Parshat Reeh 5784
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha that upon entering Eretz Yisrael, Bnei Yisrael would be permitted to eat meat, even when it was not part of a sacrifice. The pasuk states (Chapter 12, Pasuk 20), כי ירחיב ד' אלוקיך כאשר דבר לך ואמרת אכלה בשר כי תאוה נפשך לאכול בשר בכל אות נשפך תאכל בשר. When Hashem shall expand your boundaries and you shall desire to eat meat, you can eat meat to your soul’s desire. Rashi comments on this pasuk that the Torah is teaching us to only desire eating meat from a state of expansiveness, רחבת ידיים, and wealth.
What is Rashi coming to teach us? Surely, he is not coming to teach us a lesson in home economics; only desire and eat meat if you can afford it! What is the רחבת ידיים ועושר he is referring to?
The Medrash Rabbah on parshat Toldos (64,8) teaches that Yitzchak Avinu dug five wells, and each one corresponds to one of the Chamisha Chumshei Torah. For example, one of the wells dug was called Eisek, and it corresponds to sefer Bereishis. The Medrash explains that this is because Hashem was Mitasek, involved in the creation of the world. Another of the wells dug was called Sitnah, which means hatred, and this well corresponds to sefer Shemos. This is because it discusses the slavery in Egypt and the bitterness of the servitude, as the pasuk says (Shemos, Chapter 1, Pasuk 14), וימררו את חייהם.
The Medrash continues and explains the well which was called Rechovot corresponds to sefer Devarim. This is a result of the pasuk in our parsha we quoted, כי ירחיב ד' אלוקיך את גבולך. And in parshat Toldos by the well of Rechovot the pasuk says (Chapter 26, Pasuk 22), כי עתה הרחיב ד' לנו ופרינו בארץ.
The connection between the well of Rechovot and sefer Devarim seems quite difficult. By the other wells dug by Yitzchak, the name of the well corresponds to a major theme in the sefer of Chumash; the creation of the world, slavery in Egypt, etc. But how does the Medrash connect the well of Rechovot with sefer Devarim based on a seemingly obscure pasuk tucked away in the middle of parshat Re’eh?
When Rashi teaches that one should only eat meat from wealth, he isn’t referring to how much money one has in their bank account. He is referring to spiritual wealth and expansiveness. The Sfas Emes learns from the words כי תאוה נפשך לאכול בשר that the desire for meat needs to be a תאוות הנפש and not a תאוות הגוף. It should be a desire to eat to serve Hashem, to fulfill mitzvos of simcha, but not a totally physical craving. When one’s eating is completely physical, he tends to sin, as it brings out his more animalistic parts.
Bnei Yisrael were about to enter Eretz Yisrael. They had been through the fiery furnace of the slavery in Egypt and received the Torah at Har Sinai. And they underwent many trials and tribulations in the desert. They grew from all these experiences and were now purified to the point where they could eat בשר תאווה. But it came with a proviso; make sure the desire comes from a proper place.
The reason the Medrash connects Rechovot with our pasuk of כי ירחיב וכו' is because it’s not an arbitrary pasuk in the middle of sefer Devarim. The pasuk of כי ירחיב is teaching us a fundamental principle of sefer Devarim; הרחבת גבולות, expanding one’s boundaries, and רחבת ידיים, expansiveness and spiritual wealth. Bnei Yisrael were about to enter Eretz Yisrael and expand their boundaries, but they were doing so only after they grew so much from all their experiences in Mitzrayim and in the Midbar.
But I think this concept of הרחבת גבולות is fundamental to sefer Devarim also as it relates to Moshe Rabbeinu. Firstly, the Gemara in Megillah 31B teaches משנה תורה משה מפי עצמו אמרם, and as Tosfos adds of course, ברוח הקודש. And sefer Devarim begins with אלה הדברים אשר דבר משה אל כל ישראל. The Medrash Rabbah on the pasuk (1,1) points out the contrast with Moshe Rabbeinu in the beginning of his journey (Shemos, Chapter 4, Pasuk 10), לא איש דברים אנכי. Moshe’s greatness in Torah allowed him to expand his boundaries from being unable to speak, to teaching Torah before all of Clal Yisrael.
The last parsha in sefer Devarim, V’Zos HaBracha, begins by referring to Moshe as איש האלוקים. The Medrash in Bereishis Rabbah (36,3) contrasts this with Moshe at the beginning of his journey being referred to as (Shemos, Chapter 2, Pasuk 19), איש מצרי. Once again, sefer Devarim, now towards its completion, highlights the change in Moshe Rabbeinu over the years; his expanded boundaries, his tremendous רחבת ידיים and growth. The ability to make great leaps in spiritual growth through Torah is a fundamental theme of sefer Devarim and is personified specifically by Moshe Rabbeinu.
The pasuk says in V’Zos HaBracha (Chapter 33, Pasuk 4), תורה צוה לנו משה מורשה קהילות יעקב. The Sfas Emes teaches that we can understand the pasuk by putting a comma after the word לנו. משה מורשה קהילות יעקב; Moshe, i.e. the ability to become like Moshe is part of the inheritance and legacy of Clal Yisrael. Every Jew can strive to be like Moshe Rabbeinu. Moshe Rabbeinu is the greatest example of the great heights one can achieve, despite humble beginnings. And this is a fundamental principle of sefer Devarim.
Good Shabbos
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