Sotah 33b (לג:) — the Talmud in English

And

we raise an objection to

Rabbi Judah,

who derives that ḥalitza is performed in the sacred language from the word “thus”: If so,

what does he do with the phrase “and she shall speak and say”

, from which the Sages derived the gezera shava “speaking, speaking”

?

[What does he expound from it?] That is to say: Why was the gezera shava “speaking, speaking” given? And we explain:

He requires it

for Rabbi Judah as a gezera shava of “speaking, speaking,” in order

to teach

the blessings and curses of the

Levites, that

they are

in the sacred language;

that is to say: This gezera shava was not given in order to derive the law of ḥalitza from the Levites; rather, the reverse is the case, in order to derive from ḥalitza that the Levites must recite them in the sacred language, as the Gemara proceeds to explain.

And we raise an objection: Why does Rabbi Judah need to derive with regard to the Levites that they must recite them in the sacred language from ḥalitza?

Let

Rabbi Judah derive the law concerning the Levites

from Moses

by means of the gezera shava “voice, voice,” as the Sages derived it!?

And we answer: A person may not derive a gezera shava on his own unless he received it from his teachers. Rabbi Judah

received

the gezera shava “speaking, speaking” from his teachers, whereas he

did not receive

the gezera shava “voice, voice”

from his teachers

.

It was taught likewise:

According to Rabbi Judah, the blessings and curses of the Levites are derived to be in the sacred language from the word “speaking” stated concerning them—“and they shall speak and say”—and not as the Sages derive this from “with a loud voice”:

For it was taught:

Rabbi Judah says:

Every place where it is stated,

with regard to a matter dependent upon speech:

“thus,”

“so,”

“speaking and saying,”

it means only in the sacred language.

And Rabbi Judah explains it:

“Thus”

is what is stated with regard to the Priestly Benediction:

“Thus shall you bless

the children of Israel; say to them.” From here we derive that the Priestly Benediction is recited in the sacred language.

“So”

refers to ḥalitza.

“Speaking and saying”

refers to the Levites.

We learned in the Mishna:

“The blessings and curses: How are they performed? Once the Jewish people crossed the Jordan

and came to Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal in Samaria, on the side of Shechem near the terebinths of Moreh, as it is stated: “Are they not across the Jordan, beyond the road of the setting of the sun, in the land of the Canaanite who dwells in the plain, opposite Gilgal, near the terebinths of Moreh”? And below it says: “And Abram passed through the land to the place of Shechem, to the terebinth of Moreh.” Just as “the terebinth of Moreh” stated below refers to Shechem, so too “the terebinths of Moreh” stated here refer to Shechem. Six tribes, etc.”

The Sages taught

to explain the verse [cited in the Mishna] that informs the children of Israel—who were east of the Jordan, on their way to cross to the western bank of the Jordan—where Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal are:

“Are they not across the Jordan”:

That means

beyond the Jordan and onward

[far from it],

the words of Rabbi Judah

, for it is stated:

“Beyond the road of the setting of the sun”:

And “the setting of the sun” is

the place where the sun rises,

that is, in the east. And every place where the word “beyond” is stated indicates distance. It follows that the verse says that these mountains were far from the east, where the Jewish people were standing.

“In the land of the Canaanite who dwells in the plain”:

These are Mount Gerizim and Mount Ebal, in which dwell

today

the Samaritans,

whom Sennacherib, king of Assyria, exiled the Ten Tribes and settled there.

“Opposite Gilgal”:

That means

near Gilgal.

“Near the terebinths of Moreh”:

That means

Shechem;

and from where do we know that it is Shechem? For:

Here it says “the terebinths of Moreh,”

and below it says:

“And Abram passed through the land, to the place of Shechem, to the terebinth of Moreh,”

and we derive through a gezera shava:

Just as

“the terebinth of Moreh”

stated below

means

Shechem, so too

“the terebinths of Moreh” stated

here

means

Shechem.

Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Yosei, said:

“With this matter I exposed the forgery”

[that is to say: I proved the forgery of]

the Samaritan books,

which believe in the Written Torah but do not believe in the Oral Torah, and say: Since it is stated concerning Mount Gerizim, “You shall slaughter peace-offerings and eat there,” it must certainly be the place that God chose to be worshipped, contrary to the tradition of the Sages that this choice was made through a prophet, namely, Jerusalem.

For

I said to them: “You have forged your Torah, but have gained nothing by it!”

For how do you know that the Mount Gerizim where you worship is indeed the Mount Gerizim mentioned in the Torah? It is because

you say:

“the terebinths of Moreh”

means

Shechem,

and if so, the Mount Gerizim mentioned in the Torah, which is near the terebinths of Moreh, is the mountain adjacent to Shechem.

And indeed,

we too admit that

“the terebinths of Moreh”

means

Shechem;

however,

we derived it by means of a gezera shava, whereas

you

from where did you derive it!?

That is to say: If you do not rely upon the Oral Torah, you have no source for the location sacred to you. It follows that you rely upon it while denying it at one and the same time.

Rabbi Elazar said

[he interpreted the verse] unlike the words of Rabbi Judah:

“Are they not across the Jordan”:

Near the Jordan, as it is written:

“And it shall be when you cross the Jordan

that you shall set up these stones, which I command you today, on Mount Ebal.” This implies that on the very day you cross the Jordan you shall set them up on Mount Ebal; thus, Mount Ebal was near the Jordan.

And as for what the verse says,

“Beyond the road of the setting of the sun”:

That means

the place where the sun sets,

which is in the west. And “beyond” indicates distance. It follows that the verse says that these mountains were far from the west and near the east, that is, near the Jordan, which is east of the mountains.

“In the land of the Canaanite”:

It is the land of the Hivite,

for Shechem, son of Hamor, the prince of Shechem, was a Hivite, as it is stated: “And Shechem, son of Hamor the Hivite, the prince of the land, saw her.”

And it is necessarily the case that the statement of the verse, “who dwells in the plain, opposite Gilgal,” did not come to provide a sign identifying these mountains, for:

How can you refer to the Hivite people as

“who dwells in the plain,”

which is level land

? Are they not dwelling among mountains and hills!?

And how can you refer to them as

“opposite Gilgal,”

which implies that they are near Gilgal

? Did the Hivite people not see

the people

of Gilgal!?

That is to say: They were far from it.

Rather,

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says,

that is to say: The phrase “who dwells in the plain, opposite Gilgal” was stated in accordance with the view of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov, who said:

“The verse came only to show them

to the Israelites

the second route,”

that is to say: The Holy One, blessed be He, directed the Israelites on their second journey, after crossing the Jordan, when they came to conquer the Land, and instructed them along which route they would conquer it,

just as He showed them

the route

on the first

occasion, that is to say, when they left Egypt and the cloud guided them in the wilderness.

And this is how the verse guides them:

“The route

[of the setting of the sun,”] to guide them:

Go on the road, and not through fields and vineyards.

“Who dwells”:

Go through inhabited areas, and not through deserts.

“In the plain”:

In the plain

[level land]

go, and not among mountains and hills.

The Sages taught:

It is written in the Book of Joshua [3:10 and following]:

“And Joshua said [before they crossed the Jordan]: ‘By this you shall know that the living God is among you, and that He will certainly dispossess from before you the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Hivite, the Perizzite, the Girgashite, the Amorite, and the Jebusite. Behold, the Ark of the Covenant, the Lord of all the earth, is crossing before you in the Jordan. And now take for yourselves twelve men from the tribes of Israel, one man, one man, for each tribe [to erect stones in the Jordan and to carry stones from the Jordan and erect them on Mount Ebal]. And it shall be when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, come to rest in the waters of the Jordan, that the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off—the waters descending from above—and they shall stand as one heap [meaning: When the waters flowing from above to below, as all rivers ordinarily flow, reach the place where the Jordan splits, they will not continue to flow downward; rather, they will rise and stand like a heap].’ And when the people journeyed from their tents to cross the Jordan, the priests bearing the Ark of the Covenant were before the people. And when the bearers of the Ark came to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the Ark were immersed at the edge of the water—and the Jordan is full over all its banks throughout all the days of harvest—the waters descending from above stood [and] rose as one heap.”

How did the Israelites cross the Jordan?

Every day,

until they reached the Jordan, the

Ark traveled behind two banners,

but on that day it traveled first

[ahead of all the banners].

As it is stated:

“Behold, the Ark of the Covenant, the Lord of all the earth, is crossing before you.”

Every day, the Levites,

the sons of Kehat,

carried the Ark,

as it is stated [Numbers 3:29]: “The families of the sons of Kehat shall camp on the south side of the Tabernacle. And their charge shall be the Ark, the table, the menorah, the altars, and the sacred vessels with which they minister”—

But

in the case of

that day,

when they crossed the Jordan,

the priests carried it.

As it is stated:

“And it shall be when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the Ark of the Lord come to rest.”

It was taught:

Rabbi Yosei says:

In three places the priests carried the Ark:

a.

When they crossed the Jordan.

b.

And when they circled Jericho,

as it is stated [Joshua 6:2]: “And the Lord said to Joshua: ‘See, I have given Jericho and its king, mighty warriors, into your hand. You shall circle the city, all the men of war, going around the city once; so shall you do for six days.’” [Verse 6]: “And Joshua, son of Nun, called the priests and said to them: ‘Carry the Ark of the Covenant, and let seven priests carry seven ram-horns before the Ark of the Lord.’” [Verse 11]: “And the Ark of the Lord circled the city, going around it once, and they came to the camp and spent the night in the camp.”

c.

And when they returned it to its place,

in the Holy of Holies, in the House that Solomon built, as it is stated [I Kings 8:1]: “Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the princes of the fathers of the children of Israel, before King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord from the City of David, which is Zion. And all the men of Israel assembled before King Solomon in the month of Eitanim, during the Festival; it is the seventh month. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the Ark.” [Verse 6]: “And the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place, to the inner chamber of the House, to the Holy of Holies, beneath the wings of the cherubim.”