a’azinu 5716
Alef.
Chapter 32 דְּבָרִים
- If RaMBaN had attached his summary to the beginning of the poem, one could get the impression that if the Jews do not act properly, it is alright for the nations of the world to come and oppress them, as is stated in v. 21. One could think that if HaShem is the cause for the Jewish people to be attacked by other nations, those nations bear no responsibility for what they do. Consequently the last four verses beginning with v. 40 state that HaShem will Avenge Himself from those that cause His People harm, no matter how deserving the latter may be of punishment. This parallels what happens to the Egyptians who certainly were intended to afflict the Jewish people as is predicted in Beraishit 15 (although the nation is not specified there, in retrospect, it would appear that the Egyptians were at least potentially the oppressors even then.) Nevertheless, the problem of allowing someone to wreak havoc with someone else is that it is impossible to stay within the bounds of what is permitted, and inevitably they will be taken to task for having gone too far. This is the problem with the view of “Avid Inish Dina LeNafsheh” (a person can take the law into his own hands) (Bava Kamma 27b-28a)—what happens when he goes too far? This is also the case of the woman who goes too far in protecting her husband in Devarim 25:11-12.
- 1. Abrabanel’s question: Why does HaShem Imply that His relationship with the Jews began in the desert, rather than in Egypt proper?
- Siphre: In the same way that when one finds berries in the desert it is unexpected and a great surprise, while the behavior of the people in Egypt was predictable, what they did in the desert was more remarkable and that is the reason why that period of time is emphasized in the Shira.
- RaShI: The people showed their faith and trust in HaShem specifically in the desert when they accepted the Tora and committed to fulfill it. (Although the mere fact that this group was ready to leave Egypt and enter the frightening environment of the desert was already significant, particularly if you accept the Midrashic account that only 1/5 or 1/50th or even 1/500th of the people actually left, nevertheless until they actually accepted the Tora, the jury was out. This is evidenced by the comments of at least some of them at the Sea when they questioned the wisdom of their leaving Egypt in the first place, as well as the various complaining that they did regarding water and food.
- RaMBaN: Rather than offering an interpretation himself, RaMBaN points out that RaShI’s interpretation does not fit into the context of the Shira in the sense that God is Stressing the people’s lack of gratitude for what He has Done for them, rather than their virtues.
- RaShBaM: The desert is the place where God Became the people’s immediate Provider (of food, water, shelter, etc.) In Egypt, despite the people’s being oppressed, they were afforded basic amenities by their masters.
- HaEmek Davar: Not only did HaShem provide food for the people (like RaShBaM), He also was Responsible for a number of other serious necessities: shelter, protection, structure for their community and society.
- 2. The verse from Hoshea adds the emotional dimension associated with HaShem’s “Finding” the Jews in the desert. Their qualities were unexpected, just as the unexpectedness one experiences when encountering berries in the desert. The behavior of the Jews in Egypt was a known quality; how they would conduct themselves in the desert was unknown.
- 3. RaMBaN feels that the overall thrust of HaShem’s Comments about the Jews has to do with how ungrateful they were. Therefore to suddenly describe their loyalty and commitment appears to be out of step with the rest of the text.
- 4.
דברים פרק לג
(ב) וַיֹּאמַר יְקֹוָק מִסִּינַי בָּא וְזָרַח מִשֵּׂעִיר לָמוֹ הוֹפִיעַ מֵהַר פָּארָן וְאָתָה מֵרִבְבֹת קֹדֶשׁ מִימִינוֹ אשדת אֵשׁ דָּת לָמוֹ:
תורה תמימה דברים פרק לג פסוק ב
(ב) וזרח משעיר - וכתיב הופיע מהר פארן, מאי בעי בשעיר ומאי בעי בפארן, אמר ר' יוחנן, מלמד שהחזירה הקדוש ברוך הוא לתורה על כל אומה ולשון ולא קבלוה עד שבא לישראל וקבלוהא) [ע"ז ב' ב']:
א) שעיר היא ארץ עשו כנודע בספר בראשית, ופארן היא ארץ ישמעאל כמש"כ בפ' לך ותשב במדבר פארן. ויש להעיר שפתח בשתי אומות וסיים שחזר על כל אומה ולשון, ואין לומר דמקור כל האומות הם מעשו וישמעאל, דא"כ לא הו"ל לומר שחזר על כל אומה ולשון אלא על עשו וישמעאל, וגם באמת הרבה אומות הם לבד עשו וישמעאל כגון עמון ומואב [ועיין בספרי כאן]. ויש לומר דאין ה"נ דבודאי החזירה על כל האומות כדי שלא יוכלו לטעון אח"כ למה לא נתנה להם, כמבואר בגמרא, אלא שנרמזו בתורה רק על עשו וישמעאל שיש להם יחס אל התורה יותר משאר האומות מפני שהם בני אברהם. ובזה יתבאר לשון הפדר"א פמ"א בענין זה וז"ל, זרח מהר שעיר ומשם חזר ונגלה על ישמעאל ומשם שלח לשאר האומות, מבואר שלשאר האומות לא חזר בעצמו רק שלח להם, וצריך טעם. אך ע"פ הסברא שכתבנו י"ל דמפני יחוסם של עשו וישמעאל אל התורה מפני כבוד אבותיהם חזר בעצמו:
- 5. RaShBaM takes the use of the verb מצא not in the active but in the passive voice, i.e., not that HaShem Found them, but rather HaShem Made Himself “Found”, i.e., available, to them. But this does not seem to match the language in the verse.
- Gimel.
- 1. Both verses share the metaphor of HaShem’s Extraction of the Jews from Egypt being comparable to an eagle’s transportation of its young from one location to another.
- 2. Whereas Moshe was directly responsible for extracting the people from Egypt in terms of negotiating with Pharoah, meeting with the people, performing the miracles and plagues, etc., once the Jews were in the desert, the needs of the people were taken care of by HaShem, with Moshe being relegated to the administrative leader rather than the proactive redeemer that he had previously been perceived to be. HaShem literally Carries the people once they are in the desert, as opposed to before that point.
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