Ramban on Devarim

── Shiur Outline ──
(0:00) Opening Remarks and Acknowledging Missed Rambans
(2:33) Why Certain Mitzvot Appear Only in Deuteronomy
(4:12) Three Reasons for Moses' Mussar Introduction
(5:53) Meaning of “Eileh Hadevarim” in Moses' Speech
(9:38) Why Moses Gives Mussar While in the Desert
(10:44) Origin of the Name Midbar Sinai
(12:00) Establishing a Judicial System Before Entering the Land
(14:15) Interpretation of “Ki HaMishpat L'Elokim Hu”

AI-Generated Summary (AI can be inaccurate. Check important information):

This shiur explores the Ramban’s introduction to Sefer Devarim, focusing on why Moshe Rabbeinu repeats certain laws while introducing new ones. The Ramban explains that Moshe specifically omitted laws pertaining to the Kohanim because they are diligent, whereas the rest of Israel required repeated warnings and additional Mishneh Torah explanations to ensure their spiritual success in the land. The discussion concludes that Moshe’s initial rebuke and his historical review were intended to demonstrate God’s mercy and to prove that the nation had been fully prepared—both judicially and spiritually—to enter the Land of Israel before their sins caused the forty-year delay.

1. Repetition for Israel — The Ramban explains that Mishneh Torah repeats laws relevant to the general population, whereas Torat Kohanim (laws for priests) is omitted because Kohanim are naturally zerizim (diligent) and require less repetition.
2. Timing of Mitzvos — Although many mitzvos appear for the first time in Sefer Devarim, they were originally given to Moshe Rabbeinu at Har Sinai or in the Ohel Moed; they were delayed in writing because they were only applicable in the land or were not tadir (frequent).
3. Purpose of Tochacha — The introductory mussar (rebuke) serves three goals: to highlight Hashem's rachamim (mercy), to prevent future sin, and to reassure the people that despite their failures, they can still inherit the land through repentance.
4. Fear through Forgiveness — Analyzing the verse "For with You is forgiveness, that You may be feared" (Tehillim 130:4), the Ramban suggests that without the possibility of selichah (pardon), a sinner would despair and abandon all fear of God; the chance to fix mistakes motivates continued service.
5. Judicial Readiness — Moshe Rabbeinu mentions the appointment of judges (shoftim) to show that the nation was fully prepared to enter the land; a functioning judicial system is a prerequisite for successful conquest and settlement.
6. Judicial Integrity — The phrase "for judgment belongs to God" means that judges act as shluchim (emissaries) of the Almighty; a judge who perverts justice is violating a Divine mission, as God is the true source of din emet (true judgment).
7. Moshe's Enduring Role — Despite appointing judges, Moshe Rabbeinu emphasizes that he remained the primary teacher of Torah and continued to pray for the people's needs, maintaining his unique spiritual connection to the nation.
8. United Testimony — While Rashi attributes the report "the land is good" only to Yehoshua and Calev, the Ramban argues that all twelve meraglim (spies) agreed the land was wonderful; their sin lay in the lack of emunah (faith) regarding the ability to conquer it.
9. Brotherhood of Esav — The Ramban posits that all descendants of Avraham Avinu are considered achim (brothers), which is why we are commanded not to abhor an Edomi; however, this relationship does not extend to the sons of the concubines, such as Yishmael.
10. The Gift to Lot — The description of the giant Refaim being displaced from Moab highlights that although this land was part of the ten nations promised to Avraham, Hashem gave it to the children of Lot as a nes (miracle) in honor of Avraham.

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I'm sure there are some important רמב"ןs that I missed out on,

but בעזרת השם,

hopefully we'll learn some of them.

Okay,

the רמב"ן characteristically gives an introduction to this ספר as he does to the

other ספרים.

The רמב"ן points out that the תורה goes over what he says רוב מצוות

התורה that are relevant to the Jewish people as a whole.

He points out that it does not go over דינים relating to the כהנים.

He points out that there are some new מצוות in this ספר.

He has a discussion of why they weren't mentioned till now and discusses why

in fact משה רבנו begins his talk with מוסר,

with a תוכחה.

So let's see some of this inside and point out one point that the

רמב"ן addresses in various places in the ספר is the following:

that you have in ספר דברים משה רבנו seemingly jumping from topic to topic

and it's not always clear what the connection is between topic A and topic

B,

topic B and topic C.

The רמב"ן to some extent addresses that issue in various places.

So says the רמב"ן from the beginning of the introduction:

ספר הזה עניינו ידוע שהוא משנה תורה,

ביאר בו משה רבנו לדור הנכנס בארץ רוב מצוות התורה הצריכות לישראל.

I didn't do it out,

but it's interesting he says that רוב מצוות are repeated here in דברים,

at least those that are relevant to the Jewish people as a whole.

ולא יזכיר בו דבר בתורת כהנים,

לא במעשה הקרבנות ולא בטהרת הכהנים ומעשיהם,

שכבר ביאר אותם והכהנים זריזים הם ולא יצטרכו לאזהרה אחר אזהרה.

אבל בישראל יזהיר המצוות הנוהגות בהם פעם אחר פעם.

Why?

א,

להוסיף בהן ביאור.

And ב,

והם שלא יזכיר אותם רק להזהיר את ישראל ברוב אזהרות,

כמו שבא בספר הזה בענייני עבודה זרה אזהרות מרובות זו אחר זו,

ותוכחות וכל פחדים אשר הפחיד אותם בכל עונשי העבירות.

ועוד יוסיף בספר הזה קצת מצוות שלא נזכרו כלל,

כגון הייבום,

דין מוציא שם,

הגירושין באישה,

ועדים זוממים וזולתם.

Now the רמב"ן points out that these מצוות were taught to משה רבנו already

at הר סיני according to חז"ל or according to the פשט of the פסוקים

at least in אוהל מועד in the first year before the חטא המרגלים,

כי בערבות מואב לא נתחדשו לו אלא דברי הברית כאשר נתפרש בו.

ועל כן,

and therefore the ספר doesn't begin with וידבר השם אל משה צו את בני

ישראל because the ציווי was given earlier.

Okay,

now why is it that these מצוות that are written exclusively here were not

written earlier?

Says רמב"ן skipping a couple lines:

אבל לא נכתבו המצוות בספרים הראשונים שדיבר עם יוצאי מצרים,

כי אולי לא נהגו באותן המצוות רק בארץ,

אף על פי שהן חובת הגוף.

For whatever reason these מצוות did not apply in the מדבר.

כאשר בא בעניין הנסכים.

או מפני שאינן תדירות,

לא הזכירם רק בבנים נוחלי הארץ.

They're not so frequent.

Apparently the divorce rate was a lot lower in the מדבר than it is

nowadays.

רמב"ן says that the דין of גירושין is something which is not תדיר.

Okay.

Now before he begins the discussion of the מצוות that is in ואתחנן from

around שלישי,

says רמב"ן:

ומטרם שיתחיל בביאור התורה,

התחיל להוכיחם ולהזכיר להם עוונותיהם כמה ימרו במדבר וכמה התנהג עמהם הקדוש ברוך הוא

במידת הרחמים.

So what's the point of that?

Says רמב"ן three reasons.

Number one:

להודיע חסדיו עמהם,

that despite the fact that we sinned הקדוש ברוך הוא didn't destroy us.

Number two:

ועוד שיווכחו בדבריו שלא יחזרו לקלקולם פן יספו בכל חטאתם to try to avoid

them repeating the same sins.

And number three:

ולחזק ליבם בהודיעו אותם כי במידת רחמים יתנהג עמהם לעולם,

שלא יאמר אדם לא נוכל לרשת את הארץ כי אין אדם אשר לא יחטא.

A person might feel that once he sins he's a goner.

So says משה רבנו that people sinned but nevertheless הקדוש ברוך הוא did to

some extent forgive you.

לכן הודיע משה רבנו כי הקדוש ברוך הוא רחמן מלא רחמים כי הס...

כי הסליחה והמחילה ממנו יתברך סיוע ועזר לבני אדם בעבודתו כעניין שאמר הכתוב כי

עמך הסליחה למען תורא.

The פסוק says that we're familiar with כי עמך הסליחה למען תורא which at

first glance seems strange.

After all,

it sounds like we fear God because He forgives.

לכאורה if God would not forgive,

then we would fear Him even more.

רמב"ן seems to indicate that פשט is that a result that had the rules

been that once a person sins then he's a goner,

so a person once he already did violate anything,

he would figure,

well,

okay,

I'm going to burn anyway,

so there's no point in trying to fix things up.

Only the fact that הקדוש ברוך הוא does forgive,

therefore we continue to fear God.

We do try to fix up that which we messed up.

Okay.

אמר so next רמב"ן אלה הדברים אשר דיבר משה אל כל ישראל.

So the רמב"ן understands that אלה הדברים אשר דיבר משה אל כל ישראל that

refers primarily to the מצוות that are given in ואתחנן as opposed to the

מוסר which is just an introduction to that.

על המצוות אשר יזכיר בכל הספר מתחילת עשרת הדברות בפרשת ואתחנן כמו שאמר ויואל

משה באר את התורה הזאת לאמור כי על התורה ידבר.

And he points out that ה' אלוהינו דיבר אלינו בחורב לאמור it's as if

it said that משה רבנו said in his speech ה' אלוהינו דיבר אלינו בחורב.

Okay,

in any case,

so the point of משה רבנו in the beginning of the מוסר is to

say that once we got the תורה at הר סיני,

once we got the עשרת הדברות,

then everything was ready to enter the Promised Land.

Nevertheless as a result of our sins we did not enter.

We remember the רמב"ן in פרשת בהעלותך indicates that although the גזירה of being

in the מדבר 40 years was נגזר once we sinned with the מרגלים,

but even beforehand there was the חטא of קברות התאווה and other עבירות which

רמב"ן did indicate perhaps delayed the entering of the land,

and then it once the מרגלים took place,

then the delay became a 40-year delay.

Okay.

Now there's a פסוק in ואתחנן וזאת התורה אשר שם משה לפני בני ישראל

said right after the דין of ערי מקלט.

But the רמב"ן understands that's not one which is said primarily on ערי מקלט,

but that's rather after משה רבנו finishes with the מוסר,

then he begins the מצוות and that is with that פסוק וזאת התורה אשר

שם משה לפני בני ישראל.

And then he says a number of פסוקים afterwards,

אלה העדות והחוקים והמשפטים אשר דיבר משה אל כל ישראל.

Okay.

The רמב"ן indicates that this that משה רבנו he decided on his own to

give this speech.

On the bottom he points out in the name of the כלי חמדה that

although משה רבנו decided to give his speech on his own,

but nevertheless that which is included in the תורה is due to the fact

that הקדוש ברוך הוא dictated to him.

He said good speech משה רבנו whatever.

הקדוש ברוך הוא told him exactly how it should be written in the תורה,

because after all the entire תורה from בראשית till לעיני כל ישראל was dictated

by הקדוש ברוך הוא to משה רבנו.

Okay.

Now חז"ל understand,

רש"י quotes,

that when משה רבנו at the beginning of the ספר mentions all sorts of

places,

במדבר,

בערבה,

מול סוף,

בין פארן that משה רבנו was hinting to all sorts of places that the

Jewish people sinned.

By the way,

today apparently is the יארצייט of רש"י הקדוש.

Know the story of some rabbi that said רש"י died here,

רש"י died in,

and somebody asked him,

oh yeah,

I didn't know that he died over here.

So he says well פשט is that in around the world where people study

רש"י,

רש"י is still alive,

but in this town רש"י died here,

nobody studies רש"י anymore around here.

So in any case,

so the רמב"ן addresses why is it that חז"ל understand that משה רבנו is

giving over here מוסר.

So the רמב"ן says,

well the פסוק speaks of the fact that they were in the מדבר.

Says the רמב"ן they were not in the מדבר anymore,

they left the מדבר.

So why is משה רבנו mention the מדבר?

Apparently because he's giving them מוסר in the מדבר.

And furthermore the fact that he gives so many details it's not...

as if we're about now to sell some property they need to discuss the

exact parameters,

the exact borders of that property.

Okay,

אשר יושב בחשבון.

פסוק says אחרי הכותו את סיחון מלך האמורי אשר יושב בחשבון.

So what's this expression אשר יושב בחשבון?

So says רמב"ן שלא היתה שלו,

that originally חשבון didn't belong to סיחון,

אבל לכדה ממלך מואב.

He conquered it from מלך מואב ובנאה להיות לו בית מלכות.

So that's אשר יושב בחשבון.

Okay,

the רמב"ן פסוק ו has a discussion about the following topic.

Why is מדבר סיני called מדבר סיני?

He has one possibility,

the first possibility is that הר סיני was there,

so על שם הר סיני the מדבר was referred to as מדבר סיני.

Alternatively,

it's called מדבר סיני because it had lots of סנה,

סנה,

lots of that lowly type of bush,

and therefore the מדבר is referred to as מדבר סיני.

Okay,

פסוק ט,

ואומר אליכם בעת ההיא לאמר.

So says רמב"ן,

and what's that פסוק talking about?

ואומר אליכם בעת ההיא לאמר לא אוכל לבדי שאת אתכם השם אלוקיכם הרבה אתכם

etc.

So what's the point of that פסוק?

So says רמב"ן קודם שאמר לנו השם בחורב רב לכם שבת בהר הזה and

we should get ready to enter the land,

before that already I told them לא אוכל לבדי שאת אתכם and we set

up the system of judges that was suggested by Mr.

יתרו.

So says רמב"ן וטעם בעת ההיא בשבתנו בחורב אבל הזכיר זה בכאן לומר הנה

קיבלנו את התורה והיו עליכם שופטים ושוטרים לשפוט ולהנהיג אתכם והנה היינו מוכנים ומזומנים

לבוא בארץ ונסע מחורב לדגלנו עם שופטינו וזקנינו ותקרבון אלי כולכם עם חכמיכם וראשיכם

ובקשתם מרגלים ונתקלקל העניין.

So משה רבנו states that we already had a system of judges because we

need proper justice to be able to enter and conquer the land.

And that's why we need,

one of the many things that we need to דאוון for with great כוונה

now when we're mourning the חורבן when we דאוון השיבה שופטינו כבראשונה והסר ממני

יגון ואנחה we need to have great כוונה that הקדוש ברוך הוא should reinstitute

a proper normal judicial system.

Okay,

רש"י on טרחכם משאכם וריבכם indicates that the Jewish people when

they were being judged,

they would sometimes give the דיין a hard time,

and if they saw the other guy was winning,

then said,

"well,

I want to add more judges." The רמב"ן seems to assume for some reason

that רש"י implies that that's a legal,

that that's something that's permissible,

that to add more judges,

and he discusses the parameters of this.

He raises the possibility that perhaps although דיני ממונות is with three,

but nevertheless if I suggest that "Hey,

let's have more judges," then as long as you get to select the same

number of judges that I get to select,

then that is acceptable.

Three can judge as we remember from סנהדרין when a guy doesn't want to

come to דין.

If a person's willing to come to דין and he wants there to be

more than three and is willing to have the other guy select just as

many judges,

then the רמב"ן suggests that that is permissible.

Okay,

י"ז.

The פסוק says לא תכירו פנים במשפט כקטן כגדול תשמעון לא תגורו מפני איש

כי המשפט לאלוקים הוא.

What's that mean כי המשפט לאלוקים הוא?

So the truth is רמב"ן in פרשת משפטים seems to interpret that it is

God that is really judging,

it's God that gives the סיעתא דשמיא in the courtroom to the judges to

judge דין אמת.

Over here he seems to interpret it in a different fashion,

כי המשפט לאלוקים הוא,

that it's God's job to do justice in this world,

and the judges are the שלוחים of הקדוש ברוך הוא.

And thus if you don't judge properly,

then you're violating your שליחות.

Okay,

פסוק י"ח.

So the פסוק after...

of משה רבנו gives instructions to the judges or says that he gave instruction,

then the פסוק says פסוק י"ח ואצווה אתכם בעת ההיא את כל הדברים אשר

תעשון.

So who's אתכם?

רש"י understands it refers to the judges.

Says the רמב"ן quoting רש"י,

אלו עשרה דברים שבין דיני ממונות לדיני נפשות.

לשון רש"י מספרי.

אם כן עם השופטים הנזכרים מדבר.

ואצווה אתכם is referring to the שופטים.

However,

the רמב"ן says he doesn't think that's פשט.

He says that what משה רבנו is saying is that despite the fact that

there were judges that were appointed,

nevertheless I was directly involved in teaching you תורה,

that don't think that once we have that system of judges then the judges

are the one that are in charge of teaching תורה.

No,

I still retain that job.

And I still will דאוון for you.

The משפט is something that will be done by these judges.

הוא בעצמו ילמדם את כל הדברים אשר יעשון.

Okay,

why is it that משה רבנו doesn't mention יתרו over here?

The רמב"ן has a number of possibilities towards the end.

Number one,

שלא רצה להזכיר במעמד כל ישראל לענווה.

So משה רבנו in his humility didn't want to say that it was my

father-in-law that gave us this brilliant עצה.

Or mentioning that יתרו was his father-in-law people would say,

יתרו?

יתרו was a Midianite.

משה רבנו married a Midianite woman,

so he didn't want to open that issue again.

And thirdly,

that it was in a certain sense something which was done על פי השכינה,

because משה רבנו is נמלך בשכינה.

Okay,

כ"ב הסדר השונה עליה,

this פסוק as you guys remember,

the רמב"ן points out the end,

והוא מה שפירשתי בסדר שלח לך שלא ביקשו ישראל מרגלים להורות לפניהם הדרך.

That the point of the מרגלים was not to decide whether to enter,

but how to enter the land.

So this פסוק is one of the פסוקים that the רמב"ן quoted to that

effect,

that the point of the מרגלים,

after all the context of this is מרגלים,

מרגלים were going to suggest what's the best place for where they should begin

to enter the land.

פסוק כ"ג ואקח מכם שנים עשר אנשים.

It doesn't mention over here that they were נשיאים.

Why not?

Says the רמב"ן,

לא שבחסם מנשיאותם ויהיותם ראשי בני ישראל כי אחרי שהרשיעו לא יסופר בשבח הרשעים.

Being that they messed up,

so he didn't want to mention their שבח.

Okay,

ויאמרו טובה הארץ אשר ה' אלהינו נתן לנו,

פסוק כ"ה.

Who is it ויאמרו?

Who's this ויאמרו?

So the רמב"ן quotes רש"י that says this was יהושע וכלב.

לשון רש"י מבוסס בספרי.

Says the רמב"ן,

he doesn't think that's the case.

He says that he thinks it refers to all the מרגלים.

After all,

all the מרגלים said a wonderful land,

just the ten מרגלים said a wonderful land but it is impossible to conquer.

And therefore משה רבנו says that your desire to not enter the land was

in fact a lack of אמונה as he משה רבנו points out.

Okay,

ל"ז גם בי התאנף ה' בגללכם.

So right after משה רבנו talks about the חטא המרגלים,

then משה רבנו says that הקדוש ברוך הוא also got angry at me because

of you guys.

What's this got to do with the חטא המרגלים?

Says the רמב"ן,

absolutely nothing.

It's not really related.

Just the point is that משה רבנו is listing the sins which caused individuals

to not enter the land.

So says the רמב"ן,

פסוק ל"ז יאמר הנה חטאתכם אשר עשיתם בעת המרגלים מנע מכם הארץ הטובה ועוד

הוספתם לחטוא בפעם אחרת עד שמנעתם גם אותי מלעבור.

After all,

מי מריבה,

although there was something wrong done by משה רבנו,

but the פסוק in תהלים and later פסוקים in the תורה do indicate that

there was some חטא also on the part of the Jewish people that they

were in a certain sense fighting וימרו.

What's the פסוק in תהלים?

Something וימרו על מי מריבה.

I don't remember the פסוק but it does indicate that the Jewish people sinned

in מי מריבה and so that's how the רמב"ן understands this פסוק.

ועוד הוספתם לחטוא בפעם אחרת עד שמנעתם גם אותי מלעבור ורצה להזכיר יחד עונש

כל הנמנעים מעבור אל הארץ כי הכל ב כבר רצה להזכיר יחד עונש כל

הנמנעים מעבור אל הארץ כי הכל בגרמת עוונותיהם.

And also wanted to mention over here that יהושע would enter due to his

righteousness.

Okay.

What doesn't mention the מגפה of the מרגלים?

Because the point of משה רבנו in the speech is the גנאי of the

ציבור,

not the גנאי of יחיד.

Okay,

skipping to מ"ה.

ותשובו ותבכו לפני השם לא הזכיר שם הכתוב הבכי הזה.

It doesn't mention that they cried,

שאין צריך להזכיר אותה בזה.

ומשה הזכיר זה עתה לשבח,

כי ניחמו על חטאתם.

There was some element of remorse,

apparently not sufficient.

One might have said that the crying was not out of remorse,

it was just out of the צער that they weren't entering the land because

of the punishment.

But the רמב"ן says ניחמו על חטאתם להגיד להם שהעוון ההוא גדול מנשוא כי

בא עליו השבועה הגדולה וגזר הדין שיש עמו שבועה אינו נקרע.

Okay,

פרק ב' פסוק ד',

the next רמב"ן.

The תורה refers to עשיו את אחיכם when the Jewish people come close to

the land of אדום.

So says רמב"ן,

and over here there is a whole discussion as to what is the proper

גרסה.

The רמב"ן says שיחוס ישראל מן אברהם וכל זרעו אחים.

All the descendants of אברהם are אחים כי כולם הם נימולים.

They all have a ברית מילה.

What?

They all have a ברית מילה?

What's that mean?

Number one,

עשיו,

certainly זרע עשיו didn't have a ברית מילה,

they're not מצווה on a ברית מילה.

And furthermore the גמרא tells us in נדרים that even if a גוי has

a ברית מילה,

he's still referred to as an ערל.

So there are those that suggest that there's some typo over here.

And there are those that suggest that the proper גרסה should be,

the רמב"ן says we're all אחים,

אף כי לא כולם הם נימולים.

אף כי לא כולם הם נימולים.

Even though not all of them are נימולים,

nevertheless we're still brothers.

וזה טעם לא תתעב אדומי כי אחיך הוא.

The תורה says not to hate an אדומי.

What is the ramification of not hating an אדומי?

He's allowed to marry into the Jewish people in the third generation.

רק בני הפילגשים ישמעאל מדין וכל בני קטורה אינם באחוה כי מן הכתוב כי

ביצחק יקרא לך זרע.

ביצחק יקרא לך זרע and not ישמעאל.

So there's no אחוה between us and ישמעאל,

between us and מדין.

עמון and מואב,

there is some sort of אחוה with עשיו,

which is interesting.

Let me point out,

obviously there's meant to be even אחוה with עשיו,

so כל שכן with other Jews,

we're meant to feel אחוה even if we never met them,

even if they're very distantly related.

Okay.

Now ב' י'.

There's a פסוק over here which is somewhat difficult to understand.

The פסוק tells us with respect to the land of מואב.

It says האימים לפנים ישבו בה עם גדול ורב ורם כענקים רפאים יחשבו אף

הם כענקים והמואבים יקראו להם אימים.

So what's this all about?

So רש"י understands,

without going into the nitty gritty details,

רש"י understands the point is the following:

הקדוש ברוך הוא promised our father אברהם אבינו ten lands.

One of them is רפאים.

And therefore the Jewish people might have thought,

hey,

רפאים was promised to אברהם אבינו,

so we're allowed to get that.

And thus the land of מואב,

which you might have assumed is the land of רפאים,

is something which we're meant to get.

And therefore you would want to wage war against the land of מואב.

So רש"י understands the פסוק is telling us that hey,

even though in a certain sense it's called,

they're called רפאים,

but these are not the רפאים that were promised to אברהם אבינו.

And that's also true of some other land,

maybe עמון.

And the real ארץ רפאים,

that's the land of סיחון or עוג,

I don't remember,

הר חרמון,

whatever that area,

but in any case the רמב"ן says no,

the point of the פסוק is just the opposite.

The point of the פסוק is that land is really land of רפאים and

it was promised to אברהם אבינו,

just it was promised to descendants of אברהם,

those that are not our brother.

Which descendants of אברהם?

עמון and מואב.

And רש"י himself does make mention to such an idea here on the פרשה.

In פסוק ה׳,

רש"י says,

עשר עממים נתתי לו לאברהם,

ז׳

לכם,

הכנעני החתי האמורי and קיני קניזי וקדמוני,

that's goes to לוט.

Whatever,

in any case,

so the רמב"ן understands that this is the רפאים that was promised to אברהם

אבינו,

but nevertheless it was given to his משפחה.

Not descendants,

it wasn't descendants,

but rather to אברהם אבינו's משפחה was given to לוט.

Maybe let's take a look a little bit inside on page ש״נ ב׳,

this is about halfway through I guess,

אבל פירוש הפסוק in the standard printing on page ש״נ ב׳,

third of the way down on the page,

first line is הארץ.

אבל פירוש הפסוקים הפך מדברי רב כי בעבור שאמר הקדוש ברוך הוא למשה אל

תצר את מואב כי לא נתתי לבני לוט את ער ירושה,

סיפר הכתוב כי הארץ ראויה לזרע אברהם לולי שניתנה,

it would have been something that we were meant to get if not for

the fact that it was given to לוט.

כי הארץ ההיא ישבו בה מעולם עם גדול ורב ורם כענקים וכו׳.

And הקדוש ברוך הוא made a נס for בני לוט לכבוד אברהם that they

were able to conquer it,

and therefore land that was conquered with a נס we're not meant to take

away.

Okay.

It's a lot more רמב"ן but I didn't see it,

I didn't have a chance to go through it.

So let's review some things which we've seen.

רמב"ן in his introduction to the ספר spoke of the fact that most of

the מצוות of the תורה are repeated over here,

not those מצוות that pertain to the כהנים because they are זריזים,

that tells us I mean כהנים don't need to do חזרה.

In any case,

he says why these מצוות are repeated,

sometimes for adding details,

sometimes just to warn them of the seriousness of the מצוות.

Now there are some new מצוות here.

Why were these,

when were these מצוות that are said over here in ספר דברים,

when were they taught to משה רבנו?

According to חז״ל at הר סיני,

על פי פשט in אהל מועד in the first year.

Why were they only said over now?

Perhaps they were not נוהג in the מדבר even though they're חובת הגוף and

one would guess there's no distinction between the מדבר and ארץ ישראל.

Or due to the fact that they're not frequent so there was less of

a need to mention them.

The רמב"ן offered different possibilities as to why משה רבנו begins with giving מוסר.

אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה אל כל ישראל,

the רמב"ן understands refers to the מצוות that are given in ואתחנן after the

introduction of the מוסר that משה רבנו gives them.

משה רבנו on his own decided to give this speech although the כלי יקר

does point out that certainly הקדוש ברוך הוא did then dictate to משה רבנו

exactly what to write.

אשר יושב בחשבון סיחון,

אשר יושב בחשבון is not that he actually started out there,

that that was his land,

rather it is a land that he conquered.

סיחון or עוג?

סיחון.

Okay.

Two interpretations why הר סיני is given that name or,

I'm sorry,

two interpretations why מדבר סיני is given that name.

Either because that's where הר סיני was or because of the סנה that are

in הר סיני.

ואומר לכם בעת ההיא לאמר.

So משה רבנו says at that time we had the judicial system set up.

This the רמב"ן says is to indicate that we were ready to enter the

land,

because after all we have to have the judges before we enter a proper

judge before we enter the land.

ויצו אתכם בעת ההיא את כל הדברים אשר תעשון.

This is said after setting up the judicial system,

so רש"י understands this is part of instructions to the judges,

telling them the difference between דיני ממונות and דיני נפשות.

It's interesting,

לכאורה the שרי אלפים,

שרי מאות they weren't allowed to judge דיני נפשות,

you require 23 for that.

But maybe telling them,

well even though you might learn about all sorts of rules by נפשות and

over דיני ממונות,

some of these rules don't apply.

In any case,

רמב"ן himself says that משה רבינו is coming to make the following point.

Don't think that because we appoint these judges that I'm not going to have

any more of this direct contact with you.

I'm still going to be involved in teaching you תורה,

I think also רמב"ן indicates also דאווענינג for the sick and whatever other roles

משה רבינו had.

Okay,

טובה הארץ אשר השם אלוקינו נותן לנו.

רש"י says this was the report of the מרגלים.

רש"י says this is report of יהושע וכלב.

רמב"ן says no,

it's report of all the מרגלים.

They all agreed that it's a wonderful land.

אחיכם בני עשו,

רמב"ן says that all the descendants of אברהם,

whether they were נימול or not,

are called אחים and therefore the תורה says לא תתעב אדומי.

בני הפילגשים,

ישמעאל,

מדין,

בני קטורה,

they are not our אחים in any way.

Okay,

the פסוק says something about אימים and רפאים.

רש"י understands the point of the פסוק that this is not the רפאים that

was promised to אברהם אבינו.

רמב"ן says it is,

just it was given לכבוד אברהם to בני לוט.

Okay,

have a wonderful שבס.