פרשת נצבים - וילך תש"כ - פרשת התשובה

And it shall come to pass, when all these things are come upon thee, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before thee, and thou shalt bethink thyself among all the nations, whither the LORD thy God hath driven thee,

the hidden matters … that is, if someone practices idolatry in secret, it is for God our God — meaning, his judgment will be at the hand of God , Who will punish him; but if it be public, then we, and our descendants, are obliged to do what is written in the Torah. (Some have interpreted the verse as follows: “The hidden matters are for God our God, and the revealed matters. It is only for us to act according to the words of the Torah.” But this interpretation contains a non sequitur. What would be the point of mentioning it, in this context?) Having previously said that God “cast them into another land”, Scripture now proceeds to say, “but if you return to God , even though you be outside the Land of Israel, God will restore your exiles.” Rabbi Y e hudah ben David Ḥayyuj, the grammarian, is of the opinion that the first instance of the word “restore” means “grant rest”. The sense of the verse is: “He will provide respite to the captives, and grant them mercy; afterward, he will send them back, and gather them …”.

ושב ה' את שבותך, “the Lord will return with you from your captivity;” in chapter29,27, G-d had been described as expelling His people from the Holy Land to any other land, now, if the people have repented their wrongdoings, He promises to bring them back and remain with them.

if thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law; if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.

הכתובה, “which has been recorded in writing; we would have expected this word to be in the plural mode as it covers multiple laws. Instead we find a singular feminine mode. This is not something unique; for instance we find something analogous in Exodus 17,12 where Moses’ hands are described as remaining steady, i.e. ויהי ידיו אמונה.

and shalt return unto the LORD thy God, and hearken to His voice according to all that I command thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul;

if thou shalt hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this book of the law; if thou turn unto the LORD thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.