English translation — ראה ב

A.

On the verse¹

"After the L-rd your G-d ... and in Him you shall cleave" Rashi explains the words "and in Him you shall cleave": "Cleave to His ways: bestow kindness, bury the dead, visit the sick, as the Holy One, blessed be He, did."

Rashi's intention,

simply,

is to resolve the difficulty in this: Is it possible to cleave to the L-rd your G-d²?

And he answers that the meaning of the verse is "Cleave to His ways: bestow kindness etc. as the Holy One, blessed be He, did" — that through this you are cleaving to the Holy One, blessed be He.

And it requires explanation:

a)

This matter, that man must cleave to the Holy One, blessed be He, was already said earlier — at the end of Parshas Eikev³

"and to cleave to Him,"

and even before that — "and in Him you shall cleave"⁴

— and nevertheless, Rashi does not explain there,

as in our parshah,

that its meaning is cleaving to His ways:

On the verse "and to cleave to Him," Rashi explains: "Is it possible to say so? And is He not a consuming fire? Rather, cleave to students and to sages, and I consider it for you as if you have cleaved to Him"; and on the verse "You shall fear the Lord your God, Him you shall serve, and in Him you shall cleave, and in His name you shall swear," Rashi explains: "You shall fear the Lord your God — and serve Him and cleave to Him; and after all these qualities are in you, then in His name you shall swear."

And behold, what is not explained regarding "and to cleave

to Him" as explained in our parshah - "cleave to His ways" - one can say⁵

the reason, because this is stated explicitly in this verse

(and before "and to cleave to Him")

"to go in all His ways" and especially according to Rashi "He is merciful etc. He bestows kindnesses and you bestow kindnesses"; but regarding the other verse "and in Him you shall cleave" it is difficult: since cleaving to the Holy One, blessed be He, cannot be explained literally,

therefore Rashi needed to explain its meaning

(at the end of parshat Eikev and in our parshah),

then he should have explained this on "and in Him you shall cleave" stated before these verses⁶?

On the other hand: from the fact that Rashi does not explain the subject of "and to Him you shall cleave",

and likewise in Parshat Va'etchanan⁷

where it is said "and you who cleave to the Lord your God etc." and Rashi does not explain the subject of cleaving to God - it implies that its subject is understood simply and to such an extent that there is no need to explain it - and if so, it is difficult: Rashi's explanation above in the end of Parshat Ekev and in our parshah, why do we need it

(if it is - as the explanation in Parshat Va'etchanan etc.),

or from where does he derive it

(if it is not as the aforementioned explanation)?

b)

2.

Also, one must understand in Rashi before us: "bestowing kindnesses, burying the dead, visiting the sick" what is the content of "bestowing kindnesses" here?

And further: behold, also "burying the dead" and "visiting the sick" are included in acts of kindness⁸?

However, in this one could say that "bestowal of kindnesses" here is not a particular matter,

but rather "bestowal

(all kinds of)

kindnesses" and this is its content and essence of "cleave to His ways" in general,

the details of which are "bury the dead, visit the sick."

But it is not understood:

a)

In parshas Eikev on the verse "to walk in all His ways" Rashi explains "Just as He bestows kindness, so too you bestow kindness,"

without specifying the details of burying the dead and visiting the sick - and what is different here in our parshah?

And if it is necessary to specify the details of "gemilus chasadim",

it should have specified them above

In parshas Eikev in the place where the matter

(of "gemilus chasadim")

comes for the first time?

b)

Why did Rashi not include in the details of "gemilut chasadim" mentioned above,

also the detail of gemilut chasadim with his money,

namely lending money to those in need⁹

; and on the contrary,

first and foremost he should have brought this type

(the primary)

of gemach,

since it is an obligation and explicit commandment in the Torah "If you lend money"¹⁰

; and especially that lending money is a kindness that can be done with everyone in any situation¹¹,

and it is a frequent and much more common commandment than burying the dead and visiting the sick?

c)

The source for Rashi's commentary,

is apparently from tractate Sotah¹²,

but Rashi's commentary is with changes and omissions:

In the Gemara this is expounded on the beginning of the verse "After the L-rd your G-d you shall go — to go after His attributes,"

whereas in Rashi it is brought on the end of the verse "and in Him you shall cleave."

In the Gemara it is also stated "Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, clothes the naked,

the Holy One, blessed be He, comforts mourners" — whereas Rashi in his commentary does not bring these two matters.

Even more perplexing: each of the two matters is learned in the Gemara

(the above)

from the plain meaning of an explicit verse that was stated before our portion: "the Holy One, blessed be He, clothes the naked" from what is written¹³

"And the L-rd G-d made for Adam

And for his wife, garments of skin, and He clothed them,

"The Holy One, blessed be He, comforts mourners" from that which is written¹⁴

"And it was after the death of Abraham, and God blessed Isaac" — and Rashi omitted them, even though he himself explains on the verse "And God blessed Isaac — He comforted him with the consolations of mourners"?

4)

Likewise, the proofs from the verses

(that are in the Gemara)

that "bury the dead and visit the sick" are "His ways" of the Holy One, blessed be He — Rashi did not bring them. And this is understandable regarding visiting the sick,

because Rashi already explained this in the beginning of Parshat Vayeira, that "And the Lord appeared to him" — "to visit the sick"; but regarding "bury the dead," he should have brought the proof that the Holy One, blessed be He, buried the dead,

namely the verse "And He buried him in the valley"¹⁵

stated regarding Moses,

since this verse is after our parshah — at the end of Parshat Berachah?

ה)

What is the reason that Rashi stated "burying the dead" before "visiting the sick"?

Behold, their order is reversed both from the order of these events in a person's life

(visiting the sick comes first),

and from the order in the verses of "that the Holy One, blessed be He, did",

that first "visiting the sick"

(Abraham),

and afterwards "burying the dead"

(Moses).

ג.

And the explanation in all this:

In the verse "And you who cling to the L-rd your G-d are all alive today" there is no need to explain "cling" because we already learned its meaning above in the portion of Vayishlach¹⁶

: "And his soul clung to Dinah etc.'",

that the verse itself explains it immediately afterwards,

that the meaning of "and he clung" is "and he loved the girl."

And likewise it is understood simply in what is written "And you who cling to the L-rd your G-d",

that the children of Israel are attached

in their soul to the L-rd with love for the L-rd¹⁷,

and therefore Rashi did not need to explain this in the portion of Va'etchanan.

And likewise regarding what is said in the portion of Ekev: "The L-rd your G-d you shall fear ..

and to Him you shall cling",

also it can be explained that it is a matter of clinging to the L-rd with love — and the verse "And you who cling" spoke of the present,

that today they are actually clinging to the L-rd,

and the verse in the portion of Ekev warned about the future¹⁸,

that when they enter the land they must be clinging to the L-rd: "and to Him you shall cling"¹⁹.

But "and to cleave to Him"

(at the end of Parshat Ekev)

cannot be interpreted that its meaning is cleaving through love, since this comes as a separate commandment,

And in the verse

this itself: "to love the L-rd your G-d, to walk in all His ways"

(and concludes)

"and to cleave to Him" — and it cannot be said that the verse immediately returns to command again about the matter of love etc.; and it must therefore be that the intention is cleaving

(more general,

namely)

after there comes "to love the L-rd your G-d",

and also "to walk in all His ways".

That he should elevate further and reach the level of "and to cleave to Him" literally.

And since this is so,

it is difficult

(for Rashi)

: "Is it possible to say so? And is He not a consuming fire?"

namely,

how is it possible "to cleave to Him" with cleaving,

which is above cleaving through love of G-d, "and is He not a consuming fire"?

Therefore it must be explained: "Cleave to students and to sages, and I consider it for you as if you cleaved to Him"²⁰.

4.

And behold the verse

(in our parshah)

"After the L-rd your G-d you shall go and His commandments you shall keep etc. and in Him you shall cleave" is stated in the middle of the section that discusses a false prophet, an enticer and a seducer: "For there will arise among you a prophet or a dreamer etc. and he gives a sign or a wonder etc. saying 'Let us go after other gods etc. and let us worship them' you shall not listen to the words of that prophet etc. for the L-rd your G-d is testing you to know whether you love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul."

And therefore the verse "After the L-rd your G-d you shall go" that comes immediately after the aforementioned verses,

is understood

That their content is to negate and contradict the words of the false prophet,

that he said "Let us go after other gods etc. and we will serve them",

behold in contrast to this the Torah warned that "After the L-rd your G-d you shall go ..

; however what the verse added at the conclusion of the words "and in Him you shall cleave" it is not understood what is the matter of this cleaving?

- because it is impossible to explain as in the previous verses,

as follows:

a)

One cannot say that the intention in this is the cleaving of the soul in love

(as in the chapter of Va'etchanan)

- because behold the general intention in this that the Holy One blessed be He gives dominion*²¹

to the false prophet to perform a sign - is explained in the portion

(in the verse before this)

: "to know whether you love the L-rd your G-d etc.",

z.

a.

that the love of G-d is the purpose and essence of the entire matter discussed here - and how is it possible that the verse returned to warn about it as a single detail²²?

And further: in this same verse there comes an explicit warning "and My commandments you shall keep",

and certainly in the category of "His commandments" is included the commandment of love of G-d²³.

2)

And likewise it is difficult to explain that the attachment in this section means attachment to students and sages

(as at the end of Parshat Ekev)

: Since the verse here enumerates several matters and in an order of ascending in holiness, one elevation after another: "After ...

and Him you shall serve"²¹

and Him you shall serve,"

it is understood that the matter at their conclusion,

"and in Him you shall cleave,"

is the most exalted of them all,

namely that "and in Him you shall cleave"

(since it is impossible to say that the intention is spiritual attachment in love,

as above),

means at the ultimate of attachment

(above the attachment in the commandments and "you shall love the Lord your God"),

attachment beyond which there is none higher — and therefore one cannot say that the intention is attachment to students and sages; for even though through this one becomes attached to the Holy One, blessed be He, because of the principle "a servant of a king is a king"²⁴,

nevertheless, since the Torah and the sage are separate entities,

this is not attachment to the Holy One, blessed be He, even like "and you shall love ... with all your might,"

but rather

(as Rashi explains there)

"I consider it for you as if you cleaved to Him"²⁵.

And since this is so, what is this attachment?

-Therefore Rashi explains

(and thereby resolves also the difficulty: how is such attachment possible?

But there is no need to explain the difficulty here again, after he already raised it in his commentary at the end of Parshat Ekev)

: "And in Him you shall cleave — cleave to His ways,

bestow kindness

acts of kindness etc. as the Holy One, blessed be He, did,

meaning that in this that you are attached to His ways, you are attached to "Him" literally²⁶.

(But not so in the end of Parshat Ekev, where he could not explain "cleave to His ways,"

since it was already stated in the previous verse "to walk in all His ways,"

as above,

and it is necessary to load into it an additional matter,

namely, attachment to students and sages).

5.

Based on this will be understood why Rashi enumerates in "cleave to His ways" only "bury the dead, visit the sick as the Holy One, blessed be He, did":

Since the warning "and cleave to Him" comes at the end of all the commandments enumerated in the verse,

and among them also "and keep His commandments",

it is therefore understood that the command regarding this cleaving

(- cleave to His ways)

is in a matter whose obligation is not a commandment among the commandments,

that is, were it not for the command "cleave to His ways" he would not do it by virtue of another explicit command,

And therefore Rashi explains "cleave to His ways: bestow kindnesses - bury the dead, visit the sick, as the Holy One, blessed be He, did",

only these matters we find that the Holy One, blessed be He, did them in a manner that in their parallel regarding man he would not be obligated to bestow this kindness by virtue of a commandment and obligation

(and only because of the command "cleave to His ways" will he do them)

Bikur cholim -

(also)

in a situation where the Holy One, blessed be He, came to visit Avraham,

and as Rashi explains "And He appeared to him - to visit the sick"<sup>27</sup>,

although certainly some of his men and friends came to visit him<sup>28</sup>.

And regarding this in "burying the dead"²⁹

- that the intention is not that the Holy One, blessed be He, buried Moshe

(the student has not yet learned about this, and if this is what is meant, Rashi should have brought the verse "and He buried him in the valley"),

but rather

the burial of Aharon

(which the student has already learned about)

which was done by the Holy One, blessed be He; for his passing was in a cave³⁰

and in the verse it is stated³¹

only "and Aharon died there on the top of the mountain

(and immediately)

and Moshe and Elazar descended"

(and nothing is mentioned there about his burial,

as with Miriam it is stated³²

"and she was buried there"³³)

- but in Parshat Ekev it is stated "and He buried him there."

And therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, occupied Himself with his burial,

even though many of the children of Israel were certainly prepared to occupy themselves with this.

And not only that, but it is necessary to say — according to Rashi — that the Holy One, blessed be He, occupied Himself with his burial — for all of the children of Israel did not know that he had died until they showed him lying on a bed<sup>34</sup>,

Eleazar, when he wore the garments of Aaron

(in his lifetime)

became the High Priest — about him it is said, to his father he shall not become impure<sup>35</sup>

and likewise Moses

(that only his sons are called by the tribe of Levi<sup>36</sup>)

and served as High Priest during the days of the consecration — and we do not find that they removed him from this greatness of his — it is forbidden to become impure for Aaron<sup>37</sup>,

and there was not

in this the matter of a met mitzvah<sup>38</sup>

for they could have called the children of Israel to occupy themselves with this.

6.

And accordingly, it is understood that it is not appropriate here to bring the detail of gemilut chasadim with his money,

lending money to a Jewish person,

because,

in addition to this that we do not find regarding this "that

(yes)

the Holy One, blessed be He, did",

it is an explicit commandment in the Torah "If you lend money" and consequently it is already included in the commandment "and His commandments you shall keep".

And likewise it is to be explained also why Rashi omitted "clothes the naked"

(that is in the Talmud),

even though it is not an explicit commandment in the Torah,

and we find that the Holy One, blessed be He, "clothed the naked" as it is stated "And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin and clothed them" — nevertheless, it is understood that it must be so even without the commandment of cleaving to His ways:

When a person clothes the naked in a situation similar to that of a man and his wife,

that there was no one to clothe them except the Holy One, blessed be He — this is an explicit commandment, and especially regarding clothing

(and all the more so and a fortiori from what is stated regarding the garment of the day — even though he has a shirt, etc.)

until the sun sets you shall return it to him³⁹.

(also not as an additional example of the burial of Aaron)

"Bury the dead,

as the Holy One, blessed be He, buried

(also)

Moses,

as it is said, "And He buried him in the valley"

(as in the Gemara),

because

It is not necessary to say that the Holy One, blessed be He, buried him,

And as it appears from this that Rashi brought there the second explanation that "he buried himself",

Behold, also according to the first explanation that "the Holy One, blessed be He, in His glory" buried him]

Since the matter had to be in a manner that "no man knew his burial place"

(for whatever reason)

Then it was not possible that the Children of Israel would occupy themselves with his burial — and thus we have no proof from this for the conduct of "cleave to His ways" also in a place where there is someone else who can occupy himself with this].

7.

And now will also be explained the reason of Rashi that specifically in our portion he needed to explain the matters of "bestowing kindnesses".

But not so at the end of Parshat Ekev regarding the verse "to walk in all His ways" where he explains "He is merciful and you shall be merciful, He bestows kindnesses and you bestow kindnesses" without explaining the details of "bestowing kindnesses":

"to walk in all His ways"

(at the end of Parshat Eikev)

It is stated in the continuation and as per the beginning of the matter, "For if you shall surely keep all this commandment which I command you to do it" — and it explains and interprets "

(to love the L-rd your G-d)

to walk in all His ways etc."

And thus it is understood that the intent of the verse is walking in His ways

("He bestows kindnesses and you bestow kindnesses")

which includes all matters of gemilut chasadim — whether there is an explicit commandment about them in the Torah,

and indeed first and foremost these are the ones included in "all this commandment which I command you,"

and whether those that have no explicit commandment,

whose obligation is because "He bestows kindnesses, so also you."

Not so in our parshah,

behold this warning of "and to Him you shall cleave" comes after they were already commanded "to walk in all His ways — He bestows kindnesses and you bestow kindnesses"; and furthermore:

In this verse it is already stated "and His commandments you shall keep"

(and not as an introduction to the conclusion of the verse "and in Him you shall cleave,"

but as a separate matter in itself)⁴⁰,

thus it is understood that it is not speaking here about all matters of "gemilut chasadim" and therefore Rashi needs to explain them and detail them⁴¹.

8.

And now, since their matter of "acts of lovingkindness,"

burying the dead and visiting the sick here are in a manner that a person is not obligated to do them

(because of a commandment and obligation)

but only because the Holy One, blessed be He, does so and a person must cleave to His ways,

therefore Rashi lists them specifically in this order: bury the dead and afterwards visit the sick

(even though in the doing of the Holy One, blessed be He, and also in the order of events in a person's life they are in the opposite order as above)

Burying the dead — a matter of trouble and exertion,

but there is no concern that a person will be harmed by it; however, visiting the sick,

trouble and exertion but less than the above, but there is room for concern that the visitor will be harmed by his friend's illness,

and therefore he brings it in the order of "burying the dead" and afterwards "visiting the sick",

from the light to the heavy.

And as above, the verse enumerates one elevation after another.

And according to this it will be understood why Rashi did not also bring "comfort mourners as the Holy One, blessed be He, did, as it is said, 'And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac'",

because

from which it is proven that according to the simple meaning of the verse there is a difficulty in the interpretation "Comfort, comforts of mourners"⁴²],

It is understood a fortiori and all the more so from the two matters "Bury the dead and visit the sick":

And what in the matters mentioned above that are connected with great trouble

(- burying the dead)

or with concern of danger of illness

(- visiting the sick)

upon a person to cleave to His ways and to perform acts of kindness

These⁴³

; all the more so and how much more so in the matter of "comforting mourners,"

that there is not in this

(in the usual manner),

neither trouble nor concern of harm to the person.

9.

But according to this it can be argued conversely: Since Rashi needs to specify "bury the dead, visit the sick",

then why should Rashi preface the general principle "

(cleave to His ways)

perform acts of kindness" — should he not have said "cleave to His ways — bury the dead and visit the sick as the Holy One, blessed be He, did"?

And it will be understood by prefacing the dispute among the enumerators of the commandments regarding the details of gemilus chasadim mentioned above: "comforting mourners,

burying the dead,

visiting the sick and clothing the naked" — according to the view of the Bahag⁴⁴

(according to the interpretation of the Rambam⁴⁵)

they are considered distinct commandments each on its own; and the view of the Rambam⁴⁶

that all of them are included in one commandment in the Torah — "Love your fellow as yourself"

(and the details of the commandments of comforting mourners and burying the dead⁴⁷

and visiting the sick — as distinct commandments they are rabbinic positive commandments).

And behold, in this Rashi precedes

(cleaving to His ways)

bestowing kindnesses

(and afterwards specifies)

bury the dead, visit the sick",

behold he teaches us

(incidentally)

his different method in this matter:

Since that which man must cleave to His ways is learned

(not from what is said⁴⁸

"And you shall make known to them the way in which they shall go — 'they shall go' this is visiting the sick, 'in it' this is burial"⁴⁹,

each commandment from a specific teaching⁵⁰,

and also not from "and you shall walk in His ways"⁵¹

(His ways which is in the plural),

but rather)

from "and in Him you shall cleave" in which there is no emphasis on a hint to many matters,

if so, necessarily that the commandment learned from this

(to cleave to His ways)

is one matter "bestowing kindnesses",

except that it includes the details of "bury the dead, visit the sick"⁵²

— that is, not according to the opinion of the BaHaG

(according to the explanation of the Rambam)

that they are distinct commandments in the count of commandments.

And also not according to the opinion of the Rambam himself that they are particular commandments of their words,

and from the Torah they are only one positive commandment of "and you shall love your fellow as yourself",

but rather they are one positive commandment

Gm"ch⁵³

(- "and to Him you shall cleave"),

which is divided into several⁵⁴

particular m"a: burying the dead, visiting the sick, etc.

10.

The wellspring of the Torah in Rashi's commentary:

Since this commandment that a person should cleave to His ways to do as the Holy One, blessed be He, did is stated in the verse in the language "and in Him you shall cleave",

it is understood that the ultimate cleaving and unity with the Holy One, blessed be He, is achieved specifically through this, that a person walks in the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, and performs acts of kindness as the Holy One, blessed be He, did etc.,

also not through "and you shall keep His commandments" stated in the verse before this.

And it requires clarification: Is it not a commandment

(the word)

union and connection⁵⁵,

through which is achieved attachment and unification of the person with the Holy One, blessed be He,

and how can it be said that after "and you shall keep His commandments" the verse comes to add a cleaving that is attained only through walking in the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He?

- what is the cleaving that is above the union and connection that comes through fulfilling His commandments of the Holy One, blessed be He?

And the explanation of this:

Since the commandments are in the manner of a command etc.,

that is, that man fulfills them in practice because he is commanded to do them,

this itself proves that the connection and bond of man with the Holy One, blessed be He, is in a manner that the existence of the "commanded one" is felt, who is connected to

(the Holy One, blessed be He)

the Commander through the fulfillment of the command; in contrast to the matter of "and to Him you shall cleave,"

even though this too is in the manner of a command,

the command is not

(about walking in His ways,

acts of lovingkindness)

but about the cleaving,

whose essence is that man is cleaved to the Holy One, blessed be He"⁵⁶.

In a slightly different style: even though he begins with this

(in Him you shall cleave)

because of the commandment from the mitzvah

For the commanded one — the existence and perfection is through that the commanded one cleaves to the commander.

- Example of the matter — Shemoneh Esrei: preparation and beginning "Prepare to meet your God, O Israel"⁵⁷

; its essence — like standing before the king⁵⁸

- that it is impossible even [if] moved by a pointer⁵⁹

like a servant before his Master⁵⁷

that he has no existence at all, only the existence of the Master⁶⁰.

And according to this it is understood also the greatness of the elevation and until without limit — in gemilus chasadim to fulfill the mitzvah of "and in Him you shall cleave" over gemilus chasadim to fulfill the mitzvah of "if you lend money" and the like.

And according to this also the difficulty will be resolved

(also according to its simple meaning that is understood)

: since the explanation is "cleave to His ways" or "to the Torah" etc., it should have said explicitly in the verse: "and cleave to His ways" and the like.

about the Alter Rebbe that all his conduct was in the likeness of above literally,

and therefore on Shabbos eve towards evening,

he would doze off by himself,

because then is the time of sleep above⁶²

; but R. Hillel of Paritch who would not doze off by himself,

rather he would lie down to sleep

(he laid himself down to sleep)

because then is the time of sleep above]

And just as the matter is from below upward,

from Israel to the Holy One, blessed be He,

about which it is said “Hashem

Your shadow"<sup>63</sup>

- and the explanation of the Baal Shem Tov<sup>64</sup>

just as the shadow of a person below: all of a person's actions and movements return "and are made" in his shadow in a spontaneous manner,

so it is, as it were, above in the aspect of "Hashem is your shadow" that all of a person's activities and actions below,

their likeness is made and effected above;

And this is the opposite side from the Holy One, blessed be He, to the Children of Israel,

that what the Holy One, blessed be He, does,

the Children of Israel also do.

And specifically in such a conduct,

that a person, because he is attached to Him, does spontaneously what "the Holy One, blessed be He, does",

the most supernal attachment of the soul of Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, is seen and revealed.

for the soul is literally a part of G-d from above<sup>65</sup>,

and when a person is attached to His ways and does here below what the Holy One, blessed be He, does above,

then through this the attachment of Israel to the Holy One, blessed be He, is revealed - that Israel

(and the Torah)

and the Holy One, blessed be He, are all one.

And this matter is stated in the Torah — a lesson for each and every one of Israel,

and this itself is the giving of power to each and every one of Israel to reach this level,

to cleave to Him by means of cleaving to His ways until he

(סו“ס)

does in a manner of automatically "as the Holy One, blessed be He, did."

(From the sicha of Shabbos Parshas Re'eh 5731)