R'Isaac Bernstein -1st of series on "themes in Devorim".

they read the portion of blessings and curses (Leviticus, chapter 26). One should not interrupt the reading of the curses by having two different people read them. Rather, one person reads all of them.

Abaye said: They taught this only with regard to the curses that are recorded in Leviticus, but with regard to the curses that are recorded in Deuteronomy, one may interrupt them by having two different people read them. What is the reason for this distinction? These curses in Leviticus are stated in the plural, and Moses pronounced them from the mouth of the Almighty. As such, they are more severe. However, these curses in Deuteronomy are stated in the singular, and Moses said them on his own, like the rest of the book of Deuteronomy. They are therefore less harsh and may be interrupted.

Before we clarify this matter, it is appropriate for you to know the distinction which exists between the repetition of the Torah (Deuteronomy), where the second set of Ten Commandments are found, and the rest of the Torah. In the gemara Megillah 31b it says “…one may not interrupt the reading of the curses…Abaye said: They taught this only with regard to the curses that are in Leviticus, but with regard to the curses that are in Deuteronomy, one may interrupt. What is the reason for this distinction? These curses in Leviticus are stated in the plural, and Moses pronounced them from the mouth of the Almighty. However, these curses in Deuteronomy are stated in the singular, and Moses said them on his own.” This does not mean that, Gd forbid, Moshe said even one letter on his own. Rather it refers to the distinction between Deuteronomy and the rest of the Torah, because the Torah which God gave to Israel has two aspects – one from the perspective of God who gave the Torah and the second from the perspective of Israel who received it. If one gave something to a friend who was of equal status, then there is only one perspective because they are equals, but when God who is above all gave the Torah to Israel on earth it is impossible that there not be a special aspect to it which pertains to the giver and another which pertains to the receiver. It is fit that the rest of the Torah express the aspect of the giver while the last book of Deuteronomy express that of the receiver because one who receives does so at the end once the giver has completed their words. This is why Deuteronomy is called Mishne Torah (the repetition of the Torah) to indicate that it contains some special aspect from the perspective of the receiver, as it says “…Moses undertook to expound this Teaching…” (Deut. 1:5) This is because the one who receives needs more clarification and explanation, and this is the distinction between Deuteronomy and the rest of the Torah. In the rest of the Torah, even though Moshe spoke every word nevertheless it was as if God said that ‘thus was decreed and so commanded the Lord,’ God placed the words in Moshe’s mouth as it is written regarding the Ten Commandments “…As Moses spoke, God answered him in thunder.” (Exodus 19:19) Thus it was with everything that Moshe said – God put the words in his mouth. Deuteronomy is different, because in this book Moshe spoke his own words as a messenger who has been commanded to deliver a message. This is what the gemara means when it said ‘these curses in Deuteronomy are stated in the singular, and Moses said them on his own,’ God did not place the words in his mouth because the Deuteronomy is the receiving of the Torah and the act of receiving happens through one who is close to the receiver. The receiver is the essential element of Deuteronomy and therefore it was spoken by Moshe who was close to the receiver (i.e. Israel). The general principal is that God gave the Torah and Israel received it, and that receiving always happens at the end which is Deuteronomy. This is why the language of the book is fit to the receiver, because in it the receiver is primary – meaning that Deuteronomy came at the end to clarify the Divine message further in a manner fit to the receiver. This is a great and essential principal which answers all the difficulties posed by the differences and deviations between the first and second descriptions of the Ten Commandments. Furthermore you must know that the Torah is a covenant between God who gave it and Israel who received the covenant. A covenant binds together the one who makes the covenant with the one who receives it, and anything which connects two things from one perspective is close to one side and from another to the other. Therefore the Torah, which is the covenant between God and Israel, is from one perspective closer to God who gave the covenant and from another perspective to Israel who received it. Thus all of the Torah except Deuteronomy was spoken directly by God who made the covenant but Deuteronomy which comes at the end, which is so to speak the other extremity, is closer to Israel the receiver…

Observe the sabbath day and keep it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you.

And now he begins the review of the Torah. He told them the Ten Commandments, not changing and not explaining anything in [the first two commandments]: I am the Eternal etc., and Thou shalt have no other gods before Me, for they heard them from the mouth of the Almighty. So, too, [there are no changes or explanations] in the third commandment because he already stated [here, as in the text of the third commandment in Exodus 20:7, Thou shalt not take] the Name of the Eternal thy G-d [etc.], as I have explained in the section Ye shall be holy. Then he began to exposit to them, saying ‘Observe’ [the Sabbath-day] instead of ‘Remember’ [the Sabbath-day], this being in line with the plain meaning of Scripture [i.e., that ‘Observe’ is the explanation of ‘Remember’]. And in the opinion of our Rabbis “[Remember and Observe] both were spoken in one utterance.” He explained this to them [here] because they all know Remember, and he is thus informing them [now] that Observe was said with it. And so it is by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], that they were both spoken in one utterance seeing that the Voice was both in “remembering” and “observing,” for the Torah is an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure, and he [i.e., Moses] heard from [the attribute of] Remember while they [i.e., the people, heard] from that of Observe. The student [learned in the mystic teachings of the Cabala] will know this from what we have hinted there.
He explained [with reference to the commandment that we are to Observe the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy] as the Eternal thy G-d commanded thee — “before the Giving of the Torah, at Marah, [for there it is said], there He made for them a statute and an ordinance.” This is the language of Rashi. But if so, the commandment to honor father and mother was also given at Marah [for in the commandment, to honor parents, too, it is stated as the Eternal thy G-d commanded thee], but the Rabbi [Rashi] mentioned there [in connection with the verse referring to Marah] only “the Sabbath, the Red Heifer, and the laws of justice” [as having been given at Marah, but not the honoring of parents].
It appears to me by way of the Truth, [the mystic teachings of the Cabala], concerning this matter [of the Ten Commandments] as well as the whole Book of Deuteronomy that Moses was speaking as if from the mouth of the Almighty, as he said, And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto My commandments which I command you this day, to love the Eternal your G-d, and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, that I will give rain for your Land in its season. Now Moses is not the one who giveth rain upon the earth, nor the one who gives grass in the fields! Rather, the communication of the Torah was given with Remember, and that of Deuteronomy with Observe. Therefore, Moses everywhere in Deuteronomy mentions the Eternal thy G-d while in [the first four books of] the Torah he mentions only the Proper Name of G-d [i.e., the Tetragrammaton] except in the Ten Commandments as it is said, And G-d spoke etc. Understand this.

And he continuously grew at this level, until it was possible for him—and he merited to experience it prior to his departure from the world to the maximum degree possible for a person to merit while still being in this world— as we found in the Mishneh Torah in the paragraph (D’varim 11:13) “And it will be so, if you hearken..”, that first He stated “to love God-YHV”H your God-Elohi”m…”, and immediately in the following verse he stated in the first person “and I will give you rain in your land…”, where he is the giver and actor, for in his own eyes he had annulled himself from having any existence and just the Sh’kheena alone is speaking [fem.]. That is why he said “and I will give”. And this is what they (OBM) stated (Zohar Pinkhas 232): “The Sh’kheena speaks from within Moshe’s throat”, and as the verse stated (Bamidbar 12:8): “Mouth to mouth I speak in him”, and it’s not written “to him”, but rather “in him”—literally within him.

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."

when all Israel comes to appear before the LORD your God in the place that He will choose, you shall read this Teaching aloud in the presence of all Israel.

תקרא את התורה הזאת [WHEN ALL ISRAEL IS COME TO APPEAR BEFORE THE LORD …] THOU SHALT READ THIS LAW [BEFORE ALL ISRAEL] — The king read from the beginning of the section “These are the words” (Deuteronomy 1:1), — as is set forth in Treatise Sotah 41a — upon a wooden platform that was erected in the forecourt.

Let not this Book of the Teaching cease from your lips, but recite it day and night, so that you may observe faithfully all that is written in it. Only then will you prosper in your undertakings and only then will you be successful.

This Sefer Torah. The Sefer Devorim was before Him.

No man shall marry his father’s former wife, so as to remove his father’s garment. No one whose testes are crushed or whose member is cut off shall be admitted into the congregation of the LORD. No one misbegotten shall be admitted into the congregation of the LORD; none of his descendants, even in the tenth generation, shall be admitted into the congregation of the LORD.

There were in the Temple thirteen chests, thirteen tables and thirteen prostrations. [Members] of the household of Rabban Gamaliel and of Rabbi Hananiah the chief of the priests used would prostrate fourteen [times. And where was the additional [prostration]? In front of the wood storage yard, for they had a tradition from their forefathers that the Ark was hidden there.