English translation — וילך ג

1.

At the conclusion of our parshah¹

it is told,

that Moshe Rabbeinu commanded the "Levites, bearers of the Ark of the covenant of Hashem": "Take this book of the Torah etc. gather to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers and I will speak in their ears etc."

Rashi stands on "gather to me"²

and explains: "And they did not sound them that day with trumpets to gather the congregation,³

because it is said⁴

Make for yourself and Yehoshua did not rule over them,

and even in his lifetime they were hidden before the day of his death⁵

to fulfill what is said⁶

And there is no dominion on the day of death."

In simple terms, one learns⁷,

that the question in the verse that Rashi comes to answer is

(as Rashi himself says — "And they did not blow the trumpets that day to assemble the congregation")

: why did they not assemble the congregation through the trumpets

(as it is stated in Parshat Beha'alotcha⁴

"Make for yourself two trumpets etc. for summoning the assembly")?

— And the necessity to say that "hakh'eilu" does not mean assembling "according to the <b>known</b> procedure, namely with trumpets"⁸

— is from that⁹

which the command

(of Moses)

"הקהילו" was to the <b>Levites</b>,

and the sounding with trumpets had to be specifically by the priests,

"בני אהרן <b>הכהנים</b>"¹⁰

But it is not understandable why Rashi says "Because it is said 'make for yourself' and Joshua did not rule over them" — Joshua, who mentioned him?

Rashi indeed comes to answer why did <b>Moshe</b> not assemble the congregation by means of the trumpets — Rashi should have said

(in brief)

"And they did not blow etc. to assemble the congregation to fulfill what is said, 'And there is no dominion on the day of death'!"

Furthermore: the source of this Rashi commentary is in Tanchuma¹¹

(and Midrash Rabbah¹²)

on the verse⁴

"Make for yourself"¹³

— but there indeed the matter of "Yehoshua did not rule over them" is <b>not</b> brought in connection with the assembly of "that day"

(when Moshe died)¹⁴,

rather that in <b>general</b> "not

“use them” — because the verse says “make for yourself..

you use them and no other uses them,

know that Joshua the student of Moses did not use them..

when he came &lt;b&gt;to fight in Jericho&lt;/b&gt;”; and only afterwards,

as a novelty &lt;b&gt;in itself&lt;/b&gt;,

the midrash adds: “And do not say only Joshua, but Moses our teacher himself while he was alive they were hidden..

gather to me..

and where were the trumpets..

rather..

they were hidden..

to fulfill what is said there is no dominion on the day of death”.

is perplexing: how does it come,

that specifically Rashi,

who explains &lt;b&gt;the plain meaning&lt;/b&gt; of Scripture,

should bring the lengthy discussion of “because it is said..

and Joshua did not give them dominion” in connection with the assembly by Moses

(“gather to me”)

explain,

that "if Joshua had ruled over them after the death of Moses, they would have blown [the shofar] against them even on the day that Moses died",

and therefore Rashi warns that "Joshua did not rule over them".

But this does not answer Rashi's wording.

For Rashi should have

First answer why Moses did not use the trumpets

(— from the aspect of "there is no dominion on the day of death"),

and afterwards adds,

that that which they were not used

(at least)

from the aspect of Joshua,

is because "and Joshua did not give them dominion" — but not beginning with the matter of "because it is said ..

and Joshua did not give them dominion"!].

B.

Also there are several precise points in the language of Rashi in this,

and among them¹⁶

a)

How does the language "dominion" fit — "and he did not &lt;b&gt;have dominion &lt;/b&gt;

(Joshua over them)

" — regarding the trumpets; Rashi should have said

(in the manner of the language of the aforementioned midrash)

"and Joshua did not &lt;b&gt;use &lt;/b&gt;them" and the like,

and especially since according to several versions it stands

(also)

in Rashi on "Make for yourself"&lt;sup&gt;4&lt;/sup&gt;

— "you make and &lt;b&gt;use &lt;/b&gt;them and not another."

b)

Why does Rashi quote in this discourse beginning with the word "Eli" — Rashi is only explaining,

apparently,

the

word "הקהילו",

that the &lt;b&gt;manner of the assembly &lt;/b&gt;was not by means of trumpets.

3.

is the explanation in this,

And with an introduction:

It is known,

that in the usual manner, Rashi's way in his commentary on the Torah

(and on the Talmud)

is not to specify the question that he comes to answer,

rather he says immediately the explanation of the verse and incidentally the question falls away

(or questions).

Moreover: in many places where he begins his commentary with a question,

it is not because this is the primary question in the verse which he comes to answer,

rather that from the answer to that question, incidentally the primary question in the verse is answered

(which Rashi does not specify)¹⁷.

And likewise in our matter: That Rashi begins his commentary with "And they did not sound the trumpets on that day" — this is not the main question in the verse

— And on the contrary: <b>Several </b>plain-sense commentators¹⁸

learn that with "

(And Moses commanded the)

<b>Levites </b>etc. "Take this book of the Torah etc." are being —

means the <b>kohanim</b>

(as it says earlier¹⁹

"And he gave

(the Torah scroll)

to <b>the kohanim</b>, the sons of Levi, etc.'),

and accordingly one can indeed learn

(at least — according to the <b>simple meaning</b>)

that the "gather" means "according to the known procedure, namely with trumpets" —

But Rashi here has

(mainly)

a question

(generally)

in the

(both)

words "<b>gather to Me</b>"

(as follows),

and to answer the question,

Rashi explains

(that the "gather" here was in a manner of)

"And they did not sound the trumpets that day to gather the congregation",

and through this explanation of why the gathering was not with trumpets,

the general question is automatically answered.

4.

The question

(in the words "הקהילו אלי")

What Rashi comes to answer is:

Immediately at the beginning of the section²⁰

Rashi already explained: "לא אוכל עוד לצאת ולבוא ..

לא אוכל איני רשאי <b>שנטלה </b>ממני הרשות <b>ונתנה ליהושע</b>",

And a few verses further²¹

Rashi says a rule: "דבר <b>אחד </b>לדור <b>ולא שני </b>דברים לדור".

It turns out,

that Joshua <b>already became</b>²²

the "דבר

(אחד)

לדור".

It is difficult: how does it come that the assembly of Jews was through Moses?

True indeed,

that Moses our teacher wanted to speak to the Jews himself,

"And I will call as witness against them the heavens and the earth etc."²³

— but this <b>assembling</b> of the <b>assembly</b> is surely relevant only to the prince,

to the <b>leader</b> of the generation; and since Joshua had already become the "speaker

(one)

of the generation"²⁴,

<b>he</b> should have assembled the Jews and Moses would have spoken to them.

(by the assembly)

to Jews was through &lt;b&gt;both&lt;/b&gt;: "He and Hoshea bin Nun"&lt;sup&gt;25&lt;/sup&gt;

— but not "assemble &lt;b&gt;to Me&lt;/b&gt;",

the &lt;b&gt;to Me &lt;/b&gt;

(Moses)

says assemble,

which &lt;b&gt;excludes &lt;/b&gt;Joshua].

And in order to answer &lt;b&gt;the &lt;/b&gt;question,

Rashi introduces "And they did not sound the trumpets on that day to assemble the congregation

(and immediately explains regarding &lt;b&gt;Joshua&lt;/b&gt;)

because it is said 'make for yourself'

(and thereby is precise)

and &lt;b&gt;did not give authority &lt;/b&gt;to Joshua over them",

which this

(that "&lt;b&gt;did not give authority &lt;/b&gt;to Joshua over them")

explains incidentally why the assembly was through Moses,

as follows.

ה.

In the matter of "Make for yourself,

and Joshua did not rule over them" is seemingly not understood:

The precision "Make for yourself" — "You make and use them and not another"²⁶

— seemingly only excludes the use of them by any other person in general; but when it speaks about Joshua,

whom "the Lord will appoint a man over the congregation who will go out before them etc."²⁷

The leader of Israel,

<b>Shepherd</b> of <b>the congregation of the Lord</b> as the successor of Moses our teacher — why should the trumpets not pass over to Joshua

(to use them "for summoning the congregation")

just as the <b>dominion</b> of Moses passed over to Joshua?

Is from this itself compelled&lt;sup&gt;28&lt;/sup&gt;

that not all matters of Moses passed over to Joshua,

because Moses's dominion over Jews was a higher one than Joshua's

(in the manner that &lt;b&gt;Rashi &lt;/b&gt; already &lt;b&gt;earlier&lt;/b&gt;&lt;sup&gt;29&lt;/sup&gt;

said: the face of Moses like the sun, the face of Joshua like the moon).

And this is the precise language of Rashi "not &lt;b&gt;did he give dominion &lt;/b&gt;Joshua over them" — Joshua had over them no &lt;b&gt;dominion &lt;/b&gt;,

because not the entire matter of the dominion of Moses was given over to Joshua&lt;sup&gt;30&lt;/sup&gt;.

Based on this it is understandable,

that as long as Moses our teacher lived,

even after "the authority was taken from me and given

to Yehoshua",

has no place that Yehoshua should be the assembler of Jews

(in front of Moshe Rabbeinu)³¹,

since there were matters which did not pass over to Yehoshua,

in which <b>only Moshe </b>was the <b>sole </b>ruler.

— and only after Rashi answers the <b>primary </b>question and regarding the assembly <b>in general </b>"Assemble to Me"

(why was the assembly "to Me",

through Moshe),

does Rashi explain the <b>detail </b>— the manner of "assemble" — that <b>Moshe </b>did not use the trumpets?

and answers "And even in his life they were hidden before the day of his death to fulfill what is said 'And there is no dominion on the day of death'."

6.

from the wine of Torah in the commentary of Rashi:

At first glance it is not understandable: It is true that the assembly could not be through the trumpets

(which indicates a matter of dominion)

— why, however, did there need to be yet a change,

that instead of the kohanim assembling Jews,

was it done by the Levites?

Will one understand this with the introduction of the inner explanation in the matter of "there is no dominion on the day of death" — which is seemingly: how does it come that on the day of death there should be by Moshe Rabbeinu a matter of descent

("there is no dominion")?

By tzaddikim it is, on the contrary: they go from strength to strength,

that they become elevated from day to day,

and all the more so on the day

the last in his life in this world

it is certainly that Moshe Rabbeinu was at the ultimate level of elevation; and especially according to the known

that on the day of his death he attained

(also)

the gate of the Nun

(of the fifty gates of understanding that were given in the world and until that day were given to Moshe lacking one

— the gate of the Nun).

And it can be explained in this,

that that which "there is no dominion on the day of death" is

(by the righteous)

from the aspect of the <b>level</b> of the day of death,

that then one stands <b>higher</b> than the matter of dominion:

Dominion shows that one has a connection to those over whom one rules.

A king is indeed "from his shoulder and upward he was higher than all the people"³⁶

— even his "shoulder" is "higher than all the people",

and certainly that his "head" is higher than all the people — but nevertheless,

this is an elevation and exaltation which has a connection and is in proportion to the people,

and in this consists the matter of dominion.

But not so on the day of death, one is elevated in a manner that one is entirely above the people,

and consequently one is then not related to the matter of "dominion" over the people.

One might think,

that since Moshe Rabbeinu was elevated to a level where he is entirely above dominion over Israel,

there is no, heaven forbid, connection and bond between Moshe and Israel — the verse says that even as Moshe

Our Rebbe stands in <b>the </b>level

(as he is on the day of his death)

Moshe says "Assemble <b>to Me</b>",

to Moshe.

Because Jews are

(essentially)

<b>one thing </b>with

(the essence of)

Moshe Rabbeinu.

And in the language of <b>Rashi</b>³⁷

: Moshe is Israel and Israel is Moshe.

And this is the reason

(inner)

why the assembly was without trumpets: assembly with trumpets

(shows that this)

is connected with toil and exertion; but in the assembly of Jews to Moshe as he stands on the day of his death

(when his <b>essence</b> is revealed)

— is revealed the <b>essential </b>connection of Jews to Moshe,

revealed and actualized.

say that by &lt;b&gt;every Jew&lt;/b&gt; is "fear&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;

a small matter it is" because "relative to &lt;b&gt;Moshe&lt;/b&gt; a small matter it is",

and as the Alter Rebbe explains it&lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;

that every Jew has within himself

"from the aspect of Moshe Rabbeinu a"h".

Because although not everyone &lt;b&gt;feels&lt;/b&gt; the aspect of Moshe in his soul,

since however that "Moshe is Israel and Israel is Moshe",

the aspect of Moshe acts upon and in every Jew &lt;b&gt;in a way of automatically&lt;/b&gt; that "fear a small matter it is"].

And based on this it will be understood why the assembly was specifically through the Levites: the difference between Kohanim and Levites is⁴¹

: Kohanim are of the aspect of chesed,

drawing down from above to below,

and Levites are of the aspect of gevurah,

elevation from below to above.

And therefore,

in order to assemble Jews “<b>to him</b>” — to Moses as he stands in a <b>elevation</b> on the day of his death,

<b>higher</b> than “dominion” — it is through the Levites,

who also effect among Jews the elevation to the level of Moses.

(From the sicha of Shabbos Parshas Netzavim-Vayeilech 5742)