פרשת נצבים - וילך תשכ"ז - פרשת התשובה

"When all these things befall you—the blessing and the curse that I have set before you—and you take them to heart amidst the various nations to which the Lord your God has banished you, And you return to the Lord your God, and you and your children heed His command with all your heart and soul, just as I enjoin upon you this day. And the Lord your God will return your captivity and have mercy upon you. He will return and gather you from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you. Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you."

"When they sin against You—for there is no man who does not sin—and You are angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and their captors carry them off to an enemy land, near or far, And then they take it to heart in the land to which they have been carried off, and they repent and make supplication to You in the land of their captors, saying: ‘We have sinned, we have acted perversely, we have acted wickedly.’ (And they turn back to You with all their heart and soul, in the land of the enemies who have carried them off, and they pray to You in the direction of their land which You gave to their fathers, of the city which You have chosen, and of the House which I have built to Your name. Oh, give heed in Your heavenly abode to their prayer and supplication, uphold their cause. And pardon Your people who have sinned against You for all the transgressions that they have committed against You. Grant them mercy in the sight of their captors that they may be merciful to them."

"And the Lord your God will return your captivity and have mercy upon you. He will return and gather you from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you."

S.v. the hidden matters: …Rabbi Yehudah ben David Ḥayyuj, the grammarian, is of the opinion that the first instance of the word “restore” means “grant rest”. The sense of the verse is: “He will provide respite to the captives, and grant them mercy; afterward, he will send them back, and gather them”.

And He will return your captivity: from the exile of Babylonia.

And He will return and gather you: from this great and long exile, in which we are scattered throughout the whole world.

...and it is since the nation in exile is divided into two parts: The smaller part are those that hold on to the religion and follow the Torah of the Lord, and they are referred to as Israel - but they remain the few from the many. And the other part of the people are those who - because of the troubles and the heaviness of the exile - have transgressed against His religion; as it is stated there (Deuteronomy 4:28), "And you shall worship other gods there...," as I explained. Hence it stated corresponding to the two parts of the nation, "you shall bring it to your heart amidst the various nations to which the Lord your God has banished you. And you will return to the Lord your God." As behold the first statement is about those under duress (anusim) that have left the framework of the religion. Hence to those, it stated, "you shall bring it to your heart" - as their repentance will [only] be in the heart and not in the mouth. For they will not be able to publicize their repentance and their faith. And this is [the meaning] of its stating, "amidst the various nations to which the Lord your God has banished you" - meaning to say, that they are mixed in with them and considered like them. Nevertheless, they will return to the Lord in their hearts. And regarding the other part of the Jews that are known [to be Jews], it states, "and you will return to the Lord your God, and you and your children will heed His voice with all your heart and soul, just as I enjoin upon you this day" - meaning to say that they will repent and do the commandments and heed the voice of God publicly, they and their children. For they have not abandoned their God there. And when they repent to God, they will follow Him. But [both] these and those will run [to Him] - each one according to his condition and his context. It promised that God, may He be blessed, will gather them unto Him. And this is [the meaning of] "And the Lord your God will return your captivity and have mercy upon you; and He will return and gather you." Behold it said, "And the Lord your God will return your captivity and have mercy upon you," about that part that are Jews publicly and hold on to their Judaism. And it states about them, "your captivity," since they are in captivity and servitude. And it states, "and [He will] have mercy upon you," as they will need mercy, due to their lowliness and troubles. However regarding the other part that have left the framework of the religion because of the their duress, it states, "and He will return and gather you from all of the nations." But it did not state regarding them, "captivity" nor "mercy." And this is the reason that it states that He will gather them from all the nations; as they are mixed in with them and have intermarried with them. And about these, it states (Deuteronomy 30:4), "Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you."

S.v. And gather you from all of the nations: After the main exile returns from the nations, the Lord will return to gather the small pockets among the nations where the Lord scattered you. Likewise did Ramban write ¹ in his commentary on Song of Songs (8:12), "you may have the thousand, O Solomon" - that at first, there will be a partial gathering of the exiles with the permission of the governments. And afterwards, the Lord will bring back His hand a second time, as it is written, "and He will return and gather you."

S.v. And He will have mercy upon you: That He will give mercy towards you in the heart of the nations.

S.v. And He will return and gather you from all of the nations: After the rehabilitation, He will return and gather you.

"And the Lord thy God will return (shav) thy captivity"

And His Word will accept your repentance with favour, and will have mercy upon you, and He will gather you...

And the Lord your God will bring the captivity of your exile, and have mercy upon you, and repent and bring you back from all of the nations.

S.v. The return: A matter of repentance, such that the Children of Zion will repent to the Lord.

"Then My anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall come upon them"

"Then it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are come upon them, that this song shall testify before them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed"

When Rabbi Yoḥanan reached this verse, he cried: “Then it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are come upon them” (Deuteronomy 31:21). He said: With regard to a slave whose master brings upon him evils and troubles, is there a remedy for him? The Gemara asks: What is the verse referring to when it states: “Evils and troubles”? Rav said: Evils that become troubles for one another, i.e., the remedy for one problem has a deleterious effect on the other. For example, one who is stung by a hornet and a scorpion.

Evils that become troubles for one another, for example, a hornet and a scorpion: Rabbenu Tam explained that the medication for this sting is [bad] for that sting. Likewise, we say in the beginning of Chapter 2 of Avodah Zarah 28b ff., "Warm for a scorpion, cold for a hornet."

And it means to say that the "evils" are many and also troubling for one another. And it appears that it is good for [Rav in the Talmud] to expound like this and not to leave it, such that "troubles" is a noun, like "evils." For if so, it should have been written, "raot vetsarot rabot." But that it interrupted in the middle with the word, rabot, implied to him that just like the word, "many," describes the word, "evils," so too does the word, "troubling."

... And according to this, Israel will be reproved, since many troubles will befall them...

"And her rival [literally, her trouble] also provoked her sore, to make her fret, because the Lord had shut up her womb."