Rabbinic JudaismSifrei Devarim 336HOLYMAP · SACRED TEXTS
Sifrei on DeuteronomySifrei Devarim 336

Sifrei on Deuteronomy

Sifrei Devarim 336

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English · Shraga Silverstein

(Devarim 32:47) "For it is not an empty thing for you; for it is your life, and by this thing you shall prolong days": There is nothing empty in the Torah, for which, if you fulfill it, you will not be rewarded in this world, with the principal remaining for the world to come. Know this to be so, for they said: Why is it written (Bereshith 36:22) "And the sister of Lotan was Timna," and (Ibid. 36:12) "And Timna was a concubine to Elifaz (the son of Esav)"? Because she said: "I am not worthy of being his wife; (at least) let me be his concubine." Why all this? To apprise us of the greatness of our father Abraham, kings and sultans [(Timna was a daughter of royalty)] desiring to marry into his family. Now does this not follow a fortiori? If Esav, who kept only one mitzvah, that of honoring his father — kings and sultans desired to marry into his family, how much more so would they run to do so with Jacob the tzaddik, who fulfilled all of the mitzvoth, viz. (Ibid. 25:27) "And Jacob was a whole man!"

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English · Shraga Silverstein

(Devarim, Ibid.) "and by this thing (Torah study) you shall prolong days.": This is one of the things, which, by doing them, one eats their fruits in this world and "prolongs days" in the world to come, viz. "for it is your life, and by this thing you shall prolong days." Whence do we derive (the same for) honoring father and mother? From (Devarim 5:16) "Honor your father and mother so that your days be prolonged and so that it be good for you, etc." Whence do we derive (the same for) lovingkindness? From (Proverbs 21:21) "He who pursues righteousness and lovingkindness will find life, righteousness, and honor." Whence do we derive (the same for) the conferring of peace (upon man and his neighbor)? From (Psalms 34:15) "Seek peace and pursue it," and (Isaiah 54:13) "and all of your children learned of the L-rd, and an abundance of peace (will be the lot of) your children."

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Sifrei Devarim 336English
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Sifrei Devarim 3360%

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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