Parasha: Vaetchanan · Aliyah: First (Chesed)

ואתחנן אל ה׳ בעת ההיא לאמור, "I pleaded with G'd at that time, saying, etc." Why did Moses have to say "at that time?" Sifri writes that when Moses saw how Sichon and Og had fallen, he believed that the fact that he had lived to see this was proof that G'd had relented in His decree against him and that this was an opportune time to plead to be allowed to enter the West Bank. If we accept this interpretation the words בעת ההיא refer to the time of the wars with Sichon and Og. Moses excused himself saying that had it not been for what he had been allowed to witness at that time he would not have pleaded for G'd to rescind His decision seeing he was aware that the decree was final.

According to the sages in the Sifri even the word לאמור is part of Moses' plea. Moses challenged G'd to tell him if He was prepared to let him enter the Holy Land. I believe that all these comments are merely homiletics. The words בעת ההיא refer to the time when G'd had sworn that except for Joshua and Calev no one who had been over 20 at the time of the Exodus would see the land of Israel. Moses had referred to that date in 1,37 when he had mentioned that G'd had been angry at him also, saying that he too would not get to the Holy Land. At that time Moses had pleaded to cancel His decree and to release Himself from the oath as alluded to by the words: "You have begun to show your servant Your greatness, etc." Our sages interpreted these words as a reference to an invalidation of an oath, as I shall discuss shortly. The reason Moses inserted this paragraph at this point was so that the people should not suspect him of having pleaded only on his own behalf and that he was not concerned with G'd cancelling the decree He had sworn concerning the entire generation. By saying בעת ההיא, Moses indicated that he prayed before the decree had begun to be executed.

Even though we do not find in Moses' opening words that he prayed also on behalf of his people, his intention had been to pray on behalf of the people as soon as G'd had hearkened to his own prayer concerning himself. This would be relatively simple as we have a principle that once part of a vow has been cancelled, the entire vow is no longer valid (Nedarim 66). The word לאמור in our verse indicates that Moses was concerned not only with himself but also with additional words he was going to say. He thought he acted wisely as he assumed that it would be easier to obtain a cancellation of the part of the decree which referred to him personally not entering the Holy Land. After all, he, personally, had not committed a sin involving lack of faith as had his peers. All of Moses' words demonstrate that he considered G'd as having acted righteously.

Moses' entreaty also demonstrated four conditions which are necessary in order for one's prayer to be accepted. 1) One needs to pray in a manner similar to a poor man who knocks on a door in order to obtain some alms or some food as a hand-out, as we have been taught in Proverbs 18,23: "the poor man speaks beseechingly." 2) The prayer must be addressed to the source of Mercy, i.e. G'd Himself in His capacity as the attribute of Mercy. 3) It must be offered at a time when prayers are accepted, as we know from Psalms 69,14: "May my prayer to you come at a favourable moment, etc." 4) The prayer must be specific, incapable of being interpreted wrongly. This point is illustrated by Esther Rabbah at the beginning of chapter 7 item 24. [The Midrash discusses the meaning of the words in Esther 3,14: "that the people should be ready for this date," without specifying what precisely they should expect to happen on that day. The point is made that predictions made by Gentile prophets are obscure, liable to be misunderstood, whereas predictions made by Jewish prophets are clear and unambiguous. Ed.] The example quoted concerns a Jewish traveller who tired of the long trek he had to walk and whose ankle gave out. He said: "I wish I had a donkey." Shortly thereafter a Roman whose ass had just given birth to a young donkey passed him and told him to take it and to carry it. The traveller acknowledged that his prayer had been heard but that he had not expressed his prayer appropriately. He had failed to specify for what purpose he had requested the donkey. Thus far the Midrash. The word ואתחנן is the appropriate terminology when one beseeches G'd. By using this word Moses had complied with the first of the four conditions needed for a successful prayer. When he added אל השם, he complied with the second condition, i.e. he addressed his prayer to the attribute of Mercy. When he said בעת ההיא, he indicated that he had waited for the appropriate moment to offer up his prayer, i.e. a moment when G'd was known to be in a favourable frame of mind. Who would know better when such a time occurred than Moses? Perhaps this had been at the moment when G'd had said החל רש, "begin to possess and inherit his land" (Deut. 2,31). This would be in line with the view of our sages who said that Moses offered this prayer after the Israelites had defeated Sichon and Og and conquered their lands. By having waited for the appropriate time Moses had complied with the third of the four conditions for successful prayer we have listed earlier. Moses complied with the fourth condition for successful prayer when he said לאמור, i.e. he was precise in the formulation of his prayer, making it impossible to misunderstand. I have pointed out repeatedly that the word לאמור is often used to indicate that whatever immediately precedes it does not necessarily describe the exact words being used. Some of our commentators such as the author of the Yalkut Shimoni hold that the words בעת ההיא, "at that time," refer to Numbers 20,12 when G'd had told Moses and Aaron: "you (both) will not bring this community to the land I have given to them." On the other hand, Midrash Rabbah claims that the time Moses offered this prayer was on the occasion of Numbers 27,18 when G'd had told Moses to appoint Joshua as his successor. It is possible that Moses prayed a similar prayer on each of the occasions mentioned.

א־דני אלוקים אתה החילות להראות, "O Lord G'd, You have begun to show, etc." This (א־ד־נ־י) form of address may be understood as similar to Samuel I 3,18 where the High Priest Eli after being told by his pupil Samuel that G'd said that He would exact retribution from the house of Eli, reacted by saying: "My Master (א־ד־נ־י) will do whatever seems good in His eyes." Eli meant that when a master loses a servant such a loss is keenly felt by him; as a result, The Master would not agree to lose the servant unless He had good reason. When Moses used the word א־ד־נ־י in this instance he meant to say that his own success and wellbeing was a matter for his master (G'd) to evaluate.

He also used the 4-lettered name of G'd with the vowels of the attribute of Justice, i.e. אלוקים. Rashi comments as follows: רחום בדין, (the word א־דני means) "the One who is merciful even while dispensing judgment." I have seen that Nachmanides criticises Rashi claiming that he overlooked the fact that the first word א־ד־נ־י is written with the letters א־ד, whereas the second name of G'd is spelled with the letter י־ה, and that our sages have said that whenever this combination of letters in the name of G'd occurs it refers to the attribute of Mercy. Thus far Nachmanides. [According to Rabbi Chavell, Nachmanides meant that only the combination of the letters י־ה describe the attribute of Mercy. Ed.] I believe that Rashi did not refer to the word א־ד־נ־י at all when he made his comment. Rather, he referred to the fact that although the vowels in the Ineffable Name Moses used here are the ones used for the attribute of Justice, i.e. elokim, the fact remains that even when G'd dispenses justice there is always an element of mercy present. This is the reason for the strange vowelling in this instance. Sifri also understands the word in this sense when the author commented: "הויה always means mercy, whereas אלוקים always means justice." Sifri clearly refers to the relative spelling (i.e. consonants) and reading (i.e. vowels) meaning different attributes.

The reason Moses employed a name for G'd which incorporates both attributes becomes clear when you refer to my explanation of the word לאמור at the end of the last verse. I explained that as soon as Moses' own prayer had been accepted he meant to pray on behalf of the whole generation. Moses felt that the degree against himself could be voided merely by an appeal to the attribute of Justice, whereas in order to void the decree against the people of the Exodus it required the application of G'd's attribute of Mercy. Tanchuma illustrated this with a parable. [the version of this parable in my edition of the Tanchuma is substantially different, but I am quoting the version the author describes. Ed.] A king who wanted to marry a certain lady dispatched messengers to examine the lady in question and to present her with his marriage proposal. The messengers went and came back with the report that they could not have found an uglier person than the lady in question. One of the patrons of the bride-to-be heard about this negative report and told the king that there was not a more beautiful lady in the whole kingdom than the one the king wanted to marry. The father of the bride told the King's messengers that on no account would he allow them to be present at the wedding as they had shamed the bride. When the patron who had sung the praises of the bride wanted to take part in the wedding celebrations the father would not allow him to enter either. The patron remonstrated saying to the father of the bride: "I have praised her although I have never met her, and I told the king that she is the fairest in the land." Moses used a similar argument when he pleaded with G'd. He considered it unfair that he who had been instrumental in promoting the wedding between Israel and G'd and the land of Israel should not be allowed to attend the wedding, the consummation of the deal. Moses' argument was that even if G'd applied the yardstick used by the attribute of Justice, he should be allowed to enter the Holy Land. This is the reason he mentioned the attribute of Justice. He alluded to the element of mercy by punctuating the Ineffable Name in this unusual manner as this related to his prayer for the people as a whole as I explained on the word לאמור. He made a point of using the name for the attribute of Justice as he has been quoted as only praying for himself. [The Torah does not record vowels, only consonants. The reader has to supply the vowels himself. Ed.] He used the indirect reference to the attribute of Mercy, as his prayer for the people as a whole remained potential rather than actual as long as his prayer on his own behalf had not been accepted.

It is also possible that Moses had to allude to the attribute of Mercy in G'd's name precisely because he demanded to be heard as a matter of justice rather than merely as a matter of mercy. Who is so righteous that he can demand to be judged by the pure attribute of Justice? We have it on the authority of Psalms 143,2 "for before You no creature is in the right."

אתה החלות, "You have begun, etc." The Sifri offers three possible meanings for the word החלות 1) The word is derived from התחלה, beginning. 2) It is an expression for prayer similar to Maleachi 1,9 ועתה חלו נא פני קל, "and now implore the favour of the Lord!" 3) it means to release, i.e. to release from a vow, etc. Moses said to G'd: "You have released me from my vow" when You said to me in Exodus 3,10 "take My people out of Egypt." At the time I told You that I had already sworn an oath to my father-in-law Yitro that I would not leave him as we know from Exodus 2,21: "Moses agreed to dwell with the man, etc." The word ויאל is used when one swears an oath. Moses argued that if G'd had seen fit to release him from that oath, He could release Himself from His own oath not to let him enter the Holy Land. Another meaning of the word is "opening." Moses said "You have provided an opening for me to implore You by prayer when You said to me in Deut. 9,32: 'let Me be so that I can destroy them, etc.' Did Moses then restrain G'd? The meaning is that G'd had opened a door for Moses by these words encouraging him to pray." We are therefore entitled to understand the word as meaning "prayer." Another explanation sees in the opening for prayer a reference to the time Moses granted the lands of Sichon and Og to the tribes of Reuven and Gad. He had provided an opening for possible cancellation of that vow. This latter explanation [that the word החלות means an opening to cancel a vow. Ed.] seems somewhat strange. What proof could Moses bring from the time G'd had released him from his vow to remain with Yitro? Moses' vow on that occasion had been easy to cancel as he had a ready answer saying that had he known at the time that G'd would call upon him to lead the Jewish people to freedom he would never have made such a vow. What possible opening was there for G'd to rescind His own oath seeing that when G'd swears an oath all future possibilities are known to Him and He could never plead insufficient knowledge of the future as a reason to cancel His vows!

This problem may be solved when we review what Maimonides wrote in chapter six of his treatise Hilchot Shevuot. He writes: "If someone swore an oath and did not regret it, and is intent on keeping his oath, the court has to examine if keeping his oath would prevent this person from fulfilling some positive commandment or from maintaining peaceful relations with his peers. If keeping the oath were to result in either of these results, the court has to engage in negotiations with that person until it convinces him that had he been fully aware of these consequences he would not have sworn the oath in question. After that they will release him from the obligation which the oath entails." This teaches us that even if no "opening" existed for the court to cancel the vow, one uses one's intelligence to create such an "opening." This is what Moses had in mind when he said: "You have provided an opening already when You prevailed upon me to be released from my vow though I had not expressed any desire to be released from it." The proof that Moses did not ask to be released from his vow is found in Exodus 3,10 where G'd commences a campaign of seven days trying to convince Moses to accept His mission. Moses now argued that G'd could apply this procedure to His own oath not to let him enter the Holy Land even if there had not been a prima facie opening for releasing Himself from His oath. Moses, after all, was desirous of fulfilling the positive commandment of living in the Holy Land, as evidenced by his words: "let me cross so that I can see the good land, etc."

Should you argue that the situation is totally dissimilar to the one discussed by Maimonides, and it was not G'd who would perform a commandment as a result of releasing Himself from His oath but Moses, the answer is that the reason Moses described himself as את עבדך, "with Your (G'd's) servant," was to hint that it was a well known fact that whatever belongs to the servant belongs to the Master, i.e. G'd would share equally in Moses' performing the commandment of living in the Holy Land.

אעברה נא, "please let me cross, etc." Why did Moses say נא? Besides, why did he say: "so that I will see?" Is seeing the land not a natural result of crossing the Jordan? Perhaps Moses wanted to rebut reasons which had prevented him from entering the Holy Land. Our sages say that there had been two such reasons. 1) The time for Joshua to reign had arrived, and the rule of one monarch must not overlap with the rule of a second monarch by as much as a hair's breadth (Berachot 48). 2) G'd foresaw that the Israelites would sin in the future and He would have to pour out His wrath at them. He therefore preferred to use the Holy Temple as the object on which to pour out His wrath rather than on the people themselves. We have dicussed this in connection with Psalms 79 where Assaph appears to write a hymn in honour of the destruction of the Holy Temple (my translation page 1766). We explained that if Moses had crossed the Jordan the Temple he would have built would have stood forever, and whenever the Israelites would sin G'd would have to vent His wrath on them rather than on the Temple. Compare my commentary on Deut. 1,37.

This is why Moses referred to these two scenarios with his words. Concerning the fact that the time of his reign must not overlap with the time assigned to Joshua, he said "let me cross," i.e. he did not ask to cross in his capacity as the leader but was content to cross as a simple citizen; he did not expect to be given any special honour. Concerning the eventuality of the Temple becoming the excuse for G'd venting His wrath on the people in any future sinfulness by the people, he said: ואראה, "in order that I may see the land," i.e. he had no aspirations to build the Temple. Moses was thus careful to forestall any argument against granting his wish. As to his using the expression נא, this means that he was ready to abdicate his position as king immediately.

It is also possible that Moses pleaded for the Israelites to cross the Jordan river immediately before the end of the day so that he could cross at a time when his crossing would not interfere with the period G'd had ordained for Joshua's reign. If you accept my interpretation that the words בעת ההיא referred to the time immediately after G'd decreed that the generation of the spies would not enter the Holy Land, there would not have been any problem with the time, as that event took place 38 years prior to the period when Moses addressed the people here. From Moses' words it is easy to surmise that he prayed on behalf of the whole people seeing that G'd had only decreed that they would die in the desert. He had not decreed that they would die prematurely, i.e. before reaching the age of 60 which would have meant that they died by the karet penalty. If Moses were to enter the Holy Land at that time (38 years ago) it would be understood that the people would enter with him as G'd had not decreed that they had to die prior to age 60.

There is another way of explaining Moses' choice of words based on Bamidbar Rabbah 19,13 that the redeemer for the people of the generation of the Exodus would be Moses himself. [The Midrash quotes G'd as saying that if the generation Moses had led out of Egypt would die in the desert whereas Moses would lead the younger generation into the Holy Land this would be construed as a sign that there was no hope for the present generation ever to enter the Holy Land. Ed.] There is suppport for this in a statement in the Zohar volume 2 page 120 that this is already alluded to in Kohelet 1,9: מה שהיה הוא שיהיה, "whatever has been, is what will be." Moses knew of this as G'd had revealed to him that it would be part of his role in the future to cross the river Jordan to the Holy Land. In view of this knowledge he merely begged to fulfil his role now instead of in the distant future. The words אעברה נא therefore mean: "let me cross now (we are speaking about 38 years ago)."

The words אעברה נא may also be part of Moses' answer to something we have learned in Midrash Rabbah that the reason that Moses had to die outside the boundaries of the Holy Land was to enable him to lead his generation to their hereafter, as we have already explained. Moses used the term אעברה, i.e. a temporay crossing rather than a permanent crossing of the Jordan indicating he was quite willing to die and be buried on the East Bank after having first crossed the Jordan, so as to be able to play his appointed role of helping the people of his generation to attain their share in the hereafter. [Our author is vague, speaking of עולם הבא; I believe he may have referred to the time of the resurrection. Ed.]

Yet another meaning of the term אעברה may be connected to the statement in Ketuvot 111 that any person who has had the good fortune to walk four cubits inside of ארץ ישראל has thereby assured himself of a share in the hereafter. Moses wanted to assure himself of that by crossing the Jordan even temporarily.

אשר בעבו הירדן, "which is on the far side of the Jordan, etc." Although at first glance these words appear totally superfluous, Moses had to spell this out as there is a good land in the celestial regions known as the "good land," a land which David referred to in Psalms 116,9 as "the land of life" when he asked G'd to let him walk therein. Moses also had to spell out the words: "this good mountain, the Lebanon" in accordance with what we learned in Sotah 14 where the Talmud says that Moses referred to his desire to perform the commandments which can be performed only inside the boundaries of ארץ ישראל. This is why he enumerated the various locations where it would be possible for him to perform these various commandments he had in mind.

In addition he was astute enough to word his request in such a way that G'd would not be able to say to him that he could accomplish all that he had spoken of by merely looking at the land, albeit with an enhanced power of vision. What he wanted to accomplish in the places he had named he could not accomplish merely with his eyes.

ויתעבר ה׳ בי למענכם, "But G'd became angry with me because of you, etc." Moses repeated himself by first citing G'd as becoming angry with him and then saying G'd would not listen to him. He interrupted himself by adding the words "on your account;" we would have expected him to say: "G'd became angry at me and would not listen to me." Besides, seeing Moses had already said in 1,37 that "G'd became angry at me on your account," we must try and understand what he meant to add here. I have explained earlier that the words "on your account" in 1,37 were an allusion to Moses' intention to offer a prayer on behalf of the whole people בעת ההיא, at that time, in addition to the plea he made on his own behalf. At this point Moses said ויתעבר ה׳ בי למענכם, meaning that as far as the prayer on Israel's behalf was concerned G'd remained angry; as far as the prayer on his own behalf was concerned, G'd did not listen to him. He did not use the term עברה, "anger," concerning G'd's reaction to the prayer on his own behalf as what he had asked for himself was not based on G'd having been angry at him for something he had done.

Another meaning of this verse could be as follows: "G'd was angry at me, i.e. insisting that I die before crossing the Jordan, למענכם, "for your sake," i.e. so that I will eventually become your redeemer. We have to understand the word ויתעבר in the sense that the prophet Tzefaniah used it in Tzefaniah 1,15 where the יום עברה is a reference to the day on which the people who are the victim of this "anger" will die. When Moses added: "G'd did not listen to me," he meant that G'd was not willing for him to cross the Jordan even temporarily, even on condition that he would return to the East Bank and be buried there.

ויאמר ה׳ אלי רב לך, אל תוסף, G'd said to me: "enough for you, do not continue, etc." Why did G'd say to Moses both: "enough for you, and "do not continue, etc.?" G'd answered both parts of Moses' request. Concerning the part of Moses' prayer in which he asked to personally be allowed to cross the Jordan, G'd said: רב לך, "enough for you." G'd meant that He did not accept that Moses only wanted to cross the Jordan in order to fulfil certain commandments there. Moses had already fulfilled so many commandments that he did not need the additional merit which would accrue to him from fulfilling מצות התלויות בארץ, the kind of commandments which require one to be in the land of Israel in order to fulfil them. G'd would give him such a great reward that he would not miss out on anything by not having attained this particular merit. Concerning the prayer Moses offered on behalf of the people, G'd silenced him by saying that he should not continue to harp on that subject.

Alternatively, G'd implied that all the people who would fulfil the commandments which could only be fulfilled in the land of Israel would share the merit they acquired with Moses because he had been the one who had instructed them to observe these commandments. This is the mystical dimension of the words רב לך, "it was due to you their teacher that they will attain the merit which accrues from fulfilling all these commandments." G'd implied: "seeing that you have a share in all the מצות performed by your pupils, there is no need for you to belabour the subject, i.e. אל תוסף דבר, you will also have a share in those מצות."

The words רב לך may also be G'd's answer to Moses' offer to immediately resign his position so as not to conflict with the period during which Joshua was to reign. G'd answered that Moses could not do this as the position allocated to him was a lifetime position. He had to remain king as long as he was alive. Crossing the Jordan as a private citizen was out of the question. He could not transfer his status to Joshua during his lifetime. The words אל תוסף דבר are essential then.

Furthermore, it is possible to understand the words רב לך as applying to the subject at hand, whereas the words אל תוסף דבר belong to the next subject, i.e. עלה ראש הפסגה, "ascend the top of the hill, etc." Seeing that G'd had accepted half of Moses' prayer, i.e. to let him see the land, He told him not to speak about it anymore but to go to the top of the summit from where he would be able to see the land in all its details. G'd was afraid that Moses would persist that He should also grant the other half of his prayer. The very fact that G'd had granted part of his prayer might encourage Moses to persist. This is why He had to tell him to ascend instead of continuing to plead. The words בדבר הזה mean that this subject is closed. G'd reinforced this by saying: "for you will not cross this Jordan."

וראה בעיניך, "and behold it with your eyes." The word בעיניך is necessary especially after G'd had told Moses שא עיניך "raise up your eyes!" G'd meant to tell Moses that whatever he had hoped to accomplish by walking in the land, He, G'd would enable him to accomplish by means of his eyes alone. There was no need for him to traverse the land in order to become familiar with it.

Moreover, we know that there are techniques by means of which distant objects can be brought closer to one's eyes, such as telescopes and binoculars. G'd told Moses that he would see the Holy Land with his very own physical eyes, and not through a median of any sort.

וצו את יהושע, "and command Joshua, etc." What precisely was Moses to command Joshua? Yalkut Shimoni item 823 quoting Sifri on Pinchas claims that Moses was to command Joshua not to be taken in by the Gibeonites. Another opinion cited claims that Moses warned Joshua concerning possible strife amongst the people. There is no hint in the text of this and unless it is based on tradition we do not have to accept this explanation. I believe that the plain meaning of the verse may be understood in light of Samuel I 13,14: ויצוהו ה׳ לנגיד על עמו, "the Lord appointed him as ruler over His people." The word means "he appointed." Please refer to what I have written on Exodus 6,13 ויצום אל בני ישראל. Moses simply told Joshua to exert authority over Israel already while he was still alive. He personally would support him in this before the eyes of the whole nation.

ונשב בגיא, "we abode in the valley, etc." What did Moses want to tell us with this verse? How is it connected to either the previous verse or to the one following? Rashi, quoting Sifri, says that Moses reminded the people that they had become attached to the idol Baal Pe-or and that he exhorted them that all would be forgiven provided they would from now on hearken to G'd's statutes as per 4,1. If we accept this, we still have not explained the word ונשב as the verse only wishes to remind us of the sin of בעל פעור. Even the words מול בית פעור, opposite the temple of the פעור does not appear to make sense. If Moses referred to what had happpened there he should have used the language used by the Torah in Numbers 25,3 ויצמד ישראל לבעל פעור.

I believe that what Moses meant was that with this verse he concluded the subject with which he had commenced when he said: "I pleaded with G'd" in 3,23. He concluded by saying that his prayer did not help, that instead of both he and the people crossing the Jordan at once, they remained encamped opposite the temple of Pe-or. The expression ישב always means a stay of indeterminate length [the author says: עד עולם, i.e. forever. I do not know the source for this although the Talmud in Megillah 21 states that the word means "a delay." The proof offered there is based on Deut. 1,46 which was certainly not "forever" but for a period of 19 years according to most commentators. Ed.] The reason Moses described the location as being "in the valley" is that the land of Israel is situated at a higher level than all other countries, as we know from Numbers 13,17 "ascend here from the South." Moses added that the place was opposite the temple of Pe-or as he hinted at the place where he would be buried (Pirke de Rabbi Eliezer chapter 45). We are told there that when this idol and accuser of Israel looks at Moses' grave he is scared to raise his voice against Israel (as Moses had fought him successfully on numerous occasions).

ועתה ישראל שמע אל החוקים, "And now, O Israel, hearken to the statutes, etc." Perhaps Moses referred to 2 separate incidents which had happened to him personally (when he had been remiss.) The first instance was the matter of speaking to the rock when Moses had struck the rock instead in his eagerness to fulfil G'd's instructions. The second instance was the matter of Zimri publicly cohabiting with the Midianite princess Cosbi when Moses had forgotten the ruling that anyone sincerely jealous of such a desecration of the name of the Lord is to execute the sinner forthwith without trial. On that occasion too, Moses had missed an opportunity to sanctify the name of the Lord as we have explained in that context. Even though Pinchas had articulated this halachah in front of Moses at the time (compare Sanhedrin 82) Moses had answered him: "he who reads the letter must execute what is written therein." As a result, Pinchas acquired the merit of the covenant of peace which in truth had been reserved for Moses himself.

It is possible that Moses' reason for failing to act correctly had been that "his hands were weakened" when he had acted rashly in hitting the rock instead of speaking to it, all because he had not taken the time to reflect on what G'd's proper instructions had been. It is also possible that he felt that the rule קנאים פוגעים בו, that people jealous on behalf of G'd must execute such a sinner, applied only to someone who had seen the actual sin being performed not to someone who had heard about it second-hand. This is why he did not think he had the right to instruct Pinchas to carry out the deed. As a result "he sat on it," and did nothing contrary to his immediate response to hitting the rock when G'd had instructed him to take along his staff at the time. In view of these two failures on his part, Moses now said to the people: "hearken to the statutes, i.e. the laws which lack rationale such as the commandment to speak to the rock at the time. As far as Moses was concerned that instruction was like a חוקה for him, something he did not understand. Moses continued to speak of משפטים, social laws, i.e. the kind of laws which appear to contain an element of social justice such as the law to execute Jews who have sexual intercourse with Gentiles. Both Moses' failures related to one or the other of these types of commandments; this prompted him to warn the Israelites specifically not to become guilty of the mistakes he had made himself, though inadvertently, and which were the reason he suffered from the decree of not being allowed to enter the Holy Land.

Moses concluded this exhortation with the plea "so that you will live and come and take possession of the land which the Lord your G'd is about to give to you." He implied that what happened to him should not happen to them. He added: לא תוסיפו על הדבר, "do not add to the word, etc." This too was a warning to the Israelites that something that happened to him should not happen to them. Torat Kohanim at the beginning of Parshat Acharey Mot (page 1138) describes Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah who illustrated the difference in impact between two different kinds of warnings. The first example had a doctor tell his patient not to eat cold foods nor to sleep on a cold floor. The second doctor gave the same instructions but added the warning that not heeding his advice would result in the patient's death just as another patient who had ignored this warning had died. The Rabbi pointed out that the warning of the second physician was taken much more seriously. Moses is compared to the second physician as he could tell the people from his own experience that ignoring the warning had proved fatal for him. He had deviated, i.e. exceeded his instructions by not talking to the rock but hitting it.

ולא תגרעו ממנו, "neither shall you diminish from it;" in this instance Moses referred to his failure to do what was required in the matter of Zimri. His failure to demand that someone execute Zimri had been equivalent to his "diminishing" from one of the social laws of the Torah. Moses said ולא תגרעו, "you must not diminish," to indicate that even if by diminishing a law of the Torah such as the בועל ארמי your intention is to save someone's life by your inaction.

עיניכם הראות, "you have seen with your own eyes, etc." Moses meant that the Israelites had first- hand experience of the severity with which G'd punishes idol worship. G'd relates to that sin more harshly than to any other sin. He punishes even the people who have not actually served the idol with any of their limbs or their organs but have merely entertained idolatrous thoughts. G'd destroyed people who intended to worship Baal Pe-or. Kidushin 39 cites Ezekiel 14,5 as proof that G'd punishes the mere intention to indulge in idol worship.

ואתם הדבקים בה׳ אלוקיכם חיים כולכם היום, "But you who have cleaved to the Lord your G'd are all alive this day." Why did Moses add the letter ו at the beginning of the word אתם, "you?" This creates the impression as if it were meant to add an additional dimension to what was written before, whereas in fact it does the opposite, it contrasts the people whom Moses faced with those who served the Baal Pe-or. Another problem is why Moses speaks of הדבקים, "the ones who have cleaved," using the letter ה at the beginning of the word to indicate that the people he spoke about had been mentioned on a previous occasion.

Perhaps we can understand the verse by keeping in mind the Talmud's explanation (Sanhedrin 108) on Genesis 6,8 that "Noach found favour in the eyes of G'd." The Talmud says that even Noach was not really worthy of being saved but he managed to find favour in the eyes of G'd. When Moses prefaced his remarks with the word ואתם, "and you," he may have meant that even you the survivors deserved death; however, due to the fact that you demonstrated your cleaving to G'd at a certain time you are alive as of this day. The meaning of דבקות then is that the Israelites did תשובה before they too perished, and this is what saved them.

Moses made a point of saying כלכם, "all of you," to make it plain that he referred to the whole nation. We find that a similar thing occurred in Numbers 25,11 when G'd spoke of not destroying the children of Israel in His jealousy. From G'd's wording it is clear that all of the Israelites had been candidates for destruction at the time. Even though Pinchas had been the instrument of saving most of the people, he could not have accomplished this if the people had not done תשובה at the time already.

The letter ו here may also be understood as a reference to the people who had intended to worship the Baal Pe-or although not having done so in practice. I had explained that these people too had become culpable for entertaining thoughts of idolatry. Moses contrasts what happened to those people with what happened to those who remained alive. Just as the ones who died were punished for evil thoughts, so the ones who remained alive were rewarded for positive thoughts, for mentally cleaving to their G'd. The common denominator between both categories of people then is what went on in their minds. Hence the linkage by Moses using the conjunctive letter ו in the word ואתם. This conforms to the statement in Kidushin 40 that normally G'd counts a good intention as equal to a good deed even when it could not be carried out, whereas He does not consider an evil intention as culpable though the reason the person who had the evil intention and had not carried it out had been circumstances beyond his control rather than his having had a change of heart.

Moses phrased it ואתם הדבקים, to reflect a statement in Berachot 7 that in Exodus 33,16 Moses had prayed that G'd's presence should never rest on the Gentiles. We explained there that Moses meant that even if the behaviour of the Gentiles improves to a degree that would make it plausible for G'd to allow His presence to come to rest on them, he, Moses, prayed that the monopoly of being the carrier of G'd's presence should never be taken away from the Jewish people. When Moses said here ואתם הדבקים בה׳ אלוקיכם, he referred to this unique relationship between the Jewish people and G'd. When you accept this interpretation you will realise that the letter ה at the beginning of this word is justified as it refers to an agreement made between G'd and Moses after the episode of the golden calf.

הדבקים בה׳ אלוקיכם, "who have cleaved to the Lord your G'd." The choice of these two names of G'd used by Moses may be understood in light of what Maimonides wrote in chapter six of his treatise Yessodey Hatorah. He writes that there are seven sacred names of G'd and whoever destroys any of these seven names is guilty of the penalty of 39 lashes. Any letter which is a prefix to the name of G'd may be erased whereas any letter or letters which form a suffix to the name of G'd are treated as if they were an integral part of the name of G'd. Examples for the latter are the letter ך or כם at the end of such names as אלוקיך, or אלוקיכם. These letters have become sanctified by the name of G'd which precedes them and to which they have been attached. Thus far Maimonides on the subject. Moses may have wanted to teach us the lesson that the manner of our attachment to G'd should not be like a letter which forms a prefix of the sacred name of G'd and which therefore may be detached; rather, our attachment to G'd should be like the letters in the suffix of His sacred name which are not subject to erasure or detachment from the holy name itself. Moses illustrates the two varieties of prefixes and suffixes by using first the word ב־שם as the example for the detachable prefix, and אלוקי־כם as the example for the integral suffix which may not be destroyed or detached from the sacred name itself.

The combination of בה׳ אלוקיכם may also teach that our cleaving to G'd should not be merely like the prefix of a name of G'd which does not commit that letter to become sacred, but it should rather be like the suffix in the holy name of G'd אלוקיכם, i.e. inseparable. It is also possible that Moses hinted at the two levels of commitment to G'd amongst the Jewish people, the elite being committed like אלוקיכם, whereas the bulk of the people's cleaving was more like ב־שם. We have an allusion to this thought in Deut. 32,9 כי חלק ה׳ עמו, "for His people are an inseparable part of G'd." The Torah means that part of His people, i.e חלק, are an inseparable part of G'd Himself. This lends further weight to our interpretation.

Another meaning of the sequence of the words הדבקים בה׳ אלוקיכם may be understood in light of the Zohar volume 3 page 238 that when someone performs one of G'd's commandments the Ineffable Name comes to rest on the organ with which the מצוה has been fulfilled. The kabbalists claim that the positive commandments are all alluded to in that name. The negative commandments, on the other hand, are alluded to in the name אלוקים. Moses' use of both these names when describing that the Israelites had cleaved to G'd indicated that he alluded to the fact that they had performed both the positive and the negative commandments.

Moses may also have wanted to illustrate the nature of Israel's cleavage to G'd when he chose these two names. He meant to imply that the Israelites' hearts took pleasure both in G'd and in His commandments seeing that the name "your G'd" made Him their exclusive G'd, so to speak. We find a similar thought in the interpretation by Yalkut Shimoni at the end of Parshat Noach where the author explains Psalms 22,4 ישב תהלות ישראל. We are told there that G'd did not want even the hosts of the heavens to praise Him until after the Jewish people had said: "blessed be the Lord G'd of Israel." The reason is that G'd's uniqueness and Israel's uniqueness form such a strong bond between them. This is the reason you will not find expressions of praise for G'd in the Bible such as "the Lord of the heavens," "the Lord of the earth," or "the Lord of the angels."

חיים כלכם היום, "all of you are alive as of this day." These words are both a continuation of what is written before as well as an introduction to what follows. These words are a continuation of what is written before in the sense of אלוקיכם חיים, "your G'd is alive," as we know from Deut. 5,23. The words are also linked to what follows in the sense that the life which the Jewish people enjoy are a direct result of the source of life, i.e. our G'd. Even though we might be moving around, eating and drinking, etc., this would not be called being "alive." We know (Berachot 18) that the wicked are referred to as "dead" even while they go through the motions of being "alive." The reason for this is that the source they draw their energy from is itself "dead," i.e. is the source of death, i.e. Satan. Moses revealed to the people that the reason for their being alive was their cleaving to the source of life itself.

One may summarise Moses' words in one of two ways: 1) The reason you are alive today is because you have chosen to cleave to the source of life, i.e. the Lord your G'd. 2) The reason you have been found worthy to cleave to the Lord your G'd is because you are alive, i.e. you are righteous. You have demonstrated that you are careful to distance yourselves from "death" and have chosen life instead. Both these meanings are part of what this verse tries to tell us.

When Moses said כלכם, "all of you," he referred to being alive in a particular as well as in a general sense. The "particular sense" means that every individual Israelite was healthy, alive in all his limbs; no one was crippled or otherwise physically handicapped. The Talmud Zevachim 116 explains the words ומכל החי, "and from every living thing you shall bring to the ark, etc." (Genesis 6,19), i.e. Noach was to bring to the ark only animals which did not lack any limbs or organs. Moses alluded to something similar when he said כלכם חיים, i.e. all of you are in perfect physical condition. Our sages in the Mechilta mentioned that all the Israelites who were present at the revelation at Mount Sinai were in perfect physical condition, neither a blind man nor a deaf man amongst them. They base this on Exodus 20,15 "all the people saw the sounds and heard the sound of the shofar, etc." There is no reason to suppose that the physical condition of these people had deteriorated since the revelation. I have already explained elsewhere that any physical ailment is merely a reflection of a spiritual imperfection. The reason that the Torah disqualified priests with a physical blemish from performing service in the Temple is because such a physical blemish is only an external manifestation of a blemish on the person's soul. The Zohar volume three page 4 elaborates on this theme. As to the general condition of the Israelite nation qualifying as חיים "alive" at that time, Moses implied that not a single one of them was not righteous. Moses added the word היום, "as of this day," as he was not in a position to predict whether the people would all be able to maintain the spiritual high they were on at the time he addressed them. After all, man is a free agent, and until the day he goes to the ארץ החיים, "the land of the living," i.e. to the hereafter, there is no guarantee he may not sin.