Pisqa’ 3231
1
“Had they been wiser, they would have grasped this” (Dt.32:29)—
had Israel contemplated the words of Torah, which I had given them,
no nation or kingdom could have conquered them.
Actually, [the word] this implies Torah,
for it is said:
This is the Torah, which Moses placed before the children of Israel” (Dt.4:44).
Another word:
“Had they been wiser, they would have grasped this” (Dt.32:29)—
had Israel contemplated what Jacob, their Patriarch, had said to them,
no nation or kingdom could have conquered them.
So, what did he say to them?
Accept upon yourselves the kingdom of Heaven,
and out-do each other in displaying awe before Heaven, and treat each other with
reciprocity and kindness.
2
“How can one pursue a thousand?” (Dt.32:30)—
[Said the Holy One to Israel:]
If you don’t observe the Torah,
how can I fulfill the promise you request from Me,
that one of you pursue a thousand of the nations,
and that two of you will put 10,000 to flight?
Yet, now,
one of the nations pursues a thousand of you,
and two of them put 10,000 of you to flight!
Is it not because
“their Rock has sold them out, and HASHEM has imprisoned them” (Dt.32:30)?—
[Said the Holy One to Israel:]
I will not imprison you myself;
further, I will use others as my surrogates—
for it once happened in Judah
that flies turned them in!2
R. Hanina, a man of Tiv`in, offers
an analogy—
a certain fellow said to his companion:
I’m going to sell you a slave for cash on delivery.
[Said the Holy One:]
But this is not my style!
Rather, I deliver [Israel into servitude] and deport them [immediately]!—
[even without the conqueror’s immediate payment.]
[Another word:
“And HASHEM has imprisoned them” (Dt.32:30)—
Said the Holy One to Israel:
I turn you in like] 3
the [morally] unclean into the hands of the [morally] clean.
Or, perhaps, He only meant to say—
like the [ritually] clean in the hands of the [ritually] unclean?
Now, in fact, they only turn in the [ritually] unclean!,
As it is stated:
“And the Priest shall quarantine the plague-sign for seven days” (Lv.13:4)—
the Priest monitors the plague-sign for a week
[before assessing a diagnosis of “clean” or ‘unclean”].
“For our Rock is not like their rock” (Dt.32:31)—
[says Israel to the Holy One:]
The power you have given us
[to exercise on our behalf]
is beyond comparison with the power you have given them.
For, when you give us power,
we treat our enemies according to the standard of mercy.
But when You give them power, they treat us according
to the standard of cruelty.
They kill some of us by the sword,
some of us they burn, and some of us they crucify!
“For, even our enemies judge us” (Dt.32:31)—
[Says Israel to the Holy One:]
You wrote in the Torah that
an enemy should neither judge nor testify,
[as it is said of one shedding innocent blood:]
“He was not an enemy of his” (Nu.35:23)—
[thus,] he may testify.
“Neither has he sought to harm him” (Nu.35:23)—
thus, he may even judge him in trial.
But You have appointed over us
our enemies, as witnesses and judges!
3
“For their vine is the vine of Sodom, their vineyard from Gemorah” (Dt.32:32).
R. Judah applies this verse to Israel,
but R. Nehemiah applies it to the nations of the world.
R. Judah says:
Are you, then, of the vine of Sodom?
Or, perhaps, of the planting of Gemorah?4
But, in truth, you stem from a consecrated planting,
As it is said:
“I planted you as a choice vine, entirely with the finest seed” (Jer.2:21)
“Whose grapes are grapes of poison” (Dt.32:32)—
You are the descendants of the Primordial Adam,5
whom I penalized with death—
him and all his generations after him,
until the end of all generations.
“Their clusters are bitter” (Dt.32:32)—
among the greatest of you
the bitterness is diffused throughout,
like a grape cluster.
Now, actually, cluster implies great,
As it is stated:
“There is no great leader to eat
the early fruit of my heart’s desire” (Mic.7:1).6
“The venom of serpents is their wine” (Dt.32:33)—
the most pious and sin-fearing among you
are as venomous as serpents!
“And the pitiless head of vipers” (Dt.32:33)—
your leaders are as merciless as your vipers!
Another word:
“The venom of serpents is their wine” (Dt.32:33)—
the most cautious and sin-fearing among you
are as venomous as your serpents!
“And the pitiless head of vipers” (Dt.32:33)—
your leaders are as merciless as your vipers!
4
R. Nehemiah applies the verse to the nations of the world.
You are, indeed, of the vine of Sodom!
and certainly of the planting of Gemorah!
You are disciples of the Primeval Serpent,7
who deceived Adam and Eve.
“Their clusters are bitter” (Dt.32:32)—
among the greatest of you
the bitterness is diffused throughout,
like a serpent’s venom.
“Their clusters are bitter” (Dt.32:32)—
Now, actually, “cluster” implies “great,”
As it is stated:
“There is no great leader to eat
the early fruit of my heart’s desire” (Mic.7:1).
- H:334-336; JN2:361-364.
- I cannot find a textual reference to such an incident. TA ad loc. writes: “Perhaps it is found in some midrash.”
- F:372, n.7 supplies the bracketed text based upon context.
- From this point till the end of 323.4, the words ascribed to R. Judah and R. Nehemiah are mirror-images.
- Heb: ‘adam har’ishon. The epithet, “primordial,” suggests that this is not the “historical” Adam of Genesis, but a trans-historical, ever-present being. H:301, Pisqa’ 323, n.10 notes the assonance of rosh (“poison”), r’osh (“head”) and r’ishon (“primeval, “first.”
- As at M.Sotah 9:9, the “grape cluster” (‘eshkol) is a metaphor for leadership. It also forms a rhyme with “great” (gadol).
- Heb: nakhash haqadmoni; cf. ‘adam har’ishon. “the Primordial Adam”