(10) The Israelites marched on and encamped at Oboth. (11) They set out from Oboth and encamped at Iye-abarim, in the wilderness bordering on Moab to the east. (12) From there they set out and encamped at the wadi Zered. (13) From there they set out and encamped beyond the Arnon, that is, in the wilderness that extends from the territory of the Amorites. For the Arnon is the boundary of Moab, between Moab and the Amorites.
ואם תבין סוד (השרים) [צ״ל השנים] עשר גם ויכתוב משה והכנעני אז בארץ בהר ה' יראה גם והנה ערשו ערש ברזל תכיר האמת:
If you understand the secret of the twelve25The last twelve verses of the Torah. According to I.E. the last twelve verses of the Torah were not written by Moses, for they record the death of Moses. and also that of So Moses wrote (Deut. 31:22);26I.E. believes that Moses did not write this verse. And the Canaanite was then in the Land (Gen. 12:6);27I.E. believes that Moses did not write this verse, for Scripture implies that the Canaanite was then in the land but not at the time that this verse was written. See I.E. on Gen.12:6 and the notes thereto (Vol. 1, p. 151). In the mount where the Lord is seen (Gen. 22:14);28The reference is to Mount Moriah. However, in the days of Moses the temple had not yet been built. Thus Moses would not have said, In the mount where the Lord is seen. Hence this verse was inserted in the Torah at a later date. and behold, his bedstead was a bedstead of iron (Deut. 3:11);29The reference is to the bed of Og, king of Bashan, slain by Moses. I.E. believes that Moses would not have had to prove the height of the king by pointing to his bed, for all of Israel then knew of his height. Hence the verse is post-Mosaic. then you will recognize the truth.30That the first five verses of this book were not composed by Moses but at a later period. I.E. hints at the above because he did not want people to generalize and assume that there are other post-Mosaic additions in the Pentateuch. See I.E. on Gen. 36:31, “…Yitzchaki claims in his book that this chapter was composed during the reign of King Jehosaphat…Far be it for one to believe that our chapter was written in the days of Jehosaphat as Yitzchaki maintains. Indeed his book is fit to be burned” (Vol. 1, p. 341).
We Have Reason to Believe, Rabbi Louis Jacobs
THREE distinct attitudes are possible with regard to the challenge of Bible Criticism and its implications for Jewish observance. There is the school which accepts the critical position more or less in toto to the detriment not alone of the doctrine of 'Torah from Heaven' but also to the practical observances of Judaism. Another school feels obliged to reject entirely, and to combat positively in the name of Orthodoxy, any untraditional views. And there is the third view according to which a synthesis between the traditional and critical theories is possible.
This view in no way invalidates the observance of Jewish practices. These derive their authority from the undeniable fact that they have provided Jews with 'ladders to heaven' and still have the power of sanctifying Jewish life in accordance with the Jewish ideal; because of this we recognise that it was God who gave them and it is His will that we obey when we submit to the Torah discipline. As Franz Rosenzweig has so finely put it: "Where we differ from orthodoxy is in our reluctance to draw from our belief in the holiness or uniqueness of the Torah any conclusions as to the value of the text as it has come down to us. If all of Wellhausen's theories were correct, our faith would not be shaken in the least."