אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה וכו'. במדבר בערבה מול סוף בין פארן ובין תופל. נראה לפרש שערבה הוא לשון ערב (דברים א, א). והנה בברייתו של עולם ערב קודם לבוקר כדאמרינן בריש ברכות. ואם כן תחלת ימי האדם נקראים ערב.לזה אמר בערבה מול סוף, דהיינו בהתחלת שנותיו של אדם תיכף יהיו כל מעשיו מול השכינה שנקראת סוף כידוע. בין פארן, כמו שדרשו רבותינו ז"ל שנקרא פארן שמשם יוצא פריה ורביה. ובין תופל, כמו שפירש רש"י לשון דיבור, והיינו שבין ברית המעור ובין ברית הלשון הכל יהיה מול סוף בקדושה ושמירה מעולה: Deuteronomy 1,1. “These are the words which Moses spoke to the entire people of Israel in the desert, facing the wilderness near Suph between Paran and between Tophel and Lavan.”
It seems reasonable to see in the word ערבה, wilderness, a reference to the first time the word ערב appears in the story of Creation (Genesis 1,5) where the meaning is “evening,” a transition from day to night. At the time of the creation the evening preceded the first morning, as before the creation of light the universe had been in darkness, as we read there in verse 2, and as the Talmud points out in the beginning of tractate B’rachot, when discussing the times for reciting the keriyat sh’ma. If we take our cue from that paragraph in the Torah, the early years of our lives would be described as ערב. Having this in mind, the Torah, i.e. Moses, alludes here to the need for every human being from his earliest youth to focus all of his activities on the aspect of G’d familiar to us by the name Shechinah, “G’d’s Presence.”
The deeper meaning behind the words: בין פארן, is that this is the site on earth from which the ability for living creatures on earth to become fruitful and to multiply is derived. As to the words: ובין תפל, we follow Rashi, who quotes Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai who claims that no one has ever been able to find these two locations. He therefore concluded that these names are similes, used by Moses to rebuke the Israelites who had spoken derisively of the manna (Numbers 1,7), which was white, לבן. The word תפל, [possibly as root of: תפלה “prayer”. Ed.], according to Rashi, is another word for “speech” (presumably Israel’s accepting the Torah with the words נעשה ונשמע, “we shall do and we shall listen (to instruction).” Moses’ address teaching the Israelites to make G’d their focus at all times, and to observe these covenants meticulously, covers the period between the covenant of circumcision made with Avraham and that of the Ten Commandments made with the assembled Jewish nation at Mount Sinai.
אחד עשר יום מחורב דרך הר שעיר כו' (במדבר א, ב). ויבואר על פי פסוק (במדבר ד, טז) שמן וקטורת כו', הכלל יש בקדושה עשר ספירות ונאמר זה לעומת כו'. רק שבקדושה כביכול הוא וגרמיה חד הוא וזהו עשר ולא אחד עשר, אבל בסטרא אחרא כו', אף על פי כן לית אתר פנוי מיניה וצריך החיות מקדושה כחודה של מחט ושם נקרא אחד עשר וכנגדן אחד עשר סימני קטורת להעלות הסטרא אחרא החיות שלה אל הקדושה ובזה ממילא בטל הסטרא אחרא. וזהו שאמר משה רבינו עליו השלום לישראל י"א יום מחורב, כי הסטרא אחרא נקרא חורב, כלומר על ידי ישראל מעלים הכל אל הקדושה. וזהו אחד עשר יום מחורב דרך הר שעיר, כי היצר הרע נקרא הר ונקרא שעיר כמאמר חכמינו ז"ל (סוכה נב) צדיקים נדמה להם כהר רשעים נדמה להם כשער. וזהו דרך הר שעיר, כלומר להעלות תאות היצר הרע עד קדש עד הקדושה: Deuteronomy 2,1. “it is eleven days (march) from Chorev to Kadesh Barnea.”
In order to understand the relevance of this line, it is helpful to understand a verse in Proverbs 27,9 where Solomon says that שמן וקטורת משמח לב, “oil (for anointing) and incense gladden the heart.”
When dealing with matters involving holiness, the basic number used is the number 10. Already in the most ancient Kabbalistic text, the sefer yetzirah, the number ten is mentioned repeatedly as a contrast to the number eleven. The ten emanations, ספירות, different levels of holiness, are “matched” by ten levels of spiritually negative levels, the difference between the two being that the גורמים, causes, of the ten levels of holiness and the resulting holiness are viewed as part of something integral, whereas a similar “integrity” of cause and effect is not presumed to exist when spiritually negative forces and their causes are concerned. When we read in the sefer yetzirah about “ten levels of emanations and not eleven,” the author wishes to make the point that the causes of the sefirot and the sefirot themselves are not viewed as separate entities. When Moses speaks of a “distance,” of eleven days [in a spiritual sense, as in: ‘49 levels of ritual pollution,’ Ed.], the word חורב, [as distinct from Sinai. Ed.], is to be understood as symbolizing the סטרא אחרא, the ten spiritually negative forces that are the counterweight of the ten spiritually positive forces. The Israelites (priests) used to offer twice daily an incense offering known as קטורת, consisting of 11 different categories of fragrances. When Moses elaborates by saying that the “11 days” he refers to were in the direction of Mount Seir, the region of the Kingdom of Edom, it becomes clear that he referred to something that took the Israelites away from the spiritually lofty atmosphere of Mount Sinai in the direction of the spiritually totally polluted domain of Esau/Seir. This is a fitting introduction to Moses rebuking the Israelites in this Book. In the parlance of our sages, the evil urge is often referred to as הר, mountain, i.e. representing an almost insurmountable obstacle. It is also called שעיר as we know from Sukkah 52. [None of the seven names mentioned in the Talmud there is שעיר, Ed.] The Talmud there does say that the evil urge appears like a tall mountain to the righteous, whereas it appears as insignificant as a thin hair to the wicked.
דבר משה אל בני ישראל ככל אשר צוה ה' אותו אליהם (דברים א, א). ויבואר על פי מה שכתב בזוהר הקדוש על המשנה כל דבר שהיה בכלל ויצא מן הכלל כו', הכלל התורה הקדושה יש בה פנימיות סודות נעלמות ומה שנאמרה התורה בסיפורי מעשיות מעשה אברהם, מעשה יצחק, מעשה יעקב עם לבן, מעשה אמהות, מעשה בלעם ואתון שלו, באמת יש בהם סודות נעלמות פנימיות, רק שמגוף התורה שמבואר במעשה גם כן ילמדו ממנה מדות טובות, דהיינו מעשה אברהם ללמוד לעשות חסד מאברהם, מעשה יעקב להראות צדקתו של יעקב, מעשה האמהות להראות וללמוד צדקת האמהות צדקת רחל אשר עדיין זה הזכות קיים לנו שהכניסה צרתה כו', כמבואר ברבותינו ז"ל שעל זה נאמר (ירמיה לא, יד) קול ברמה כו', רחל כו'. ונמצא נכתבו המעשים כדי ללמוד גם מהמעשה המדה התלויה בה. וכן כתיב מעשה בלעם ואתון שלו, כדי להראות מעשה מגונה של אותו הרשע להרחיק מן מעשיו כמאמר חכמינו ז"ל (אבות ה, כב) מה בין תלמידיו של אברהם אבינו לתלמידיו כו', דהיינו ליקרב עצמו למדת אברהם ולרחק עצמו ממדת בלעם הרשע. נמצא זה שהתורה נאמר בסיפורי מעשיות כדי שגם מן המעשה נלמד המדה אבל באמת ישנו בה סודות נעלמות עד אין סוף. וכן אפילו שאר התורה שנאמרה בה המצוה בפירוש יש בה סודות נעלמות. וזהו כל דבר שהיה בכלל, דהיינו התורה שהוא הכלל מן העולמות. ויצא מן הכלל, להכתב בסיפור מעשה. ללמד, דהיינו ללמוד גם מן המעשה עצמה המדה המבואר בה. וזה לא ללמד על עצמו יצא כו', כלומר לא בהתורה אשר נכתבה בסיפור כו' יש בה סודות כו', אלא גם בהתורה אשר מבואר המצוה בה באר היטב יש בה סודותכו', וזהו אלא ללמד על הכלל כולו יצא. וזה מבואר קצת בזוהר הקדוש. ובאמת במשנה תורה לא נכתבה בסיפור מעשה, רק מבואר בה במצות היטב מדות השם ודרכי השם ותוכחה לישראל להסיר מדרך הרע ולדבק בדרך הטוב בדרך ה' ולמה זה, כי דור שהיו במצרים והיו משוקעים בטומאת מצרים ועל ידי זה הכעיסו לפניו יתברך כנאמר ברבותינו ז"ל, ועיין ברש"י בערבה מול סוף בין פארן כו', ודי זהב כו' עיין שם. ונמצא על ידי זה הוצרך להלביש התורה בסיפורי מעשיות כנזכר לעיל. אבל במשנה תורה שהיו דור שלם דור שנכנסו לארץ הקדושה שלא היו משוקעים בטומאת מצרים לכך נאמר להם התורה בלי שום לבוש כנזכר לעיל. וזהו אלה הדברים, כל מקום שנאמר אלה פוסל את הראשונים, כלומר מה שנאמר לראשונים תורה בלבוש כנ"ל, הוא מחמת במדבר בערבה כו', כפירוש רש"י אחרי הכותו כו', הואיל משה באר את התורה כו', ככל אשר צוה ה' אותו אליהם כנ"ל: Deuteronomy 1,3. “Moses spoke to the Children of Israel in accordance with all that Hashem had commanded him concerning them.”
This verse will be better understood when we look at the Zohar III 149.where the Baraitha of Rabbi Yishmael at the beginning of Torat Kohanim, states כל דבר שהיה בכלל ויצא מן הכלל וגו', “anything that was included in a general statement, but was then singled out to teach something, was not singled out to teach only about itself., but to apply its teaching to the entire generality;” When applied to the Holy Torah, we have to distinguish between matters treated by the Torah as “more profound than immediately visible after a superficial reading of the text, i.e. פנימיוות וסוד, “something mystical, buried deep inside,” and between matters that every reader can understand at once, such as references to places, dates, such as when the Torah relates details of the lives of Avraham, Yitzchok and Yaakov. When the Torah reports about their respective dealings with Lavan, or stories told about the matriarchs, Bileam and his ass, these are not to be understood only at face value, but they contain deeply hidden aspects, such as that we are to learn from the excerpts of Avraham’s life how do practice loving kindness with our fellow man. From the details revealed about Yaakov’s life, we are to learn about the righteousness of Yaakov; similarly there are many human attributes practiced by our matriarchs which we are to learn to emulate by immersing ourselves more deeply in the stories of the Torah than one does by reading a novel. Proper reading of these “stories” helps us understand that we are till this day benefiting by the merits accumulated by our forefathers, some of which, we, as their descendants, are being rewarded for. Rachel’s foregoing marriage to her betrothed, Yaakov, in order not to publicly shame her sister Leah, is one of the outstanding examples of selflessness from which we are to learn, according to our sages, when they comment on Jeremiah 31,14 קול ברמה נשמע נהי בכי תמרורים רחל מבכה על בניה מאנה להנחם על בניה כי איננו, “a voice is heard in Ramah- wailing, bitter weeping- Rachel weeping for her children she refuses to be comforted for her children who are gone.” In its introduction to megillat eychah, Lamentations, the author, quoting above verse from Jeremiah interprets it as G’d’s promise to bring redemption to Rachel’s descendants on account of her merits.
If the Torah took the trouble to relate fragments from the lives of the patriarchs and matriarchs to teach us to emulate their virtues, it wrote of Bileam’s conduct in order to teach us not to emulate the abuse Bileam had made of his freedom of choice. Anyone reading of how boastful Bileam had made a fool of himself and left Balak after having become totally discredited, will surely learn a lesson from this. Avot 5,9 points to the difference between the disciples of Avraham and the disciples of Bileam. Avraham’s virtues are worth emulating, whereas Bileam’s great intellectual gifts, due to their being abused by their owner, must be shunned. In other words, although we are able to derive much value from just reading the text superficially, what is hidden behind such superficial reading of the text is even more illuminating. Similarly, with the parts of the Torah that on the surface purport to teach G’d’s commandments; although we must, of course use the text in order to know which commandments to perform and when and where, the text contains many hidden nuances that are discovered only when we apply ourselves with the intention to discover them.
This is what the author of the Baraitha of Rabbi Yishmael that we quoted earlier meant when it stated that “any matter that was part of a general statement, etc,” the general statement is the Torah as a whole, whereas “the statements singled out,” are the specific details about critical moments in our patriarchs’ and matriarchs’ lives, as well as critical details in the lives of other personalities the Torah has singled out from the millions it could have chosen. The words in the Baraitha “but was then singled out from a general statement to teach something only about itself,” refer to specific attributes possessed by the persons mentioned, which are meant either to be emulated or to be shunned. The words: “was not singled out to teach only about itself,” teaches that the attribute emphasized in that example is not to be treated as an exception but is to be applied generally.
That Baraitha also hints by its wording that we must not only look for something beyond the bare text in the stories the Torah tells about outstanding personalities, but search for deeper meaning in the text teaching the commandments. There is a lesson to be learned not only regarding how to perform the commandments, but also regarding moral/ethical lessons to be derived from each commandment.
This latter idea is somewhat elaborated on in the Zohar. It is interesting to note that the fifth Book of the Torah is known also as משנה תורה, [loosely translated as “review of the Torah,” although it is much more than that, containing commandments that did not appear previously at all. Ed.] In this Book, the emphasis is not so much on the attributes of outstanding human beings, but on the attributes of the Creator, and His relationship to His chosen people under various circumstances.
Knowing the manner in which G’d relates to His people is the key to all the warnings issued by Moses to the people concerning their deviating from the right path and the consequences which this would bring in its wake sooner or later, whenever G’d’s patience in waiting for the people to repent would come to an end. Since the Book of Deuteronomy was addressed (at the time) to the generation of Israelites who had not been adults at the time of the Exodus, or who had not even been born yet at that time, they did not need to have everything spelled out for them by means of the stories in the Torah, i.e. parables, as according to Moses’ own testimony in Deut. 29,3 they had become a generation that could use their eyes and ears (not only physically). This was a generation that was not tainted by the ritual pollution it had taken out with them from Egypt.
This is how we must understand Bereshit Rabbah 12,3 that wherever the Torah commences a paragraph with the words: אלה וגו', “these,” etc., it signifies that conditions that had existed prior to this point had become completely irrelevant. In the line in Genesis 2,4 where we find the word אלה for the first time, this signals that anything that the Torah had written about the state of the universe before the creation of light, i.e. the state of תהו ובהו, utter chaos, had by now become totally irrelevant. When we apply this Midrash to the Book of Deuteronomy, it means that rules that had been relevant to the people who had left Egypt as adults no longer had any relevance. The present generation was on a spiritually so much higher level that Moses could speak to them without having to use parables. This is also what Rashi had in mind when in his commentary on the words: אחרי הכותו את סיחן וגו', “after He had smitten Sichon, etc.” (1,4) he says that Moses waited with his words of rebuke for the people until G’d had begun the fulfillment of His promise to give the land of the Canaanites to Israel by giving them vast territory on the east bank of the Jordan. That important victory had concluded the 40 years of wandering in the desert without meaningful progress. At that point Moses became able to speak to the people in the manner G’d had commanded him to do (end of verse 3).
בעבר הירדן בארץ מואב הואיל משה באר את התורה (דברים א, ה). עיין ברש"י באר בשבעים לשון. ולמה ביאר כאן התורה בשבעים לשון, ובו יבואר הפסוק (תהלים פז, ו) ה' יספור בכתוב עמים זה יולד שם סלה, הכלל, כי לפעמים כתיב בתורה תיבת התרגום כגון יגר סהדותא (בראשית לא, מז) וכן הלשון של שאר אומות כגון טוטפת ט"ט בכתפי שתים פת באפריקי שתים (זבחים לז:) וכן הן בלשון יוני אחת, וכן שאר לשונות שכתוב בתורה מלשונות הגוים. וחד טעם הוא, כי הלשון של כל האומות הוא החיות מן האומה ולשון הקודש הוא של ישראל לבד. ובאמת ישראל שמעו התורה בסיני רק בלשון הקודש והקדוש ברוך הוא המביט מראשית אחרית שראה שישראל צריכין להיות בגלות לזה כתב בתורה לשון של שאר אומות שעל ידי זה יהיה להם אחיזה בחיות שלהם שהוא הלשון בהתורה הקדושה בכדי שישראל יוכל להיות להם תקומה בגלות. וזהו הרמז בפסוק ה' יספור בכתוב עמים, כלומר שהקדוש ברוך הוא כתב בתורה איזה כתב מן העמים מן שאר האומות. זה יולד שם סלה, בכדי שהצדיק יוכל לקיים שם, כי הצדיק נקרא זה כמאמר חכמינו ז"ל (ברכותו:) כל העולם לא נברא אלא לצוות לזה. וזהו הרמז זה יולד שם סלה, בכדי שהצדיק יהיה לו קיום בגלות. וזהו בארץ מואב, כי בארץ ישראל לא היה רק לשון הקודש אבל בארץ מואב שהוא ארץ הגוים חוץ לארץ ישראל צריך לבאר התורה בכל הלשונות בכדי לקיים ישראל בגלות: Deuteronomy 1,5. “on the far side (east bank) of the Jordan in the land of Moab, Moses undertook to explain this Torah;”
A look at Rashi, based on Tanchuma, shows us that Moses translated the Torah into 70 languages. Why did Moses find it necessary to choose this time and location to translate the Torah into all the known languages at the time? If this was indeed so, this helps us explain a verse in psalms 87,6 ה' יספור בכתוב עמים זה ילד שם סלה, “The Lord will inscribe in His register of all the peoples that have been born, selah.”
It is an accepted rule that on occasion the Torah writes some words in Aramaic, such as in Genesis 31,47 “יגר סהדותא,” “the stone of witness,” whereas Yaakov named the very same heap of stones גלעד in its Hebrew equivalent. Aramaic is not the only foreign (non Hebrew) language that is found in the Torah. An example that comes to mind is the word טוטפות used by the Torah to describe the area on the forehead where the phylacteries are to be placed. (Deuteronomy 6,8). The word may describe some jewelry worn on the head. There are still other occasions when the Torah uses words from the Greek or other languages. The Talmud Zevachim 37 deals with the subject.
The point is that the gentiles come across words in the Torah which are familiar to them from their own language. More than that; the language of a nation is an essential part of its “life,” i.e. its culture, its reason for being a separate nation. Seeing that G’d foresaw that at some time in the future the Jewish people would spend their lives in exile amongst people speaking an “alien” tongue, the fact that the odd word of such languages were familiar to them from the Torah would serve as an encouragement to them, reminding them that they were not in a totally alien world. It is this thought that the psalmist alluded to in psalms 87,6 when he referred to the Jewish people though in exile will never be counted as an integral part of the host nation, but as “Zionists,” see reference in the verse preceding psalms 87,6. (Compare Alshich)
According to our author, the smattering of foreign words in the Torah is designed to give Jews born in foreign lands due to their parents being in exile, confidence that they can live there as Jews, provided they live as a צדיקים, righteous persons, as the tzaddik is also referred to as זה, (Compare B’rachot 6) and this is what the psalmist alludes to when writing the word זה after the word עמים in the verse quoted earlier from psalms 87,6. The Talmud quotes as its example the word זה in the last verse of Kohelet, where the line כי זה כל האדם, for this is the “whole” human being, implies that only a person who is a ירא שמים, ”lives in awe of His Creator,” is truly a human being.
The reason that the Torah refers to Moses explaining the Torah in the land of Moab is that only in חוץ לארץ, outside the Land of Israel proper, is there any need for Torah also to be understood by resorting to a tongue other than the holy Tongue.
ואצוה את שופטיכם בעת ההוא לאמר שמוע בין אחיכם (דברים א, טז). כלומר, בעת ההוא צריך לשמוע הבעלי דינין כדי לשפוט צדק אבל לעתיד לבא במשיח כתיב (סנהדרין צג:) דמורח ודאין, אין צריך לשמוע הבעלי דינין. דמורח, אפילו בלא שמוע הבעלי דינין יודע עם מי האמת: Deuteronomy 1,16. “I commanded you at that time:” hear out your fellow man so that you may judge fairly;” the words בעת ההיא, “at that time,” appear to be superfluous; the fact is that only while in the Diaspora do the judges have to listen to the arguments of the litigants. In the future, after the arrival of the messiah (Sanhedrin 93), the Judges will know who is right and who is wrong in a dispute without lengthy arguments by the litigants.