| א. מיקום הפסוק "היום הזה" |
| A. Placement of "This Day" |
"This day the Lord thy God commandeth thee to do these statutes..."
S.v. This day, the Lord your God commands you to do: Behold Moses finished explaining the Torah and presenting new laws that God had commanded him to present. Hence, he said, "This day, the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and judgments" - as I have already completed it all for you...
What is the place of this verse in the Book of Deuteronomy as a whole?
| ב. "היום הזה" |
| B. "This Day" |
"This day the Lord thy God commandeth thee to do these statutes..."
...After our teacher, Moses, finished explaining the Torah, he said, "This day the Lord... commands you to do." [This] means to say, since I have already finished explaining the commandments, there is no need to speak about their explanation any more; but rather to command you about their performance and observance. As behold, perhaps up until now you did not know the explanation of the commandments. But now that I have already explained them, there is nothing new to add; and the only thing left to warn [about] is their performance. And this is [the meaning of] his saying, "This day, the Lord your God commands you to do"...
1. What is the difficulty in our verse that our two commentators are addressing?
2. What is the weakness in Abarbanel's answer?
| ג. "האמרת" - "האמירך" |
| C. "You have avouched" - "has avouched you" |
"Thou hast avouched (he'emarta) the LORD this day to be thy God"
"וַה' הֶאֱמִירְךָ הַיּוֹם לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לָךְ..."
"And the LORD avouched you (heemirecha) this day to be His own treasure, as He promised you..."
The Hebrew word, avouch, carries connotations of exaltation. Compare, “in the top of the uppermost bough” [Isaiah 17: 6]. The Spaniard Rabbi Yehudah HaLevi — may he be for us a light from above! — cleverly explained how the word is related to the verb “to say (vayomer)”: the sense of the passage is that you have done all that is proper, to the point that you cause other people to say “He will be your God”; and He will likewise act toward you so as to cause you to say that you will be His treasured people. Accordingly, the verb “to avouch” takes both a direct and an indirect object.
התוכל להסביר את חולשת הפירוש הזה (המובא משם ר' יהודה הלוי), ואת חריגתו מן ההקשר?
Are you able to explain the weakness of this explanation (cited in the name of R. Yehuadah HaLevi), and its deviation from the context?
האמרה, האמירך are words for the meaning of which there is no decisive parallel (lit., witness) in Scripture. It seems to me, however, that they are expressions denoting “separation” and “selection”: “You have singled Him out from all strange gods to be unto you as God — and He on His part, has singled you out from the nations on earth to be unto Him a select people”. And I have found a parallel (lit., witness) to it, and it is an expression of “glory”, as in (Psalms 94:4): “All wrongdoers glory in themselves”.
דעת יששכר, (על פירוש רש"י):
יש סתירה, דתחילה אמר: "אין להם עד מוכיח במקרא" ואחר כך אמר "ומצאתי להם עד והוא לשון 'תפארת'". ולי נראה לישב כן: מה שאמר אין להם עד, כוונתו שאין דוגמתו במקרא להיות אמירה בבנין הפעיל כמו כאן שיהיה פירושו אמירה ממש, אבל לשון (=בהוראת תפארת) 'תפארת' מצא להם עד במקרא בבנין התפעל, כמו (תהלים צ"ד) "יתאמרו כל פועלי און". נוכל לפרש גם "האמרת" ו"האמירך" לשון תפארת אף שהם מבנין הפעיל ופירושו כן: 'את ה' האמרת' – גרמת במעשיך שיתפאר ה' בך! 'וה' האמירך' – ה' גרם בחסדיו שעשה עמך, שאתה תתפאר בו. ומה שאמר אחר-כך: "ונראה לי שהוא לשון הפרשה" הוא מסברא דנפשיה קאמר בלא עד, רק לפי ענינו פירשו כן. וכן מצינו שאר מפרשים שמפרשים מילה לפי ענינה אף שלא מצאו לה דמיון במקרא.
Daat Yisaschar (on Rashi's Commentary):
There is a contradiction: As at first he said, "there is no decisive parallel"; and afterwards, he said, "And I have found a a parallel, and it is an expression of glory." And it appears to me to be resolved like this: His intention in that which he said that there is no parallel is that there is no parallel in Scripture that is in the causative form, like here, such that its meaning should be, speaking (amirah) itself; but he found it in Scripture as an expression of glory in the reflexive form, "as in (Psalms 94:4), 'All wrongdoers glory in themselves.'" We can also explain that "he'emarta," and "heemirecha" are expressions of glory, even though they are in the causative form, and his explanation would be like this: "You he'emarta the Lord" - you caused the Lord to be glorified by you, through your deeds; "and the Lord heemirecha you" - the Lord, in His kindnesses that He has done with you, has caused you to be glorified through Him. And that which [Rashi] said afterwards, "It seems to me, however, that it is an expression denoting separation," is said from his own reasoning, without a parallel. Rather he only explains it like this according to its context. Likewise do we find other commentators explaining a word according to its context, even though they did not find its likeness in Scripture.
ר' וולף היידנהיים, בפירושו "הבנת המקרא" על פירוש רש"י מבאר דבריו הנ"ל:
דברי רש"י כאן נגמרים במילים "לעם סגולה" והשאר הוא תוספת איזה תלמיד בחוץ והמעתיקים הכניסוהו בפנים, ולכן איננו בדפוסים ישנים.
R. Wolf Heidenheim, in his commentary, Havanat HaMikra, on Rashi's Commentary, clarifies Rashi's words above:
Rashi's words here end with the words, "a select people." And the rest is the addition of a student written on the side, whereas the transcribers wrote it the body [of Rashi's commentary]. And hence, it is not found in old printed editions.
Are you able to resolve Rashi's words above, not according to the words of Daat Yisaschar nor according to the words of R. Wolf Heidenheim?
| ד. שאלות מבנה |
| D. Structural Questions |
בתפישת מבנה פסוקים ופסוקים נחלקו דעות בובר ורוזנצווייג בבואם לתרגם פסוקים אלה:
Buber and Rosenzweig disagreed in their approach to punctuation and parsing when they came to these verses:
"אֶת ה' הֶאֱמַרְתָּ הַיּוֹם לִהְיוֹת לְךָ לֵא-לֹהִים: וְלָלֶכֶת בִּדְרָכָיו, וְלִשְׁמֹר חֻקָּיו וּמִצְוֹתָיו וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו וְלִשְׁמֹעַ בְּקֹלוֹ. וַה' הֶאֱמִירְךָ הַיּוֹם לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה, כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר לָךְ..."
Buber suggested:
"You have affirmed this day that the Lord is your God:
And to walk in His ways, that you will observe His laws and commandments and rules, and that you will obey Him.
And the Lord has affirmed this day that you are a special nation to Him, as He promised you..."
רוזנצווייג, דרש:
"אֶת ה' הֶאֱמַרְתָּ הַיּוֹם:
לִהְיוֹת לְךָ לֵא-לֹהִים, וְלָלֶכֶת בִּדְרָכָיו וְלִשְׁמֹר חֻקָּיו וּמִצְוֹתָיו... וְלִשְׁמֹעַ בְּקֹלוֹ. וַה' הֶאֱמִירְךָ הַיּוֹם:
לִהְיוֹת לוֹ לְעַם סְגֻלָּה"
Rosenzweig wanted:
"You have affirmed this day:
That the Lord is your God, and to walk in His ways, that you will observe His laws and commandments and rules... and that you will obey Him.
And the Lord has affirmed this day: That you are a special nation."
את התיקון הראשון – הפסיק אחר "להיות לך לאלוקים" דחה בובר במהדורה ראשונה.
Buber rejected the first emendation - the comma after, "that the Lord is your God" - in the first edition.
התוכל להסביר את נימוקיהם של שני המתרגמים?
Are you able to explain the reasons of each one of the two translators?
| ה. "ולשמור כל מצוותיו" |
| E. And to keep all of His commandments" |
"And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His own treasure, as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments;"
ד"ה ולשמור כל מצוותיו: ...ואולי כי תפארת ישראל היא מה שהעלה ורומם אותם, בתת להם כל המצוות, מה שלא עשה כך לראשונים, שהגם שנתן מצוותיו יתברך לאדם ולנח ולאבות, לא נתן אלא ב' ג' גרגירים, אבל לישראל נתן שמירת כל מצוותיו יתברך, ויש לך לדעת, כי כל המצוות אינם אלא שמירה מהתיעוב ומלכלוך הנפש ובהשלמת שמירת המצוות, יהיה האדם שלם מכל מום ומכל לכלוך. שנית ירצה, כי ה' יחזק זרועות לשמור כל המצוות, כי לא הכל זוכים לדבר זה, הגם שיחפצו לשמור, לא יזדמן לידם, ואם יזדמן לא תשיג ידם, ואם תשיג לחלק מן המצוות, לא תשיג לכל המצוות. ואמר כאן, כי ה' האמירם לשמור כל מצוותיו. שלישית ירצה על דרך אומרו (קהלת ח' ה') "שומר מצוה לא ידע דבר רע" ואמרו חז"ל (פסחים ח ע"ב) "שלוחי מצוה אינם ניזוקין" והוא מאמר הכתוב כאן "ולשמור כל מצוותיו" פירושו: ה' ישמור כל מצוותיו לבל יצא מהם תקלה. רביעית ירצה להעירם בדבר שלא השיגו משה עצמו ע"ה, הגם היותו בכלל עם סגולה. והוא על דרך אומרם ז"ל (סוטה י"ד) בענין תפילת משה להכנס לארץ: "מפני מה נתאווה משה רבנו ליכנס לארץ ישראל? וכי לאכול מפריה היה צריך? או לשבוע מטובה היה צריך? אלא כך אמר משה רבנו: "הרבה מצוות נצטוו ישראל שאינן מתקיימות אלא בארץ ישראל. אכנס אני לארץ, כדי שיתקיימו כולן על ידי" עד כאן דברי הגמרא. והוא מה שנתכוון לומר להם: "ראו מעלתכם! שה' האמיר אתכם... ולשמור כל מצוותיו", ולזה דקדק לומר "האמירך היום" פירושו: בזמן הזה, שאתם באים אל הארץ ושם תשמרו כל המצוות, וזה מעלה שלא השיג אפילו משה.
S.v. And to keep all of His commandments: ... Perhaps the glory of Israel consists in the fact that G'd has seen fit to "give" this nation all His laws, something He had not seen fit to do for any nation or individual during the 2,000 years of mankind's existence prior to G'd's revelation at Mount Sinai. G'd had only given a few laws to Adam and Noach, holding back the vast majority of them until He revealed them to Israel. We must remember that the principal function of these commandments is to act as a barrier against the various abominations in our universe. Observing these commandments acts like inoculation against the danger of becoming polluted by these various spiritually negative influences which abound all around us. A second explanation for the strange phenomenon of G'd being described as "keeping all His commandments," may be that it is an assurance that G'd will strengthen all the forces which are active to promote the keeping of His commandments. We have to understand this verse as a gentle reminder that even with the best will in the world we would not be able to observe all of G'd's commandments unless we received a heavenly assist. A third meaning may be based on Kohelet 8,5: "he who keeps the commandments will know no evil;" our sages in Pesachim 8 derive from that verse that anyone engaged in the performance of a commandment either himself or even as a delegate for someone else, will not come to harm while so engaged. The word ישמר in our verse then means that G'd will watch over people engaged in מצוה-performance. A fourth meaning may be that our verse speaks of a dimension which even Moses himself had not attained, even though he too was part of this nation called עם סגולה. Our sages in Sotah 14, commenting on Moses' prayer to be allowed to enter the Holy Land, ask why Moses was so anxious to do this. Did he perhaps want to taste the produce of that land? They answer that what motivated Moses to make this request was his desire to be allowed to fulfill all the commandments which can only be fulfilled on the soil of that land, not in the desert or anywhere else for that matter. G'd's promise here refers to His granting the Israelites the opportunity to fulfill all the commandments, i.e. to let them live in the Holy Land. This is why the Torah emphasized the word היום when speaking about G'd's undertaking vis-a-vis Israel. He referred to the time when entry to the Holy land had become imminent. This was a distinction which had been denied even to Moses.
1. What is his difficulty in our verse?
2. Why did he not say these explanations in the preceding verse (17), in s.v. and to keep all of his commandments and his statutes?
3. What is the difference between his first explanation and his second explanation?
4. במה שונה השלישי משלושת האחרים?
4. In what way is the third different than the three others?
| ו. "עם סגולה, עם קדוש" |
| F. "Treasured people, holy people" |
"And the Lord hath avouched thee this day to be His treasured people, as He hath promised thee, and that thou shouldest keep all His commandments."
"And to make thee high above all nations that He hath made, in praise, and in name, and in glory; and that thou mayest be a holy people unto the Lord thy God, as He hath spoken."
S.v. To be for Him a treasured people: In Torah and mitzvos. "And to place you above... for praise and for renown and for glory." This means with wisdom, with wealth, with nice customs and order. To be a holy people means to not become mixed with the gentile nations and not to act as they do. You shall be separated and distinguished from them through purity and holiness. For when the Jewish people are downtrodden amongst the gentile nations, in our great sins, they try to find favor in the eyes of the nations of the world, "and act as the most depraved amongst them," and there are some that intermarry with them. However this is not the case when they are held up "for praise and renown," "and above all the nations" - they will [then] be a holy people separated and distinguished.
1. מהו הקושי התחבירי שבפסוקנו המיושב בדבריו?
1. What is the syntactic difficulty in our verse resolved by his words?
2. מהו הקושי הענייני שבפסוקנו המיושב בדבריו?
2. What is the substantive difficulty in our verse resolved by his words?