אלשיך — כי ימצא בקרבך... והגד לך ושמעת ודרשת

Q — 'והגד לך ושמעת ודרשת' has a curious redundancy — if it was told to you, of course you'd hear it. Why does the Torah specify both 'והגד' and 'ושמעת'?

A — The 'לך' here is addressed to the Beit Din. The Alshich's chiddush is that the verse is encoding a lashon hara distinction: an ordinary person hearing a report that someone has committed idolatry would be obligated to suspect the report itself as motzi shem ra and to refuse to listen ('היה ראוי בל ישמע ממנו'). But when the report is brought to the Beit Din, the situation reverses. 'המגיד לבית דין לא בכונת הוציא דבה עד האלהים יבא דברו' — anyone who takes the trouble to bring a charge to court rather than gossip around town is presumed to be in good faith. Therefore the Beit Din not only may but *must* listen and investigate ('ושמעת ודרשת'). The two words map different listening obligations: 'והגד' (to the public) → suspect; 'לך... ושמעת' (to the court) → investigate.