parshaמפרשי הפרשה

אלשיך — נפתלי אילה שלחה הנתן אמרי שפר

The verse shifts mid-sentence from feminine 'אילה שלחה' to masculine 'הנתן אמרי שפר' — why not keep one gender?

ויתכן יאמר כי הוא יתברך הכין ארצו תהיה אילה שלוחה מבשלת מהר פירותיה על היותו נפתלי הנזכר הנותן אמרי שפר בעסק התורה, על כן מלאכתם נעשית כמאליה שממהרת להכין ארצו מזונותם.

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אלשיך

Alshekh on Torah, Genesis 49:21

Q — The verse shifts mid-sentence from feminine 'אילה שלחה' to masculine 'הנתן אמרי שפר' — why not keep one gender?

A — Following Rashi, the Alshich understands the two halves as referring to different things: 'אילה שלוחה' describes Naftali's *land* (the בקעת גינוסר, whose produce ripens unusually quickly), while 'הנתן אמרי שפר' describes Naftali himself, engaged in Torah. The chiddush ties them together as cause and effect, drawing on Chazal's etymology of the name נפתלי from נופת / 'words of Torah': Hashem prepared Naftali's land to ripen its fruit on its own, with no work required, *because* Naftali was occupied with Torah. The land's natural productivity is the reward for and consequence of the tribe's Torah study — 'מלאכתם נעשית כמאליה שממהרת להכין ארצו מזונותם.'

ויתכן יאמר כי הוא יתברך הכין ארצו תהיה אילה שלוחה מבשלת מהר פירותיה על היותו נפתלי הנזכר הנותן אמרי שפר בעסק התורה, על כן מלאכתם נעשית כמאליה שממהרת להכין ארצו מזונותם.

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