land within earshot of Moses at the beginning. Later on, they admitted that they had become frightened by their brethren the spies. This is why Moses had told them not to be afraid as they would not have to do any actual fighting; G’d would do this on their behalf.

But you were unwilling to go up, and you rebelled against the Word of Hashem your God.

ותמרו — This is an expression denoting setting oneself in opposition: ye opposed yourselves to His words.

ולא אביתם לעלות, for at that point you revealed your original sinful approach, i.e. that your motivation had not been to select the best part of the country for yourselves at this time, as I had thought, based on what you had said. Your purpose in the mission had been to determine if it was possible to conquer this land, something that revealed that you did not believe G’d’s promise to you. As a result of your lack of belief you accepted what the spies told you when they said that these people are too strong, and you refused to ascend to this land.

ולא אביתם לעלות, "and you did not want to ascend (to the land of Canaan)." Even though ten spies testified, as will be mentioned shortly where Moses describes the ten as demoralising the whole people, conquest of the land of Canaan had never been made subject to the Israelites' prowess or otherwise. It was a gift from G'd as we explained in detail on Numbers 13,2 based on the words "which I (the Lord) am about to give to you." G'd Himself was going to dispossess the Canaanites as mentioned in verse 29, i.e. "He will wage war on your behalf." None of these words represent a contradiction to the report of the spies describing the cities of Canaan and their inhabitants as exceedingly powerful. Nachmanides' objections are quite unfounded, therefore. [The author assumes that we are all familiar with the commentary by Nachmanides who questioned how one could fault the people for believing 10 spies rather than 2 spies. Ed.]

And you complained in your tents and said: Because Hashem hates us He brought us out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites to destroy us.

ותרגנו — This is an expression denoting slander. Similar is, (Proverbs 18:8) “The words of a נרגן” i.e. of a man who brings a false report (Sifrei Devarim 24:1). בשנאת ה׳ אתנו BECAUSE THE LORD HATETH US — Really, however, He loved you, but you hated Him. A common proverb says: What is in your own mind about your friend, you imagine is what is in his mind about you (Sifrei Devarim 24:3). בשנאת ה' אתנו הוציאנו מארץ מצרים BECAUSE THE LORD HATETH US HE HATH BROUGHT US FORTH FROM THE LAND OF EGYPT — His bringing us forth was out of hatred. A parable! It may be compared to an earthly king who had two sons, and who had two fields, one well-watered; the other arid (dependent upon rain only). To him whom he loved best of his sons he gave the well-watered field, and to him whom he loved less he gave the arid one. The land of Egypt is a well-watered country, for the Nile rises and irrigates it, whilst the land of Canaan is an arid country — and He brought us forth from well-watered Egypt to give us the arid land of Canaan (Numbers Rabbah 17:3).

"Vatirgenu" — like "and the grumblers will learn instruction"; it is in the nif'al binyan, like "al tit'atzvu."

בשנאת ה' אותנו, because we had worshipped idols while we were in Egypt. He has now decided to deliver us into the hands of the Emorite even though He is perfectly capable to conquer the Emorites and to kill them, He will take revenge on us by delivering us into their hands.

הוציאנו מארץ מצרים, “He took us out of the land of Egypt;” Rashi, basing himself on Sifrey, says that G-d’s taking us out of Egypt was interpreted by the Israelites as an act of hatred; he quotes a parable with a king who owned two fields and had two sons. One field was very productive, as it was well irrigated, whereas the other one was far less so. He gave the productive one to his beloved son, and the inferior one to the son he disapproved of. The people of Israel were aware that Egypt was very well irrigated from the waters of the Nile, never depending on rainfall. On the other hand, Moses himself told them that the earth in the land of Israel depended on rainfall, and that by withholding rainfall this could make it very hard to work. They therefore reasoned that G-d must hate them why else would He expect them to exchange fertile Egypt for hilly Canaan?

ותרגנו, the word is derived from the same root as Proverbs 18,8 דברי נרגן כמתלהמים, “the words of a quarrelsome man are like afflictions.”

Where are we going up to? Our brothers have broken our hearts, saying: The people is greater and mightier than we; the cities are large and fortified up to the very heavens; and moreover, we saw the sons of giants there.

ערים גדלת ובצורת בשמים THE CITIES ARE GREAT AND FORTIFIED TO HEAVEN — Scriptural texts sometimes speak in exaggerated terms (Sifrei Devarim 25:4; Chullin 90b).

And I said to you: Do not be dismayed and do not fear them.

לא תערצון — This is an expression denoting breaking, as the Targum translates it: You should not let yourselves be broken by them. Similar to it is, (Job 30:6) “To dwell in ערוץ נחלים”, i.e. in the fissure of the valleys.

"Lo ta'artzun" — meaning "you shall not be afraid"; it is from the root of "vehu ma'aritzchem," and the sense is a breaking of the heart through fear.

Hashem your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, just as He did with you in Egypt before your eyes.

ילחם לכם means, [HE WILL FIGHT] ON YOUR BEHALF.

"Yilachem lachem" — meaning on your behalf.

And in the wilderness, which you saw, where Hashem your God carried you as a man carries his son, along the entire way that you traveled, until you reached this place.

ובמדבר אשר ראית — This is to be connected with the verse preceding: "according to all that He did for you in Egypt" "and" which He also did "in the wilderness, where thou hast seen how that [the Lord thy God] bore thee, etc. כאשר ישא איש את בנו AS A MAN DOTH BEAR HIS SON — The meaning is just as I have explained in connection with the verse (Exodus 14:19—20), "And the angel of the Lord that went before the camp of the Israelites moved, etc.". A parable! It may be compared to one who is proceeding on a journey, his son walking in front of him. If bandits come to kidnap him (the son), he takes him away from in front of him and places him behind himself, etc.

אשר נשאך ה' אלוקיך, in this great and terrible desert. If G’d had wanted to take His revenge on you, all He had to do was to leave you to the mercy of these predators.

And in the desert, where thou sawest burning serpents full of deadly venom, the Lord thy God bare thee with the glorious clouds of His Shekinah, as a man carrieth his child, all the way that you went, until you have come to this place.

Yet in this matter you did not believe in the Word of Hashem your God.

ובדבר הזה YET IN REGARD TO THIS THING that He promised you, viz., to bring you to the Land, you did not believe in Him (because the promise has not yet been fulfilled).

ובדבר הזה אינכם מאמינים, "In this matter you did not believe in G'd, etc." Why did Moses have to say: "in this matter?" Rashi understands Moses' words as a reference to G'd's promise that the people would enter the land of Canaan. This does not appear acceptable. I believe the plain meaning of the verse is that Moses referred to the miracles G'd had demonstrated when He lifted the whole Jewish people out of Egypt just as a father carries his son. They did not even believe the miracles they themselves had experienced (Exodus 14,19 compare Rashi there) which Moses recalled in verse 31. Proof that the Israelites were lacking in faith at the time is provided by Exodus 17,7 "If the Lord is in our midst or not?" The Zohar on that verse provided us with the well known parable of the father who carried his son on his shoulder. When they met someone, the son asked the stranger if he had seen his father. Israel's question in the verse we referred to is compared to the effrontery of the child in the parable by the Zohar. This then is what Moses referred to with the words: "in this matter you did not have faith in the Lord your G'd." Moses added: "who is walking before you, etc," in order to underline that in view of the continued miracles performed constantly by G'd there was no excuse for this lack of faith.

He who goes before you on the way to prepare for you a place of resting for your encampment — in a pillar of fire by night to show you the way by which you should travel, and in a pillar of cloud by day.

לראתכם — This word is the same as לְהַרְאֹתְכֶם. Similar, too, is לנחתם הדרך (like לְהַנְחֹתָם; see Rashi on Exodus 13:21). So also (Psalms 26:7) לשמיע בקול תודה [like לְהַשְׁמִיעַ], also, (2 Kings 9:15) ללכת לגיד ביזרעל [like לְהַגִּיד]

"Lachanotchem" — this is not a transitive verb, for we have not found this binyan used in that sense. "Lir'otchem" — the lamed is voweled with patach to indicate the letter it represents, namely the heh of the heh ha-da'at [the definite article heh], which is absent.

לתור לכם מקום לחנותכם, in the same desert, as mentioned already in Numbers 10,33 לתור לכם מנוחה. All of this is a demonstration of G’d’s loving care for you.

And the sound of your words was heard before Hashem, and He was angry and swore, saying:

את קול דבריכם, your uncalled for weeping.

Not one of the men of this evil generation shall see the good land that I swore to give to your fathers —

except Caleb son of Jephunneh; he shall see it, and to him I will give the land upon which he trod, and to his children — because he was wholehearted in following the fear of Hashem.

אשר דרך בה [AND TO HIM WILL I GIVE THE LAND] THAT HE TROD UPON — viz., Hebron, as it is said, (Numbers 13:22) “And he (Caleb) came to Hebron”.

"Zulati" — the yod is an addition, for it is also found without it. "And to him I will give the land upon which he trod" — this is Hebron.

הוא יראנה ולו אתן את הארץ, "he will see it and to him I will give the land, etc." Why did Moses have to say that Calev would see the land seeing that he had been promised that G'd would give it to him? Surely just as 100 is part of 200, the land could not be given to Calev unless he was going to see it! I believe Moses wanted to recall two separate accomplishments of Calev in the matter of the spies and to show that he acquired two separate merits. 1) He separated himself from the advice of the ten spies and did not say a single negative word. 2) He was courageous enough to come out openly against the majority report asking the people to remain loyal to G'd, as we know from Numbers 13,30: "Calev silenced the people." As a compensation G'd granted Calev two good things. Concerning his initial silence G'd rewarded him by not letting him die as part of the decree which G'd decreed against the spies. This is alluded to in Moses saying: בן יפנה הוא יראנה, "the son of Yefuneh will see it." The meaning is that because he "turned away" פנה, he was granted the reward that he would see the land he had spied out. His peers had been specifically denied this, i.e. Numbers 14,23 where G'd said that the men of his generation would not get to see the land of Canaan. In reward for Calev having come out openly on behalf of G'd he was rewarded in that G'd gave him the land, i.e. he personally i.e. לו was allocated a share in the Holy Land.

מלא אחרי ה, “who has fully followed G-d’s instructions.” Moses refers to the instructions he had issued in the name of G-d. [G-d did not address Calev directly, ever. Ed.]

הארץ אשר דרך בה, “the land on which he walked.” A reference to the city of Chevron, seeing the Torah had specifically mentioned that Calev came to Chevron (Numbers 13,22). Calev is mentioned first before Joshua, here and everywhere when G’d speaks of him.

With me as well, anger came from before Hashem on your account, saying: You too shall not enter there.

התאנף means HE WAS FILLED WITH ANGER.

ALSO THE ETERNAL WAS ANGRY WITH ME, FOR YOUR SAKES. He is stating: “Behold, the sin you committed then in the affair of the spies withheld from you the good Land, and yet you continued to sin another time [i.e., at the waters of Meribah] until you prevented me as well, from crossing [the Jordan].” For Moses wanted to mention simultaneously that the punishment of all who were prevented from passing into the Land, was caused by their sins. Also in order to mention here the matter of Joshua, that he would cross over because he followed G-d wholeheartedly as did his colleague [Caleb], and, therefore, he will yet deserve to cause the second generation to inherit the Land, because Moses was punished and it was decreed upon him that he was not to cross [the Jordan]. Thus Moses mentioned the whole affair [of the spies] except for the death by plague of the spies themselves. Nor did he mention the slander [of the spies that the Land eateth up the inhabitants thereof], for he would not speak of the shame of individuals. Instead he reproved the multitude all of whom sinned and all of whom were punished. The meaning of the expression for your sakes [Also the Eternal was angry with me, ‘for your sakes’] is that the children of Israel strove with the Eternal etc. [at the waters of Meribah], and all this happened because of your quarrel. Or [the expression for your sakes] may allude to the fact that the anger [of G-d] with Moses and Aaron was because — when they hit the rock twice in front of the people [instead of speaking to it] and did not do as they were commanded — the people were critical of it. This is the purport of His words, because ye sanctified Me not in the midst of the children of Israel, meaning that the punishment came [not because the sin itself was so grievous, but] because it happened in the midst of the children of Israel that the Glory was not sanctified before their eyes. Thus the Rabbis have also said in the Sifre: “Because ye trespassed against Me. — you caused [the people] to trespass. Because ye sanctified Me not — you caused that I not be sanctified. Because ye rebelled against My commandment — you caused [the people] to rebel against My commandment.” The Rabbis [in the Sifre] thus interpreted all these expressions as transitional to Israel, [meaning, Moses and Aaron had really not sinned in the affair of the rock, but since their action was misconstrued by the people causing the people to sin, Moses and Aaron were punished]. I have already explained the subject.

I have already explained that in "apo" the nun is absorbed into the peh, and it appears in Aramaic; it is also from the root of "ki anafta bi" [for you were angry with me] and "gam bi hit'anef Hashem" [Hashem was also angry with me].

גם בי התאנף ה' בגללכם, this was in order that you would have reason to cry throughout the ages, as G’d had decreed in Numbers 14,28. When that verse referred to דבריכם, “your words,” the objectionable words G’d had referred to were: “our children and wives will become loot,” (Numbers 14,5). Moses told the people at this stage the real reason for his impending death, even though the cause occurred already 38 years earlier. At that time G’d had announced His decree אם יראה איש באנשים האלה, adding that by contrastוטפכם אשר אמרתם לבז יהי, “your children concerning whom you had predicted that they would wind up as loot, as prisoners of war, would conquer the land.” The major point Moses is making, [and I am paraphrasing the author who quotes Psalms 106,26-27, Ezekiel 20,23, as well as Psalms 106,32-40, Ed] is that were it not for the fact that he also had not been allowed to enter the Holy Land, they would have been condemned to extinction. The fact that he, the innocent leader, had been included in their punishment was for the sake of the nation’s survival as such, even if traumatic exile experiences lay ahead of them. (compare our author on Deut. 4,1)

גם בי התאנף ה׳ בגללכם, "G'd was also angry at me on your account." This is difficult as we have no independent evidence of G'd having become angry at Moses on account of the sin of the spies. Nachmanides explains these words of Moses to mean: "you have continued doing evil until the result was that G'd became angry at me." I do not find this comment acceptable as Moses continued to speak about the subject of the spies even after this verse as is clear from verse 39 "and your children whom you claimed would become booty, will come there, etc." The subject is continued right until the end of this chapter. Why then would Moses interrupt in the middle of one subject to speak about an unrelated subject? As to Nachmanides' justification that Moses wanted to lump together all the reasons why the generation of the Exodus did not get to the Holy Land, I do not see what would be accomplished by this. I believe the correct meaning of these words must take into account what the Talmud in Taanit 29 said in connection with Numbers 14,1 that the people cried during that night. The Talmud says that because of their needless weeping on that night the Jewish people were condemned to weep on that date with good reason for many many years when they would mourn the destruction of both Temples which occurred on the anniversary of that fateful night. The Talmud Sotah 9 adds that if Moses had been allowed to enter the Holy Land the very first Temple would have been the final Temple, i.e. there never would have occurred a destruction of the Holy Temple. In this connection there is an interesting Midrash Tehillim on Psalm 79,1 where Assaph appears to have dedicated a hymn to the destruction of the Temple. The Midrash asks, predictably, that instead of dedicating a hymn to such an event Assaph should have written an elegy, a song of mourning! The answer is that Assaph composed the hymn in gratitude to G'd who had vented His wrath on buildings of wood and stone such as the Holy Temple and the city of Jersualem instead of on human beings. If we extrapolate on the reasoning of the Midrash and consider the fact that the Temple Moses would have built would have become indestructible, then every time the people sinned G'd would have had to pour out His wrath at the people themselves instead of at the Temple. In order to avoid such a thing from ever occurring, G'd decided to let Moses die on the East Bank of the Jordan. This is what Moses meant when he said that G'd's anger at him worked in Israel's favour, i.e. בגללכם, "for your sake." Had the sin of the spies not occurred, Moses would have entered the Holy land with the result we have just described. The word בגללכם is derived from גלגול, "revolving," or in the metaphysical sense "transmigration (of souls)." When G'd decreed death on Moses which would result in his ultimate reincarnation, He did the Israelites a great favour by venting His wrath at Moses at that time. Alternatively, the meaning of the words: "G'd was also an...

.'גם בי התאנף ה, “the Lord was angry at me also.” He took the position of leader from me and gave it to Joshua; all of this happened only on your account when you caused me to lose my temper and therefore not carry out G-d’s instructions to me to the letter. I was punished for hitting the rock instead of speaking to it.

“The Lord was also angry with me because of you, etc.” In this verse, most commentators have tried to gather explanations but have not found a sufficient reason for how it inserted Moses’ decree in between [the account of] the spies. See Ramban, Maharil, and other commentators. According to what we have explained above in Parashat Chukat (20:8) regarding the sin of the waters of Meribah, that if the Israelites had been faithful children and not of little faith, Moses’ punishment would not have been so severe for not causing them to believe, as it is written Because you did not believe/cause belief in Me (Numbers 20:12). It does not say “you did not believe” [in the simple form] but rather you did not cause belief [in the causative form], which is a transitive verb affecting two parties — that you did not cause the Israelites to strengthen their faith. And who needs strengthening? One who is of little faith. But if they had been strong in faith from the beginning, there would not have been such a need to perform miraculous acts before them to strengthen their hearts in faith. And although it was already said And they believed in the Lord, etc. (Exodus 14:31), nevertheless, the spies caused them to return to being unfaithful children, as Moses himself said to them regarding the incident of the spies, Yet in this thing you do not believe in the Lord, etc. And an admission from a litigant is equivalent to a hundred witnesses, for Moses admitted that through the incident of the spies, they became unbelievers. How much more so should he have performed the act of bringing forth water from the rock in a way that would restore their original faith, but he did not. Therefore, it was decreed upon him that he would not enter there. Thus, after the verse Yet in this thing you do not believe, etc., he said, The Lord was also angry with me because of you, saying: You too shall not go in there. What is the meaning of you too? Just as the spies would not enter there because they did not believe in the Lord as stated, so too you shall not enter there for the same reason, as it says, Because you did not cause to believe in Me. For one who causes the multitude to sin bears the sin of the multitude. Another explanation as to why it inserted Moses’s decree here is because one is dependent on the other. Due to the decree regarding the spies, they were delayed in the desert for 40 years, and during this time, Miriam’s time to die arrived. With her death, the well ceased, and they lacked water, which led to the incident of the waters of Meribah. If the spies had not sinned, they would have entered the land immediately along with Miriam, and Moses would not have come to this punishment. And what is written “because of you” [biglalchem] and not “for your sake” [ba’avurchem], can be explained according to what our Sages of blessed memory said (Sotah 14a) that Moses was buried opposite Beit Peor in order to atone for the incident of Peor, where they would expose themselves to it with excrement and dung [galal]. Therefore, it says because of you [biglalchem] from the language of as dung is burned away (1 Kings 14:10). And that is why it also says you too to include his bones, as Rashi explained on the verse Behold, I am about to die; I am not crossing over (Deuteronomy 4:22) — “even my bones will not cross over,” and all this was to atone for the incident of Peor.

גם בי התאנף ה', “Hashem also became angry at me;” Nachmanides reconstructs the proper sequence of events at that time. After Moses had recalled the events of the sin of the spies, and the nature of their sin, in the wake of which a whole generation of Israelites had been doomed to die in the desert, he continues to relate how his own inability to enter the Holy Land was also directly linked to the sin of these people. He contrasts the good fortune of Joshua and Calev, who because of their staunch loyalty to G’d on that occasion, are the only ones of that generation that will settle in the Holy Land. He relates all that had happened on that occasion except for the almost immediate death of the ten spies by a pestilence. He continues to explain that he would not be leading the Israelites across the Jordan but his successor, Joshua. He did not want to distract the people by dwelling on the disgrace and its consequences of a few individuals. He wanted the people (new generation) to concentrate on what had happened to their parents because they had been involved in that terrible sin. בגללכם, “on your account;” Moses makes it plain that if 40 years later, when there was no water the people had quarreled with him and with Hashem, if he had mistakenly struck the rock instead of speaking to it, and the result was that G’d forbade him to enter the Holy Land, none of this would have happened if on an earlier occasion the people had not been punished by having to wander in the desert all these years. They would have long been settled in that land, and the occasion on which Moses made his unpardonable error would never have presented itself. Hashem Himself had stressed that Moses and Aaron had missed an opportunity to sanctify Him amongst the Children of Israel, in other words, Moses’ punishment was due to the Children of Israel.

בגללכם, “on your account;” I was forbidden to enter the Holy Land on account of your lack of faith in G–d; this happened after the death of Miriam (Numbers 20,1) as a result of which the spring traveling with the people had ceased providing water, and when we, Aaron and I asked you if you believed we could provide you with water from a rock you had pointed at, and the first time I struck the rock only a few drops of water came forth, you thought that no water could come forth from the rock the people had pointed at. I should have explained to you that it is not I or Aaron who could make a rock bring forth water but only He, the Lord, could do that. This is why G–d became angry at me, i.e. the meaning of the word בגללכם, “on your account.”

Joshua son of Nun, who stands before you — he shall enter there; strengthen him, for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

He mentioned Caleb first, as I have explained, and afterward Joshua who stands before you — he is his attendant.

And your little ones, whom you said would become plunder, and your children who do not yet know today what is good and what is evil — they shall go there, and to them I will give it, and they shall inherit it.

"Who do not yet know" — on that day, at that time. "Good and evil" — Scripture speaks of them in terms of the majority.

But as for you, turn about and journey into the wilderness by way of the Sea of Reeds.

פנו לכם TURN YE — I thought to let you pass across the breadth of the land of Edom in a northerly direction and thus enter the Land (cf. Rashi on Numbers 34:3); you, however, became degenerate and caused this delay for yourselves. פנו לכם TURN YE backwards, and proceed through the wilderness towards the Red Sea; — for the wilderness through which they were travelling was to the south of Mount Seir separating the Red Sea from Mount Seir. — Now proceed in the direction of the Sea and travel round Mount Seir along the whole of its south side from the west to the east.

ואתם פנו לכם וסעו וגו, as for you, (as opposed to the ten spies who died on the spot), “turn around and begin journeying in a reverse direction.” (Moses was quoting Numbers 14,25).

ואתם פנו לכם, “and you — turn yourselves around.” A 180 degrees turn in the direction of the Sea of Reeds