Eikev 10:15 · EXTRA 1

Parashas Eikev · Passuk 10:15 · EXTRA (not a Torah Temimah unit)

The Complete Passuk

רַ֧ק בַּאֲבֹתֶ֛יךָ חָשַׁ֥ק יְהֹוָ֖ה לְאַהֲבָ֣ה אוֹתָ֑ם וַיִּבְחַ֞ר בְּזַרְעָ֣ם אַחֲרֵיהֶ֗ם בָּכֶ֛ם מִכׇּל־הָעַמִּ֖ים כַּיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃

Yet it was to your ancestors that GOD was drawn out of love for them, so that you, their lineal descendants, were chosen from among all peoples—as is now the case.

Chabad / Judaica Press

Source Citation

Classical source (not from the Torah Temimah enumeration on this passuk): Ohr HaChaim on Deuteronomy 10:15.

Sefaria — Ohr HaChaim on Deuteronomy 10:15

Core Idea of Chazal

Core Idea
כַּיּוֹם הַזֶּה. פֵּרוּשׁ, כְּסֵדֶר שֶׁאַתֶּם בְּיוֹם זֶה שֶׁהָיְתָה הָעֵדָה שְׁלֵמָה בְּכוֹשֶׁר, וּכְמוֹ שֶׁהֵעִיד הוּא עֲלֵיהֶם שֶׁכּוּלָּם הָיוּ דְבוּקִים בַּה׳ וְגוֹ׳ חַיִּים (דברים ד:ד), וְהַכַּוָּנָה בַּמַּאֲמָר שֶׁזּוּלַת סֵדֶר זֶה אֵין בְּחִירָה בָּהֶם, הֲגַם שֶׁיִּהְיוּ זַרְעָם שֶׁל הַחֲשׁוּקִים, אִם יַרְשִׁיעוּ לֹא יֵחָשְׁבוּ זַרְעָם. וְהָיוּ לְךָ יִשְׁמָעֵאל וְעֵשָׂו לְאוֹת, שֶׁעֵינֵינוּ רוֹאוֹת הֱיוֹתָם בְּנֵי אַבְרָהָם וְיִצְחָק, וְאַף עַל פִּי כֵן אָמַר הַכָּתוּב ״כִּי בְיִצְחָק יִקָּרֵא לְךָ זָרַע״ (בראשית כא:יב, נדרים לא.):

English: כיום הזה, as of this day. Moshe means that the Jewish people are a worthy community as he had already testified in Deut. 4,4 that "you all cleaved to G'd and stayed alive." The message is that were it not for that merit, the mere fact that they were the descendants of the patriarchs whom G'd had liked would not have helped them if they had been wicked. The best proof for the truth of this statement is the fact that Ishmael, also a son of Avraham, or Esau, a son of Yitzchak and a grandson of Avraham were not chosen and only some of the descendants of Yitzchak developed into the Jewish people. (compare Nedarim 31).

On the daf / in context: EXTRA on a SKIP passuk; classical material on this verse’s theme, not a TT-numbered unit.

Type of Learning

Custom (Ohr HaChaim)

What Is Learned

Hashem’s delight in the fathers and choice of their children is read as an enduring structure of relationship, not a one-time historical preference.