Devarim 31 דברים ל״א

וילך משה וגו', אנכי היום. הַיּוֹם מָלאוּ יָמַי וּשְׁנוֹתַי, בְּיוֹם זֶה נוֹלַדְתִּי וּבְיוֹם זֶה אָמוּת (סוטה י"ג):

Moshe went, etc. I cannot any longer go forth and return. Perhaps his strength waned? The Torah therefore teaches, “His appearance was not dulled, and his freshness did not fade.” Then what is meant by “I cannot”? I am not permitted, for authority was removed from me and conferred on Yehoshua.

לא אוכל עוד לצאת ולבוא. יָכוֹל שֶׁתָּשַׁשׁ כֹּחוֹ, תַּלְמוּד לוֹמַר "לֹא כָהֲתָה עֵינוֹ וְלא נָס לֵחֹה", אֶלָּא מַהוּ לא אוכל? אֵינִי רַשַּׁאי, שֶׁנִּטְּלָה מִמֶּנִּי הָרְשׁוּת וְנִתְּנָה לִיהוֹשֻׁעַ. דָּ"אַ — לצאת ולבוא. בְּדִבְרֵי תוֹרָה, מְלַמֵּד שֶׁנִּסְתְּמוּ מִמֶּנּוּ מָסוֹרוֹת וּמַעְיְנוֹת הַחָכְמָה (סוטה י"ג):

For Adonoy has said to me. This explains “I cannot any longer go forth and return” — for Adonoy said to me.

וה' אמר אלי. זֶהוּ פֵּרוּשׁ לא אוכל עוד לצאת ולבוא — לְפִי שֶׁה' אמר אלי:

I am . . . today. Today my days and years are completed — today is the day I was born, and today is the day I will die. Another interpretation: To go forth and return with respect to words of Torah. This teaches that he was sealed off from the masoretic teachings and the wellsprings of wisdom.

לא ירפך. לֹא יִתֵּן לְךָ רִפְיוֹן לִהְיוֹת נֶעֱזָב מִמֶּנּוּ:

He will not enfeeble you. He will not precipitate, in you, the feebleness of being abandoned by Him.

כי אתה תבוא את העם הזה. "אֲרֵי אַתְּ תֵּעוּל עִם עַמָּא הָדֵין": מֹשֶׁה אָמַר לוֹ לִיהוֹשֻׁעַ זְקֵנִים שֶׁבַּדּוֹר יִהְיוּ עִמְּךָ, הַכֹּל לְפִי דַעְתָּן וַעֲצָתָן, אֲבָל הַקָּבָּ"ה אָמַר לִיהוֹשֻׁעַ "כִּי אַתָּה תָּבִיא אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי לָהֶם" — תָּבִיא עַל כָּרְחָם, הַכֹּל תָּלוּי בְּךָ, טֹל מַקֵּל וְהַךְ עַל קָדְקֳדָן, דַּבָּר אֶחָד לְדוֹר וְלֹא שְׁנֵי דַבָּרִים לְדוֹר (סנהדרין ח'):

For you shall enter with this people. “For you shall enter ‘with’ this people.” Moshe told Yehoshua, ‘Let the elders of the generation join with you, let everything follow their opinion and counsel.’ But the Holy One, Blessed is He, told Yehoshua, “For you shall ‘take’ B’nei Yisroel into the land which I swore to them.” Take them, by coercion, with everything contingent on you. Get a stick, and beat their skulls — one leader for the generation, and not two leaders for the generation.

ויכתב משה, ויתנה. כְּשֶׁנִּגְמְרָה כֻּלָּהּ נְתָנָהּ לִבְנֵי שִׁבְטוֹ (עי' ספרי דברים ל"ד):

Moshe wrote, etc., and gave it. When it was completely finished, he gave it to his fellow tribesmen.

מקץ שבע שנים. בְּשָׁנָה רִאשׁוֹנָה שֶׁל שְׁמִטָּה — בַּשְּׁמִינִית, וְלָמָּה קוֹרֵא אוֹתָהּ שנת השמטה? שֶׁעֲדַיִּן שְׁבִיעִית נוֹהֶגֶת בָּהּ, בַּקָּצִיר שֶׁל שְׁבִיעִית הַיּוֹצֵא לְמוֹצָאֵי שְׁבִיעִית:

After seven years have ended. During the first year of [the next] Sh’mittah, meaning the eighth year. Why, then, is it referred to as “the Sh’mittah year”? Because there are still seventh-year restrictions which apply — with the seventh-year harvest which overlaps after the seventh-year has departed.

תקרא את התורה הזאת. הַמֶּלֶךְ הָיָה קוֹרֵא מִתְּחִלַּת "אֵלֶּה הַדְּבָרִים", כִּדְאִיתָא בְמַסֶּכֶת סוֹטָה (דף מ"א) עַל בִּימָה שֶׁל עֵץ שֶׁהָיוּ עוֹשִׂין בָּעֲזָרָה:

You shall read this Torah. The king recited, from the beginning of “These are the words,” as stated in tractate Sotah, on a wooden platform which was erected in the Temple courtyard.

האנשים. לִלְמֹד:

The men. To learn.

והנשים. לִשְׁמֹעַ:

The women. To listen.

והטף. לָמָּה בָא? לָתֵת שָׂכָר לִמְבִיאֵיהֶם (חגיגה ג'):

And the infants. Why did they come? To bring merit to those who brought them.

ואצונו. וַאֲזָרְזֶנּוּ:

And I shall exhort [lit. command] him. I shall enthuse him.

נכר הארץ. גּוֹיֵי הָאָרֶץ:

The stranger of the land. The nations of the land.

והסתרתי פני. כְּמוֹ שֶׁאֵינִי רוֹאֶה בְּצָרָתָם:

I shall conceal My face. As if I do not notice their suffering.

את השירה הזאת. "הַאֲזִינוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם" עַד "וְכִפֶּר אַדְמָתוֹ עַמּוֹ":

This song. “Hearken, O heaven” until “And reconcile his land, His people.”

ונאצוני. וְהִכְעִיסוּנִי, וְכֵן כָּל נִאוּץ לְשׁוֹן כַּעַס:

And infuriate Me. And enrage Me, as always with נִיאוּץ, which denotes rage.

וענתה השירה הזאת לפניו לעד. שֶׁהִתְרֵיתִי בוֹ בְתוֹכָהּ עַל כָּל הַמּוֹצְאוֹת אוֹתוֹ:

This song shall serve as testimony before them as witness. That I warned them, in it, of all that occurred to them.

כי לא תשכח מפי זרעו. הֲרֵי זוֹ הַבְטָחָה לְיִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁאֵין תּוֹרָה מִשְׁתַּכַּחַת מִזַּרְעָם לְגַמְרֵי:

For it shall never be forgotten from the lips of their progeny. This is a guarantee to Yisroel that the Torah will never be completely forgotten by their progeny.

ויצו את יהושע בן נון. מוּסָב לְמַעְלָה כְּלַפֵּי שְׁכִינָה, כְּמוֹ שֶׁמְּפֹרָשׁ "אֶל הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי לָהֶם":

He commanded Yehoshua, the son of Nun. This reverts to the text above in relation to the Divine Presence, as stated clearly, “to the land that I swore to them.”

לקח. כְּמוֹ זָכוֹר (שמות כ') שָׁמוֹר (דברים ה'), הָלוֹךְ (ירמיהו ב'):

Take. Like “remember,” “keep,” “going.”

מצד ארון ברית ה'. נֶחְלְקוּ בוֹ חַכְמֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל בְּבָבָא בָּתְרָא (דף י"ד), יֵשׁ מֵהֶם אוֹמְרִים דַּף הָיָה בוֹלֵט מִן הָאָרוֹן מִבַּחוּץ וְשָׁם הָיָה מֻנָּח, וְיֵשׁ אוֹמְרִים מִצַּד הַלּוּחוֹת הָיָה מֻנָּח בְּתוֹךְ הָאָרוֹן:

On the side of the ark of Adonoy’s . . . covenant. There is a difference of opinion here among the sages of Yisroel, in tractate Bava Basra. Some of them say, there was a shelf which extended outside the ark, and it was placed there. Others say, it was placed alongside the tablets, inside the ark.

הקהילו אלי. וְלֹא תָקְעוּ אוֹתוֹ הַיּוֹם בַּחֲצוֹצְרוֹת לְהַקְהִיל אֶת הַקָּהָל, לְפִי שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר י') "עֲשֵׂה לְךָ", וְלֹא הִשְׁלִיט יְהוֹשֻׁעַ עֲלֵיהֶם, וְאַף בְּחַיָּיו נִגְנְזוּ — בְּיוֹם מוֹתוֹ — לְקַיֵּם מַה שֶּׁנֶּאֱמַר (קהלת ח') "וְאֵין שִׁלְטוֹן בְּיוֹם הַמָּוֶת" (תנחומא ויחי ובהעלותך):

Assemble to me. They did not sound the trumpets, that day, to assemble the community, since it is said, “Make for yourself,” he did not empower Yehoshua to use them. And even during his own lifetime they were concealed before the day he died [Another text: on the day he died], in fulfillment of that which is said, “there is no sovereignty on the day of death.”

ואעידה בם את השמים ואת הארץ. וְאִם תֹּאמַר הֲרֵי כְּבָר הֵעִיד לְמַעְלָה — "הַעִדֹתִי בָכֶם הַיּוֹם וְגוֹ'"? הָתָם לְיִשְׂרָאֵל אָמַר, אֲבָל לַשָּׁמַיִם וְלָאָרֶץ לֹא אָמַר, וְעַכְשָׁו בָּא לוֹמַר "הַאֲזִינוּ הַשָּׁמַיִם וְגוֹ'"(דברים ל"ב):

And invoke as witnesses against them heaven and earth. But, one might contend, he already invoked them as witnesses above — “I invoke as witnesses against you, today, etc.” There, he spoke to the Israelites, but did not address heaven and earth. Now, however, he wanted to say, “Hearken, O heaven, etc.”

אחרי מותי כי השחת תשחיתון. וַהֲרֵי כָּל יְמוֹת יְהוֹשֻׁעַ לֹא הִשְׁחִיתוּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר "וַיַּעַבְדוּ הָעָם אֶת ה' כֹּל יְמֵי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ" (שופטים ב')? מִכָּאן שֶׁתַּלְמִידוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם חָבִיב עָלָיו כְּגוּפוֹ, כָּל זְמַן שֶׁיְּהוֹשֻׁעַ חַי הָיָה נִרְאֶה לְמֹשֶׁה כְּאִלּוּ הוּא חַי:

After my death, that you will become depraved. Yet, throughout all the days of Yehoshua, they were not depraved, as it is said, “The people worshipped Adonoy all the days of Yehoshua.” [We derive] from here that a man’s disciple is as precious to him as his own person, for, so long as Yehoshua was alive, it appeared, to Moshe, as if he was alive himself.