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parshaמפרשי הפרשה

אלשיך — פן תנקש אחריהם אחרי השמדם / איכה יעבדו הגוים האלה את אלהיהם

After Hashem destroys the seven nations and their gods, what reason would there be to worry that Israel might *still* be drawn to investigate their cults? Wouldn't 'these defeated gods couldn't even save their own worshippers' be enough to make the avodah zarah forever ridiculous in Israel's eyes?

[Cohen presents the Alshich's puzzle:] כי אדרבה בראותם כי הוא יתברך הורישם מפניהם יכירו כי הבל המה ואין בם מועיל וסחי ומאוס יהיו אלוהיהם בעיני כל ישראל, ואיך יאמר 'פן תנקש אחרי השמדם כו'', כי אדרבה מאשר השמידם ה' יגעלו באלהיהם שלא הועיל למו.

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אלשיך

Alshekh on Torah, Deuteronomy 12:29

Re'eh

Q — After Hashem destroys the seven nations and their gods, what reason would there be to worry that Israel might *still* be drawn to investigate their cults? Wouldn't 'these defeated gods couldn't even save their own worshippers' be enough to make the avodah zarah forever ridiculous in Israel's eyes?

A — The Alshich asks this sharply, and his answer connects the warning to the earlier mitzvah of physically destroying the avodah zarah ('אבד תאבדון' / ונתצתם / וגדעתם / ושברתם). The warning is precisely that if Israel does *not* fulfill the earlier mitzvah of total destruction — if they leave traces standing — then the danger remains, despite the apparent defeat of the gods themselves. The 'defeated gods' reasoning works only if the destruction is total. Half-measures leave openings for curiosity to mature into idolatrous practice; intellectual disdain alone cannot substitute for physical eradication.

כי אדרבה בראותם כי הוא יתברך הורישם מפניהם יכירו כי הבל המה ואין בם מועיל וסחי ומאוס יהיו אלוהיהם בעיני כל ישראל, ואיך יאמר 'פן תנקש אחרי השמדם כו'', כי אדרבה מאשר השמידם ה' יגעלו באלהיהם שלא הועיל למו.

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