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Devarim

Sefer Devarim is called Mishneh Torah (meaning: repetition of the Torah).

The Ramban (in his introduction to sefer Devarim) asks: Why is it necessary to repeat all the laws in the Torah? They were already taught in the first 4 sefarim!?!

The Ramban answers: Moshe was nearing his death and the Jews were about to enter the land of Israel where they would implement the Torah they had learned. As a result, Moshe felt the need to clarify the Torah and encourage them to be zealous in fulfilling the laws. Additionally, there was an even greater need to re-teach the laws because this was a new generation which didn't receive the Torah directly from Hashem on Mount Sinai--so they had questions. Therefore, Moshe needed to clarify the Torah since the current generation didn't understand it clearly, and he needed to intensify their motivation regarding the implementation of the laws--since they didn't receive them directly from Hashem.

The Ramban continues by explaining a number of "new" law which weren't mentioned in the first 4 sefarim: 1) Divorce, 2) Giving someone a bad name, 3) Levirate marriage (Yibum), 4)witnesses who are found to be liars--but indicates that there are even more.

The question arises: Why were these laws specifically left out of the first 4 sefarim? To strengthen the question, the Ramban states that Hashem told ALL the laws to Moshe during the first year of Exodus...So why weren't these laws taught before?

The Abarbanel asks on the Ramban: If Moshe knew all the laws in the first year of the Exodus, then how could he withhold the knowledge from the nation for 39 years?!?

The Ramban offers 2 answers: 1) As stated earlier, Moshe needed to clarify the laws and intensify Israel's motivation in their fulfillment since they didn't experience Hashem giving over the Torah first hand on Mount Sinai. This was only needed now--for the new generation. 2) These "new" laws applied ONLY in the land of Israel--which they were now entering for the first time. Therefore, there was no need for the nation to know these laws until now.

However, how does the second answer make sense? The Gemara (Kiddushin, 37a) describes those laws which are limited to the land of Israel as "agricultural obligations." The "new" laws of sefer Devarim that the Ramban mentioned (Divorce, etc.) have clearly no connection to agriculture!?!

The Ramban answers by mentioning "nesachim" (libations--korban offering) as an example of a law which is not agricultural, and yet is applicable ONLY in Israel (as learned out from the Torah--Bambidbar, 15;2) Thus, the Ramban proves that there is at least one exception to the rule that only agricultural laws are limited to the land of Israel.

However, the laws of nesachim are in Bamidbar--not Devarim. If the laws of nesachim weren't needed to be taught until Israel reached the land of Israel and yet they were still taught before--then why weren't the "new" laws taught before as well?

Additionally, why were the laws of nesachim taught in Bamidbar if they weren't applicable until the nation reached the land of Israel?

Furthermore, the Abarbanel and Radbaz question the Ramban: We find that there are many agricultural laws that apply ONLY in Israel--and yet they are taught before sefer Devarim!?! (e.g. the laws of Shmittah and Yovel are taught in parshat Behar) Therefore, how could the Ramban say that these laws (Divorce, etc.) weren't taught until sefer Devarim because they're limited to the land of Israel? There were clearly many laws that were limited to the land of Israel and yet they were taught before!?!

The Ramban answers that the "new" laws in sefer Devarim are only new in terms of writing. Meaning, ALL the laws were taught to the nation in the previous 39 years in the desert. However, Hashem determined that certain laws should not be written until sefer Devarim (even though they were implemented earlier). The Ramban is telling us that just because a law is written at a certain place in the Torah doesn't mean that it was taught at that particular point in time.

Additionally, the Ramban offers a second answer: Moshe couldn't teach the nation the whole Torah at one time--he had to do it gradually As a result, there were certain laws that he didn't get the time to teach until the 40th year before they entered the land of Israel. Now, this isn't to say that the "new" laws in sefer Devarim weren't acted upon earlier--rather, among all the other laws, these new laws were able to suffer more procrastination than the others as they occur infrequently.

Now, sefer Devarim isn't unique just because it's a repetition of the previous 4 sefarim...but it's also unique due to its author.

Many commentators note that sefer Devarim was written by Moshe in his own words.

However, the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 104a) states that a prophet can't say in Hashem's name something in which he didn't hear directly from Him. Therefore, how could it be that Moshe wrote sefer Devarim all by himself if we know that the whole Torah came from Hashem?

The Abarbanel answers: At first Moshe said these words from his own initiative--then afterwards Hashem commanded him to write, and He dictated the same words that Moshe had said. Hence, there is nothing unique about the nature of this sefer, since there are similar instances in the Torah where other people have uttered their own words, and then Hashem dictated their words back to Moshe (e.g. Pharaoh, etc.). Thus, what sets sefer Devarim apart from the other sefarim isn't the quality of the author (Moshe). Rather, the quantity of the amount which originated from Moshe in sefer Devarim is much greater than all of the other sefarim.

I think we could learn from here a very important lesson: Sometimes people tend to feel a lack of connection to the Torah, for the Torah was written by Hashem who isn't human like we are. For this reason, Hashem showed the nation of Israel that the whole Torah was brought into existence by man (i.e. Moshe) in order to provide for them a greater connection to the laws (and thus be zealous in fulfilling them). Similarly, if we ever feel disconnected from the Torah due to its divine nature, we should all take note that nearly the whole entire sefer Devarim was taken from the exact words of Moshe, a human like us.

Summary: Sefer Devarim (mostly originated from Moshe) is known as Mishneh Torah (repetition of the Torah) for it repeats many laws stated previously in the Torah. However, the sefer still includes a number of "new" laws. The Ramban explains that these new laws were either taught previously and are only considered "new" in terms of being written in the Torah. Or, the Ramban explains, these "new" laws could be taken as genuine new laws in which their teaching was delayed since they occur infrequently.

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