Pisqa’ 321¹

1

“I will pile evils upon them” (Dt.32:23)—

Look—I am gathering together to bring upon them

all the retributions in a single instant!

Another word:

Look—I am gathering them together into one net,

and bringing upon them all the retributions in a single instant!

Another word:

“I will bring an end (‘asuf ) to the evils upon them” is not written here.

Rather, “I will pile (‘aspeh)² evils upon them” is what is written.

This is to stress that the retributions will cease

before the people ceases.

And so does He say:

“I will spend all (‘achaleh) my arrows against them” (Dt.32:23).

“My arrows will consume them (y’ochlu)”³ is not written here.

Rather, “I will spend my arrows” is what is written.

This is to stress that my arrows will run out

before the people runs out.

Another word:

“I will spend all my arrows against them” (Dt.32:23)—

These are arrows of famine.

And so does He state:

“As I send my evil arrows of famine against them” (Ezek.5:16).

2

“Sucked dry by famine, ravaging plague” (Dt.32:24)—

May they waste away from hunger, to be cast into the streets!

And, similarly, He says:

“Now, the people to whom they prophesy

Shall be strewn along the streets of Jerusalem” (Jer.14:16).

“Foaming pestilence” (meriri; Dt.32:24)—

just in passing,

you learn that whoever is possessed by a demon

usually foams (merir)⁴ at the mouth.

“And fanged beasts I will let loose among them” (Dt.32:24)—

Don’t vocalize this text [in the conventional way]:

“And fanged beasts (shein behemoth) I will let loose among them.”
Rather, vocalize it as follows:

“A taste for bestiality (shein behamut) I will let loose among them”—

May they lust after and seek out all kinds of forbidden pleasures!

Another word:

“And a taste for bestiality I will let loose among them” (Dt.32:24)—

May one of them be so overcome by lust that he strokes himself,

develops a tumor, drops dead and is gone.

Another word:

“And fanged beasts I will let loose among them” (Dt.32:24)—

May his own beast bite him,

so that he develops a tumor, drops dead and is gone.

About this they reported:

There was a time when a ewe-bite would be fatal.

“With venomous creatures in the dust” (Dt.32:24)—

That is, the ones that creep in the dust.

Rabbi says:

These are serpents, who have dominion only over the dust.

3

“Outside, the sword orphans its victims” (Dt.32:25)

On this basis they taught :

At a time of war, people should confine their steps to their homes;

In a time of starvation, you should expand your steps.

And so does He state:

                       “If I went out to the field, there are victims of the sword.

But if I went into the city, there are the victims of famine” (Jer.14:18).

And it says:

“Whoever is in the field shall die by the sword,

and in the city, starvation and famine will consume him.” (Ezek.7:15).

“And in the chambers, terror” (Dt.32:25)—

if one would see the sword coming in the street,

and could flee, take flight and escape it,

the chambers of his heart would pound so hard that

He would die and be gone.

Another word:

“Outside, the sword orphans its victims” (Dt.32:25)—

this refers to

what they did in the streets of Jerusalem.

And, so He says:

“According to the number of your cities are your gods, Judah;

and as the number of the streets of Jerusalem

have you made the altars of Boshet” (Jer.11:13).

“And in the chambers, terror” (Dt.32:25)—

this refers to what transpired in inner rooms.

And, so does He state:

“Have you seen, son of Adam,

what the elders of the house of Israel do in the dark,

each one in his chamber of illusions, saying:

HASHEM doesn’t see us, HASHEM has abandoned the Land” (Ezek.8:12).

“Also the young man and the maiden” (Dt.32:25)—

I perhaps might have overlooked these,

“But the nursling and the gray-beard”? (Dt.32:25)

And so He says:

“A husband and wife will be entrapped,

and the elder, with his fullness of days” (Jer.6:11).

4

Another word:

“Also the young man” (Dt.32:25)—

you forced Me to set My Hand against My young men!

And, so does He say:

“And Joshua b. Nun, the servant of Moses,

answered from among his young men” (Nu.11:28).

“And the maiden” (Dt.32:25)—

this teaches that

they were free of sin, like your typical maiden,

who has never tasted sin in her life.

“The nursling” (Dt.32:25)—

this teaches that

they would suckle words of Torah

like your typical infant who suckles milk

from his mother’s breast.

“The gray-beard” (Dt.32:25)—

Don’t vocalize the text [in the conventional way]:

“The gray-beard” (‘ish sevah).

Rather vocalize it as:

a man of the study session (‘ish yeshivah.)

This teaches that

all of them were worthy of sitting in the study session.

And so does He state:

“All are courageous, wagers of war” (2Ki.24:16).

Now what courage is displayed by men going off into exile?

And what war is being waged by men bound in collars and chains?

Actually, these are champions of Torah.

Accordingly it is stated:

“Bless HASHEM, all His messengers,

wielders of power, who do His will” (Ps.103:20).

“Wagers of war” (2Ki.24:16)—

For they would thrust and parry in the wars of Torah,

For it is stated:

“And therefore it is said

in the scroll of the Wars of HASHEM” (Nu.21:14).

And it is said

[that those exiled under King Yehoyakin included]:

                         “A thousand artisans⁵ and locksmiths” (2Ki.24:16)—

One artisan might speak [about his craft]

while everyone else is silent.

But the locksmith?

Everyone sits before him, learning from him.

One [the artisan] opens [the study-session]

and one [the locksmith] closes it,

to embody what is stated:

“What he opens, none may lock,

And what he locks, none may open” (Is.22:22)

1. H:330-331;JN2:354-357.
2. The roots are distinct (s-w-p, ‘-s-p ), but the assonance is nearly perfect.
3. The relevant roots are ch-l-h and ‘-ch-l.-
4. As JN2: 355 comments on the deployment of meriri/merir: “All we have is word-play.” Indeed!
5. “Artisan” (kharash) shares a verbal-root with “deaf-mute” (kheresh), making possible this surprising pun, in which the artisan and locksmith represent two types of rabbinic teachers.