Slow down (Deauts 28:2 )

Right before the 63 pasuk long aliyah and Tochachah--or rebuke--Bnei Yisrael first learns what happens if they do, indeed, follow God's commandments. A strange occurrence is described as a result of performing mitzvot and that is:
"וּבָאוּ עָלֶיךָ כָּל-הַבְּרָכוֹת הָאֵלֶּה וְהִשִּׂיגֻךָ כִּי a תִשְׁמַע בְּקוֹל יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֶיךָ" (Deuteronomy 28:2) "These blessings will come to you and overtake you because you have listen to Hashem your God." The Netziv points out the interesting word "overtake" and wonders what is meant by the peculiar word. The Netziv explains that usually, most people are running around and seeking after the great fortunes they dream they can obtain. The Netziv says that there is an important lesson to be learned from here. These people, who are running around seeking great fortune, do not take into account that, perhaps, if they stopped for a while, fortune would catch up with them. Sometimes, our destiny is close by, and if we slow down, it will overtake us. The Netziv explains that if one follows the commandments of the Torah, the blessings will catch up with him and he will not have to chase around looking for them. And, even if one decides to go looking, the blessings will, nevertheless, pursue him and overtake him. If we take things slowly and walk in the ways of the Torah, blessings and great fortune will find their way to us.

Amalek

Rashi, in an interesting midrash, says that the reason Amalek attacked Bnei Yisrael shortly after they exited Egypt was for one odd--very odd-- reason. Rashi says that Bnei Yisrael was dealing dishonestly with weights and measurement (the passage immediately preceding this one) in the desert and that is why God had allowed Amalek to attack. The Netziv, being the realist that he is, asks the obvious question: "They had weights and measurement in the desert?" "Were there actually business dealings in the deserts?" How is it that sinning in this capacity historically provided the impetus for an attack by Amalek? 

The Netziv provides an understanding of weights and measurements that can be applied to the attack of Amalek. Cheating  by way of weights and measurements is the easiest way to steal because the customer does not know that he is being cheated. The only thing preventing someone from dealing dishonestly with weights and measurements is an awareness of God. Even though people won't notice, nothing escapes Divine Omniscience. Cheating in weights is not meant to be taken literally as the cause for Amalek. The sin is merely a symptom of a deeper, more inherent sin--lack of faith and awareness of God. The ultimate paradigm of this sin is the person who is more afraid of people seeing him as a thief but gives  no heed to the fact his actions are being noted by God himself. 

The Netziv goes further and addresses another puzzling Pasuk.

 "אֲשֶׁר קָרְךָ בַּדֶּרֶךְ וַיְזַנֵּב בְּךָ כָּל-הַנֶּחֱשָׁלִים אַחֲרֶיךָ וְאַתָּה עָיֵף וְיָגֵעַ וְלֹא יָרֵא אֱלֹהִים" (Deuteronomy 25:18).

The end of the Pasuk reads that someone was "not God fearing." However, the ambiguous phrase does not tell us who is not God fearing. Rashi reads it as Amalek not being God fearing while the Netziv reads it as Bnei Yisrael who are the ones not fearing God.  The real fault was lack of faith in God. For a people sustained so miraculously through Divine Providence to not believe in God is a true blow to God's name and, indeed, warrants an attack by a godless people such as Amalek. The Netziv explains that the one belief, above all, which a Jew must fight to preserve in this world is belief in God.

Parshat KI Tavo

In the midst of the big rebuke that goes on in Parshat Ki Tavo, we find an interesting Pasuk: 
"יְקִימְךָ יְהוָֹה לוֹ לְעַם קָדוֹשׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע-לָךְ כִּי תִשְׁמֹר אֶת-מִצְוֹת יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֶיךָ וְהָלַכְתָּ בִּדְרָכָיו"
(Deuteronomy 28:9). "God will make you a holy nation just like he promised if you safeguard his Mitzvot and you walk in his ways." What is the phrase of "Walking in his ways" telling us that's not included in "safeguard his Mitzvot?" The Netziv comes along and offers a tremendous answer. The Netziv explains that it is a common misconception that the proper way to become holy is to fully disengage oneself from all worldly matters. One becomes holy by doing Mitzvot for God and God alone. Any contact with anyone else besides for God is unnecessary and damaging to one's holiness. This is the person that the Netziv is speaking to. What Moshe is really saying, says the Netziv, is that the way for one to become holy is to involve himself in all Mitzvot, whether they pertain to heavenly obligations or simply obligations to one's fellow man--Mitzvot ben adam l'chavero. Just like God, who involves himself in worldly things, so, too, we must do the same. Mitzvot ben adam l'chavero are not secondary to our obligations to God--they are part of our obligations to God.  In short, holiness in Judaism is not setting oneself above daily life and avoiding contact with others but rather living with people and acting towards them in the way the Torah prescribes. Go Netziv. 

Perek 12

In Perek 12 of Devarim, Hashem, through Moshe, tells Bnei Yisrael of a place in the Land of Israel where they will offer up sacrifices and worship Hashem (i.e. the Beit Hamikdash/Mishkan at Shiloh). But when the command is given about these sacrifices, a strange phrase is said: "“You shall not do as all that we do here this day; every man as he deems fit” (Devarim 12:8). Many commentators argue about the meaning of this pasuk, but the Netziv, once again, comes and saves the day with the best answer ever, since he is the best commentator ever.  The Netziv states the the korbanot that will be offered in the Land of Israel have an inherently different objectives than their counterparts in the desert. He says the up until this point in the Perek, Bnei Yisrael are being warned against being like the gentile nations. Here, however, it warns the nation to not be like how they were in the desert. The Netziv quotes Parshat Acharei Mot (17:5) where it says that one is forbidden to eat "basar ta'avah shechutah" or meat the was not brought as a Korban. In other words, one could not just cook a steak for dinner, it had to be a Korban. Because of this prohibition, the Torah permitted one to bring a Korban Shelamim to the Mishkan so one could take part in the eating of the meat as his heart desired. But, in the Land of Israel, this prohibition no longer applied and, therefore, one didn't need to bring the Shelamim just so he could eat it. One could eat recreationally but had to offer Korbanot for their own sake. In the desert, all food was considered to be "achila mishulchan gavoah"or eating from the Mizbe'ach--all was Kodesh. However, in the Land of Israel, the objective to is to live a natural life in which the holy and the mundane are joined together. Normal eating, that was now permitted, is chulin, and the korbanot that were offered at the Mishkan at Shiloh and the Beit Hamikdash were the Kodesh. We have to learn to combine the Kodesh and the Chol together to live an awesome life. Go Netiz.

Bad pun containing the word decalogue

Perek 5 of Devarim contains the second set of the Ten Commandments, or, as some like to call, the Decalogue. Many commentators have trouble with the Decalogue and why it's repeated twice in the Torah with all the changes made. Rav Naphtali Tzvi Yehudah Berlin gives an answer that, in my opinion, is far superior to any of the opinions out there. If you, my audience (not just my class but my countless viewers from Russia, Ukraine, Germany, and Italy), read my previous post about the Netziv's opinion on Perek 4 and Devarim as a whole, then you will see how this great Torah Scholar remains consistent with his opinions throughout the book of Devarim.
We always say that "all the mitzvot are found in the ten commandments." But, clearly, this is very hard to stand by since the Ten Commandments only consist of TEN commandments (not 613). Furthermore, though you may be able to derive things from these ten, it seems very unlikely to derive 613. The Netziv, however, finds a way to make this dream come true. The first and second sets of the tablets were, indeed, very different. On the first set, Moshe simply wrote down word for word what Hashem told him. The second set, however, was written with a new power that Moshe had acquired. The Netziv says the Moshe had the power "לחדש" in the second set. The second set of tablets are different because Moshe interpreted them using the 13 hermeneutic principles.
The Netziv then states that at first, when the Torah was first given at Sinai, only Moshe and his children had this power "לחדש." But in the plains of Moav and after Bnei Yisrael's sins, Moshe realized the people needed the power to derive laws for themselves for two reasons: the safekeeping of the nation and the teaching. The second tablets weren't given by Moshe because Israel didn't deserve something from Hashem. The message of the second tablets was to show how man and Hashem can work together and both participate in life together. It is not one-sided as most of Israel probably assumed up to this point. All of their needs were taken care of by Hashem and they didn't have to do much. The tablets preserved the nation in that they now were able to learn to take care of themselves through deriving laws themselves (With the help of Hashem of course). The Oral Torah, says the Netziv began at Sinai. The concept of tradition seems to play out here. Moshe taught the Oral Law (or "how to" the Oral Law) to the nation and it was then passed down from generation to generation.
Go Netziv.

Perek 4

We always say "Everything was given to Moshe at Har Sinai." But then there's also that story in the gemara about Rabbi Akiva and Moshe. Moshe is being shown Rabbi Akiva teaching Torah to his students in the second century CE. Moshe watched and was startled; this was not the Torah he gave the Israelites. Then he heard students ask: “’Rabbi, what is your source?’ He answered them: ‘halakhah l’Moshe Misinai'” Moshe was relieved.” While realizing that Rabbi Akiva’s teaching was not what he taught, he was consoled, for Rabbi Akiva was saying these laws are derived in some way from Moshe and they are as significant as if Moshe obtained them at Sinai. So when was the Oral Law really given?

Rav Naphtali Zvi Yehudah Berlin explains in Perek 4 that Devarim was the original Oral Law. Moshe tell Israel to listen to the "Chukim" and "Mispatim." We have already many Mitzvot. What are these new ones? The Netziv explains that "Chukim" are the 13 principles on how to interpret the Torah and the "mishpatim" are the new laws derived from these interpretations. According to the Netziv the way the Oral Law came about was through these chapters in Deuteronomy. The Netziv says that in these chapters, Moshe shows Israel these new principles and the laws that Moshe himself derived from them. This taught Israel how to do the same in future generations.

Therefore, both sides are right. Moshe never taught the specifics of the Oral Law and all of its new halachot, but he did teach how to achieve the new laws through chukim and mishpatim.

Thank you netziv

Perek Bet

וַנֵּפֶן וַנִּסַּע הַמִּדְבָּרָה דֶּרֶךְ יַם-סוּף כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבֶּר יְהוָֹה אֵלָי וַנָּסָב אֶת-הַר-שֵׂעִיר יָמִים רַבִּים: 
Deuteronomy, Chapter two, Verse one says   "Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as the LORD spoke unto me; and we compassed mount Seir many days.

The Netziv is at it again folks. The term "many days" seems a tad puzzling to this 19th century commentator. It most places it would probably say a certain amount of time. Why does it say, specifically in this case, "many days."

The Netziv answers this quandary by looking at where the Israelites are camping for "many days." Mount Seir--otherwise known as Edom--is where the nation encamped. The Netziv suggests that the "many days" that the Israelites encamped at Edom allude to the "many days" of the Galut Edom or the Edomite Exile. The Israelites, more specifically the Jews, went through four different exiles through their history. The Babylonian, the Persian, the Greek, and the Roman exiles were the four. Rome, which was known as Edom, destroyed the second Temple in Jerusalem and exiled the Jews out of their homeland in 70 C.E. This exile has been going from the first century to the twenty first century, or present day. The "many days" encamped at Mount Seir was a foreshadowing to the "many days" the nation would be "encamped" in the Roman exile. According to the Netziv, we, the Jewish nation in 5774, are still encamped around Mount Seir and have yet to travel forward.