ספורנו — יערף כמטר לקחי תזל כטל אמרתי

Q — Moshe opens Ha'azinu by comparing his teaching to *matar* (heavy rain) and *tal* (dew): "יערף כמטר לקחי תזל כטל אמרתי." Rashi (per Sifri) reads them as two *qualities* of Torah — life-giving (like rain) and universally welcomed (like dew, since rain can also disappoint travelers and wine-makers). Is there a reading that focuses on the *recipients* rather than on Torah's qualities?

A — Sforno reads exactly that way. The same Torah arrives in two regimes depending on who is receiving. To the *prepared learners* — "המבינים המוכנים לקבל מבוע מקור חכמה" — it pours like rain in full force: "תערוף ותבא בשטף כמטר." To the *unlearned* — "הדיוטות" — it falls as dew: limited, modest, "כפי הנגלה ממנה איזו ידיעה." The dew-portion is small "אך טובה מאד כטל" — it suffices "להכיר בו בוראם באופן מה." The next phrase confirms the bifurcation: "כשעירים עלי דשא" (heavy showers on hardy grasses) corresponds to the prepared — "המשכילים יביטו נפלאות ממנה" — and "כרביבים עלי עשב" (light raindrops on tender plants) to the unprepared — "גם ההדיוטות יקנו בה איזה מדע." The chiddush makes Moshe's opening a statement about Torah's democratic reach: every spiritual capacity receives what it can absorb.