“Behold! – “r’eh,” “see, look” - I set before you today a blessing and a curse…” (Deut.11: 26, emphasis added). The imperative form of the verb “see, look, or behold” is in the singular person, while the “you” in this verse is in plural form. Thus, although that which is about to follow is a charge to the entire nation, each Israelite must consider what is being said and be personally responsible for obeying YHVH’s Word. Contrary to the English rendering that, a blessing will result “if you hear the commandments of YHVH your Elohim which I command you today; and a curse, if you will not hear the commandments of YHVH your Elohim” (11:27 italics added), in Hebrew it is simply: “Behold I set before you today a blessing and curse; a blessing [of] hearing the commandments…” The prepositional “if” is attached only to the curse. Thus, keeping YHVH’s Word constitutes a blessing in itself, which is why He gave Yisrael the Torah in the first place - instructions for life abundant! (cf. John 10:10). The blessings are a "given", a default, if you will, obtained by living in obedience to YHVH's Word.
In order to maintain the blessings
in the land of their inheritance, the Israelites are commanded: “You
shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations whom
you shall possess serve their gods… and you shall obliterate their
name from that place” (12:2a.3c italics added). The verb used for “utterly destroy”
is the same as for “obliterate” - “abed” of the root a.b/v.d (alef,
bet/vet, dalet). The first reference is a double rendering, “a’bed ta’abdoon (destroying
you will destroy - singular)”, while the second (obliterate in English) is “ve’eeba’de’tem (plural)”.
"Abed” (here in its different forms) puns with “avod” (ayin,
bet/vet, dalet), which here is used for “worship and service rendered
to idols”, and may be an intentional device employed in our text. Thus we read
above, “The places where the nations… serve [av’du]
their gods”, and in 13:6-8: “If your brother… or your son or daughter,
or the wife you cherish, or your friend… entice
you secretly, saying, ‘let us go and serve [na’avda]
other gods…’ you shall not yield to him or listen to him…” (emphasis and
italics added), as serving other gods will indeed bring about utter destruction
and obliteration – avadon - of the above root a.b/v.d - upon
those thus engaged (see also 13:10-17). In 12:29 it says that YHVH will
be destroying, cutting off, or annihilating "before you the nations which
you go to dispossess". This "destruction" is "karot",
meaning "to cut off", while the command to the Israelites to
"destroy" the "places" and the "names" connected
to the prevailing idolatry in the land, which is the above-mentioned abod, is
different. The literal meaning of this verb is "to cause to be lost",
whether the sites themselves, or their very memory.
But while this command to
“obliterate” points to the places (of the nations’ idol
worship), when the text describes idolatry that originates with one’s relatives and close
associates a completely different course of action is enjoined:
"But you shall surely kill [harog ta’hargenu – killing you will kill] him;
your hand shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the
hand of all the people. And you shall stone him with stones until he
dies, because he sought to entice you away from the YHVH your Elohim…” (Deut.
13:9-10).
Having been nomads in the
wilderness, the Israelites have not yet experienced the “rest and
the inheritance” promised them by YHVH (12:9). It is
precisely to obtain those two promises that they are to “not do according to
all that [you] are doing here today, each doing all that is right in his own
eyes… And you shall cross over the Jordan, and shall live in the land
which YHVH your Elohim is causing you to inherit. And He shall give
you rest from all your enemies all around; and you shall live
securely” (12: 8, 10, italics added). “Rest” is “menu’cha”
(root n.o.ch – noon, vav, chet), and “inheritance” here is “nachala”
(root n.ch.l – noon, chet, lamed), with the first two consonants of the latter
forming “nach” – rest, thusly making these two (inheritance and rest) an
indivisible unit. From Hebrews 4:1, 2 we learn that “the word [of the promise
to enter the rest and receive the inheritance] did
not profit those hearing it, not having been mixed with faith in the ones who
heard” (italics added). The root n.ch.l is also used for streams of water; that
is what 'flows' or 'moves on', such as an inheritance passed from one
generation to the next.
Large portions of our Parasha deal
with YHVH’s place of choice, where He is to be worshipped. It is no wonder,
therefore, that just beforehand He commands Yisrael to cleanse the land of all
vestige of idolatry. As we saw in Parashat Va’ye’tze (Genesis 28: 10 – 32:2, in
chapter 28:10ff) “place” is “makom”, originating from the verb “kum” which
means “to rise, stand up, or go up”. This place is defined as: “The place
which YHVH your Elohim shall choose out of all your tribes; for you shall seek
His dwelling, to put His name there” (12:5). It is there that the
Israelites are to “go” -- it is there that they are to “bring” their
“offerings, sacrifices, tithes, contributions and oaths” (12:6, 11). It is also
there that they are to “do” all that He commands them to do (12:14). It
is to be a place for both individual and corporate service to, and worship of
YHVH, with the Pesach sacrifice being offered there (ref. 16:2,
6), and where the “rejoicing” during the Feast of Shavu’ot (Feast of Weeks) is
to take place (ref. 16:11), as well as at Succot (16:15). Finally, “three times
in a year shall all your males appear before YHVH your Elohim in the place which
He shall choose” (16:16 emphasis added).
The word here for “males” is not the usual “z’charim” (singular, “zachar”), but
another version of the same root (z.ch.r. zayin, chaf, resh), “z’churim”.
The root z.ch.r means to “remember”, and thus a “male” is “one who
remembers”. But here the changed form (“z’churim”) means “those
who are remembered”. If the Israelites remember to obey YHVH’s
Word, He will definitely not forget them and will maintain His faithfulness to
them (and their households). "The place that YHVH chooses" (for His
dwelling place in the land of Israel), which is repeated several times in our
text, as we just noted, calls to mind Yeshua's words: "I go to prepare a
place for you…" (John 14:2b), which is preceded by His statement: "In
my Father's house, there are many mansions" (v. 14a). Whether on earth or
in heaven, in the terrestrial or in the celestial, Elohim always desires to
live with and in His people, and is, therefore, the Builder of their shared
abode (cf. 1st Chron. 17:25; Ps. 127:1; Is. 66:1; Heb. 11:10).
Whereas the sacrifices and offerings
are not to be offered randomly (“take heed to yourself that you not offer your
burnt offerings in every place that you see”, 12:13), the slaughtering and
partaking of meat, once Yisrael enters the land, may be done at will (v. 15).
This will enable the people to eat the meat of undomesticated animals such as
deer and ram, which although kosher, could not be eaten in the wilderness as
they were not to be used for sacrifices. But in addition to this
changed regulation, another change is now being enacted. Because
meat-eating in the wilderness always involved a sacrifice (“peace offering” for
the laymen), those partaking of it had to be “tahor”, that is, in a
state of ritual cleanliness. However, with the changed conditions
and requirements for and in the Land of Yisrael, he who is
ritually unclean, the “tameh”, will also be able to partake
of meat (except, of course, meat that is to be sacrificed in the place
designated by YHVH). It is here that the prohibition of consuming
blood is also repeated (12:16) and elaborated upon in verse 23, where it says
(literally): “Only, be strong not to eat the blood, for the
life is in the blood, and you shall not eat the life with the flesh” (emphasis
added). Rashi, quoting Rabbi Yehuda, comments that it took “strength” to
restrain oneself and not partake of the blood. He further quotes Rabbi Shim’on
ben Azay who says that this indicates that if fortitude was needed to stay away
from blood, which naturally does not constitute a great temptation, how much
more so regarding YHVH’s other injunctions![[1]] However,
the blood that we are obligated to ‘drink’ is Yeshua's, for He
said: “Truly, truly, I say to you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of man,
and drink His blood you do not have life in yourselves. The one
partaking of My flesh and drinking of My blood has everlasting life, and I will
raise him up at the last day” (John 6:53, 54).
The expression “life is in the
blood”, of 12:23, is actually the “blood is [or constitutes] the soul”, as we
see also in B’resheet (Genesis) 9:4. Soul - “nefesh”
- stems from the root n.f.sh (noon, pey/fey, shin) meaning, “rest” or
“refreshing oneself”. Shmot (Exodus) 23:12 provides a good example and
illustration of the usage and meaning of this verb: “Six days you are to do
your work, but on the seventh day you shall cease from labor [in order] that
your ox and your donkey may rest, and the son of your female slave, as well as
your stranger may refresh themselves” (emphasis added). Thus,
embedded in the very word for ‘soul’ is YHVH’s original intent and design for
it, which is “rest, repose and refreshment”. What's more, in Exodus 31:17 we
read the following: "...for in six days YHVH made the heavens and the
earth, and on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed -
va'yinafesh" (italics added).
Chapter 13 begins with a challenge
concerning false prophets or dreamers of dreams, which the Israelites are not
to heed if they are to truly express love for YHVH their
Elohim. Accordingly, we read the following in verse 3: “You shall
not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams; for YHVH
your Elohim is testing you to find out if you love YHVH your Elohim with all
your heart and with all your soul”. The Hebrew for “you love…” is
“ha’yesh’chem ohavim…” This is an unusual usage of “yesh”,
which as a rule means, “there is, substance, or existence” and is generally not
attached to verbs. The particular usage employed here indicates that
the love the Israelites are supposed to have for YHVH is to be part and parcel
of their very being, their makeup, and their fiber.
The rest of chapter 13 and the first
part of 14 deal (again) with idolatrous practices, about which it says: “You
shall put away evil from among you” (13: 5c, see also v. 17a). The
verb for “put away” is “(u)ve’arta”, of the root
b.ae.r (bet, ayin, resh) which literally means to “burn”. In
Bamidbar (Numbers) 11:1 we read, “And when the people complained,
it displeased YHVH and YHVH heard it; and his anger was kindled, and the fire
of YHVH burnt among them”. That fire of YHVH, which burnt among
them, was denoted by the same verb. And thus, we may infer that
Yisrael is not only to “burn” the “evil”, but that failing to depart from it
will incur YHVH’s burning (anger). Moreover, there
is another word that is spelled the same and means “brutish or ignorant”
and by inference also “beasts and cattle” (e.g. Gen.
45:17). The fools are addressed in Tehilim (Psalms) 94: 8 – 11
in this way: “Understand you beastly ones [“bo’arim”] among the people;
you fools, when will you be wise? He who planted the ear, shall He not hear? He
who formed the eye, shall He not see? He who chastises the nations, shall He
not punish, He who teaches man knowledge? YHVH knows the thoughts of
man, that they are vain”. It appears that b.ae.r (“burning,” but
also “removal” and “brutish”) is applied to the ignorant ones
who have incurred YHVH’s burning anger, or to those who may be
in danger of doing so.
The laws of tithing are also
repeated in our Parasha: “You shall surely tithe all the increase of your seed
that the field yields year by year” (14:22). “Aser ta’aser” – “You
shall surely tithe” (lit. “tithing you shall tithe”) is
emphatic. The letters ayin, sin, and resh from the word “eser” - “ten” (the
tithe, of course, being the tenth part of the whole, and therefore called “ma’aser”). These
letters also form the root of ashir - rich (with a slight
modification in the letter “sin”, placing the dot – vowel - on the upper
right-hand side, turning it to “shin”). Are we to surmise from this
that he who pays his tithes is guaranteed riches? The reason given
here for the tithes (and for having to be faithful to eat it in the place
chosen by YHVH) is to teach the “fear [of] YHVH” (14:23). The
commentator Alshikh asks, “How can eating, drinking, and abundance of rejoicing
teach people to be God-fearing? … Perhaps the Holy One blessed Be He commanded
them to take a tithe of all their possessions to Jerusalem, to deter them from
repudiating the source of their bounty, and that they should realize that this
wealth did not originate with the power of their own hands. It was as if they
were giving the king his portion. This tithe is ‘holy to the Lord’, and from
the table of the Most High. They were partaking of the table of the Most High
(this tithe was regarded as their own personal goods…) … The ‘living would take
this to heart’ that he was a slave of the king of the universe, partaking of
His bounty, and in this way never stop fearing the Lord continually.”[[2]]
The principle of the release of
debts comes next. “Every seven years you shall make a release [“sh’mita”]
(15:1), of the verb sh.m.t. (shin, mem, tet), which means to “drop, release,
or let go” (as we saw in Parashat Mishpatim – Ex. 21-24,
in 23:11). The lesson learned thereby is not only the remission
of debts but also the remission of sins, granted us by YHVH who in forgiveness
and grace “lets go” of our transgressions. The theme of generosity expressed in
15:3-4 is repeated in verses 7-11, where we find the expression, “an open and
free hand” (15:8). Such an attitude, with the resultant deeds, will produce
conditions where there will be, “…no one in need among you, for YHVH will greatly
bless you in the land that YHVH your Elohim is giving you for an inheritance,
to possess it” (15:4). But should the poor nevertheless remain in
the land, “sh’mita” will afford an opportunity to “give freely” (ref. vs. 7, 8,
10, 11) and, further, to be blessed in return. Even Yeshua made the
comment that “the poor are always with you” (John 12:8). The word
used in our text for “poor” (15:7, 11) is “ev’yon”, of the root a.v.h
(alef, bet/vet, hey) which is “submit to existing demand” [3], thereby describing
the lot of the less fortunate member of society. In verse 2, we read: “… every
creditor shall release what he has loaned to his neighbor…” - “loaned”
here being “yasheh” (root n.sh.h, noon, shin, hey) and means “obligate, give
up rights”. It also forms the root of the name Menashe (forgetfulness,
related to "giving up rights, see Gen. 41:51). In verse 6, we read again: “For YHVH shall
bless you as He has promised you, and you will lend to many nations, but you
will not borrow…” “Lend” here is “avot” (a.v.t. ayin, bet/vet,
tet), meaning “obligate, be indebted”. [4] Conditions of
full graciousness and generosity result in full freedom, with none having to
“submit to the demands of others” to whom they are “indebted”. But, as
mentioned above, when that is not the case, YHVH makes provision for those who
fall under this category, thus allowing the rest of society to be exercised in
goodness and care. The centrality of this principle is well expressed in
Proverbs 19:17, which says: “He who has pity on the poor lends to YHVH, and He
will pay back what he has given”.
In the latter part of chapter 15, we
encounter instructions concerning Hebrew slaves, who are to be released in the
seventh year: “And when you send him out free from you, you shall not let him
go away empty. You shall richly bestow on him from your flock,
and from your threshing floor, and from your winepress…” (v. 14, emphasis
added). The Hebrew reads: “bestowing you shall bestow”, while the
verb for “bestow” is “ha’anik” (the root is a.n.k, ayin, noon,
kof). According to Daat Mikra commentary [5], the usage of this verb here is
connected to “anak”, a necklace, to point out that rather
than ‘hang burdens on the neck’ (as the idiom goes) of the former slave, the
master is to ‘hang on his neck’ gifts of every kind. Still on the same theme,
in 16:11 we read concerning the Feast of Shavu’ot: “And you shall rejoice
before YHVH your Elohim, you and your son, and your daughter, and your male
slave, and your slave-girl, and the Levite that is inside your gates, and the
alien, and the fatherless, and the widow that are among you…” According to
Rashi, the first group of four parallels the last four. The first lot belongs
to man, while the second lot belongs to YHVH, who says to man: “If you will
treat well those who belong to Me, I shall likewise be kind [literally, ‘cause
to rejoice’] to those who belong to you”. [6]
[1] Dvarim with Daat Mikrah Commentary,
Pub. Mossad Harav Kook, Jm. 2001.
[2] New Studies in Devarim, Nechama Leibowitz, trans.
Aryeh Newman. Eliner
Library, Department for Torah
Education and Culture in the Diaspora. Hemed
Books Inc., Brooklyn, N.Y.
[3] Etymological Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew, based on the
commentaries of
Samson Raphael Hirsch, Matityahu
Clark, Feldheim Publishers, Jerusalem, - New
York, 1999.
[4] Ibid
[5] Dvarim with Daat Mikrah Commentary,
Pub. Mossad Harav Kook, Jm. 2001.
[6] Ibid
[1]
Dvarim with Daat Mikrah Commentary, Pub. Mossad Harav
Kook, Jm. 2001.
