Netvort Netzovim 5772:                      Looks Good to Me

By Rabbi Joshua (introspectively known as the Hoffer) Hoffman

Dedicated anonymously in honor of Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik of Chicago and Rabbi Yosef Soloveitchik of Yerushalayim, who continue in the traditions of Torah and Chesed of their father Rav Aharon Soloveitchik zt”l

Moshe, after gathering the people together to enter a covenant with God, tells them, “You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God: your heads, your tribes, your officers… your small children and your women....... the hewers of your wood and the carriers of your water” (Devarim 29:9-10).  Who are these hewers of wood and carriers of water?  Rashi says that they were Canaanites from Eretz Yisroel who came to Moshe to make a peace treaty, similar to the Givonites, who came to Yehoshua to do the same. In both cases, by the terms of the treaty, they were assigned to be hewers of wood and carriers of water.

There is a dispute amongst the commentators of Rashi whether Moshe was fooled by the Canaanites. In the case of Yehoshua, there was a clear prohibition against making a treaty, because regarding the Canaanites of Eretz Yisroel, the Torah tells us to wipe them all out in war. The Givonites fooled Yehoshua into thinking that they came from a distant land, and were thus able to make such a pact with him. It was only to avoid a desecration of God’s name by breaking the treaty that it was maintained after the ruse was discovered. According to Rav Eliyahu Mizrachi, this was also what happened in the time of Moshe. Rav Dovid Pardo, however, in his Maskil L’Dovid on Rashi, says that Moshe was not fooled, since the command to wipe out the indigenous Canaanites only took hold after the children of Israel entered Eretz Yisroel. Moshe made them into wood hewers and water carriers, because their conversion was not completely sincere, as they did it out of fear. Perhaps we can suggest, somewhat similarly, that the command only applied once the offer to peace was sent to the Canaanites and rejected, but not if they came on their own. This, indeed, is the opinion of the Rashbam, and according to my teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveitchik, zt”l, all authorities, including Rashi, would agree with this. 

In any case, the Maskil L’Dovid asks, why there is there a term of separation “ad” – “until” – between the mention of the hewers of stone and the carriers of water. Why aren’t they included in one phrase or category? He answers that the job of carrying water is of a lower status, relegated to women and children, and, therefore, distinguished from the role of the wood hewers. I would like to suggest a different answer, based on the nature of the covenant that the people were entering into.

The Ramban and others say that while the covenant in Parshas Ki Savo was in regard to observing the mitzvos, the covenant in Parshas Nitzovim was one that established “arvus”, or mutual responsibility. The Ritva on tractate Rosh Hashanah says that arvus reflects the concept that the Jewish nation represents one large collective body. In this sense, every member of the nation is viewed equally, as part of the collective. The particular status of any individual does not change this reality. Each person, in his own capacity, plays an integral role in this collective whole. 

The midrash teaches that the maidservant saw, at the splitting of the Sea, a vision that was not seen by the great prophet Yechezkel. Reb Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin explains that everyone at some point in life is given a vision of the role that he is to play in this world. That moment came for the emerging nation, at the splitting of the Sea. Thus, the vision that the maidservant saw of her role was only seen by her, for only she, to the exclusion of even Yechezkel, could fulfill it. This idea may also be reflected in a statement in the Talmud (Brachos 34b) that every profession appears beautiful in the eyes of its practitioner. Perhaps, then, the roles of the wood hewers and water carriers are separated to indicate that each plays its own role in the collective of the nation, and should be recognized in this way. 

We at Netvort wish a wonderful New Year to all Netvort readers, both actual and potential.