כלי יקר — בין פארן ובין תפל

Q — Rashi reads the place-names in Devarim 1:1 as hints to specific sins — but the words 'בין... ובין' (between Paran and between Tophel) don't fit his framework, since one would expect a list, not a 'between.' What does Kli Yakar do with the grammar?

A — Kli Yakar reads 'בין... ובין' as a *temporal* bracket, not a geographic one. פארן is the מעשה המרגלים (whose tears were 'fixed for generations' on Tisha B'Av); תפל is the egel (linguistically connected to idolatry — נביאי שומרון 'התנבאו בבעל' is called 'תפלה') whose luchot were broken on 17 Tammuz. The phrase 'בין פארן ובין תפל' is the period *between* 17 Tammuz and 9 Av — בין המצרים. Yisrael lies trapped between these two foundational sins, 'בין המצרים' both temporally and morally. The grammar 'בין... ובין' is itself the rebuke.