English translation — דברים ג

Sicha 3<pg>17</pg>

A.

In the words of rebuke

(that are in our parshah)

about the sin of the spies,

Moshe Rabbeinu said to Bnei Yisrael

(after the story that they did not want to go up to Eretz Yisrael "and you rebelled against the word of Hashem etc."<sup>1</sup>)

— "and you murmured in your tents and said, 'Because of Hashem's hatred for us He took us out of the land of Egypt to deliver us into the hand of the Emori to destroy us'"<sup>2</sup>.

And in Rashi's commentary

(After he explains the word "and you murmured" — "evil speech,

and likewise the words of a slanderer<sup>3</sup>,

a person who spreads a bad report")

he quotes the words "with the hatred of the Lord for us" and explains<sup>4</sup>

: "And He was<sup>5</sup>

loving you,

but you hate Him,

a common proverb says: What is in your heart about your friend, what is in his heart about you."

And the commentators of Rashi explained<sup>6</sup>,

that his intention is to explain why Israel thought that the Holy One, blessed be He, hates them

(at the very time that "He was loving you"),

and he answers that this is because they hated Him

("you hate Him"),

and therefore they thought that also the Holy One, blessed be He, hates them<sup>7</sup>,

for such is the nature of things — "a common proverb says,

what is in your heart about your friend, what is in his heart about you",

that is,

the feeling that is in your heart about your friend, in such a way

(you think)

it is in the heart of your friend about you<sup>8</sup>,

and so it is in the allegory,

that the Children of Israel "hated Him" and therefore thought that "with the hatred of the Lord for us He brought us out of Egypt."

And at first glance this explanation is difficult,

What is the question why did Israel think that the Holy One, blessed be He, hates them — for it is explicit in the verse in the words of Israel themselves the reason for this,

Because they thought that the Holy One, blessed be He, hates them,

Because "

(With hatred etc.)

He brought us out etc. to deliver us into the hand of the Amorite to destroy us"

(And this concern arose in their minds as a result of the slander of the spies that "they melted our hearts saying, 'A people greater and taller etc. sons of giants we saw there'"⁹)

; and what place is there to seek a reason for this thought¹⁰?

<pg>18</pg>

[There are those who explain¹¹,

"It was difficult to him

(to Rashi)

In the verse,

That Moses was rebuking Israel for what they did,

But what they said that the Place hated them they have no blame in this matter because this arose in their mind and there is no place here for rebuke,

To this he answered that what Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, rebuked Israel in this..

Because they hated the Place"

(And as the continuation of Rashi "But you hate Him, a popular saying says etc.").

But also this explanation requires examination,

at first glance,

for on the contrary, logic dictates that there is room to rebuke Israel for this thought of theirs that the Holy One, blessed be He, took them out of Egypt out of hatred, Heaven forbid,

just as they were deserving of this that Moses rebuked them for their lack of faith in the ability of the L-rd to bring them to the land of Canaan

(And we do not say about this "that this arose in their thought and there is no place here for rebuke").

And especially that their saying "Because of the L-rd's hatred of us He took us out, etc." is in addition to the entirety of their lack of faith in the ability of the L-rd,

and this increases their sin greatly and they are deserving of a special rebuke for this statement].

2.

Also, one must be precise in the language of Rashi:

א)

Beginning of Rashi's wording "And He loved you" — what does this come to teach us?

For would it occur to the mind that the Holy One, blessed be He, does not love Israel — that Rashi needed to inform us that "He loved you"¹²?

!

ב)

The simple meaning of the wording of the parable "What is in your heart about your friend, what is in his heart about you" is the matter of "As water reflects face to face, so the heart of man to man"¹³,

namely that it is so in truth.

But in the analogue this is only in the imagination of Israel,

for because they hated the Omnipresent, therefore it seemed to them and they said that also the Holy One, blessed be He, hates them

(the opposite of the truth that "He loved you").

In the commentaries&lt;sup&gt;14&lt;/sup&gt;

they explained that this parable is only regarding the attribute of human beings,

but the attribute of the Holy One, blessed be He, is not so,

for although you hate him,

He loves you.

[And it can be said that in this is understood the precision of the language "a common proverb"&lt;sup&gt;15&lt;/sup&gt;

— because this parable is not fitting regarding Above,

and is correct only in the attribute

(and nature)

of human beings

(and that which Israel said "because of the hatred of the Lord for us" was only in their own imagination)].

But still Rashi's language is a bit forced,

for after all the intention of the parable in our case is only to make palatable Israel's saying "Because of G-d's hatred of us",

and not to describe things as they are,

and if so, he should have emphasized that this is only according to their imagination

(like "you say"¹⁶

and the like)¹⁷

and not<pg>19</pg>

to be ambiguous in a way that implies that this is according to the truth.

3)

Also it is somewhat puzzling the language of the mashal "what is in your heart towards your friend"

(your lover)

— and the nimshal is about a matter of the opposite of love

("you hate him" and because of this they say "with the hatred of Hashem towards us").

3.

In the discourse afterwards Rashi quotes "with the hatred of Hashem towards us&lt;sup&gt;18&lt;/sup&gt;

He took us out of the land of Egypt",

and explains&lt;sup&gt;19&lt;/sup&gt;

: "The taking out was for hatred,

A parable to a king of flesh and blood who had two sons and he has two fields one of irrigated and one of rain-fed to the one he loves he gives the irrigated and to the one he hates he gives the rain-fed,

The land of Egypt is irrigated for the Nile rises and waters it,

And the land of Canaan is rain-fed,

And He took us out of Egypt to give us the land of Canaan".

And the Ra'am asked: "Why did he interpret this verse regarding the field of Baal and the field of irrigation,

if because it indicates that His bringing us out was for hatred,

a greater hatred is that His bringing us out was to deliver us into the hand of the Emorite to destroy us",

and it remains unresolved.

And behold, several commentators²⁰

answered that Rashi's precision is from the words "

(He took us out)

from the land of Egypt" — what does this inform us?

And it should have said "Because of the hatred of the Lord He took us out to deliver us into the hand of the Emorite"

(or even without the word "He took us out")

— "but certainly there are two complaints,

and the word 'because of hatred' applies to both"²¹,

one — that the very taking out from Egypt was "because of the Lord's hatred of us"

(as per Rashi's precise wording "His bringing us out was for hatred"),

and that is "because of²¹

the parable of a king etc.'"

(that He took us out from a land of irrigation and gave us a field of Baal),

and the second — "to deliver us into the hand of the Emorite to destroy us"

(and what is written "to deliver" is like "and to deliver"²²).

But superficially this is not sufficient,

for we find about this language several times

(in the complaints of Bnei Yisrael in the desert)

— "Why have you brought us up from Egypt to kill me etc. with thirst"&lt;sup&gt;23&lt;/sup&gt;,

"Why have you brought us up from Egypt to bring us to this evil place"&lt;sup&gt;24&lt;/sup&gt;,

"Why have you brought us up from Egypt to die in the desert"&lt;sup&gt;25&lt;/sup&gt;

; and the reason for this emphasis is understood simply,

because part of the complaints of Bnei Yisrael in this is that they wanted to return to Egypt,

where

(in their opinion)

the situation is better

[and in the manner that it is said in parshas Beha'aloscha&lt;sup&gt;26&lt;/sup&gt;

"We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt for free"],

and likewise in our case regarding the spies,

who claimed

(as is explicit in parshas Shelach&lt;sup&gt;27&lt;/sup&gt;)

"Is it not better for us to return to Egypt",

"Let us appoint a head and return to Egypt",

and therefore they complained "Because of Hashem's hatred of us He took us out of the land of Egypt

(where "it is good for us")

to deliver us into the hand of the Emori etc."

And also in the very words of Rashi there is to understand:&lt;pg&gt;20&lt;/pg&gt;

a)

What does the parable add to the understanding of the moral?

Is the advantage of an irrigated field over a rain-fed field not explained more by the parable of "a king of flesh and blood who had two sons etc.",

And why did Rashi not suffice with what he said at the end of his words "

(His taking her out was for hatred),

The land of Egypt of irrigation etc. and the land of Canaan of rain-fed and He took us out of Egypt to give us the land of Canaan"?

b)

From where does Rashi [know] that the Children of Israel intended here to add a new argument regarding the nature of the land itself — that "the land of Egypt of irrigation etc. and the land of Canaan of rain-fed"?

Is it not possible that their intention was only to repeat their old argument "We remember the fish which we ate in Egypt for free"

(And according to Rashi's commentary

"Free from the commandments"),

Not like the land of Israel where their eating from the fruit of the land is dependent on the fulfillment of the Torah and commandments,

As is explained in the verse

"If you walk in My statutes etc. and I will give your rains etc. and the land will give its produce etc."?

4.

And one must say the explanation of all this:

The point of these two explanations of Rashi — is in the beginning of the verse: "And you murmured in your tents",

from which it is implied that the discussion is not about open complaining in the camp,

but rather about secret grievances in the tents of Israel,

between themselves.

And based on this is explained what necessitated Rashi to explain on "And you murmured

(in your tents)

" — "evil speech..

a person who spreads slander" — which superficially is not understood: earlier on the verse³¹

"How can I bear etc. and your quarrels" Rashi explained "and your quarrels — teaches that they were quarrelsome",

behold that Rashi holds that the word "quarrelsome" does not require explanation³²,

and why does he explain here the word "and you murmured"?

Rather, that here Rashi's intention is to be precise,

that "quarrelsomeness" is not a matter of mere strife,

but primarily strife connected with speaking "evil speech" and it is "a person who spreads slander".

And this is "And you murmured in your tents"³³,

that they did not make open strife but spoke evil speech and spread slander among themselves in secret,

while they were in their tents³⁴.

And it is puzzling: behold it is explained above in Parshas Shlach³⁵

that the dispute was in a manner of public quarrel and complaint: "And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron, and the entire congregation said to them, 'If only we had died etc. And why does the Lord bring us etc.' And Moses and Aaron fell etc. before the entire assembly of the congregation of the children of Israel" — and why does the verse say here "And you murmured in your tents"?

And it must be said,

that in our parshah the verse adds another type of complaint of Bnei Yisrael

(which was limited only to "your tents")³⁶.

And one can say,

that on this basis Rashi explained

(in the entry "בשנאת השני")

that in their saying "Because of the Lord's hatred of us He took us out of the land of Egypt" they intended&lt;pg&gt;21&lt;/pg&gt;

Bnei Yisrael to an additional complaint,

that "His taking us out was for hatred"

(and not as the simple meaning of the verse that the entire continuation "He took us out etc. to give us into the hand of the Emorite etc." is one complaint)

— because the claim of "to give us into the hand of the Emorite to destroy us" Bnei Yisrael said in an open manner

(as related in Parshat Shlach&lt;sup&gt;37&lt;/sup&gt;),

and it must be said that "Because of the Lord's hatred etc." is another complaint that was in a manner of "and you murmured",

that in their tents Israel complained that "His taking us out was for hatred"

(and as below section 6).

E.

But still lacking explanation,

In what is the essence of this complaint of Bnei Yisrael different, that because of this it was only in their tents and not in an open manner?

And to this Rashi elaborates in his commentary

(in the entry "Because of G-d's hatred of us")

— For the reason that they expressed this complaint secretly in their tents is because the foundation of this complaint is rooted in the beginning of their words "Because of G-d's hatred of us" — since it is revealed and known that this claim is not at all true,

For "and He loved you",

And therefore they could not claim this openly,

But only whisper to each other in their tents,

In a manner of "lashon hara" and slander.

And based on this, we can also explain the continuation of Rashi: "But you hate him,

a common proverb says: What is in your heart about your friend, what is in his heart about you" — that this matter comes as a continuation of the entire rebuke of Moses regarding their conduct in the manner of "and you grumbled in your tents,"

namely, their slander,

which indicates the opposite of the truth, etc.

(therefore they concealed their words in their tents)

— that is,

that in addition to the fact that their entire claim "because of G-d's hatred of us" is the opposite of the truth that "He loved you,"

there was yet an additional element in this,

that they claimed that the Holy One, blessed be He, hates them

(namely)

while they love Him³⁸

(for if they admitted that they hate Him — then there is no place for their complaint "because of G-d's hatred of us, etc.")

— at a time when the reality was the exact opposite,

that "He loved you" even though "you hate him"!

And this is also the intention of Rashi in the "common proverb" — "What is in your heart about your friend, what is in his heart about you,"

which is directed at the simple meaning of the proverb — that the grievance that is in your heart about "your friend"

(that he hates you even though you love him),

it is the very grievance that is "in his heart about you"

(that you hate him even though he loves you).

6.

And with this will also be understood the words of Rashi in the entry after this — "Because of the hatred of Hashem for us He took us out of the land of Egypt — the taking out was for hatred":

If the intention of the verse is only for "hatred" in that the Holy One, blessed be He, brings the children of Israel to the land of Canaan "to give us into the hand of the Emorite to destroy us" — it is not understood,

why did they conceal this complaint in the manner of "and you murmured in your tents"?

For according to their perception that it is impossible to defeat the inhabitants of the land

(because they are "a people greater and taller than we, etc."),

there is room to argue that their bringing into the land

(which would cause, according to their opinion, being given "into the hand of the Emorite to destroy us")

is a sign of hatred, heaven forbid³⁹?

And this is what Rashi explains,

that the main claim of "because of G-d's hatred of us",

that because of this their complaint was in the manner of "and you murmured in your tents",

was that "He brought us out to hatred",

and this is

(as&lt;pg&gt;22&lt;/pg&gt;

that Rashi continues)

because the land of Egypt is "of irrigation" and the land of Canaan "of rain",

"And He brought us out from Egypt

(a land of irrigation)

to give us the land of Canaan"

(of rain).

And this complaint certainly has no basis,

for even Bnei Yisrael knew that the truth is the exact opposite of their claim — that this very thing that Hashem took us out of a land of irrigation and brought us to a land of Baal,

is,

on the contrary,

because of the greatness of His love for Bnei Yisrael&lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;,

as is explicit in the verse&lt;sup&gt;41&lt;/sup&gt;

"For the land which you are coming to inherit is not like the land of Egypt etc., which you sow etc. and water with your foot..

But the land which you are crossing to inherit is a land of hills etc., from the rain of heaven you will drink water",

and as Rashi explains there&lt;sup&gt;42&lt;/sup&gt;

"And water with your foot" — "The land of Egypt needed to bring water from the Nile with your foot and water it, and you need to disturb your sleep and toil, and the low [place] drinks but not the high, and you bring up the water from the low to the high,

but this [land] drinks water from the rain of heaven; you sleep on your bed and Hashem waters low and high, revealed and hidden, alike" — and this matter was already known to Bnei Yisrael,

as Rashi explains there,

that "this promise was said to Yisrael at their exodus from Egypt, when they were saying, 'Perhaps we will not come to a land as good and beautiful as this.'"

And so,

that this entire complaint was in the category of "lashon hara" and slander — that they emphasized only this virtue "that the Nile rises and waters it",

whereas the land of Canaan is "of Baal" dependent on rains

(and when rains do not fall it does not bear fruit&lt;sup&gt;43&lt;/sup&gt;)

; and this is nothing but a false accusation,

for they concealed in their claim,

that even when the Nile rises and waters, still "you need to disturb your sleep and toil"; and on the other hand,

they pretended not to know regarding the land of Canaan,

that if only "you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments etc." Yisrael were promised that "I will give your rains in their time" in such a way that "you sleep on your bed and Hashem waters etc.",

as above.

7.

But Rashi cannot be satisfied with this,

because it is still not understood: how can it be said that "His bringing them out was for hatred",

in order to bring Bnei Yisrael out of a land of irrigation and give them a land of rain-fed fields — if the Place hates Israel, G-d forbid,

why did He bring them out of Egypt to give them their own land at all?

Therefore Rashi brings a parable "of a king of flesh and blood who had two sons and he has two fields etc." — since the discussion is about the sons of the king,

he is necessarily required to give to both of them from his fields,

except that to this son who is hated he gives the inferior one,

"of rain-fed fields"; and so it is in the moral,

that also at the time of this complaint Bnei Yisrael knew,

that from the aspect of God's promise to the Patriarchs they are His sons of the Place,

except that His conduct with Israel is like the conduct of the king with his son "whom he hates".

That is: the two complaints in the verse

(according to&lt;pg&gt;23&lt;/pg&gt;

Rashi)

— they are two types in the sin: the public complaint was from the spies,

who caused the lack of faith in the ability of G‑d etc. among the rest of Israel,

and this sin was in a manner of incitement and "coercion" from the outside,

but the Children of Israel among themselves did not reach such a degree as not to believe in the ability of the Name; but their sin among themselves,

in their tents,

was in their complaint "and you murmured" — that they believed that the Holy One, blessed be He, would bring them into the land of Canaan and they would inherit it,

but it is like the conduct of a king with his son whom "he hates",

and therefore gives them "that of Baal"⁴⁴.

8.

And behold, the portion of Devarim is always read on the Shabbat before Tisha B'Av,

and in addition to this,

there is a special connection between the portion of the Spies and Tisha B'Av,

for the weeping of Bnei Yisrael was "on that night"⁴⁵,

on the night of Tisha B'Av⁴⁶.

And in this itself — a special connection between this complaint of "because of G-d's hatred of us" and Tisha B'Av,

according to what is explained in the books⁴⁷

that "the generation of the desert who said 'because of G-d's hatred of us' etc. caused Tisha B'Av, as it is said⁴⁸

Eichah yashvah badad ha'ir — the acronym is 'eivah' (hatred)",

and the Tzemach Tzedek explains⁴⁹

that in this "is also hinted that through baseless hatred which was in the Second Temple, the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed etc.⁵⁰,

through 've'ahavta lerei'acha kamocha'⁵¹

causes likewise Above that the souls of Israel are called brothers and friends to the Omnipresent, and through this, upon⁵²

all transgressions love covers"

(namely the love of the Holy One, blessed be He, for Israel).

And based on this we can say — in the "wine of Torah" that is in Rashi — that in his commentary on "because of the Lord's hatred of us" — "and He loved you",

Rashi comes to encourage Israel,

and to reveal that from the outset Israel was given the power to rectify this "hatred",

for even in this state of "between the straits" that came because of a deficiency in the service of Israel,

to such an extent that the natural love of Israel for their Father in heaven is in concealment,

and furthermore,

that they do not feel the kindnesses of the Lord,

and to the point that they place light for darkness etc. — behold, even in this state Rashi testifies that "He loved you",

that there is no weakening whatsoever, heaven forbid, in the love of the Holy One, blessed be He, for the children of Israel,

And not only a hidden and concealed love

(for then there is no place to rebuke Israel for not feeling this love),

but a revealed love,

And "As water reflects face to face, so the heart of man to man"¹³

(The upper man and the lower man⁵³)

— that this love of the Holy One, blessed be He, for the Children of Israel awakens in them a revealed love for the Holy One, blessed be He,

and immediately Israel do repentance "and immediately they are redeemed"⁵⁴,

in the true and complete redemption,

speedily, in our days, literally.

(From the talk of Shabbat Parshat Devarim 5734)