(כד) אַל־תִּֽטַּמְּא֖וּ בְּכׇל־אֵ֑לֶּה כִּ֤י בְכׇל־אֵ֙לֶּה֙ נִטְמְא֣וּ הַגּוֹיִ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־אֲנִ֥י מְשַׁלֵּ֖חַ מִפְּנֵיכֶֽם׃ (כה) וַתִּטְמָ֣א הָאָ֔רֶץ וָאֶפְקֹ֥ד עֲוֺנָ֖הּ עָלֶ֑יהָ וַתָּקִ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ אֶת־יֹשְׁבֶֽיהָ׃ (כו) וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֣ם אַתֶּ֗ם אֶת־חֻקֹּתַי֙ וְאֶת־מִשְׁפָּטַ֔י וְלֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֔וּ מִכֹּ֥ל הַתּוֹעֵבֹ֖ת הָאֵ֑לֶּה הָֽאֶזְרָ֔ח וְהַגֵּ֖ר הַגָּ֥ר בְּתוֹכְכֶֽם׃ (כז) כִּ֚י אֶת־כׇּל־הַתּוֹעֵבֹ֣ת הָאֵ֔ל עָשׂ֥וּ אַנְשֵֽׁי־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁ֣ר לִפְנֵיכֶ֑ם וַתִּטְמָ֖א הָאָֽרֶץ׃ (כח) וְלֹֽא־תָקִ֤יא הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ אֶתְכֶ֔ם בְּטַֽמַּאֲכֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑הּ כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר קָאָ֛ה אֶת־הַגּ֖וֹי אֲשֶׁ֥ר לִפְנֵיכֶֽם׃ (כט) כִּ֚י כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֣ר יַעֲשֶׂ֔ה מִכֹּ֥ל הַתּוֹעֵבֹ֖ת הָאֵ֑לֶּה וְנִכְרְת֛וּ הַנְּפָשׁ֥וֹת הָעֹשֹׂ֖ת מִקֶּ֥רֶב עַמָּֽם׃ (ל) וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֣ם אֶת־מִשְׁמַרְתִּ֗י לְבִלְתִּ֨י עֲשׂ֜וֹת מֵחֻקּ֤וֹת הַתּֽוֹעֵבֹת֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר נַעֲשׂ֣וּ לִפְנֵיכֶ֔ם וְלֹ֥א תִֽטַּמְּא֖וּ בָּהֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י ה׳ אֱלֹקֵיכֶֽם׃ {פ}
(24) Do not defile yourselves in any of those ways, for it is by such that the nations that I am casting out before you defiled themselves. (25) Thus the land became defiled; and I called it to account for its iniquity, and the land spewed out its inhabitants. (26) But you must keep My laws and My rules, and you must not do any of those abhorrent things, neither the citizen nor the stranger who resides among you; (27) for all those abhorrent things were done by the people who were in the land before you, and the land became defiled. (28) So let not the land spew you out for defiling it, as it spewed out the nation that came before you. (29) All who do any of those abhorrent things—such persons shall be cut off from their people. (30) You shall keep My charge not to engage in any of the abhorrent practices that were carried on before you, and you shall not defile yourselves through them: I ה׳ am your God.
Are these practices inherently immoral or are they forbidden only in the promised land?
אבן עזרא:
זאת המצוה היא שוה לגר ולאזרח, בעבור שהוא דר בארץ ישראל. ואם יש לך לב, תוכל להבין כי בימי יעקב שלקח שתי אחיות בחרן, ואחריו עמרם שלקח דודתו במצרים, כי לא נטמאו בחן.
Ibn Ezra:
These laws are incumbent upon the citizen, and on the foreigner as well by virtue of the fact that he resides in the land of Israel. Now if the reader has any sort of intelligence he will understand that Yaakov married two sisters when he lived in Haran, and that Amram was able to marry his aunt while in Egypt, and yet these unions did not defile the families.
רמב׳׳ן:
והנה השם הנכבד הוא אלוקי האלקים ואדוני האדונים לכל העולם, אבל ארץ ישראל אמצעות הישוב, היא נחלת י׳י מיוחדת לשמו...והנה הארץ שהיא נחלת השם הנכבד תקיא כל מטמא אותה, ולא תסבול עובדי עבודה זרה ומגלים עריות...והנה בחוצה לארץ, אף על פי שהכל לשם הנכבד, אין הטהרה בה שלימה...וכן שנו בספרא...ארץ ישראל אינה כשאר ארצות, אינה מקיימת עובדי עבירה.
Ramban:
Now, although God almighty is surely master over the entire planet, nevertheless, the land of Israel sits at the center of civilization; it is the inheritance of the Lord which is dedicated to His name...As such, this special and honored land will spew out all impurity that defiles it, neither will the place tolerate either idolatry nor licentiousness...Whereas, regions outside of the land of Israel will never be completely purified, even though the whole of the earth should be dedicated to God's glory...Such is the interpretation in the Sifra...the land of Israel is not like other countries; it does not countenance sinners.
ר יוסף אבן כספי:
ולא אאמין לדברי החכם אבן עזרא שהאיסור מצד המקום...כי בלי ספק הטומאה והרעה תהיה בחרן ובארץ מצרים ובכל מקום כמו בארץ כנען, כי הסבה כוללת.
Rabbi Yosef Ibn Kaspi:
I refuse to accept the approach of the sage Rabbi Ibn Ezra who maintains that the prohibition of certain marriages is dependent on the place where one lives...For there is no doubt that evil and impurity exist in Haran and in Egypt, and indeed in all countries just like in the land of Israel. Rather, this is a general issue.
Questions for thought:
- Ibn Ezra makes two astute observations, one about non-Jews in the promised land and the other about Jews outside of the promised land. What are those observations?
- Based on what reasoning does Ibn Kaspi reject Ibn Ezra?
- With which of thee other commentaries does Ramban agree? What explanation does he offer?
- There are those who believe that mitzvot performed outside of the promised land are inherently of a lesser quality than those performed in the promised land. How do you think such an approach would impact on Jews living outside of Israel?
Wisdom of the Heart:
The Torah describes the promised land as one which "vomited out its inhabitants" if they violate its laws. This graphic description and personification of the land is expanded upon y Ramban, who sees the land as endowed with a special spiritual potential, and thus hyper-sensitive to immorality. The same way that a human body will vomit out things it senses are unhealthy, so too will the land vomit out those who violate it through immoral behavior.
The double language used by the Torah to instruct us to observe the mitzvot: ושמרתם את משמרתי (which could be read as "you shall protect my protections"), is understood by the Talmud as an instruction to the rabbis to legislate further protections, beyond the laws given by the Torah itself. Why is this necessary? Because human nature tends to rationalize the things we want to do: Just because. It's easier. And nobody minds. And it doesn't really hurt anybody, does it? And that's a rich company; they'll never miss it. And the government takes too much from me anyway. And...Got the point?
- How many layers of protection do you think are necessary to keep ordinary people from doing bad things? At what point do the protections become too much, such that they distort the original intent?