Va’eschanan 3:29 · EXTRA

EXTRA side-ring · Parashas Va’eschanan · Passuk 3:29

The Complete Passuk

וַנֵּ֥שֶׁב בַּגָּ֖יְא מ֥וּל בֵּ֥ית פְּעֽוֹר׃

So we abode in the valley opposite Beis-Peor.

Source Citation

Classical: midrashic note on the proximity of the camp to the site of the Peor sin (cf. Bamidbar 25; Sanhedrin / midrashim on residual danger).

Core Text of Chazal

Core Text
וַנֵּשֶׁב בַּגָּיְא מוּל בֵּית פְּעוֹר — לְלַמֶּדְךָ שֶׁעֲדַיִן הָיוּ קְרוֹבִים לִמְקוֹם הַקַּלְקָלָה, וְאַף עַל פִּי כֵן לֹא חָזְרוּ לְקַלְקָלָתָם.

English: “And we abode in the valley opposite Beis-Peor” — to teach that they were still near the place of the earlier failure, and yet they did not return to that failure.

Type of Learning

Custom / Aggadah — geographic note as moral reminder.

What Is Learned

Even when Israel camped opposite the site of a previous national sin, they did not relapse; proximity to failure need not produce repetition.