ולא תחנם, “and you are not to show them any favor.” The word תחנם has been explained in many different ways. It may mean חן, grace, charm; it may mean חנינה, compassion, pardon. Clearly, the plain meaning is from חנינה, compassion, reprieve, and tells us that we must not indulge our feelings of compassion vis-a-vis these people. It is as if the Torah had written לא תחון אותם, “do not be charmed by them”. According to the Talmud in Avodah Zarah 20 it is forbidden to even comment on the aesthetic beauty of artifacts designed in honor of idols. One must not even admire the physical features of a handsome Gentile or a beautiful Gentile woman. The Talmud suggests that this is part of the word לא תחנם when we read the letter ח as if it had the vowel chirik underneath it. They also understand the expression as meaning that we must not grant these people חניה “parking,” i.e. temporary residence status and that it is forbidden to sell any land to Gentiles in the land of Israel. The Torah spelled out the reason when it said “so that they will not lead you into sin.” You must also not give them any gift, including land, the letters in the word תחנם being read with the vowel pattern patach, sheva, patach, i.e. tachnam. In fact, the word lends itself to still further permutations by changing the vowel pattern. Basically, the sages demonstrate the power of the written Torah, which, because it does not have vowels or other signs such as commas and period signs, is capable of being interpreted in so many different ways. Changing the vowel pattern can give a single word many different meanings. Having appreciated this you will understand even better the power inherent in the names of G’d which lend themselves to so many permutations, i.e. different emphasis of the basic concept of Hashem. I have elaborated on this already in my comments on Numbers 11,15.

ולא תתחתן בם, “and you must not intermarry with them.” This means even after conversion of the other partner to Judaism. (Compare Yevamot 76, according to which the term התחתנות would be inappropriate for people who had not converted, and with whom marriage in the legal sense does not exist for Jews.) Seeing the Canaanites were guilty of more sins than any of the other nations, the Torah applied stricter yardsticks to them than to our marrying proselytes from other nations.

כי יסיר את בנך מאחרי, “for he will lead your son astray from following Me.” The Torah does not say that the mother, i.e. the daughter-in-law of such a marriage will lead your son astray. but it speaks about the next generation, i.e. the grandson from your daughter married to the Gentile. The grandson from a Gentile daughter-in-law could not be referred to as “your son,“ as, seeing his mother is not Jewish, he is not either (compare Kidushin 68). The syntax of the verses makes clear that the Torah considers the mother pivotal in determining who is Jewish. The plain meaning of the verse then is: ”if the son of a Gentile marries your daughter he will lead your grandson born from your daughter astray” (religiously speaking, even though technically your grandson is Jewish). Her husband will train his son to engage in idolatry.

לא מרבכם מכל העמים, “not because you are the most numerous amongst all the nations, etc.” The premise underlying the verse is that seeing we have a principle that the glory of a king is manifest in the numerous legions he owns, and it would therefore be natural for G’d, the King of Kings, to command the most numerous legions as His people, this is not the case in the G’d-Israel relationship. His relationship to you is governed by the degree of fondness He has developed for you, a consideration outweighing considerations of numerical strength. This is why He chose you to be His special people as already mentioned in verse 6. You do not have officers or policemen in the celestial regions you are subservient to, only to G’d Himself. This is the meaning of being an עם סגולה i.e. under His immediate authority. This is why you must not err to serve idols in any shape or form (see Nachmanides on that verse).

I believe that the correct way to interpret the words: “not on account of your being the most numerous,” refers to the reason G’d took us out of Egypt to make us His nation. The verse provides evidence that we were indeed the most numerous people at the time but this did not provide G’d with the motivation to take us out of there. Rather, He was motivated by feelings of a strong fondness so that even if we had been the least numerous nation He would still have taken us out of there. G’d loved us and wanted to keep His oath to the patriarchs. The reason G’d felt compelled to state all this now in the fortieth year after the Exodus is that now Moses had referred to how numerous the people had become, i.e. “like the stars in the sky” (1,10). If so, and especially seeing that the numbers of the people had not changed since the Exodus, how could G’d say that He had taken us out because we actually were the least numerous, i.e. כי אתם המעט מכל העמים?

We may add further that the absence of a dot, dagesh in the letter מ in the word המעט proves this; had the letter מ in המעט been written with a dagesh I would have used this as confirmation that the people had indeed been the least numerous. However, seeing that it is written without such a dagesh, just as in the word המעט In Numbers 16,9 or 16,13, the word is not to be understood as confirmation of anything, rather as a supposition. The meaning of the line is: the word אתם refers to the spiritual level of the people, i.e. a very high level. Moses, resp. G’d is saying: “you who are numerically the smallest nation are yet on such a high spiritual level that instead of considering yourselves the most insignificant of all you are the most significant of all. Nonetheless, even considering your relative excellence, the reason the Lord took you out of Egypt was because of a feeling of love for you and in order to keep His oath to them. Our sages in the Midrash (compare Rashi Pinchas 26,36) interpret the words: “for you are the smallest, etc.” as ה מעט, “five families.” The total number of families of the Jewish people was 65, i.e. five fewer than the 70 nations (families) enumerated in Noach after the dispersal of mankind subsequent to the Tower. The expression חשק is a variant of קשור and is found in that sense in Exodus 27,10 חשוקים כסף, surrounded by bands of silver (closely attached). These bands were firmly attached. The word in our verse indicates that the attachment between G’d and the Jewish people is permanent, extends beyond the death of the bodies of the individual Jews.

A Midrashic approach based on Chulin 89: the word לא מרבכם means “not because you boast of the fact that you are so numerous but, on the contrary, because you are unassuming, modest before Me do I relate to you in this manner. David referred to this in Psalms 136,23: “He remembered us because we were humbled, for His kindness is everlasting.” This is the true meaning of: “for you are the least assuming of all the nations.” G’d said: “at a time when I bestow greatness upon you, you belittle yourselves.” When I granted greatness to Avraham, he said: “I am but dust and ashes” (Genesis 18,27). When I granted greatness to Moses and Aaron they said “who are we?” (Exodus 16,8). When I bestowed greatness upon David, he said: “I am only a worm and not a man” (Psalms 22,7). The nations of the world do not react in this manner. When I granted greatness to King Nimrod he went ahead and said “let us a build a tower which reaches into heaven!” (Genesis 11,3) When I granted greatness to Pharaoh he reacted by saying: “who is Hashem that I should listen to His instructions!” (Exodus 5,2): When I granted great stature to Sancheriv, he responded by saying: “Who amongst all the gods of these countries has saved them from my hand that you (Chizkiyah) would think that the Lord can save Jerusalem from my hand?” (Isaiah 36,20) When I granted greatness to Nevuchadnezzar he proclaimed: “I will ascend the highest places” (Isaiah 13,14). Chirom the king of Tzor said: “I am a god; I sit enthroned like a god in the heart of the seas” (Ezekiel 28,2).

וידעת כי ה’ אלו-היך הוא האלו-הים ה-אל הנאמן, “and you know that the Lord your G’d He is the true G’d.” The word “you know” refers to the knowledge the people acquired at the Exodus that the Lord is the G’d who had created heaven and earth; further more you will know that He is a true G’d seeing that on that occasion He kept His promise and will continue to so seeing He has the power to do so. Whereas in our verse Moses speaks of one thousand generations hence, in a different context the Torah speaks of G’d remembering things two thousand generations hence. Our sages in Sotah 31 do not see a contradiction in this but say simply that when G’d is served out of fear He will remember this for 1,000 generations and there will be positive fallout. When someone serves Hashem out of love the fallout will continue for 2,000 generations. In each instance, the number of generations that G’d reacts to who either hate Him or love him is mentioned next to the words לשונאיו or לאוהביו respectively. This teaches that the verse is not to be understood only collectively, but that G’d deals with each person on his merits (Nachmanides).

אל פניו “to his face.” to each one of them, individually. להאבידו, “to destroy him.” Just as He destroyed the Egyptians and not a single Israelite. This attribute is a demonstration of the absolute truth with which G’d operates in this world. Although it may take a long time before the wicked person gets his deserts seeing G’d has a lot of patience during which time the wicked continues his evil, the reason he appears to get away with it is that G’d may still owe him a reward for good deeds he has done without having been rewarded as yet.

Others (Ibn Ezra) explain the wording here differently, saying that the word אל פניו means “personally, without intermediary,” similar to Samuel II 17,11.

לא יאחר לשונאו, “He shall not delay for His enemy.” He will not wait for three or four generations with retribution as mentioned as sometimes occurring (Ten Commandments 5,9). He personally will experience the retribution, not a descendant. This is the meaning of the words following אל פניו ישלם לו, “He will pay him back to his face.”

A Midrashic approach based on Midrash Tehillim 99: our wording “He pays back His enemies to their faces” expresses what is written in Psalms 73,4: “כי אין חרצובות למותם ובריא אולם, “death has no pangs for them; their body is healthy (standard translation). The word חרצובות is understood as an acronym of the two words אחר צביונן, a change of colour, appearance. G’d does not prescribe a medication for these kind of wicked people which, though making them suffer, would cure them ultimately. You may understand this by means of a parable. A doctor who attends two patients prescribes unpleasant medicines to the one patient whereas he tells the nurse of the second patient to let him eat whatever he wants, etc. When questioned why he did not prescribe medicines for the second patient, he explains that that patient is doomed and therefore there is no point in letting him undergo the additional discomfort of a medicine which will do nothing for him. Moses says something similar here. Seeing that G’d is going to destroy the deliberate unrepentant sinner anyway, the fact that he enjoys some of the benefits life on terrestrial earth has to offer in the meantime is irrelevant. We have another Midrash on the subject in Kohelet Rabbah 7,32: Rabbi Yoshiah said that there are three reasons why G’d allows the wicked to flourish in this world. 1) He hopes they will repent. 2) They have already fulfilled a major mitzvah for which G’d owes them a reward. 3) He foresees that a righteous person of major dimensions will be descended from them. We know, for instance that one such example was King Achaz, a heretic of considerable proportions who became the father of King Chizkiyah of Yehudah, a king who almost qualified to be the messiah. Another example is Shimi ben Gerah, the one who cursed David, from whom Mordechai is descended. Had G’d punished Shimi sooner than when Solomon eventually executed him, perhaps we would have been without a Mordechai. Mind you, Shimi, was not a heretic though he challenged the legitimacy of David both as king and as Jew. The only people who qualify under the heading of G’d’s שונאיו are the ones who deny Him and His authority. Only concerning such utter heretics does the Torah say that G’d will wipe out such people.

Onkelos believes that our verse speaks of G’d repaying the sinner generously for his relatively insignificant good deeds so that He will not have to use unrewarded good deeds as ameliorating the eventual punishment of such people in the hereafter. G’d chooses the inferior world to be the arena in which such sinners receive their rewards, a world which is brief and transient. By doing so, He is free to deny such people any share in the world to come, a world which is unending. It follows that what the onlooker perceives a the “good fortune” of the sinner in this life is actually part of his ill fortune, seeing it is the cause he will not enjoy life in the hereafter. This is what David alluded to in Psalms 92,7: “a foolish man cannot know, a fool cannot understand זאת, this.” Such people as the ones David refers to do not understand the workings of the attribute זאת, the way the attribute of Justice works. This is also what is meant when the psalmist describes in the following verse: בפרוח רשעים כמו עשב ויציצו כל פועלי און—להשמדם עדי עד, “when the wicked sprout like grass and the evildoers blossom; it is only in order to destroy them forever.” G’d often treats the righteous in the opposite way by punishing him for his relatively few sins through inflicting pain and discomfort on him in this life so as to preserve his life in the hereafter fully intact.

אשר אנכי מצוך היום לעשותם, “which I command you this day to perform.” Our sages in Eiruvin 22 use the superfluous word “this day,” to teach that whereas performance of the commandments is incumbent upon us “this day,” G’d does not promise that the reward will also be paid immediately, i.e. “this day.” Basically, our terrestrial world is perceived a the עולם העשיה, the world of “action,” as opposed to being the period in which one enjoys the reward for one’s actions. Solomon already alluded to this when he said in Kohelet 9,10: “for there is no action, no reasoning, no learning no wisdom in Sheol, where you are going.” His message is that it is too late to rectify after death what one has failed to rectify while alive. Once one has died one has forfeited all one’s former potential. This is why one has to perform all the good one can while on this earth and capable of exercising one’s faculties. This is what Solomon had said in the first half of the verse we just quoted, where we read: “whatever it is in your power to do, do with all your might.” Our sages in Avodah Zarah 3 have paraphrased this thought when they said that he who labors on the Sabbath eve will have what to eat on the Sabbath, When will the one who did not trouble himself on Sabbath eve have food to eat on the Sabbath? All these considerations commit each one of us to spend as much effort to perform a so-called מצוה קלה, an easy commandment, or one that appears capable of fulfilling with little effort as that which requires great efforts on our part. We do not know which mitzvah will be rewarded more greatly. G’d did not take us into His confidence [else nobody would perform the מצות קלות.] Our sages in Avot 2,1 spelled this out quite clearly. We must not commit the error of applying our yardsticks to G’d’s thinking and deciding what in His view deserves a great deal of reward and what does not. In referring to the inadequacy of our intellect, Solomon writes in Proverbs 5,6: “she does not chart a path of life, her ways are unstable; you do not know them.” We must not overestimate the reliability of the conclusions we draw about what is good and bad by second-guessing G’d. David had a similar message in Psalms 119,14 and 16: by emphasizing the positive, i.e. the delight of accepting G’d’s law, His teaching in preference to all riches available on this earth.

בני לדברי הקשיבה לאמרי הט אזנך אל יליזו מעיניך שמרם בתוך לבבך כי חיים הם למוצאיהם ולכל בשרו מרפא, “My son, give attention to my words; incline your ears to my words. Do not lose sight of them; keep them in your heart. For they are life to those that find them; and healing for all flesh.” (Proverbs 4,20- 22).

Solomon urges us here to tune in to words of Torah and to tune out to extraneous matters. This is the deeper meaning of the words הט אזנך, “incline your ear.” He uses a similar phrase in Proverbs 2,2 where the words תטה לבך also mean to turn one’s attention away from other matters in order to acquire the requisite תבונה, discernment, insight. Solomon called the commandments דברים ואמרים, warning that neither must the text be forgotten nor the essence, the actual commandment. They must not be forgotten. The words אל יליזו מעיניך refer to forgetting the text of the Torah; even if you have urgent matters to attend to we must always remember these commandments described as הדברים בין עיניך in Exodus 13,9. The reason the Torah commanded us to wear the phylacteries on our forehead is to make it harder to forget these commandments. When saying שמרם בתוך לבבך, “guard them inside your heart,” this refers not so much to the text of the commandments as to their essence. Something buried inside a person’s heart and constantly guarded is not subject to being forgotten. This is why we must guard Torah text as well as essence in our hearts so that we are not in danger of forgetting them. Solomon provides a reason why he considers this so essential, namely that Torah essence is equivalent to life itself for all those who have once found them. Torah (text) and the commandments between them are healing for both body and soul. Solomon has touched on that subject already earlier in Proverbs 3, 22 when he said: ”they will give life to your spirit and grace to your throat.” When Solomon used the word לגרגותיך in that verse, meaning “for your throat,” he meant that when you (also) observe the words of Torah which you express with your mouth, they will then be an adornment for you. In the words of our sages: Torah words are effective when the one who speaks about them also is known as keeping them, i.e. נאה דורש נאה מקיים (compare Chagigah 14). Solomon also says (Proverbs 4,13) נצריה כי היא חייך, “guard her well” for she is your life. Seeing that our Torah is the fruit, i.e. the product of the attribute of חכמה, wisdom of the celestial world, of which it is written in Kohelet 7,12: החכמה תחיה בעליה, “the wisdom revives those who possess it,” this is why Solomon says in our opening verse that “it is life-giving for those who find it.” The plural of חיים הם, is an allusion to Jeremiah 2,13 who quotes G’d as saying that the Jewish people have forsaken Him Who is מקור מים חיים the source of “living” waters. Moses himself refers to this phenomenon in Deut. 4,4 where he attributed the people’s being alive to ואתם הדבקים בה’ חיים כולכם השיום, “you are all fully alive this day because you have cleaved to the Lord your G’d, i.e. His Torah, the wisdom He revealed to you.” Solomon is very specific in describing for whom the words of Torah constitute life, saying “for the ones who have found them.” By adding this rider he makes it plain that not every person is likely to find words of Torah. The reason that not everyone finds words of Torah is because not everyone searches for them. Those who have not found words of Torah would have found them if only they had wanted to find them, if only they had looked for them. This is what Solomon said in Proverbs 2,4-5: “If you seek it as silver, and search for it as for treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and will find knowledge of G’d.” Our sages in Eiruvin 54 comment on the word למוצאיהם, “for those who find them,” by slightly changing the spelling to למוציאיהם בפה “for those who express these words of Torah as wisdom with their mouth.” The moral reason is that it is not enough to possess knowledge of G’d and to keep it to oneself; one has to spread this knowledge, talk about it. In fact, these words of Torah have to be שגורים בפה, fluent in one’s mouth, one must have quotations from the Torah constantly at one’s command. Concerning these two additional facets of Torah Solomon said in Proverbs 22,18: “it is pleasant if you store them within you, so that they will be ever ready on our lips.” As to the meaning of the words ולכל בשרו מרפא, “that the words of Torah will be a therapy for one’s whole flesh,” it is customary for a physician to give a patient a certain drug and to feed it to him in his food or drink so that it will heal the sickness of a particular organ of the body. Very often such treatment has a negative side effect for parts of the body which were not afflicted by the disease. The great advantage of Torah as therapy is that it applies to all parts of the body and that Torah’s therapy does not produce negative side effects in any part of the patient. Solomon also teaches in this verse that not only the body but also the soul benefits therapeutically from Torah. Moses underlines that by saying in 6,24 לטוב לנו כל הימים, “to be good for us for all time.” The word כל in that verse clearly is a reference to the hereafter. The words לחיותנו כיום הזה on the other hand, refer to life in this world. This also explains the division of the commandments into what we called מצות מושכלות and מצות מקובלות. The former are designed to help our bodies while we are on terrestrial earth, whereas the other are primarily of benefit to the soul, all their demonstrable benefit being reserved for the hereafter. David referred to this division, i.e. that the מצות מושכלות are of immediate benefit to our bodies in this world, when he said גם עבדך נזהר בהם בשמרם עקב רב, “Your servant pays them heed; in obeying them there is much reward.” The word עקב meaning reward occurs both in connection with מצות מושכלות and with מצות מקובלות. It occurs in connection with חקים, the commandments which defy our reason. Nonetheless, David says in Psalms 119,33: ”Teach me O Lord the way of Your statutes, I will observe them עקב.” We have a similar verse in Psalms 119,112. In both instances David means that one of the reasons that prompts him to carefully observe the laws known as חקים is the reward which will accrue for their observance, ultimately, עקב. This “reward” is concealed at this time but David describes it as מה רב טובך “how great is Your goodness,” (Psalms 31,20) a reference to the greatness of the reward. Hence the term עקב רב for describing great reward for the observance of the social laws, מצות מושכלות the social laws, משפטים as we know from the following verse:

**והיה עקב תשמעון את המשפטים האלה ושמרתם ועשיתם אותם, ושמר ה’ אלו-היך לך את הברית ואת החסד אשר נשבע לאבותיך, “This shall be the reward when you hearken to these social laws and observe them to carry them out; Hashem your G’d will safeguard for you the covenant and the kindness which He has sworn to your forefathers.”**All the promises made in this portion of the Torah are of a physical dimension, refer to the benefits derived by our bodies in this terrestrial life which is but a prelude to life in the world to come. One reason why this type of reward is described as עקב, something “low” “at the bottom like the heel,” is that the reward shared out in this world for mitzvot performed here is insignificant compared to the part which awaits us in the hereafter. That part of the reward is alluded to in the word והיה, a reference to the world to come, a word which contains the letters of the tetragrammaton, G’d’s Holy Name. We already mentioned the relationship between this world and the next world in matters of rewards in explaining the word היום in the last verse of the last portion. In order not to create the impression that מצות מושכלות performed היום i.e. in this life, will not be rewarded at all in this life, Moses wrote our verse here to stress that even those commandments will entitle the people performing them to a measure of reward including זיו השכינה, “a certain divine illumination.” There is yet another lesson, a moral one, in the choice of the word עקב by Moses at this juncture. There are commandments which man does not take seriously, tramples under foot, so to speak with his עקב, his heel. The Torah warns us not to do this as we would miss out on the reward for the meticulous performance of those commandments. Our sages warned us of the punishment for the neglect of just those commandments. We are told in Avodah Zarah 18, based on Psalms 49,6 עון עקבי יסובני, “the guilt of my heels which surrounds me,” that the psalmist has in mind these very commandments which we neglect as not worth our while to pay attention to. Another meaning of that verse is that David refers to the kind of commandments which require from us that we walk toward them, situations which we have to create in order to perform the commandments in question. They include such duties as attending funerals, walking to the synagogue to participate in communal prayer, visiting the sick, etc. The reward for such commandments is especially great as the performance of these mitzvot entails that we extend ourselves. Our sages in Berachot 6 who have taught us that on the Sabbath one does not run or make big steps, have nevertheless suspended this rule for people who run to the synagogue. If one does not fulfill the commandments requiring this use of one’s feet and one’s heels one will be held accountable for this on the day of Judgment after death. Hoseah 11,10 who writes: “the Lord will roar like a lion and they shall march behind Him,” refers to people being allowed to run to the synagogue on the Sabbath. Naturally, if one is held accountable for merely not running or walking toward the opportunity to fulfill a commandment, if one rums toward an opportunity to commit a sin one will be held doubly accountable. Not only will one be punished for the commission of the sin, but separately for the effort made to enable one to commit it. We are told that the daughter of Rabbi Chaninah ben Tradyon was condemned to sit in the company of whores as she had walked with an arrogant gait in front of the noble senators of Rome after she had heard the scholars comment on her beautiful legs. She accepted the sentence by acknowledging that G’d had punished her in accordance with Jeremiah 3,19: “wondrous in purpose and mighty in deed, whose eyes observe all the ways of men, so as to repay every man according to his ways.” We learn from this that even the manner in which we walk (and our purpose in walking in such a manner) is something we are held accountable for. All of this is included in the words והיה עקב תשמעון.

A Midrashic approach (based on Devarim Rabbah Lieberman edition page 76) the word עקב teaches that the righteous are rewarded only at the end of their career on earth, whereas the wicked are repaid immediately for any good deeds they perform. This is the real meaning of ומשלם לשונאיו אל פניו, “and He repays immediately (for the good deeds) those who hate Him.” On the other hand: ואחריו כל ישרי לב (Psalms 94,15) “and after him (his life) all those who were of an upright heart.”

ברוך תהיה מכל העמים, “You will be blessed more than any other nations.” The word יותר “more than,“ is implied here though it does not appear in the text. It is a construction similar to Deut. 28,1: ונתנך ה’ אלו-היך עליון על כל גויי הארץ, “and the Lord will make you supreme above all the nations of the earth.” Alternatively, the words מכל העמים can be understood as מפי כל העמים, i.e. you will be blessed by all the nations. They will all acknowledge your superiority.

והסיר ה’ ממך כל חולי, “the Lord will remove all manner of sickness from you;” This refers to the kinds of maladies all of mankind is plagued by. וכל מדוי מצרים, “and all the specific illnesses prevalent in Egypt;” unusual kinds of diseases.

Alternatively, the words כל חולי may refer to sickness which attacks the body from the outside due to climate, and conditions of air pollution, etc. The words וכל מדוי מצרים would refer to diseases originating inside the body. Concerning those, Moses says: “G’d will not afflict you with them.”

ואכלת את כל העמים, “you will consume all the nations.” When you will utterly destroy them the result will be as if you had eaten them as one eats bread. This is in line with what Calev had said when he came back from the spying mission 38 years earlier when he told his compatriots that the Canaanites “are our bread” (Numbers 14,9).

אשר ה’ אלו-היך נותן לך, “which the Lord your G’d is about to give to you.” Our sages in Baba Kama 113 state that this was true only at the time when the Canaanites were being delivered into the hands of the Israelites during the years of conquest. Nowadays, stealing from or robbing Gentiles is certainly prohibited. In fact, the Talmud there describes stealing from Gentiles as a greater sin than stealing from Israelites as it involves the desecration of the name of the Lord. The Jewish people are to be models of morality. If we steal we drag G’d’s Torah into disrepute. (See also the author's comment on Lev. 25,50).

וגם את הצרעה, “and also the hornet,” etc.; Remember that miracles occur on two levels, so-called “open” (supernatural) miracles, i.e. visible manifestations of G’d interfering with the laws of nature; secondly there are the so-called “hidden” miracles (natural) which are no less miraculous although we do not witness overt interference with the laws of nature. In the previous verse G’d referred to the first category of miracles, the ten plagues, etc., in which G’d demonstrated His mastery over the forces of the universe, the laws of nature. Now the Torah, i.e. Moses, turns his attention to the occurrence of “hidden” miracles such as swarms of hornets which occur at regular intervals, almost like rain. Seeing that neither rainfall nor swarms of hornets are the result of changes in the laws of nature they are not regarded as miracles. This is why the Torah introduces this element with the word וגם, “and also,” to say that in addition to the supernatural miracles mentioned above there will also be natural forces such as the hornet. The fact that G’d employs a tiny insect to drive out the powerful people of Canaan is surely enough of a miracle to register with the people who observe this. Therefore — לא תערוץ מפניהם, “You shall not be afraid of them (the inhabitants, not the hornets).” The only One you shall be afraid of is the Lord your G’d Who dwells among you. (The author suggests reading the first 6 words in verse 21 together).

It is worth noting that the words ה’ אלו-היך and the word בקרבך contain two separate praises of the Lord. They are the attributes גדול ונורא, “great and awesome.” These two adjectives, i.e. attributes, refer to the two types of miracles we spoke of earlier. The word גדול describes the attribute involved when G’d performs “hidden” miracles, whereas the word נורא describes the attribute involved when He performs “open” miracles. When G’d’s activities at the Sea of Reeds were reported in the Torah we read about נורא תהלות עושה פלא, ”too awesome for praises, Doer of wonders” (Exodus 15,11). Presently (10,21) the Torah will refer to both kinds of miracles describing them under the heading of “את הגדולות ואת הנוראות האלה, “these awesome deeds and these great deeds.” The צרעה is an insect similar to a fly which emits a poison by means of its sting. Our sages in Tanchuma Mishpatim 18 have said that a plague of such hornets occurred twice; once during the time of Moses and once during the life of Joshua. It would attack the enemies of the Israelites disabling them from offering serious resistance. The Israelites would simply kill the Canaanites without encountering resistance. There is another Midrash in Sotah 36 according to which the effect of the bite or sting of the hornet resulted in the victim becoming both blinded and impotent as if castrated. The prophet Amos 2,9 referred to this when he said: “Yet I destroyed the Emorite before them, whose stature was like the cedar’s and who was as stout as an oak; destroying the boughs above and his trunk below.” Onkelos also translates the word צרעה as ערעיתא, “wasp, hornet.” According to Onkelos, the reason for this name may be that it encounters man like the Amalekites encountered the Israelites in the desert, i.e. אשר קרך בדרך (Deut. 25,18), compare Onkelos there.

פסילי אלוהיהם תשרפון באש, לא תחמוד כסף וזהב עליהם ולקחת לך, “the images of their gods you shall burn by fire. Do not covet the silver or gold on those idols and do not take it for yourself!” The sages in Avodah Zarah 52 read this verse as follows: “if the silver and gold was meant i.e. cast for the idol, do not covet it, if, however it was (once) part of the idol itself (seeing the idol has been destroyed or neutralized, ולקחת לך you may take it for yourself.” This is because the word פסל may have one of two meanings. One meaning is that it is a molten or carved image, the idol itself; the other meaning of the word is related to פסולת, reject, that which is left over, no longer fit for its original purpose. This is why our verse may also refer to a situation where the rejects, the leftovers of an idol after it has been destroyed is permitted for further use, whereas the idol itself is, of course, totally forbidden for any use.

ולא תביא תועבה אל ביתך, “and do not bring any abomination into your house.” Our sages derive from this verse indirectly that it is forbidden to rent out one’s house to a pagan as a residence seeing the pagan will introduce various idols into your house. The technical reason why the Jew renting the house to a pagan is transgressing the law is that renting does not confer title of the ground the property is on to the person who has rented the house. Seeing the ground remains the property of the Jew he is held liable (rabbinically) when the pagan practices idolatry in that house (based on Meiri in Avodah Zarah 21). However, we find that some halachic authorities take a more lenient view; these include the Jerusalem Talmud as well as Rabbeinu Chananel, hence our practice of renting houses to Gentiles. Nachmanides takes a more stringent view stating that a responsible person will refrain from renting his house to Gentiles not only in the countries under Catholic rule but also in those under Moslem rule.

שקץ תשקצנו , “you shall surely abominate it.” The verse teaches that we must relate to idolatry with a very negative and disdainful attitude and when for some reason speaking about it always make plain how we detest it. We are not to refer to houses of pagan worship by the names they are usually referred to but by some name which belittles them, downgrades them. (Sanhedrin 63). We have a principle that unbecoming speech is forbidden unless such epithets are reserved for idolatry and places where such idolatry is practiced (compare Isaiah 46,1 where the prophet ridicules pagan deities in insulting language: “Bel is bowed, Nebo is cowering.”) The author quotes more such examples from the Talmud where pagan sites are referred to in a derogatory manner.