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ואהבת לרעך כמוך THOU SHALT LOVE THY FELLOW MAN AS THYSELF —Rabbi Akiba said: “This is a fundamental principle of the Torah” (Sifra, Kedoshim, Chapter 4 12; Talmud Yerushalmi Nedarim 9:3).

האנשים [ASSEMBLE THE PEOPLE,] MEN [WOMEN, AND LITTLE ONES] — the men, in order to learn,

והנשים THE WOMEN, in order to listen to the words of the Law,

והטף AND THE LITTLE ONES — Why did they come? For no other purpose than that a reward should be given to those who bring them (Chagigah 3a).

They said to him that Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya interpreted the following verse: “Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones” (Deuteronomy 31:12). This verse is puzzling: If men come to learn, and women, who might not understand, come at least to hear, why do the little ones come? They come in order for God to give a reward to those who bring them, i.e., God credits those who bring their children to the assembly. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: This good pearl of wisdom was in your hands, and you tried to conceal it from me?

"he is Mine": What is the intent of this? It is written (Devarim 15:19) "the male shall you sanctify to the L rd your G d." (How am I to understand this?) As sanctify it so that you receive reward, or if you sanctify it, it is sanctified, and, if not, it is not sanctified? It is, therefore, written "he is Mine" — in any event. What is the intent, then, of "the male shall you sanctify"? Sanctify it (i.e., dedicate it to the L rd) for the sake of receiving reward. Similarly, (Leviticus 6:5) "And the Cohein shall burn wood upon it every morning, etc." What is the intent of this? Is it not written (Isaiah 40:16) "and (the whole forest of Levanon is not sufficient to burn, etc."? What, then, is the intent of "And the Cohein shall burn wood upon it"? For the sake of receiving reward. Similarly, (Numbers 28:4) "the one lamb shall you offer, etc." What is the intent of this? Is it not written (Isaiah, Ibid.) "nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt-offering"? What, then, is the intent of "The one lamb, etc."? For the sake of receiving reward. Similarly, (Exodus 25:8) "and they shall make for Me a sanctuary, etc." What is the intent of this? Is it not written (Jeremiah 23:24) "Do I not fill heaven and earth?" What, then, is the intent of "And they shall make for Me a sanctuary"? For the sake of receiving reward for making it. Once, the disciples spent a Sabbath in Yavneh, R. Yehoshua not among them. When they returned to him he asked them: "What novelty did you hear in Yavneh?" They answered: "After you, our master" (i.e., there is no one to do so after you). R. Yehoshua: "Who spent the Sabbath there?" They: "R. Elazar b. Azaryah." R. Yehoshua: "Is it possible that R. Elazar b. Azaryah spent the Sabbath there without telling you something novel?" They: He expounded this principle (Devarim 31:12) "Gather the people — the men, the women, and the children." Now do little children know the difference between good and evil? But (He did so) in order to bestow reward upon their bringers, to increase the reward of the doers of His will, as it is written (Isaiah 42:21) "The L rd desires for the sake of His righteousness to magnify Torah and to exalt it." At this, he said to them: "What can be more novel than this? I am seventy years old, and I never merited hearing such a thing until this day! Happy are you, father Abraham, from whose loins Elazar b. Azaryah emerged! The generation is not an orphan in whose midst R. Elazar b. Azaryah resides!" They: Our master, he also expounded this principle: (Jeremiah 23:7) "Therefore, behold, days are coming, says the L rd, when it will no more be said: 'As the L rd lives, who brought up the children of Israel from the land of Egypt, etc.'" To what may this be compared? A man desired children and had a daughter — whereupon (when he made a vow) he vowed upon her life. Thereafter, he had a son, and (in vowing) he left off (vowing by) his daughter and vowed upon the life of his son. R. Shimon b. Yochai says: To what may this be compared? A man was journeying and was accosted by a wolf, from which he was rescued — whereupon he would (always) talk about his encounter with the wolf. He was later accosted by a lion, from which he was rescued — whereupon he left off talking about his encounter with the wolf and spoke about his encounter with the lion. Similarly, (Genesis 29:19) "And he called the name of the place Beth-El." The first name was superseded by the second. Similarly, (Ibid. 17:5) "And your name will no longer be called Avram." The first name was superseded by the second. Similarly, (Ibid. 15) "Sarai, your wife, etc." The first name was superseded by the second. (Ibid. 32:28) "Your name will no longer be called Yaakov but Yisrael." The first name remained and the second was superadded. The name of Yitzchak was not changed, for he was thus (originally) called by the Holy One Blessed be He. There are three who were named by the Holy One Blessed be He — Yitzchak, Shlomoh, and Yoshiyahu. Yitzchak — (Ibid. 17:19) "But Sarah your wife will bear a son for you and you shall call his name Yitzchak." Shlomoh (I Chronicles 22:9) "for Shlomoh will be his name." Yoshiyahu (I Kings 13:2) "A son will be born to the house of David. Yoshiyahu will be his name." Others say: Also Yishmael among the gentiles. We find the names of righteous ones and their deeds to be revealed to the L rd before their creation, viz. (Jeremiah 1:5) "Before I created you in the womb, I knew you." Where do we find (the same for) the names of wicked ones? It is written (Psalms 58:4) "The wicked are estranged from the womb, etc."

Our Rabbis were taught: It happened that R. Jochanan b. Broka and R. Elazar b. Chasma went to visit R. Joshua in the city of Pekiin, and he asked them: "What news has been taught to-day in the house of learning?" They answered him: "We are your disciples, and we came to drink your waters." "Nevertheless," said he, "it is impossible that there should not be something new in the college; whose Sabbath was it for lecturing?" "The lecture of this Sabbath was R. Elazar b. Azariah's." "And on what verse did he lecture?" "On the portion of Assembly." "And what did R. Elazar preach?" "He lectured thus: It is written (Deut. 31, 12) Assemble the people together, the men and the women and the children. It is right, the men came to learn, the women came to listen; but for what purpose were the children brought? Only that those who brought them should be rewarded." Whereupon he remarked: "You have had a good pearl in your possession and you wanted to deprive me of it."

They said to him that Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya interpreted the following verse: “Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones” (Deuteronomy 31:12). This verse is puzzling: If men come to learn, and women, who might not understand, come at least to hear, why do the little ones come? They come in order for God to give a reward to those who bring them, i.e., God credits those who bring their children to the assembly. Rabbi Yehoshua said to them: This good pearl of wisdom was in your hands, and you tried to conceal it from me?

וישמע הכנעני AND THE CANAANITE HEARD This is stated here to tell you that Aaron’s death was indeed the news he heard — that the clouds of glory that until now had protected Israel had departed, and he therefore believed that liberty was now given to wage war against Israel. It is on this account that this is again recorded here (see Rashi on Numbers 21:1) (Rosh Hashanah 3a).

כי אתם עברים את הירדן וגו׳ והורשתם וגו׳ WHEN YOU ARE PASSED OVER THE JORDAN … YOU SHALL DRIVE OUT [ALL THE INHABITANTS] — But had they not already been admonished about this several times? But it is repeated here in this form “when you are passing over the Jordan”, and not as usual “when you come into the land” because Moses spoke thus to them: While you are passing through the Jordan on dry land, you shall pass over having this in view (that you will drive out the inhabitants), and if you do not, the waters will come and overwhelm you. And so indeed we find (Jos. 4:10) that Joshua spoke to them while they were still standing in the Jordan (Sotah 34a).

והורשתם את הארץ (lit., ye shall drive out the land) — this means: and you shall dispossess it of its inhabitants, and then, וישבתם בה YOU WILL DWELL IN IT — i.e., you will be able to remain in it, but if not, you will not be able to remain in it.