פרשה: עקב · עלייה: שני (גבורה)

וזכרת את ה׳ אלוקיך, "You shall remember the Lord your G'd, etc." Moses means that we must remember that the source of all the good we will experience is G'd and we must never forget it. If He had not imbued us with strength we could never have achieved what we imagine we have achieved with our own power. Whenever people turn away from religion, if ever so slightly, it is because they forget that their achievements are not truly their own. Such a path leads to a person's eventual destruction. This may be the reason this verse is immediately followed in the next paragraph by the dire warnings about what will happen when Israel "forgets" its G'd deliberately. Once you forget that G'd is the source of all the good you experience, you will eventually forget that you have a very exclusive G'd altogether. Once that happens, you will seek out other deities. Not only will you contemplate idol worship but you will engage in it actively. Not only will this be some kind of loosely defined service, but you will even prostrate yourself in front of such images. Sanhedrin 60 teaches that if one prostrates oneself in front of the idol Markolies one is guilty of idolatry even though this is not an accepted form of worship for that idol.

אבד תאבדון כגוים, "you will most certainly perish, just as the nations, etc." Why did Moses repeat the word אבד תאבדון? Besides, why did Moses have to illustrate this by a comparison to other nations? Moreover, why did he repeat himself another time at the end of verse 20 with the words כן תאבדון, "so you will perish?"

I believe the verse is best understood in light of the Jerusalem Talmud Chagigah 1,7 that the reason Jerusalem was destroyed was because they "cancelled" Le. deliberately failed to teach their children words of the Torah. The Talmud means that even though many people worshiped idols and committed other cardinal sins, this in itself would not have resulted in the destruction of the Temple and the city had they not openly shown their disdain for the Torah. Such a statement is apt to make some people feel that they could get away with idolatry as long as they deceive G'd and study His Torah at the same time, expecting their Torah study to serve as a protective shield for them. Moses therefore warns that idolatry will lead to destruction of the people and their expulsion from the land of Israel. He reinforces his warning with the words העידותי בכם "I forewarn you this day, etc." The repetition of the word תאבדון refers to two stages of this "perishing." Initially, you will become like Gentiles who have no Torah and who therefore forget that there is a G'd. Once you have become like the Gentiles whom G'd makes perish from time to time, you will be treated in the same maner, i.e. you will perish altogether instead of merely being reduced to the status of Gentiles. According to this interpretation the word כגוים at the beginning of verse 20 is part of verse 19. The word suggests that the first word תאבדון "you will perish" in verse 19 means that you will perish as Jews and be like Gentiles. The same word as part of verse 20 then does "double duty" and refers to the way G'd makes the Gentiles perish; Moses threatens that as stage two of this process the Jews, who have by then declined to be no better than the Gentiles, will also perish bodily, just as many of the Gentiles have done already. Moses continues saying עקב לא תשמעון to teach that where there is no Torah there is not a single element in their favour which could delay their destruction. This is why he added the words בקול ה׳ אלוקיכם, "to the voice of the Lord your G'd." I have already mentioned repeatedly that wherever we encounter the expression the "voice of G'd," this is a reference to the Torah.

The sequence of the words כגויס..כן תאבדון may also mean that in addition to the expression אבוד תאבדון in verse 19 they will face another disaster, i.e. that those Jews who have survived the disaster will end up as Gentiles. Moses means that these Jewish survivors will be deprived of prophecy and the Holy Spirit. This threat will make the people tremble as there is no greater curse in the world than this threat. Woe to the generations of Jews who have experienced this bitter existence, a fate worse than death. May the Lord have mercy upon us and restore the Holy Spirit to all deserving members of our people as in times of old.

We may also understand these two verses in the following manner. Moses alludes to three kinds of disasters. One example is what happened when Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the first Temple when he killed many Jews and exiled the remainder. Moses referred to this when he said אבוד תאבדון. The second disaster alluded to is what happened during the days of Mordechai when Haman plotted to wipe out every single Jew. Moses referred to this when he said כגוים אשר ה׳ מאביד, "as the nations whom G'd wipes out." He meant that the Israelites might experience the kind of punishment which Haman had in mind for them, i.e. utter destruction such as in Deut. 20,17 where the Torah commands us not to let a single soul of the seven Canaanite nations survive. Had it not been for the merit of Mordechai and Esther who made strenuous efforts to cancel this anti Jewish decree who knows what would have happened. This is what Moses alluded to when he repeated כן תאבדון, "you would indeed perish," i.e. he referred to a separate possibility which fortunately did not materialise. The third disaster Moses alluded to in these two verses is the removal of the gift of prophecy from the people of Israel, and this is the deeper meaning of עקב לא תשמעון בקול ה׳ אלוקיכם. The word עקב again means: "at the end, etc." If after all the admonitions by the prophets you will persist in not hearkening, then the very instrument, i.e. the prophecy, which is meant to help you find your way back to G'd will be denied you. I have already emphasised that this is the worst of the three disasters Moses envisages.

שמע ישראל אתה עובר היום את הירדן, "Hear, O Israel: you are going to cross the river Jordan this day." The word שמע in this context means "pay attention to this statement." What did Moses want the Israelites to pay attention to, seeing this was not the date on which they would cross the Jordan, something which was quite clear to them? Moses wanted to draw a line between them and himself. Whereas on this day he knew that he would not cross the Jordan, they knew that they were slated to cross the Jordan. By saying אתה, "you," Moses implied "you and not I." According to Devarim Rabbah 3,11 Moses phrased this line so that the Israelites would understand that they should plead with G'd on his behalf to permit him to cross the river Jordan. Moses was afraid the Israelites would not get the hint; therefore he emphasised the word היום, "this day," meaning that the difference between them was only on that day, i.e. that they would cross now whereas he would not. There would, however, come a time when he too would be allowed to cross the Jordan as we learned in the Zohar volume two page 120 on the verse כימי צאתך מארץ מצרים (Michah 7,15). We deduce from that verse that Moses will lead the Israelites into the Holy Land at the time discussed by the prophet.

עם גדול ורם בני ענקים, "a people great and tall the sons of giants." If the Israelites were aware of the nature of these people as is evident from the words אשר ידעת, "whom you know," what was the point in Moses mentioning their attributes? Why did he say twice אתה…ואתה? It would have sufficed to write אתה ידעת ושמעת. The answer is that Moses addressed two groups of people. The first and numerically by far the largest group were the עם בני ישראל. The second group who comprised only Joshua and Caleb were the spiritual elite of the people, especially Joshua who was to be the leader of the people, ready to rule over them. Moses began to address the elite, especially Joshua saying to him: אתה ידעת", "you know (from personal experience)," as he had specific knowledge of the people of Canaan having spied out the land some 38 years earlier. As to the multitude of Israelites, Moses said ואתה שמעת "and you have heard about it."

וידעת היום, "and you know as of this day, etc." Moses emphasises the word "this day" to remind the people that they will not acquire this knowledge only after the conquest but they know as a fact already now that G'd will pass ahead of them, etc. It was important that the people should acknowledge this as fact prior to it actually having happened.