Shabbos Parashas Re'eh - 5775

Shabbos Parashas Re'eh - 5775

Rabbi Hal Miller

You shall cross the Jordan and you shall settle in the land that Hashem, your G-d

causes you to inherit, and He will give you rest from all your enemies all around, and

you will dwell securely. [Devarim 12:10]

There seems to be a chronology involved here. First, "you shall cross the Jordan". At

some point after that, "you shall settle in the land". Separately, "G-d causes you to

inherit". Then, "He will give you rest." Finally, "you will dwell securely." This leads us

to ask an obvious question about the ties between these events. Are they each dependent

upon the one (or ones) preceding it? If so, what is special about the meanings that they

are interconnected?

It seems obvious that one cannot settle in the land without crossing over into it. It seems

obvious that one cannot inherit land without having crossed over. It seems obvious that

dwelling securely relies upon both crossing over and relief from enemies. Why does the

Torah need to tell us these things?

One possible answer comes in the next verse, where the Torah tells us that we are to

bring sacrifices to "the place where Hashem your G-d will choose to rest His Name."

Perhaps the bringing of sacrifices is also dependent upon achieving all the preliminaries

in our verse.

Rashi sees the verse as applying to the apportionment of land in the days of Moshe and

Yehoshua, then to the rest from the surrounding nations in the days of David and Solomon.

This explains the following verse's discussion about sacrifices, as the "rest" would come

with the Temple. Onkelos follows this line and explains that the Temple can only be built

after the enemies are subdued in David's time.

Talelei Oros brings the Tiferes Yonasan, who asks why both expressions, "from all of

your enemies", and "dwell securely" are necessary. He explains that this is a

double-blessing, that there will be no threats from outside enemies and also no internal

conflicts to destroy one's peace of mind.

The Gemora in Sanhedrin seems to be saying that this verse explains the three

commandments to Israel upon re-entry into the land: to appoint a king over them, to cut

off the seed of Amalek, and to build a Temple. Our verse tells us that the most important,

the one that comes first, is the destruction of Amalek, from the phrase "enemies all around".

This includes both outside enemies and internal conflicts.

We can read our verse in two segments, cross the Jordan and settle the land of inheritance,

then rest from your enemies and dwell securely. The second part seems to rely on the

first. The second part seems to be a promise by Hashem, in return for the people performing

what comes in the first part.

Therefore, in order that we have rest from our enemies and dwell securely, we need to first

cross the Jordan, meaning put our trust in Hashem's hands, and then settle in the land that

He promised, meaning perform HIs mitzvos. This Shabbos is Rosh Chodesh Elul, the

beginning of the Days of Awe. What better time, in the leadup to the judgment of the world,

to renew our efforts in this vein.