A Thought on Parshas Shoftim

"...Anochi ed'rosh me'imo..." "....I shall exact judgement from him..." (18:19) HaShem is being very clear with us in this verse. He will send us prophets who instruct us in the Path of G-d, the Torah, and its structure of rules and prohibitions. We listen to those prophets. Moreover, the prophets must listen to themselves, and abide by everything that they themselves teach others. This verse declares that the prophet who will not adhere to his own teachings will be confronted with Divine judgement. You may have noticed that throughout Sefer Devraim, the Panae'ach Raza has approached the verses from the viewpoint of remez and drush, focusing more on hidden meanings and covert indications which signal unexpected insights and messages. He does this on our verse too. Recall that the Panae'ach Raza - Rabbeinu Yitzchak ben Rabbeinu Yehuda haLevi - lived in France during the 14th century. The cry of the French Crusaders was still echoing in the streets of Burgundy and the fist of Christianity still gripped the Jewish ghettoes. Hence, the Panae'ach Raza hints at hidden messages within the words of the verses, offering clarity to his students and giving them hope and encouragement. He begins here by writing simply "look at the ends of the words, then notice that the next verse prescribes execution for those who claim prophecy yet preach falsehoods or endorse idolatry." He then writes "and the words which I will now list for you all have the numerical equivalent of his name. Specifically, they are elohae nechar (strange gods), mechir kelev (bartering a dog for a sacrifice), hevel v'rik (worthless and void), and also the opening letters of v'al safam ya'ateh (conceal their mouths)." That was a very cryptic interpretation. What is the Panae'ach Raza getting at? I too will write with cautious allusion, in keeping with his style here. 1. "look at the ends of the words" - here the Panae'ach Raza refers to the use of sofae teivos, spelling out a word by using the final letters of a group of words. The sofae teivos of the three words in our clause are yud, shin, vov. As a compound, they spell Yeshu which was a name once given to men. 2. "the next verse prescribes execution (to the man masquerading as a prophet) - here the Panae'ach Raza suggests that such a man who might have been given that same name as was hinted to in the sofae teivos might be the subject of this adjacent verse. 3. "word list with equivalent numerical values" - here the Panae'ach Raza observes that those three phrases each equal 316 which is exactly the numerical value of that name. He understands that a false prophet is regarded by the Torah as having those same negative qualities as the name-value equals. Those would be "strange god, inferior substitute, without worth or substance". Each of those features and all of them together constitute the halachic attitude towards any forbidden aspect of idolatry. 4. "the opening letters" - here the Panae'ach Raza notes that this fourth phrase refers to something which casts infectious impurity and must be closed up. The "opening letters" refers to the use of roshei teivos, spelling out a word by using the first letters found in a cluster of other words. Those three words begin with vov, shin, yud which when in a compound comprise both that name again and the value of 316. With this astute working of the concealed aspects of our verse, the Panae'ach Raza sought to set his students straight about the Torah view of all that challenges our faith doctrines. We cling to the 613. We do not give regard to the 316. We firmly believe in HaShem Echad. Ain od Milvado. Good Shabbos. D Fox