Pisqa’ 62¹

1

“Rather, seek out (tidrosh) the place which HASHEM your God will choose,

from all your tribes, to make His Name dwell; there shall you come” (Dt.12:5)—

that is, seek it out (derosh)

with the guidance (`al pi²) of a prophet.

Is it possible to say:

delay seeking until a prophet tells you [where to seek]?

The Teaching prescribes

a sequence to the search:

“Seek out . . . to make His Name dwell . . . there shall you come” (Dt.12:5)—

first, seek it out and find it;

afterward, a prophet will confirm it for you.

And so do you find with David,

for it is stated:

“I will give neither sleep to my eyes, nor rest to my eyelids,

until I find a place for HASHEM, a dwelling for the Mighty One of Jacob” (Ps.132:4-5).

On what basis do I know that

David acted solely under the guidance (`al pi) of a prophet?

For it is said:

“And Gad came to David on that day, and told him:

Go up and erect for HASHEM an altar

on the threshing floor of Aronah³ the Jebusite” (2Sam.24:18).

And He says:

“Then Solomon began to build an abode for HASHEM in Jerusalem—

on Mt. Moriah, which had appeared to David, his father—

and which David had prepared on the threshing floor of Arnon the Jebusite” (2Chron.3:1).

2

One verse states:

“From one of your tribes” (Dt.12:14),

while another verse states:

“From all your tribes” (Dt.12:5)—

how can the two usages be reconciled?

They all knew that the Chosen Abode

would in the future be built in the tribal share

of Judah and Benjamin.

Therefore, they set aside

the rich pasturage of Jericho.

Now, who ate from it all those years?

The descendants of [Jethro] the Kenite,

Moses’ father in law, ate from it,

for it is stated:

“And the descendants of the Kenite, Moses’ father in law,

went up from the city of date-palms” (Jud.1:16).

But once the Abode was built, they left:

words of R. Shimon.

R. Judah says:

They traveled to Yavetz to study Torah,

for it is stated:

“The scribal guilds who dwelled in Yavetz:

the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, the Sucathites; these are the Kenites” ⁴ (1Chron2:55).

Another word:

One verse states:

“From one of your tribes” (Dt.12:14),

while another verse states:

“From all your tribes” (Dt.12:5)—

the funding must come

from all your tribes,

but the land for the Chosen Abode

will come from one⁵ tribe.⁶

Another word:

“From one of your tribes” (Dt.12:14)—

this refers to the Dwelling at Shiloh (e.g., 1Sam3:19-4:1);

“From all your tribes” (Dt.12:5)—

this refers to the Chosen Abode in Jerusalem.

3

Indeed, He says:

“And David acquired the threshing floor and the cattle

For fifty silver sheqels” (2Sam.24:24).

Yet another verse states:

“And, for the place, David gave to Arnon

a six-hundred weight of gold sheqels” (1Chron.21:25)—

how can the two usages be reconciled?

They were twelve tribes—

so David took fifty sheqels from

each and every tribe.

This yields a total of six hundred sheqels

from all the tribes! ⁷

4

“To make His Name dwell” (Dt.12:5).

Here it is stated: His Name,

yet elsewhere it is stated:

“They will link My Name to the children of Israel,

and I will bless them” (Nu.6:27)—

just as His Name stated here (Dt.12:5)

is the Name uttered in the Chosen Abode,

so, too, My Name stated elsewhere (Nu.6:27)

is the Name uttered in the Chosen Abode.

Just as My Name stated elsewhere (Dt.6:27)

is the Name uttered in the Priestly Blessing,

so, too, His Name stated here

is the Name uttered in the Priestly Blessing.

I might infer that

utterance of the Name

is appropriate only to the Holy Shrine [in Jerusalem].

On what basis do I know that

it is appropriate in the outskirts [such as Shiloh] as well?

The Teaching states:

“In every place in which I cause My Name to be mentioned” (Ex.20:24).

If so, why is it stated:

“To make His Name dwell” (Dt.12:5)?

In the Holy Shrine 

they utter the Name as it is spelled out,

but in the provinces,

His Name is rendered with euphemisms.⁸

1. H:117-118; JN1:191-193.
2. Literally, “by the mouth/declaration.”
3. The MT prefers the vocalization as “’arawnh.” Cf. 2Chron.3:1 below.
4. //Sifre Nu.,78 and Pisqa’ 352.8. F:128, n.7 lists several other early and late parallels to 62.2 .
5. I.e,, Benjamin (Jer.1:1-3; Jud.21:15-25).
6. //ARNA:35. Cf. Pisqa’ 70.2. See the rendering of ARNA.35 in H:422, n.6
7. //Sifre Nu., 42.
8. //Sifre Nu. 43. // M. Sot.7:6. Perhaps, “the All-Present” or “the blessed Holy One” is meant..