Shabbat Parashat Vaetchanan - 5786

Shabbat Parashat Vaetchanan - 5786

Rabbi Hal Miller

  Only beware for yourself and greatly beware for your soul, lest you forget

  the things that your eyes have beheld and lest you remove them from your

  heart all the days of your life. [Devarim 4:9]

Moshe tells us repeatedly in our portion that we are to beware for ourselves, such as in our verse and also 4:15 and 4:23. Why did he need to say this many times? The importance of Moshe's point seems to be reinforced by the "lest you forget" and "lest you remove" clauses. What are these things?

Some commentators say that what we are being cautioned about is the influence of the other nations. Sforno notes that we are considered wise and logical in the eyes of the nations, and that therefore they will try to convince us to deny God and follow their ways based on intellectual logic and theories. Malbim explains that the nations believe that Moshe invented the Torah laws based on insight and logic, and that they will be able to convince us otherwise based on their logic, thus our verse tells us not to forget the miracles we saw.

Others say that these verses are negative commandments. R'Meir says it applies to forgetting Torah learning, which Reish Lakish calls a proper negative commandment. Ravina expands on this and says that "take heed" and "lest" constitute two negative commandments. R'Nachman bar Yitzchak expands further, calling our verses three negative commandments, "take heed to yourself", "heed your soul exceedingly" and "lest you forget". In Shevuot 36a, R'Avin states the basis for this approach as "wherever 'take heed', 'lest', or 'do not' is written, a negative commandment is indicated."

Onkelos differs a little, saying the first "beware" or "take heed" is a negative commandment not to violate the prohibitions, but the second set is a positive command to guard and observe the mitzvot.

Why does Moshe give us both "lest you forget" and "lest you remove"? At first glance they seem sort of repetitive. R'Meir in Avot 3:8 shows them as separate, the first that we are enjoined from forgetting our learning, but the second to cover the situation where forgetting is not intentional, thus we are commanded not to wilfully cause that forgetting, such as one might do by drinking or drugs. Rav Hirsch on 4:23 says that this is not so much a forgetting, but a disregarding of the covenant and mitzvot.

Rashi understands the "beware for yourself" that if you remember and observe the mitzvot, you will be considered wise, but if you distort them you will be considered a fool. Ramban disagrees that these verses are not for our self-image, but specifically negative commandments. In 4:1, 5 and 6 we are commanded to do all the mitzvot in the land. Now we are being told to remember where the mitzvot came from, that we should not forget God and Mount Sinai.

Rav Hirsch gives us one more thought about the need for repetition of these warnings, based on the "for you" and "for your souls". He says the first is to guard ourselves from bad influences in order to remain faithful to the Torah (which is for this world), and the second is to prevent anything bad from influencing our true spiritual selves (which is for the world to come).