Rabbinic JudaismSifrei Devarim 333HOLYMAP · SACRED TEXTS
Sifrei on DeuteronomySifrei Devarim 333

Sifrei on Deuteronomy

Sifrei Devarim 333

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English · Shraga Silverstein

(Devarim 32:43) "The nations will praise His people": In the future, when the L-rd brings redemption to Israel, the nations will be wroth before Him, viz. (Psalms 99:1) "The L-rd has reigned; the peoples will be wroth." And this will not be the first time, for they were already wroth in the past, viz. (Shemoth 15:19) "The peoples heard (of the splitting of the sea); they were wroth."

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English · Shraga Silverstein

But in the end, the peoples will praise Israel (for the fulfillment of their faith in the L-rd), viz.: "The nations will praise His people." And whence (do we derive the same for) heaven and earth? From (Isaiah 44:23) "Sing, O heavens, for the L-rd has wrought; shout (for joy), foundations of the earth!" And whence, mountains and hills? From (Ibid. 55:12) "The mountains and hills will break out in song before You, and all the trees of the field will clap hands." And whence, the (fore-) fathers and mothers? From (Ibid. 42:11) "The dwellers of the rock will sing; from the peaks of the mountains will they shout."

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English · Shraga Silverstein

"For the blood of His servants shall He avenge, and vengeances will He return to His adversaries": two vengeances — one for the blood; one for the despoiling. And whence is it derived that every despoiling of Israel by the nations is accounted to them as having spilled innocent blood? From (Joel 4:2) "I will gather all of the nations, and I will bring them down to the valley of Yehoshafat and I will contend with them there for My people and My inheritance, which they scattered … (Ibid. 19) Egypt will become a desolation, and Edom a desolate desert, because of the despoiling of the children of Judah, their spilling of innocent blood in their land." At that time (Ibid. 20-21) "And Yehudah will dwell (secure) forever … And cleanse their blood (i.e., to forgive this bloodshed by the nations) — I will not cleanse it."

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English · Shraga Silverstein

(Devarim, Ibid.) "and His earth will atone for His people": Whence is it derived that the killing of Israel by the nations atones for them (Israel) in the world to come? From (Psalms 79:1) "A psalm of Asaf: O G-d, nations have entered Your inheritance … (3) They have shed their blood like water … (8) Do not remember against us (our) first sins, etc." R. Meir was wont to say: All who dwell in Eretz Yisrael are atoned for by the land, as it is written (Isaiah 33:24) "The people that dwell in it (Eretz Yisrael) nesu sin." But I still would not know whether sin were removed from it or borne upon it, ("nesu" being susceptible of both meanings) — were it not written "and His earth shall atone for His people." And thus was R. Meir wont to say: "Whoever lives in Eretz Yisrael and recites the Shema morning and night, and speaks the holy tongue is a son of the world to come."

5
English · Shraga Silverstein

Great is "song," which obtains in the past, and obtains in the future, and obtains in time to come (the time of the Messiah) and obtains in the world to come.

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Sifrei Devarim 333English
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Sifrei on Deuteronomy

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Public-domain Hebrew editions, digitized by Sefaria (sefaria.org). · Source ↗

Mechilta, Sifra and Sifrei, translated by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein. CC BY. Text from Sefaria (sefaria.org). · Source ↗

English translation: Sifrei Devarim, translated by Rabbi Shraga Silverstein, via Sefaria (sefaria.org). Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/). Changes: footnotes and HTML formatting removed.

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