האזינו השמים ואדברה, "Give ear, O, heavens, and I will speak, etc." First of all we must understand why Moses added the word: "and I will speak." Why did he not simply say האזינו השמים דברי, "give ear to my words, O heavens?" Secondly, why did Moses not lump heavens and earth together and write: האזינו השמים והארץ, or שמעו השמים והארץ? Thirdly, why did Moses use the word להאזין when he referred to the listening done by the heavens whereas he used the expression שמיעה when describing the kind of listening he wanted the earth to do? Fourthly, why did Moses use an imperative when ordering the heavens to listen, i.e. האזינו, whereas when speaking to the earth he simply said תשמע instead of שמעי? Fifthly, why did he say that what he had to say to the heavens was tough talk, ואדברה, whereas when speaking to the earth he used the term אמירה indicating soft talk? Sixthly, why did he speak about אמרי פי, "the words of my mouth," instead of simply "my words?"

I have seen that our sages in the Sifri explain that seeing Moses was closer to heaven than to earth he said האזינו השמים, whereas Isaiah (Isaiah 1,2) who was more distant from heaven, addressed the heavens by saying שמעו שמים, "listen heavens!" This answers some of the questions we have posed but not all of them.

If we do not accept the approach of Sifri we must first explore the meaning of the word להאזין. It seems to me that the word can have two meanings. One meaning is intransitive, one inclines one's ear in order to hear better. One strains to listen. The second meaning is: "listen with your ear," i.e. the meaning is transitive; one appeals to the listener to respond to what one has to say. The first meaning may imply that the one who does the listening is a long way from the source of the sound, and this is why he cannot hear without inclining his ear and paying extra special attention. According to the second meaning the ear of the listener may be quite close and this is why the person doing the talking says only האזין, "listen." This is the approach chosen by our sages. Seeing that the word can also have an alternate meaning as we have tried to explain, we have chosen to approach our verse assuming that Moses employed the alternate meaning. After all, there are 70 legitimate ways to explain the Torah.

From an homiletical point of view we are at liberty to explain any verse differently from the way our sages have explained it as long as our explanation does not run counter to the halachah. This applies all the more when we are able to demonstrate that our explanation will utilise both possible meanings of the word להאזין.

We propose to adopt the following approach which will answer all the questions we have raised. Inasmuch as the heavens are the symbol of the highest spiritual regions in the universe, Moses addressed them first asking them "incline your ears in order to hear my words." To the earth Moses said: "תשמע, "you will hear," i.e. you do not need to incline your ear seeing I am standing right close to you. The reason Moses spoke of אמרי פי "the words of my mouth," seeing Moses' mouth was so close to the earth. [the sound waves did not have to be carried far. Ed.]

Pursuing this approach will help us clear up all the other nuances in the verse, each one in accordance with the relative position of the earth and the heavens. He called to the distant region to incline its ear to enable it to hear, forcing himself to speak loudly, hence ואדברה. To the nearby region, he made it plain that although he also addressed it there was no need for him to call out to be heard.

When you keep these considerations in mind you will also understand the reason why the prophet Isaiah employed the opposite expressions, addressing earth as if it were distant and heavens as if it were near. The reason is explained by Isaiah himself when he said: כי ה׳ דבר, "for the Lord has spoken." In Isaiah we deal with a message from G'd. G'd who is in heaven does not have to shout in order to be heard in heaven. This is why He said שמעו when addressing heaven. Earth, which is distant from heaven, however, qualified for the form of address האזיני, as it had to be warned to strain to listen carefully seeing the message came all the way from heaven.

Perhaps the expression האזינו may simultaneously have both the meanings we outlined earlier.From the physical point of view, i.e. the words emanating from Moses' mouth, the meaning is as we stated. From the spiritual point of view, i.e. from the respective soul's point of view, it may correspond to the meaning our sages have adopted as its true meaning here. This would prove that Moses' soul had ascended to heaven at the time and this is what our sages had in mind when they described Moses as being closer to heaven than to earth at that time, as distinct from Isaiah.

On a moral-ethical plane perhaps Moses addressed the two components man is made of, the spiritual and the physical component. Moses called the spiritual part "heaven," and the physical part "earth." Our sages in Sanhedrin 91 alluded to something of this kind when they interpreted Psalms 50,4 יקרא אל שמים מעל ואל הארץ לדין עמו. "He summoned the heavens above and the earth, for the trial of His people." The Talmud understands the verse as a justification for G'd judging man who is composed of both body and soul. Each one on its own cannot be held responsible for the acts of the other. When they are together, however, G'd is able to punish man for his sins.

When Moses addresses the spiritual element within man he calls out to it and says האזינו השמים, i.e. "listen you heavenly parts," the ones which are concealed inside man and therefore have to make an effort to listen, להאזין. He employs the tough ואדברה, so that the soul will accept the authority of its Creator and carry out its duty.

Vis-a-vis the physical part of man, the visible part, Moses said ותשמע הארץ, addressing the parts of man which consist of earth. He said אמרי פי, because the body being by nature far from the regions where abstract intelligence predominates, requires the soft-toned approach in order to be able to listen properly.

It is also possible that Moses tailored his words to the several levels of Israelites. There was the layer comprising the leaders on the one hand, and the vast multitude of the common people. The latter were not known by any distinctive appellation. Moses described the leaders and the elite as שמים, seeing they were on a spiritually lofty level; he addressed them imperatively האזינו השמים, whereas afterwards he said ותשמע הארץ. He implied that if the leaders of the people had demonstrated that they accepted Moses' instructions it would be automatic for the common people to do so also. The Zohar volume two page 36 phrases it thus: "If the head of the people behaves properly the whole people behaves properly."

There may be another allusion here. People who are absorbed in listening to words of Torah and absorbing them are described as שמים, heaven; this is similar to Psalms 82,6: אני אמרתי אלוקים אתם ובני עליון כלכם, "I had said that you are divine beings, sons of the Most High, all of you." We have pointed out in connection with Genesis 6,3 (page 87) that the deeds of the righteous are able to transform mere earthly matter and give it a divine form, whereas the wicked, alas, accomplish the reverse by their evil deeds.

We have also mentioned that the "form" is known as "heaven," whereas the "material" is known as "earth." Moses uses the expression ואדברה, suggesting that the heavens should not only listen carefully to what he has to say when his words are flattering and pleasing, but, even when he had to communicate admonitions on account of sins which had been committed, he wanted these normally "heavenly" people to listen with equal intensity to what he had to say.

ותשמע הארץ, "and hear O earth;" Moses meant that even after the separation of body and soul, when the body is no more than mere earth, "this earth" should still listen to the words coming forth from Moses' mouth. This may be understood also with the help of the Zohar Chadash Bereshit 20. In the future a heavenly voice will travel past every marked grave and invite the dead to rise from their graves. They base this on Kings II 23,17: "What is the grave-marker I see here?" [The grave in question was that of a prophet. Ed.] This is a reference to the promise by G'd that even the bodies of the righteous would be able to respond when one addresses them. ותשמע הארץ אמרי פי, from the sequence of what Moses said you can learn that he who is not on the spiritual level of מאזין, does not possess the kind of body that will respond at the time of the resurrection to the proclamation mentioned in Zohar Chadash being addressed to the bodies undergound.

יערף במטו לקחי, "May my teaching drop like the rain." We may understand these words of Moses as being similar to the statement in Avot 3,21: "if there is no flour there will be no Torah, etc." The message is that just as the Israelites require rainfall for their physical survival so they require words of Torah instruction for their spiritual survival. The meter of the verse is: "May my teaching drop like rain." G'd does not expect His people to study Torah until He has provided physical sustenance for them. Conversely, you may conclude from Moses' words that if words of Torah will not drop from the people's lips, G'd in turn is not anxious to provide rain for them. This is precisely what Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah meant in Avot when he said on the one hand: "if there is no flour there is no Torah; if there is no Torah there will be no flour." Accordingly, you can understand what Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah said in this vein: "if you observe that there is not enough flour, know that the reason is that there is not enough Torah study." The reason that Moses employs the simile of rain falling for describing Torah study is because just as rain falls in droplets so Torah is absorbed a little at a time.

Another reason why Moses chose the simile of rainfall to describe Torah study may have been to alert his listeners that just as the absence of rainfall for a prolonged period would result in death for those deprived of it, so the absence of Torah for a prolonged period would also bring death in its wake. It is similar to what Isaiah said in Isaiah 1,19: "if you agree and give heed, you will eat the good things of the earth; but if you refuse and disobey, you will be devoured by the sword." לקחי, אמרתי, Moses repeats the message in different words in order to make them apply to the two Torot, i.e. the written Torah as well as the oral Torah. Moses aims the word לקחי at the written Torah whereas he refers to the oral Torah when he tells the people to listen to his אמרתי. Moses referred to the Torah G'd had handed him personally, written by G'd's own finger. Although G'd only gave him two tablets containing Ten Commandments, these Ten Commandments contained within them everything that is written in the entire Torah, compare (Bamidbar Rabbah 13). As to the oral Torah, Moses used the term אמרתי, seeing the oral Torah was received by Moses from G'd on a mouth to mouth basis. It was not recorded in writing. Moses labelled the written Torah מטר, rain, whereas he labelled the oral Torah טל, dew. The reason he did this is because the written Torah is the more important of the two. It is the foundation of everything. The oral Torah is a collection of details none of which were spelled out clearly enough in the written Torah. What appears in the oral Torah has only been hinted at in the written Torah. This is why the Torah (Moses) describes the written Torah as rain which is basic and fundamental to nature. Dew, on the other hand, is something which improves the basic work of rainfall just as the oral Torah rounds out the written Torah.

There is another aspect to the choice of Moses' similes, one that is best understood by the Kabbalists. Please read the comments of the Beer Heytev on Orach Chayim chapter 238 where he quotes the Ari Zal. The author claims that the preoccupation with the study of the written Torah is an obligation which applies only during the day and not during the night. Therefore it is not in order to read the written Torah at night. We have a Baraitha in Midrash Tehillim that during the 40 days that Moses was in heaven, close to G'd, he was able to distinguish between night and day only by means of the subject matter G'd taught him. When G'd taught Moses Mishnah, i.e. oral Torah, he knew it must be night-time. The reason is that it was not permitted to study the written Torah at night.

This is the reason why Moses described the written Torah as rain, something which does not fall every day, at all hours, only during the rainy season but not during the summer. We have already described several times what happened to the Amora Rava (Taanit 24) who prayed to heaven in order that there be a rainfall in summer because he wanted to prove to a scoffer that G'd can make rain in summer. Similarly, the written Torah is described as rain. Our sages allocated only certain parts of the day to its study, by day and not by night. Dew, on the other hand, is something which we observe on a year round basis, day in day out. It descends both in summer and in winter. Similarly, the oral Torah is described as dew. It is to be studied both by day and by night. There is no restriction on what is a good time to study the oral Torah. The fact that the sun dissipates the effect of the dew is no argument; after all, it is not the fault of absence of dew which on occasion nullifies its effectiveness.

כשעירים עלי דשא, "like showers on young growth, etc." We may understand this simile in connection with a Baraitha quoted in Midrash Mishley 10. Rabbi Yishmael is quoted as saying that when the time comes when a man has to give an accounting of what he did with his time while on earth, one of the questions he will be asked is if he has a command of the written Torah. If he answers in the negative he is asked why he did not study. Next they ask him if he has a command of the oral Torah. If he answers in the affirmative He is asked whether he also has a command of the Talmud. The questioning continues in that vein. He is not asked whether he has a command of esoterical matters i.e. מעשה מרכבה. They ask a person only on matters which he was capable of studying and absorbing. This is the meaning of כשעירים וכרביבים, meaning that just as G'd makes it rain in little droplets on the grass which is still very young, and in bigger droplets on the grass which has already reached a certain height, one's Torah knowledge is expected to match one's age and one's I.Q. This rule is at one and the same time both harsh and kind. The Torah makes allowances for people who are under-endowed mentally; on the other hand, even someone who has a good command of Scripture, Mishnah and Talmud may be found wanting as he did not measure up to his potential and also studied esoterics, i.e. מעשה מרכבה

כי שם ה׳ אקרא, "For I will proclaim the name of the Lord, etc." Moses explains that the whole objective of his speeches is to exalt the name of G'd, much as we have read in the Zohar volume 3 page 98 that the entire written Torah is an elongated name of the Lord. Concerning this statement Moses says: "and my teaching drop like rain [the teaching being a simile for the name of G'd. Ed.]. The word אקרא may be understood as from the root יקר, precious.

Another thought Moses may have had in mind here is that although he compared the written and oral Torah respectively to rain and dew, the people should not think of that distinction when studying Torah. All they should concentrate on is to study G'd's Torah. The reason Moses said כי, "for," is to to warn that the reason for Torah study should be to learn the word of G'd in order to better appreciate what His name stands for. Only in this fashion can a man truly ascribe greatness to G'd and His name. In other words, Torah is to be studied לשמה, for its own sake. The reason Moses said אקרא, is that he wants every individual to do precisely this, to proclaim the greatness of G'd. Alternatively, we may understand this in terms of the Zohar volume three page 273 that all the people who are engaged in Torah study are sparks of Moses' soul, and this does not only apply to the generation of the Jews in the desert but all down the long millennia of history until the coming of the Messiah. Anyone who studies Torah is blessed by Moses. This is the reason he could credit Israel's preoccupation with Torah to himself.

Another thought Moses may have had in mind when saying כי שם ה׳ אקרא, is that it is the reason for what Moses said later, i.e. הבו גדל לאלוקינו. In order to appreciate this let us look at Yalkut Shimoni Noach item 62 where the author interprets Psalms 22,4 ישב תהלות ישראל, "the enthroned One, the Praise of Israel." According to the Yalkut what this verse means is that G'd did not take His seat on His throne until the angels in heaven had proclaimed: "blessed be the Lord G'd of Israel." He had not been satisfied with being called the "G'd of the heaven and of the earth." This is why Moses here called on the Israelites to praise the Lord. The operative word in what Moses is saying is the word אלוקינו, "our G'd." Only when the Israelites are engaged in studying the Torah do they truly praise the Lord in a manner no one else can. When the angels praise the Lord by reciting the formula: "blessed be the Lord G'd of Israel," this threatens to become a mockery unless the Israelites are engaged in Torah sudy. Should they fail to do so, they make liars out of the angels. Our sages have offered many different interpretations on this verse.

הצור תמים פעלו, "The Rock, His work is perfect." Moses had stated in the last verse that the cause of rainfall and dew is Torah study. Moses now adds that if someone who does study Torah nonetheless experiences extreme poverty, or if one sees a person who had suffered deprivations until he shook off the yoke of Torah and suddenly became very wealthy, the reason is not due to this person shaking off the yoke of Torah. The onlooker should not make such phenomena an excuse to become an heretic, but should acknowledge G'd as a fair Judge. This is reason Moses describes G'd as הצור, as someone Who is strong and steadfast even if He appears to discipline man. Our response has to be that תמים פעלו, "that whatever He does is perfect." This is the correct reaction to when we observe that G'd apparently compensates very sparingly people who have been very generous doing good works and who have studied Torah. The words כי כל דרכיו משפט, "for all His ways are justice," refer to the reverse phenomenon, i.e. people who have apparently done hardly anything to deserve the way in which G'd appears to lavish His bounty on them. We have to remember that G'd does not afflict the righteous until he has become guilty to suffer afflictions, and He does not lavish His goodness on the wicked unless they had done something to deserve it.

Moses continues with אל אמונה ואין עול, "A G'd of faith without iniquity, etc." Our sages in the Sifri understand the word אמונה, to mean "faithful to repay the righteous in the hereafter," and the words אין עול, "without iniquity," they understand as His repaying the wicked for the good they have done in this life. The sages' thinking may be understood when one reads how they interpret Psalms 4,8: "You put joy in my heart when their grain and wine show increase." Midrash Tehillim on this verse explains that when David observed all this he said to himself: "if people who constantly violate many of G'd's commandments fare like this, I, who strive to carry out G'd's will, will most certainly fare at least as well. This is why my heart is filled with joy when I behold the success of the nations." The meaning of אל אמונה then is that the righteous draws additional faith from the way G'd deals with those who are merely Gentiles. The words ואין עול refer to G'd's need to pay the Gentiles their reward in this life as it is the only life they have.

צדיק וישר הוא. "He is righteous and upright." This is a reference to the fact that G'd the Creator created the universe based on justice, as we know from Proverbs 29,4: "a king sustains earth by justice." Our sages in Tanchuma Shoftim say that G'd swore an oath that He would erect the universe based on justice. On the other hand, we find that He has at least 13 attributes (virtues) which are all various forms of mercy rather than justice. If G'd swore that the universe is based on justice, how does the attribute of Mercy fit into the picture?

We have to understand this on the following basis. When G'd first assumed His seat of justice He placed justice on its appropriate place. When it came to executing justice, G'd allowed Himself to be influenced by considerations of mercy. David described this in Psalms 145,17: "whereas G'd is righteous (just) in all His paths, He is pious (flexible) in His actions." In other words, G'd first established what justice demanded under the given circumstances, but He made allowances before carrying out the demands of strict justice." When man entreats G'd He will show him mercy צדיק וישר הוא. "He is righteous and upright." He is righteous by judging justly. When the Talmud asks in Avodah Zarah 6 whether it it is not impossible that Noach could have been "treifah," seeing he is described in the Torah as "perfect," the Talmud retorts that the word תמים did not necessarily refer to his being unblemished physically (able to live for 12 months) but it could refer to his character being unblemished. Rashi comments on this that Noach was righteous in his דרכיו, "his attitude was guided by justice." All of this was only the original attitude. Afterwards G'd is ישר, more accomodating to man than required by the strict rules of justice as our sages in Baba Metzia 16 explain based on Deut. 6,18.

שחת לו לא בניו מומם, "Its corruption caused them no longer to be His fit children due to their blemish." When they become corrupt they cause harm to themselves. They are no longer called the children of the living G'd as our sages have said in Baba Batra 10: "as long as the children of Israel follow the path of G'd they are called "children;" if they stray, they are called "slaves." Moses mentions that if Israel becomes corrupt vis-a-vis G'd they are no longer His children. He adds the word מומם, their blemish, to remind Israel that if it does become blemished the fault is not with G'd but with themselves. Moses had to add this so that one would not conclude that the blemish found in the Israelites must eventually be traced back to G'd Himself, to their origin. G'd had created man, i.e. Israel, ישר, morally upright; we know this from Isaiah 5,1 where G'd describes Himself as "having owned a vineyard on a fruitful hill. He broke the ground, cleared it of stones and planted it with choice vines, etc. etc. Instead it yielded wild grapes." In other words, the corruption, the blemish, developed out of the people not out of their association with G'd. We are told in Sotah 3 that one does not commit a sin until after one's mind has been invaded by a streak of madness. This is the mystical dimension of Deut. 15,21 מום רע, "a severe blemish." The continued presence of this blemish is attributable exclusively to the deeds of man.

דור עקש ופתלתל, "a perverse and twisted generation." If the generation were smitten only with perversion the words of Torah might suffice to straighten out these people. Who is responsible for the people to have become so twisted? None other than their inherent tendency to be stiff-necked, not to be willing to admit they had been mistaken. It is tragic to be a witness to all kinds of heresy being rampant during these generations and whenever someone comes along and tries to straighten out the misguided thinking of these heretics they become reinforced and even more entrenched in their heresy. This leads to these people losing their homeland.

הלה׳ תגמלו זאת, "Is this the way you repay the Lord?" The reason Moses employs the term גמול, "compensation," [something that does not really apply in our relationship with G'd. Ed.] is that instead of our going out of our way by showing appreciation for what G'd has done for us we do the very reverse.

עם נבל ולא חכם, "a nation which is vile and unwise!" Why does the Torah contrast two characteristics which are not opposites? Vileness is not the opposite of lack of wisdom! Moses means that even though they may be a vile people by nature, if at least they possessed some wisdom they would not display their vileness vis-a-vis G'd! The vile recognises that the fact that he is vile is to his detriment and therefore he would not display such a trait.

This is more or less what Moses meant when he added: הלא הוא אביך קונך, "Isn't G'd the One Who is your father and the One Who owns you?" Moses makes 4 distinctions here. 1) Seeing that G'd created man, he calls G'd "your father." 2) He acquired all of us as His slaves when He took us out of bondage in Egypt, and revived us in the desert and brought us to the Holy Land, a land full of goodness. This then is the meaning of קנך. 3) He awarded us an additional and superior gift, i.e. His Presence amongst us and the availability of prophets in our midst. This is what Moses meant when he said הוא עשך, "He has made you." G'd has added a new element to your life, something no other living beings enjoy. 4) He has equipped us with an automatic entrance card to the hereafter, life's main arena. How could even a vile nation be prepared to jeopardise all these advantages unless they were foolish also?

זכר ימות עולם, "Remember the days of yore, etc." Moses again makes four divisions corresponding to the four divisions he made in the previous verse. Where he had spoken of "your father" in the previous verse, i.e. an allusion to G'd the Creator, he now says "remember the days of yore," i.e. the six days of creation. Those were the days in which G'd manifested Himself as extremely active. Corresponding to the words קנך, "the One Who owns you" in the previous verse, words which were meant to allude to the Exodus from Egypt and other acts of kindness by G'd for Israel, Moses now says בינו שנות דור ודור, that the Israelites should examine the happenings during the two generations in question, i.e the generation of the Exodus and the generation of Israelites who did enter the Holy Land. By reviewing these two periods in our history we can understand by what right G'd considers Himself as "owning" us. Concerning the word עשך, "who has made you," which Moses referred to in the previous verse, something we described as the supreme improvement G'd made in the condition of man (Israel) [since the sin in Gan Eden. Ed.] when He granted the Jewish people His presence on a regular basis, Moses now says שאל אביך ויגדך, "ask your father and he will tell you;" the "father" in this case is a simile for the prophets whom G'd provided for us to consult with. Finally, concerning the fourth section of the previous verse, ויכננך, the automatic entrance card to our hereafter, Moses now says זקניך ויאמרו לך, "your elders and they will tell you." Moses refers to the scholars of the Jewish people who are familiar with the preparatory steps necessary to safeguard our entitlement to life in the hereafter.

בהנחל עליון גוים, "When the Supreme One gave nations their inheritance, etc." This is a reference to the time when G'd assigned "guardian angels" for the various Gentile nations to represent them at the celestial court. This is an allusion to the fact that G'd considered these nations as inferior so that He did not want to relate to them directly but only by means of an intermediary.

בהפרידו בני אדם, "when He separated the children of man." The meaning is that G'd did not deliver all the nations into the hands of a single "deputy," i.e. a minister appointed by G'd to deal with them. Rather He appointed different "ministers" to be in charge of the fates of the various nations. The manner in which G'd went about doing this when He established the borders of the various nations was that He took into consideration the needs of the people of Israel. We must remember that when G'd created the souls He planted them originally in one of two trees. One of these trees is a "good" tree, the other is an "evil" tree. The good tree is the one from which the soul of Adam emanated, whereas the other "tree" is a simile for Samael, the symbol of wicked man. Once Adam sinned and the previous division between good and evil became eroded so that good and evil began to appear intertwined, even the offspring of Adam began to produce wicked souls until eventually one totally pure soul, that of Jacob, emerged. From that time onwards the good tree became clearly identifiable once again. This is why the Talmud in Baba Metzia 84 tells us that the beauty of Jacob's soul was comparable to that of Adam before the sin. The "good" tree we are speaking of has 70 branches corresponding to the number of people who descended to Egypt with Jacob. Accordingly, when G'd separated the various nations from one another, He divided them into 70 to correspond to the seventy branches of sanctity.

The idea underlying this division was to enable each branch of sanctity in the world to be able to rule over its spiritually negative counterpart. This is the mystical dimension of Proverbs 5,5: "her feet descend to death." The idea is that the feet of sanctity stomp on the heads of the קליפה, the spiritually negative forces. In other words, Jacob's branches rule over the nations of the world. Moses continues with, כי חלק ה׳ עמו "for G'd's portion is His people," meaning that inasmuch as G'd has chosen the Jewish people to be governed by Himself directly and has thus elevated Israel over the other nations, He thereby rules over mankind as a whole. The reference of חלק ה׳ עמו refers to Israel after they had received the Torah when they became fit to be called the people of G'd. Moses adds יעקב חבל נחלתו, "Jacob is the measure of His inheritance." The word חבל refers to the most important part of that inheritance. This is an allusion to the quotation from Baba Metzia 84 about the beauty of Jacob matching that of original man, Adam.

Moses also had in mind the fact that there are two categories of souls. One kind of soul has descended directly from a very high region in heaven, and that is the type of soul referred to here as חלק ה׳, "part of G'd," so to speak. Other souls originate in a pool called נחלת שדי, the inheritance of the G'd known as שדי. These souls Moses refers to as חבל נחלתו, "tied by a rope to His inheritance." The word חבל was chosen by Moses deliberately to allude to something very important revealed by the Kabbalists. Every vital soul of man has a "string" connected with its root. This "string" begins at his nostrils and it is by means of this "string" that the soul derives its sustenance enabling it to live. Concerning the soul of the wicked, the Torah said in Numbers 15,31 (in connection with deliberate sinners) הכרת תכרת הנפש ההיא, עונה בה, "that person (soul) will surely be cut off, his sin is upon him." This means that the lifeline connecting that person's soul to its origin will be severed. Once the soul cannot derive sustenance from its source it dies. Of the righteous, on the other hand, the Torah stated in Deut. 4,11 "As to you who have cleaved to the Lord your G'd, you are all alive today."

ימצאהו בארץ מדבר ובתהו ילל ישימון. "He discovered it in a desert land, in desolation, a howling wilderness." It appears that Moses referred to a thought expressed in Pessachim 119 that the Israelites did not leave Egypt until G'd had made them to be like a fishpond devoid of fish. [the Talmud deals with the meaning of the word וינצלו in Exodus 12,36. Ed.] Finding Israel in the desert was as unlikely as finding fish in the pond referred to. In Rabbi Chayim Vital's Likutey Torah on Parshat Vayera we read that if the Israelites had remained in Egypt at the time of the Exodus they would have remained mired in that impurity forever as they would have descended to the 50th and absolute level of impurity. This is why Moses stresses "where", i.e. in what spiritually low state G'd found the Jewish people. He does not describe the area as מדבר, "a desert," but as ארץ מדבר, "desert land," as the former has absolutely no spiritual content, is completely barren of spiritual values.

Moses also said that not only did this land not have much to offer spiritually, but it was תהו ילל ישמון, it was full of spiritually negative influences. Zohar volume one page 16 describes תהו as one of the levels of the קליפה. ילל ישימן are descriptions of similar phenomena. The reason that such phenomena flourish in those environments is the absence of spiritually positive forces. This is a reason why the Torah describes the fact that G'd "discovered" Israel in the desert land in the future tense, to emphasise that unless the Jewish people in that region enjoy the ongoing protection and supervision of G'd, i.e. יסבבנהו יבוננהו, they would be spiritually lost. Moses means that the Exodus was due to the fact that the Jews could not absorb any additional negative influences in Egypt. He protected them at the time He brought the plagues upon the Egyptians. A simple example of this is Exodus 9,6 which tells us that not even the cattle of the Israelites suffered from the plague of pestilence, not to mention the immunity of the Jewish firstborn during the last plague.

יבוננהו, "He granted it discernment." Moses refers to the people receiving the Torah which is the source of their insight, the instrument by which G'd preserved the people "like the pupil of His eye" (Compare Proverbs 2,11 תבונה תנצרכה, "understanding will preserve you.") When Moses added the reference to the "pupil of His eye," we are reminded of Zachariah 2,12: "for anyone who harms you (the Jewish people) is as if he harmed the pupil of his own eye." The prophet meant that an eye cannot tolerate being touched by the finger of man. The reason is that whereas the eyeball is scrupulously clean, man's fingers are not. The eye symbolises spirituality, the finger, physicality. The former does not like to be touched by the latter. This is the mystical dimension of Rabbi Shimon's saying in the Zohar volume two page 211: "woe to the soul that has to suffer from alien fire." He viewed the fire which enters the soul to punish it as alien fire relative to the fire represented by the soul itself. This is why you find in that passage of the Zohar that the soul of the righteous has to immerse itself in the fiery river Dinur, etc.

Moses compared the type of protection G'd afforded the Jewish people as comparable to the way in which we protect the pupils of our eyes. G'd protects the spirituality whereas He considers everything outside the "eye" as physical and potentially lethal even by mere touch. Israel had not attained such a level of spirituality until after it had received the Torah. When Moses first spoke of יבוננהו, and only afterwards of יצרנהו, he referred to the negative commandments.

Another thought that may have prompted Moses to choose these expressions may be related to what we learned in Berachot 54: "three categories of people are in need of protection, one of them being the Torah scholar." The reason is that the destructive forces in the universe are jealous of the Torah scholar's achievements and status and try to harass him. Moses therefore says יבוננהו, that by giving the Torah scholar insight, i.e. the Torah, G'd has armed the scholar against such harassment. Once he possesses such insight he himself understands that he has to protect the Torah like the pupil of his eye.

כנשר יעיר קנו, "He was like an eagle rousing its nest, etc." Our sages in the Sifri pursued their own path in interpreting this verse; we ourselves also pursue our own path based on Vayikra Rabbah 17,4 discussing the affliction of Tzoraat. As long as the Israelites serve the merciful judge (in a general way), G'd does not immediately afflict the persons but rather the קן, property, such as the houses of the Israelites. If this proves ineffectual, G'd affflicts the clothing, and only as a last resort does He afflict the body of the sinner. Moses uses the simile of the eagle to show that just as the eagle rouses its young first, so G'd rouses the children of man to warn that man has to put his spiritual house in order. Any afflictions are in keeping with the victim's ability to endure them. Compare Bereshit Rabbah 55,2 that G'd never subjects man to a trial which is beyond his capacity to survive intact spiritually.

יפרש כנפיו יקחהו, "spreading its wings and taking it." We may understand this as being analogous to Sifri Devarim 3,29 that G'd's right hand is stretched out to welcome the repentant sinners. The previous arousal described in our verse leads to G'd stretching out His hand to those who have responded to the arousal. Moses uses the future tense when saying יפרש, "He will spread out," to indicate that the "whole reason G'd spreads out His wings" in the first place is in order to be able to "catch" the penitents. Were it not for the fact that He hopes for the Israelites to return to Him in penitence, He would not indulge in the gestures described here by Moses.

ישאהו על אברתו, "He will carry it on His pinions." This may be understood by reference to the Zohar volume one page 92 explaining Kohelet 10,20: "some winged creature may betray the matter." According to the Zohar there is a class of angels known as בעלי כנפים, "winged creatures." It is their task to relate to the heavenly regions every worthwhile thing a Jew has uttered and to use its wings for that purpose. Moses referred to G'd, i.e. His messengers, carrying such words which please the Lord to the celestial regions.

ה׳ בדד ינחנו, "The Lord alone guided it, etc." This may be understood on the basis of Bereshit Rabbah 38,6 commenting on Hoseah 4,17: חבור עצבים אפרים הנח לו, "Ephrayim is addicted to images; let him be." According to the view of the Midrash as long as the Israelites will live peacefully with one another and they maintain unity, even the sin of idolatry may be allowed to fester, i.e. הנח לו. The meaning of the word is similar to the way it is used in Esther 2,18 "the king made a הנחה," an amnesty of outstanding taxes to certain of his provinces. The reason Moses chose the expression בדד, is to relate it to the word בד, alone, no longer part of a foreign culture, G'd will lead it.

ואין עמו אל נכר. "No other deity is with Him." This means that though they are idol worshipers, G'd does not account this sin for them. The words אין עמו must be understood similarly to the way our sages in Rosh Hashanah 30 interpreted Jeremiah 30,1 דרש אין לו, "whom no one seeks out." The Talmud translates instead: "it is not investigated" i.e. brought to one's attention (at that time). This proves that it merits investigation nonetheless. [The subject matter is the use of the Lulav even after the destruction of the Temple on all seven days, as a reminder of former times. Ed.] Here too, the sin of idolatry certainly deserves investigation and judgment but not at this time. [I confess that I find this interpretation of אין עמו אל נכר very hard to understand. Why is there a need to depart from the plain meaning? Ed.]

We may also understand the verse as follows: "When does G'd alone guide the fortunes of the Jewish people? When they have rid themselves of all alien deities."

ירכיבהו על במותי ארץ, He makes him ride on the heights of the earth." This verse is not the continuation of what has been written immediately before, but it is the beginning of a new subject and the verse belongs to what follows. The basic subject being introduced here is וישמן ישורון, "Yeshurun became fat and kicked."

לא אלוה, "non-deity." The Israelites do not offer sacrifices to these demons because they consider them as deities, but because they hope that by this means the demons would do their bidding and take care of their needs. Concerning other sacrifices, offered to deities because the Israelites offering these sacrifices do believe that they have divine powers, Moses says: אלהים לא ידעום, "gods they never knew before." Moses scores the Israelites for offering sacrifices to deities who never even demonstrated their power to the people who used to worship them previously. חדשים מקרוב באו, new ones, recently arrived." Compare what I have explained on Deut. 13,7 when we discussed the seducer.

צור ילדך תשי, "You neglected the Rock that begot you;" This is best understood in connection with Sanhedrin 38 that at the time G'd was about to create man, He consulted with the angels about His project. Some angels strenuously opposed the creation of man. G'd not only ignored these angels and created man, but He punished the angels who had opposed man's creation. Whenever Israel sins this weakens G'd's argument in favour of having created man. This is what Moses meant when he said ילדך תשי, "you weaken the One who begot you."

ותשכח אל מחללך, "You forgot the G'd who brought you forth." The word מחללך may be understood as a reference to jewels as in Hoseah 2,15 ותעד נזמה וחליתה, "when she was decked out with her nose-rings and her jewelry," etc. What Moses means is that Israel forgot the very G'd who had made her a more precious jewel than any other creature including the angels. Compare Psalms 66,12, or Isaiah 49,3 "Israel in whom I glory." G'd means that He wears the name of Israel like a person wears a jewel. Our sages have offered a variety of interpretations of this verse.

כי דור תהפוכות המה, "for they are a generation who have reversed themselves." Inasmuch as G'd had said in the first half of this verse that He would hide His face from them, awaiting what would befall the Israelites, this implies that even if they were to turn penitent -seeing G'd would not observe this as He had stopped watching what the Israelites were doing,- He would not accept such penitence. Moses offers as the reason for such an attitude by G'd that the people have turned already from good to evil; he adds בנים ולא אמון בם, "they are thoroughly faithless children." Even if they were to repent to the point of again qualifying for the description of children (of G'd), such repentance will not endure as they are fickle and do not keep faith. As a result of such considerations G'd hides His face from them.

אמרתי אפאיהם, "I had said 'I will scatter them, etc.'" The meaning of the word אפאיהם is: "I will continue My anger with them until their memory will cease from human memory."

לולא כעס אויב אגור, "If it were not for the fact that I am afraid of the anger of the enemy, etc." The author understands the word אגור in this verse as identical with the same word in Proverbs 6,8, i.e. the ant which gathers in the supplies needed in winter during the preceding summer. G'd also refers to the numerous occasions when the Gentile nations have caused Him to be angry. G'd is saying that He is concerned that by wiping out Israel all the Gentile nations will conclude (gather further evidence) that the Jewish religion had never been the truth as demonstrated by the disappearance of the Jewish people. This is the meaning of ינכרו צרימו, "their tormentor will misinterpret (the course of history)." Furthermore, פן יאמרו ידינו רמה, "lest they would say 'our hand has prevailed.' Not only will they deny the authenticity of the Jewish religion but they will continue to sin by claiming that their religion had been the true religion all along. They will not attribute their wellbeing to G'd's patience with them but to the power of the deities they worship and believe in.

ולא ה׳ פעל כל זאת, "and it was not the Lord who accomplished all this." This is a reference to all the glory the Jewish people had achieved prior to its decline. The nations will claim as proof for their theory that a) the Israelites had not been doing something that they had not been doing for a long time; 2) the Gentile nations gained control over them and destroyed them.

Alternatively, the Gentiles will conclude that what had befallen Israel could only be explained in terms of a combination of both alien gods and the Lord cooperating to bring about the demise of the Jewish people.

כי גוי אבד עצות המה, "for they are a people bereft of counsel;" As distinct from the Gentile neighbours, the Jews do not respond to being disciplined by their G'd and turn penitent. They are inherently unable to learn the lessons of history. ואין בהם תבונה, "and they do not possess discernment." They are unable to draw conclusions through unprejudiced observations. As Moses continues: "if they possessed wisdom they would use it intelligently." They would have understood that the outpouring of G'd's wrath upon them was not a natural disaster, a coincidence, but a warning to repent and to mend their ways. Moses elaborates on a few examples which should have demonstrated to the Israelites that G'd had been their support all along in the past.

איכה ירדף אחד אלף, "How could one man pursue a thousand?" This refers to the fact that one Gentile suddenly was able to put to flight one thousand Jews. During all the normal wars between the various nations such a thing was unheard of. Not a single enemy amongst the nations possesses such superiority over his opponents.

Another meaning: "How could one special nation amongst all the Gentile nations pursue one thousand Israelites? Please compare what I have written on Leviticus 26,8 on the verse: "five of you will pursue one hundred."

אם לא כי צורם מכרם, "unless their Rock had sold them." The reference is to the attribute of Justice, as I have explained in connection with verse 4. Moses added וה׳ הסגירם, "and even the attribute of Mercy had delivered them." Unless both the attribute of Justice and the attribute of Mercy cooperated it is impossible to explain a decline of such dimensions in the fortunes of the Jewish people.

כי לא כצורנו צורם, "For our Rock is not like their Rock, etc." Moses means that the reason that one Gentile was able to put to flight a thousand Jews was not due to G'd's lack of power but to His deliberate decision to "sell out" His people. Israel's troubles are not due to the sudden prowess of the Gentile nations. Israel's source of strength, as we pointed out in connection with the debacle of the spies, is not comparable to the short-lived source of strength of the idolators. This is the mystical dimension of Proverbs 12,19: ועד ארגיעה לשון שקר. "but a lying tongue endures only briefly." We can learn from the idolatry practiced by many nations when they worshiped the god Kemosh, a national god of the Moabites. Although, according to Rabbi Saadyah Gaon, many marvellous deeds were attributed to that deity, it did not take long before people ceased to worship it. Many other deities which enjoyed a great reputation in antiquity suffered a similar fate. Our Rock, by comparison, remains at the height of His power as even the Gentiles admit, compare Maleachi, 1,11: "for My name is great among the nations." If these nations observe the downfall of Israel they too will arrive at the conclusion that their religion is true, after all. ואיבינו פלילים, "yet our enemies judge us." The word is used in the sense it is used in Exodus 21,22 ונתן בפלילים, "he shall pay it, (the damages) by order of the judges." Whereas up until then even the nations had admitted that the power of the G'd of the Jews was in a class by itself, the demise of the Jewish people will convince them that they had been wrong.

כי מגפן סדם גפנם, "for their vine is from the vine of Sodom, etc." The Torah here provides the reason why the Jewish people have been "sold" by G'd. The reason Moses says מגפן, from the vineyard instead of simply גפן, is to remind us that everything that exists in the domain of sanctity has its counterpart in the domain of the סטרא אחרא, the spiritually negative domain. This is what we have been taught by Solomon in Kohelet 7,14: "G'd has made the one as well as the other." Israel has been compared to a vine already in Psalms 80,9: "You plucked up a vine from Egypt." The counterpart is the vine originating in Sodom. This is why Moses speaks of Israel in disgrace as representing a vine from Sodom. ענבמו ענבי רוש, "its grapes are grapes of gall." Seeing that not all Israel's branches are vines from Sodom, Moses describes them as containing such parts, i.e. מגפן instead of the whole vine, i.e. גפן. The reason Moses uses the comparison with Sodom is that just as Sodom's measure of guilt was complete before G'd destroyed it, so Israel would not be destroyed until its measure of guilt is complete.

ומשדמות עמורה, "and from the fields of Gomorrah." On the branches of a holy tree, the higher the branch the more holy its character. The highest branch, due to its extreme holiness, is described in the masculine gender to reflect that this is the one which provides the input, whereas the lowest is described in the feminine gender to reflect the idea that it is the recipient of that input. Moses described Israel's attachment to an evil root. He called the first one גפן, vine, masculine, to describe the fact that it provides the input, whereas the secondary one is described as שדה, field, which is feminine in Hebrew, reflecting its passive role as the recipient of that input. The intelligent reader will understand how to transfer concepts which are familiar from sanctity to its counterpart when dealing with spiritually negative phenomena.

הלא הוא כמוס עמדי, "Is it not concealed with Me?" Moses means that on account of the reaction of Israel's enemies to its punishment, G'd has so far refrained from dispensing the justice due for the sins committed by this people. If they appeared to do well this was not proof of their innocence, nor that they would not eventually be made to suffer the punishment they were guilty of. G'd reserved the indictment in anticipation of the Day of Judgment. Concerning that day, the prophet said (Isaiah 10,3: "and what are you going to do on the Day of Judgment (punishment)?" Read up on how much even the prophet Samuel was afraid of that day when he was asked to materialise before Saul (Chagigah) 4 and he thought that he was about to face that day of Judgment. Moses repeats the statement by saying חתום באוצרותי, "sealed in My treasuries." We may compare this to Exodus 34,7 where the Torah speaks about G'd being נושא עון, "suspending punishment for sins." Once G'd reaches the point where He is no longer able to tolerate the wickedness, He seals them in His treasuries and takes His revenge on the evildoers by even removing the sun from its orbit (if need be) as we have been told in Nedarim 8, "a day on which the sun will burn like a furnace." When Moses adds לי נקם, "Mine is the vengeance," this is a reference to G'd personally exacting this punishment.

לי נקם ושלם, "Mine is the vengeance and the retribution." As mentioned previously and in Avodah Zarah 3, when that day arrives G'd will remove the sun from its orbit and the wicked will be burned by it whereas the righteous will experience the sun's heat as therapy and be healed by it. The sequence of the words לי נקם ושלם, means that at one and the same time what will be G'd's vengeance against the wicked will be the payment of a reward for the righteous.

לעת תמוט רגלם, "at the time when their foot will falter." This is the mystical dimension of Sotah 49 of the period known as עקבות משיחא. It is a period when the feet of Samael will begin to totter as the wicked will falter. [actually that folio in Sotah only describes the breakdown of social mores during the period preceding the arrival of the Messiah. Ed.]

כי קרוב יום אידם, "for the day of their disaster is near." This is the day referred to by the prophet as "the day of the Lord" (Tzefaniah 1,6).

והש עתידות למו, "and the future will rush towards them." These are the words of comfort which will all be fulfilled once the wicked get their just deserts. At that time G'd will hasten to keep His promises to the righteous.

כי ידין ה׳ עמו, "When the Lord will judge His people, etc." After having concluded the subject of the people who have caused G'd to become angry, the Torah now turns to Israel as a whole, assuring the people that He will not quarrel with them forever. The words כי ידין השם mean that G'd will take a look at what many righteous have endured, some of whom have been murdered, others burned, etc. G'd will comfort Himself, i.e. relent, when He observes all this. This is why Moses says ועל עבדיו יתנחם, "and on account of His servants (what happened to them) He will relent." He relents on account of those of His children who remained His loyal servants. Furthermore, when G'd sees that the Israelites do not have the strength to save themselves from exile, and their righteous do not enjoy enough authority to discipline the sinners, He relents. He is aware that there are no longer any prophets amongst the Israelites, nor the outstanding men of former years whose influence on the people had beeen considerable. Compare Michah 7,1 אין אשכול לאכול, "there is not a cluster to eat." This is an example of Moses saying: כי אזלת יד, "G'd sees their might is gone." The words אפס עצור, mean that neither what was guarded nor preserved is still left." We find a similar statement in Samuel I 9,17: זה יעצור בעמי, "He will deliver My people," [King Saul. Ed.] The literal meaning is more like "he will stop the rut of My people," or "he will stop everybody from doing what he feels like, and introduce discipline into the lives of the nation." At any rate, it is a reference to the people being in a state of disarray. ועזוב, "and it is abandoned." This is a reference to the disarray the people find themselves in and which makes them feel abandoned. At that point,

אי אלוקימו Israel will begin to ask at such a time: "where is their G'd, the Rock that used to be its refuge?" Even though the deeds of the Israelites are not such that they qualify for G'd's intervention on its behalf, the people will come with a complaint against G'd although they observe only a small part of G'd's Torah. They do at least feel that their G'd ought to take them under His wings. They are conscious that they suffer all kinds of afflictions on account of the Lord being their G'd. They allowed themselves to die for the sake of the holy name of G'd, even. This is why they (the survivors) look to G'd hopefully, i.e. צור חסיו בו, "the Rock in whom they sought refuge."

יקומו ויעזרכם, "Let them arise and help you!" There are two kinds of idolatry and idolators. 1) Someone is wholly committed to serve idols for their own sake. 2) Someone who only serves idols for self-serving purposes, i.e. in order to manipulate the deity for his own purpose. G'd forbade both kinds of idolatry in Exodus 20,4. Concerning the person who only goes through the motions of serving an idol for what he expects to get out of it, G'd said here: "let the deity arise and help you, i.e. you will be sorely disappointed." Concerning the other type of idolator G'd says sarcastically: יהי עליכם סתרה, "let them be a hide-out for you!"

אשר חלב זבחמו יאכלו, "the fat of whose offerings they used to eat, etc." This is G'd's response to their words. The sequence of the words here has to be read as follows: "For G'd will judge His people…and He will then relent considering all they have already suffered, taking into consideration also their present state of utter helplessness plus the fact that after all the people do turn to Him." G'd then responds that those who used to offer sacrifices and eat the fat parts themselves experienced that not therein lay their salvation יקומו. They should arise (anew) in order to finally realise that their salvation did not lie in the number of their sacrifices but that only G'd is the Saviour. This is the meaning of ראו עתה כי אני השם, "See, now, that only I am the Lord" (verse 39).

ראו עתה כי אני אני הוא, "See, now, that I, I am He." Moses repeats the word אני twice, once each vis-a-vis the two kinds of idolators we have just described. The word אני, emphasises "I and no one else" when applied to the first kind of idolator, whereas it means "I alone," when applied to the second kind of idolator. He continues: ואין אלוהים עמדי, "and there is no other deity with Me," that there are no intermediaries between G'd and His creatures.

אני אמית ואחיה, "It is I who kill and who bring to life." This statement is addressed to the people who believe that there are two distinct forces at work in the universe, a benevolent one and a destructive one. The Torah goes on record that this is not so, but that all fateful decisions are exclusively G'd's domain. In order to emphasise that G'd intervenes even in what appear to be minutiae, G'd adds: "I strike down and I heal."

ואין מידי מציל. "and there is no one who can rescue from My hand." This means that all creatures are mortal. In order to make this point clear G'd did not say ואין מציל מידי, but ואין מידי מציל.

כי אשא אל שמים ידי, "For I raise My hand towards heaven, etc." The wording is equivalent to an oath. G'd swears by the fact that He raises His hand that He will take revenge on Israel's oppressors. אם שנותי ברק חרבי, "If I sharpen My flashing sword, etc." The whole verse is an expression by the attribute of Justice.

The verse may also mean that even the attribute of Mercy concurs to take vengeance on the enemies of the Lord, i.e. those who have proven themselves to be enemies of Israel. The word ולמשנאי, "and to those who make Me hated," refers to the people who seduced Israelites to give up their religion and thereby to express their hatred for G'd.

הרנינו גוים עמו, "O nations, sing the praises of His people, etc." Moses means that when the time comes that G'd exacts retribution from the nations, from the enemies of the Jewish people, the other nations will praise the Israelites and jubilate and elevate them, as we know from Psalms 144,19: "Hail to the people who experience this."

כי דם עבדיו יקום, "for He will avenge the blood of His servants." The verse tells us that G'd will not only avenge the blood Israel's enemies have shed but also the other afflictions they have caused the Jewish people. G'd will even avenge evil intentions against the Jewish people which have not been carried out as indicated in Psalms 7,17: ישוב עמלו בראשו, "His mischief will recoil upon his own head." [The Psalmist had previously spoken about people who dug a pit intended for a third party to fall into (verse 16). Ed.]

וכפר אדמתו עמו, "Any residual sins of His people, its land will atone for." The desolation of ארץ ישראל for many many years was part of the atonement process for its people.

הוא והושע בן נון, "he and Joshua son of Nun." Although Joshua stood beside Moses, G'd's word came only to Moses, as is plain from the words וידבר ה׳ אל משה in verse 48. Although Moses had added the letter י to Joshua's name in Numbers 13,16, this was in order to lend him prestige vis-a-vis Israel. When G'd mentions Joshua's name, it remained unchanged as it was not appropriate to make him look prestigious vis-a-vis his teacher (Compare Isaiah 10, 15: "Is the axe going to boast in the presence of the wood cutter?").

בעצם היום הזה לאמור. "on that very day, saying." Moses was to tell the people that he would ascend the mountain in order to die. This corresponds to what Sifri explains on the word בעצם that on the three occasions when this word appears it reflects G'd's determination not to be interfered with. In this instance the Israelites had threatened to physically prevent Moses from ascending the mountain to die there.

ומת בהר, "and die on the mountain." G'd wanted Moses to be willing to die. G'd does not remove the souls of the righteous from their bodies unless they agree. G'd added והאסף אל עמיך, "and be gathered in to your people," this is an allusion to what the Talmud says in Ketuvot 104 that the righteous in the hereafter come out to welcome the righteous who is about to join them. G'd told Moses he was going to be met by a reception committee.

We may also understand this as one of the three reasons G'd supplied for the death of a man of Moses' calibre. The meter of the whole verse is something like this: ומת, "and die;" the reason this was to occur on the mountain may be explained on the basis of Sotah 14. The Talmud wanted to know why Moses was buried on the mountain of Nebo and concludes that it was because of the sin of Baal Pe-or. As long as Moses would be able to look down on that idol from his grave he could hold its power in check. This is why the Torah makes a point in 34,6 to tell us that Moses' grave is opposite the temple of Pe-or. A second reason why G'd told Moses "which you are ascending," was to enable him to amass certain spiritual wealth which it would have been impossible for him to attain by the performance of good deeds on this earth as long as his soul was fused to his body. The word אשר is a reference to the celestial regions. The third reason is introduced by the words והאסף אל עמיך, "and be gathered in to your people." We can understand this in light of Bamidbar Rabbah 19 interpreting Deut 33,21 ויתא ראשי עם. "He came at the head of the people." According to this Midrash the generation of the desert would merit to partake in the resurrection only due to Moses being buried on the East Bank of the Jordan, just as they were buried there. The people considered Moses one of their very own as per Exodus 32,7 "Go on down for your people have become corrupt." The operative word here is עמיך i.e. that in order to save his people at the time of the resurrection Moses had to die here and now. While it is true that the Torah employed a similar expression at the time Aaron died, this does not prevent us from using this verse exegetically.

על אשר מעלתם בי, "because you trespassed against Me, etc." Please compare my comments on Numbers 20,12 where I have elaborated on all this.

כי מגגד תראה את הארץ, "For you will see the land from a distance, etc." The meaning of the verse is similar to 34,1 "He showed him the entire land." Please study my commentary on that verse.

ושמה לא תבא, "but you will not enter there." It is difficult to understand why, after having already told Moses that he would not enter the land, the Torah would repeat the words "to the land, etc." Perhaps we can best understand this by a reference to Devarim Rabbah 2 that in the future Moses together with the patriarchs would enter the Holy Land. In the Zohar volume two page 120 it is stated that Moses would appear at the head of this whole generation of Israelites who had perished in the desert when the redemption would take place. This is why when the Torah said: "you will not enter there," G'd was afraid that anyone who heard this would conclude that Moses would never enter the Holy Land. By limiting the denial of Moses' entrance to "the land which I am about to give to the children of Israel," G'd corrected such an impression, and made certain that the people understood that Moses was only denied entry at this time (compare my comments on Deut. 3,25: "please let me cross").