Pisqa’ 254²⁶²

1. “When you go off to encamp upon your enemies” (Dt. 23:10)— if you must go to battle, go with a full camp.

footnotes: ²⁶² H:255;JN2:181-182.

“Upon your enemies” (Dt. 23:10)— upon requires you to battle against your enemies, [and not to make alliances with them].

2. “You must carefully guard yourself against any harmful thing”²⁶³; literally, “a bad thing.” (Dt. 23:10)— shall I understand this verse as requiring separation of clean things from unclean things, or separation of Tithes from [untithed] produce? The Teaching states: “A lewd thing”²⁶⁴ literally, “an indecent thing.” (Dt. 23:15; 24:1)— [implying some sexual impropriety].²⁶⁵ 269.1-6. I might infer only that lewd suggests [sexual] license. How do I know that it might include participation in a foreign cult, shedding innocent blood, or cursing the Name? The Teachings states: “You must carefully guard yourself against any harmful thing” (Dt. 23:10)— [certainly including idolatry, bloodshed, and blasphemy]!3. Well, if you must carefully guard yourself, isn’t it possible to say that the verse concerns separation of clean things from unclean things, or the separation of Tithes from [untithed] produce? The Teaching states: “A lewd thing” (Dt. 23:15; 24:1)— just as lewdness is distinctive, causing the expulsion of the Canaanites, as well as the repulsion of the Presence, so, too, lewdness [describes] any act that causes the expulsion of the Canaanites, **or the repulsion of the Presence.**²⁶⁶ 258.3

footnotes: ²⁶³ Heb: davar ra ²⁶⁴ Heb: ervat davar; ²⁶⁵ Cf. Pisqa’ ²⁶⁶ Cf. Pisqa’

So when He states: “A thing” ²⁶⁷ is “word.” This meaning, and its various linguistic overtones, accounts for the prominence of davar in midrashic word-play. In the present instance, it is unclear whether the citation of davar is intended to include the phrase, ervat davar* (Dt. 25:15: “lewd thing”) or *davar ra (Dt. 25:10: “harmful thing”). The concluding reference to leshon hara* (“slanderous speech”) argues that *davar ra is the target phrase. *(*Dt. 23:10), this includes slanderous speech. Another word: “Carefully guard yourself” (Dt. 23:10)— be careful that fantasies of sexual transgression don’t lead you into the clutches of ejaculation!²⁶⁸

footnotes: ²⁶⁷ The primary meaning of davar ²⁶⁸ This brief addition appears in only a few versions. See F:280, n.9.