(יב) וְהָיָ֣ה ׀ עֵ֣קֶב תִּשְׁמְע֗וּן אֵ֤ת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים֙ הָאֵ֔לֶּה וּשְׁמַרְתֶּ֥ם וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם וְשָׁמַר֩ יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ לְךָ֗ אֶֽת־הַבְּרִית֙ וְאֶת־הַחֶ֔סֶד אֲשֶׁ֥ר נִשְׁבַּ֖ע לַאֲבֹתֶֽיךָ׃(יג) וַאֲהֵ֣בְךָ֔ וּבֵרַכְךָ֖ וְהִרְבֶּ֑ךָ וּבֵרַ֣ךְ פְּרִֽי־בִטְנְךָ֣ וּפְרִֽי־אַ֠דְמָתֶ֠ךָ דְּגָ֨נְךָ֜ וְתִירֹֽשְׁךָ֣ וְיִצְהָרֶ֗ךָ שְׁגַר־אֲלָפֶ֙יךָ֙ וְעַשְׁתְּרֹ֣ת צֹאנֶ֔ךָ עַ֚ל הָֽאֲדָמָ֔ה אֲשֶׁר־נִשְׁבַּ֥ע לַאֲבֹתֶ֖יךָ לָ֥תֶת לָֽךְ׃(יד) בָּר֥וּךְ תִּֽהְיֶ֖ה מִכׇּל־הָעַמִּ֑ים לֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בְךָ֛ עָקָ֥ר וַֽעֲקָרָ֖ה וּבִבְהֶמְתֶּֽךָ׃(טו) וְהֵסִ֧יר יהוה מִמְּךָ֖ כׇּל־חֹ֑לִי וְכׇל־מַדְוֵי֩ מִצְרַ֨יִם הָרָעִ֜ים אֲשֶׁ֣ר יָדַ֗עְתָּ לֹ֤א יְשִׂימָם֙ בָּ֔ךְ וּנְתָנָ֖ם בְּכׇל־שֹׂנְאֶֽיךָ׃(טז) וְאָכַלְתָּ֣ אֶת־כׇּל־הָֽעַמִּ֗ים אֲשֶׁ֨ר יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֙יךָ֙ נֹתֵ֣ן לָ֔ךְ לֹא־תָח֥וֹס עֵֽינְךָ֖ עֲלֵיהֶ֑ם וְלֹ֤א תַעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־אֱלֹ֣הֵיהֶ֔ם כִּֽי־מוֹקֵ֥שׁ ה֖וּא לָֽךְ׃ {ס}
(12) And if you do obey these rules and observe them carefully, your God יהוה will maintain faithfully for you the covenant made on oath with your fathers:(13) [God] will favor you and bless you and multiply you—blessing your issue from the womb and your produce from the soil, your new grain and wine and oil, the calving of your herd and the lambing of your flock, in the land sworn to your fathers to be assigned to you.(14) You shall be blessed above all other peoples: there shall be no sterile male or female among you or among your livestock.(15) יהוה will ward off from you all sickness; [God] will not bring upon you any of the dreadful diseases of Egypt, about which you know, but will inflict them upon all your enemies.(16) You shall destroy all the peoples that your God יהוה delivers to you, showing them no pity. And you shall not worship their gods, for that would be a snare to you.
QuestionThe root, sh-m-er, appears twice in verse 12--once for God and once for the people. What is the difference between how the root is translated? What does this say about the difference between humanity and God in upholding the covenant?
[7:12] The translators have a problem with it. The Jewish Publication Society’s translation of the opening verse of our parsha is: “And if you do obey these rules and observe them carefully, the Lord your God will maintain faithfully for you the covenant that He made on oath with your fathers.” This translates chessed as “faithfully” and takes it as a qualification of the verb “maintain” or “keep”. This is a very stretched translation.
A non-Jewish translation, the New International Version, translates ha-brit veha-chessed as “covenant of love.” This is a very Christian translation. The covenant entered into between the Israelites and God was a covenant of law, not just of love.
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, in The Living Torah, got it right when he translated it as “God your Lord will keep the covenant and love with which He made an oath to your fathers.” Not “covenant of love” but “covenant and love.” But still: what is the covenant, and what is the love that is distinct from the covenant?
-Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z"l
-Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z"l
QuestionsVerse 13 speaks about God's a-h-v, usually translated as, "love." How is it translated here? How does this translation and way of thinking about love differ from other places in Deuteronomy that describe God's love?--Deuteronomy 4:37, 10:15, 23:6
The most well-known Torah passage about love between humanity and God is in Deuteronomy 6:5-9, V'ahavta. It describes a love that is quite different from how God's love is described in 7:13. What does this difference teach us about the Jewish understanding of love between God and humanity?
Verse 13 lists the blessings that the Israelites will enjoy if they uphold the covenant. What do these blessings have in common?
(יב) וְעַתָּה֙ יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מָ֚ה יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ שֹׁאֵ֖ל מֵעִמָּ֑ךְ כִּ֣י אִם־לְ֠יִרְאָ֠ה אֶת־יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ לָלֶ֤כֶת בְּכׇל־דְּרָכָיו֙ וּלְאַהֲבָ֣ה אֹת֔וֹ וְלַֽעֲבֹד֙ אֶת־יהוה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ בְּכׇל־לְבָבְךָ֖ וּבְכׇל־נַפְשֶֽׁךָ׃(יג) לִשְׁמֹ֞ר אֶת־מִצְוֺ֤ת יהוה וְאֶת־חֻקֹּתָ֔יו אֲשֶׁ֛ר אָנֹכִ֥י מְצַוְּךָ֖ הַיּ֑וֹם לְט֖וֹב לָֽךְ׃(יד) הֵ֚ן לַיהוה אֱלֹהֶ֔יךָ הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וּשְׁמֵ֣י הַשָּׁמָ֑יִם הָאָ֖רֶץ וְכׇל־אֲשֶׁר־בָּֽהּ׃(טו) רַ֧ק בַּאֲבֹתֶ֛יךָ חָשַׁ֥ק יהוה לְאַהֲבָ֣ה אוֹתָ֑ם וַיִּבְחַ֞ר בְּזַרְעָ֣ם אַחֲרֵיהֶ֗ם בָּכֶ֛ם מִכׇּל־הָעַמִּ֖ים כַּיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃
(12) And now, O Israel, what does your God יהוה demand of you? Only this: to revere your God יהוה, to walk only in divine paths, to love and to serve your God יהוה with all your heart and soul,(13) keeping יהוה’s commandments and laws, which I enjoin upon you today, for your good.(14) Mark, the heavens to their uttermost reaches belong to your God יהוה, the earth and all that is on it!(15) Yet it was to your ancestors that יהוה was drawn out of love for them, so that you, their lineal descendants, were chosen from among all peoples—as is now the case.
QuestionsWhat are the five primary demands of the Israelites once they enter thePromised Land? What theme do these demands share?According to 10:15, with whom—and on what basis—did God make the covenantwith the Israelites? Why is this important for us today?
(טז) וּמַלְתֶּ֕ם אֵ֖ת עׇרְלַ֣ת לְבַבְכֶ֑ם וְעׇ֨רְפְּכֶ֔ם לֹ֥א תַקְשׁ֖וּ עֽוֹד׃
(16) Cut away, therefore, the thickening about your hearts and stiffen your necks no more.
QuestionsWhat does this metaphor of "cutting away" the thickening mean in this verse? Where else have we seen this metaphor used in Torah?
Let's look at Leviticus 26:41 and Deuteronomy 30:6. How does the metaphor compare here to how it is used in these other verses?
What is the relationship between hardened hearts and stiff necks? What does it mean to be stiff-necked? Do you ever harden your heart or have a stiff neck? How does this impact your life? How does this hinder your relationship with God?
The greatest hindrance to knowledge is our adjustment to conventional, to mental cliches. Wonder or radical amazement, the state of maladjustment to words and notions is, therefore, a prerequisite for an authentic awareness of that which is.
- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Man Is Not Alone.
- Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel, Man Is Not Alone.
Scholars have long struggled to understand just what the heart (lev) symbolizes in biblical thinking. Some interpreters insist that in the Torah, the heart is "considered, not the seat of feelings, but of intelligence," in which case what the Torah asks for in our verse is for Israel to open its mind. Others assert that is is "the organ of volition" in which case what is called for is a conversion of the will. More convincing, in my view, is a more expansive interpretation, according to which "the heart in Hebrew thought is the preeminent metaphor for the inner being of a person, the seat of intelligence; the seat of emotions, and the seat of volition, i.e., the will." Moses thus demands that the people totally transform their inner lives, so that they will now respond to God's command with loyalty, readiness, and faithfulness. As Bible scholar Richard Nelson explains, "circumcising the heart is a metaphor for a radical, interior, renewal that makes love and obedience fully possible."
- Rabbi Shai Held; Will and Grace Or: Who Will Circumcise the Heart
- Rabbi Shai Held; Will and Grace Or: Who Will Circumcise the Heart