Parshas Pinchas
1. In the count of the mitzvos at the beginning of Sefer HaYad (and similarly in his Sefer HaMitzvos), the Rambam writes as the last positive commandment: "לדון בדיני נחלות שנאמר איש כי ימות ובן אין לו" ("To judge the laws of inheritance, as it is said: 'If a man dies and has no son'")1.
It is known that the order in the Rambam is precise to the utmost2. Accordingly it is understood that the fact that the Rambam is precise to conclude his (positive) mitzvos with the mitzvah of "inheritances" is because this mitzvah is the completion and perfection of the whole matter of the mitzvos3.
And just as with the first mitzvah in the count of the mitzvos — "לידע שיש שם אלוקה שנאמר אנכי ה'" ("To know that there is a G‑d, as it is said: 'I am the L‑rd'")4 — the reason for it is understood simply, because it is the first and principal mitzvah of all the mitzvos that come after it, and in the Rambam's words at the beginning of Sefer HaYad, "יסוד היסודות ועמוד החכמות לידע כו'" ("The foundation of foundations and the pillar of wisdom is to know etc.") (and as the Rambam is precise at the beginning of the count of the mitzvos to say "מצוה ראשונה כו'" ("The first mitzvah etc.")5),
so too it is understood regarding the last mitzvah — to judge the laws of inheritance — that it comes precisely as the last mitzvah (of the positive commandments) because it is the conclusion and completion of all the mitzvos.
2. At first glance one could give the reason for this simply: since all the mitzvos in the Torah are fulfilled during a person's lifetime, whereas the mitzvah of "inheritances" is connected with the time after his life, therefore the Rambam places it at the conclusion and completion of the mitzvos.
It is understood, however, that this is very forced, for there are several mitzvos that the Rambam counts earlier which are connected with (a person's death6, and) matters that come after a person's death7.
[In addition: the matter of the laws of inheritance is not a mitzvah incumbent upon the person himself (or the like), but a mitzvah upon the court, "to judge the laws of inheritance"8 (and as the Rambam explains in detail the order of inheritance in the laws themselves (in Sefer HaYad)) — that is, that the court should rule how the order of inheriting the estate should be for the living heirs (and not that the one bequeathing is commanded)9 — so there is no place at all to connect the order of the mitzvah (placing it last) with the death of the one bequeathing]10.
An explanation is also needed: on the above mitzvah "to judge the laws of inheritance," the Rambam brings the verse (as mentioned) "as it is said: 'If a man dies and has no son,'" whereas seemingly the content of the mitzvah does not lie in these words11.
There are versions12 according to which the Rambam indeed copies further words of the verse — "והעברתם את נחלתו גו'" ("You shall pass on his inheritance etc.") (and according to several versions13 he concludes (also) with the verse13 "והיתה14 . . לחקת משפט" ("It shall be . . a statute of judgment"))15, which words contain the content of the mitzvah of inheritance;
since, however, in the widespread printed editions of the Rambam only the words "If a man dies and has no son"16 are brought, one must say that the content of the mitzvah "to judge the laws of inheritance" is expressed in them.
[Simply, one could say that by bringing the first words of the passage, the Rambam means the entire continuation of the words in the passage (as we find similarly in other mitzvos in the Rambam17) — but since all matters in Torah are precise to the utmost, it is reasonable to say (especially since the Rambam does not add here the word "etc."18 to allude to the continuation of the passage19) that in the words themselves a principal point of the matter of inheritance is expressed].
3. One may say that the fact that the Rambam concludes the count of the mitzvos with "to judge the laws of inheritance" is similar to what we find, that the conclusion of the (Six Orders of the) Mishnah20 is with the saying "עתיד הקב"ה להנחיל לכל צדיק וצדיק כו' שנאמר21 להנחיל אוהבי יש" ("In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will cause each and every tzaddik to inherit etc., as it is said: 'To cause those who love Me to inherit Yesh'") — and as the commentators explain22 the reason why the conclusion of the Mishnah is specifically with this saying23: because it speaks here about the payment of the reward for the service of Torah and mitzvos afterward, which comes after the completion and perfection of the study and fulfillment of the Torah and its mitzvos; and the Mishnah is precise to say "In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will cause to inherit," because the recompense (which comes at the completion of the service of Torah and mitzvos) is the "causing to inherit."
One may say that it is similar in our case — with the Rambam: he concludes with the mitzvah of inheritance because the conclusion and perfection of all the mitzvos of the Torah is connected with the matter of inheritance, as mentioned.
4. One may say that the explanation of all the above is — by way of introduction:
The passage of inheritance stands in the Torah as a continuation of the matter of the inheritance and division of the Land of Israel (in connection with which the daughters of Tzelafchad claimed24 "תנה לנו אחוזה בתוך אחי אבינו" ("Give us a holding among our father's brothers"), and in response came the passage "If a man dies etc."). We find in the matter of the division of the Land that, in addition to the general matter of inheriting the Land25, there were in particular three matters: a) inheritance of the Land, b) the division in the manner of "לרב תרבה נחלתו ולמעט תמעיט נחלתו" ("To the many you shall increase their inheritance, and to the few you shall decrease their inheritance")26, and c) "אך בגורל יחלק את הארץ" ("But the Land shall be divided by lot")27.
That is to say, the connection of the Land of Israel to the Jewish people is (in detail) in three ways28: a) inheritance, b) division according to reason and logic ("To the many you shall increase etc."), c) division by lot29.
One may say the reason for this (why these three matters are required): the fact that the Jewish people received the Land of Israel as an inheritance was not simply a handing over and allotting of a land to the Jews —
The Land of Israel is, after all, "נחלת ה'" ("the inheritance of G‑d")30, "תמיד עיני ה' אלקיך בה מרשית השנה ועד אחרית שנה" ("The eyes of the L‑rd your G‑d are always upon it, from the beginning of the year until the end of the year")31; therefore its giving to the Jews is specifically in accordance with the fact that the Jews are "the inheritance of G‑d"32, connected with G‑d, as our Sages say33: "אמר הקב"ה יבואו ישראל שבאו לחלקי וינחלו את הארץ שבאה לחלקי" ("The Holy One, blessed be He, said: Let Israel, who came into My portion, come and inherit the Land, which came into My portion"). Consequently, the giving of the Land of Israel (the inheritance of G‑d) to the Jews reveals and is an expression of the Jews' bond with G‑d34.
Therefore, just as we find that the bond of the Jews with G‑d is in three ways — as we say35 "אשרנו מה טוב חלקנו ומה נעים גורלנו ומה יפה ירושתנו" ("Fortunate are we! How good is our portion, how pleasant is our lot, and how beautiful is our inheritance") — so too the giving of the Land of Israel to the Jews is in these three ways: portion, lot and inheritance.
And since in the order of these three matters — portion, lot and inheritance — the last is "how beautiful is our inheritance" (one elevation after another), it is understood from this36 that inheritance contains a deeper matter (and quality) than the previous two.
This requires explanation: a) What is the explanation of, and the difference between, portion, lot and inheritance as modes of the bond between the Jews and G‑d37?
b) How, in general, does the definition of inheritance — (in the words of the verse) "If a man dies" — fit in relation to the bond between the Jews and G‑d38?
5. One may say that the difference between "our portion" and "our lot" is like the difference between a sale and a gift:
A sale depends on the money and payment of the buyer39 — what he pays for the item sold; a gift comes from the goodwill of the giver of the gift (without payment from the recipient). And similarly regarding the flows and influences from G‑d to the Jews, there are two modes in this40: a) the reward for the mitzvos etc., a flow that comes through man's service, an arousal from below; b) a flow "בטובו בחן וכו'" ("in His goodness, with grace etc."), an arousal from above on its own initiative.
And this is, in general, the difference between "our portion" and "our lot":
"Our portion" is the bond of the Jews with G‑d that is accomplished through the service of the Jews (like a sale); and "our lot" is the connection of the Jews with G‑d because "בחר בנו מכל העמים" ("He chose us from all the nations")41, and the true meaning of choice — free choice — is when the chosen thing is selected not because of a reason and calculation, on account of the quality of the chosen thing and the like, but only because such is the will of the chooser. And in this it is like (choosing by) lot, which is not according to rational reason (connected with the quality of the thing over which the lot is cast) and the like — one relies entirely on the lot, not knowing how it will fall — and in the words of the verse42, "בחיק יוטל את הגורל ומה' כל משפטו" ("The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the L‑rd")
[like a gift, which depends only on the will of the giver, but with the difference that a gift has a point in common with a sale — for although the gift comes from the will of the giver, there is nevertheless a cause for the gift that is connected with the recipient, as the saying goes43: "אי לאו דעביד ליה נייחא לנפשיה לא יהיב ליה מתנתא" ("Had he not given him satisfaction, he would not have given him a gift")44; whereas a lot has no connection at all with calculation and reason].
6. More deeply:
The matter of "our portion" is connected not only with the service of the Jews, but also with their very existence. For the (soul of a) Jew is called45 "חלק ה' עמו" ("G‑d's portion is His people")46, and in the words of the Tanya47, "ונפש השנית בישראל היא חלק אלקה ממעל ממש" ("The second soul in Israel is truly a part of G‑d above").
One may say that also relative to this quality of "our portion" there is an advantage in the matter of "our lot":
The fact that we say of the soul of a Jew that it is "truly a part of G‑d above" expresses the quality (and holiness) in the existence of a Jew. One may say that this is why the Alter Rebbe connects the quality of "truly a part of G‑d above" with the fact that Jews are called "בנים למקום" ("children of the Omnipresent"), "בנים אתם לה' אלקיכם" ("You are children of the L‑rd your G‑d")48 — just as with a son in the literal sense, whose bond to the father is a matter that relates to the son's existence. It follows that the matter of "our portion," too, is like the matter of a sale, which comes from the side of the buyer.
Whereas the matter of "our lot" — "He chose us" — is not the elevation in the "existence" of a Jew [which, however lofty it may be, is nevertheless a limited quality and holiness (since it is the holiness that is connected with his existence)], but rather it is the connection that comes entirely from the Chooser49, the Holy One, blessed be He (Who is above all measure and limitation)50.
[One may say that this is the double expression in the verse51 "כי עם קדוש אתה לה' ובך בחר ה' גו'" ("For you are a holy people to the L‑rd, and the L‑rd has chosen you etc.") — and as Rashi52 explains: "כי עם קדוש אתה, קדושת עצמך מאבותיך, ועוד ובך בחר ה'" ("'For you are a holy people' — your own holiness from your forefathers; and moreover, 'the L‑rd has chosen you'"): "You are a holy people" is the holiness due to "You are children of the L‑rd"53, which is "your own holiness"; and there is a still higher matter — "and moreover, the L‑rd has chosen you," that in the Jews there is the choice of the Essence]54.
7. Yet nevertheless, a gift too, which comes from the giver, has a connection with the recipient. For55 the meaning of a gift is that the giver gives the thing away to another (the recipient of the gift), with an inclination (satisfaction) toward the other.
[Similar to this is the matter of a lot: although the lot is not connected with the quality of the thing that one receives through it, as mentioned — nevertheless, it is a matter of transfer of ownership (bestowal). He wants to receive one of several things, to divide with another (only which one specifically — the lot determines)].
There is, however, a third matter — inheritance — whose definition is (not a giving to another, but) that the heir stands in the place of the one bequeathing. An heir is not a second entity that receives property from the one bequeathing; rather (in the words of the verse56) "תחת אבותיך יהיו בניך" ("In place of your fathers will be your sons"): the heir stands in the place of the one bequeathing, he is the very self of the one bequeathing, and as a matter of course he has ownership of the property of the one bequeathing57.
It follows that the advantage of inheritance over sale and gift is:
Sale and gift (and lot) are a matter of giving and bestowing; it is not as the person is for himself, but as he bestows upon another who is outside of him; and the difference between them is only in the cause of the bestowal: in a sale the buyer (his purchase money) is the cause of the bestowal, and in a gift it is the will of the giver — but the will of the giver, too, is to give the thing to another.
Whereas in inheritance it is not a bestowal upon someone who is outside the existence of the one bequeathing; the fact that the heir receives the property is because he stands in the place of the one bequeathing58.
8. And this is the advantage of "how beautiful is our inheritance" over "our portion" and "our lot":
"Our portion" is the bond of the Jews with G‑dliness — as G‑d, so to speak, contracted Himself so that the service and qualities of the Jews should have a place before Him. Moreover: regarding G‑d Himself, it is as it is written, "גם בן ואח אין לו" ("He has neither son nor brother")59, and the fact that Jews are called by the name "children" is only60 insofar as G‑d contracts Himself, so to speak, into the title of "Father"61:
"Our lot" — "He chose us" — is the bond of the Jews with G‑d from the level in G‑dliness (and in the Jews) where existence (in its own right) has no place; the bond is only due to the free choice of the Holy One, blessed be He:
But nevertheless, "He chose us," too, is a matter in which G‑d chooses a thing (which is, so to speak, not Him) — for the definition of "choosing" relates to another thing (it is only that the cause of the choice is not due to (the quality of) the chosen thing, but the will and choice of the chooser)62.
Whereas "our inheritance" is a matter in which the Jews are, so to speak, one thing with His Essence ("ישראל וקוב"ה כולא חד" — "Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one"); the bond of the Jews with G‑d is in His Essence, which is above any movement of contraction and the like63, and therefore it is called by the name "inheritance" — because this is the definition of inheritance, that the heir stands in the place of the one bequeathing, because he is the very self of the one bequeathing.
9. These three matters in the connection of the Jews with G‑d — our portion, our lot and our inheritance — are connected, in general, with the three general periods of the Jewish people: a) before the Giving of the Torah, b) after the Giving of the Torah — the time of the service of the Jews in fulfilling Torah and mitzvos, c) the Time to Come, the time of the reward, up to the ultimate perfection in this.
One may say the explanation of this:
Also before the Giving of the Torah the Jews were called "children," as it says at the Exodus from Egypt64: "בני בכורי ישראל" ("My son, My firstborn, Israel"). Also before the Giving of the Torah the superiority of the Jews over all the nations of the world stood revealed (which is what brought about the Exodus from Egypt). But all of this was a quality in their65 existence (and service).
At the Giving of the Torah there was revealed the matter of "ובנו בחרת מכל עם ולשון" ("And You have chosen us from every people and tongue")66 — the choice of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the Jewish people (as mentioned)67. And therefore this was expressed in the giving of the Torah and mitzvos to the Jews68, and in this consisted the advantage of Torah and mitzvos (which were given at the Giving of the Torah) over the service of the Jews (the Patriarchs etc.) before the Giving of the Torah — before the Giving of the Torah, the service of the Jews was measured according to the power of the created being (how much a created being can attain with his own powers); whereas at the Giving of the Torah, when "נתן לנו את תורתו" ("He gave us His Torah"), there is in Torah and mitzvos the power of the Creator.
And after the completion of the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos, there will be revealed in the Jews their essential quality — "how beautiful is our inheritance" — the matter of inheritance, that the Jews are one, so to speak, with His Essence.
10. One may say that this is the explanation of the conclusion of the Six Orders of the Mishnah — "In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will cause etc. to inherit, to cause those who love Me to inherit Yesh": the Rambam69 explains that the word "Yesh" indicates "מציאות התמידית אשר אין לה תכלית" ("the constant existence which has no end")70, i.e., His Essence, the true "Yesh"71. And "to cause those who love Me to inherit Yesh" means that a Jew becomes one thing, so to speak, with the "true Yesh." And this is the precision of "to cause those who love Me to inherit Yesh," because the union of the Jews with the "true Yesh" (the "absolute Yesh"72) is due to the matter of inheritance, that the Jews are, so to speak, "the very self of the one bequeathing," as mentioned above.
And with this we will understand why the Rambam brings for the mitzvah of inheritance specifically the words "(If a man dies) and has no son" — because the spiritual content of the matter of inheritance is expressed specifically in the matter of "and has no son":
The qualities of "our portion" and "our lot" are connected with the level where G‑d contracts Himself into the level of "Father" (which makes room for a second existence — a son, and it becomes an existence): even from the level of "our lot," the fact that G‑d chooses the Jews, the content of the choice is nevertheless — that He chooses them to be children73.
Whereas the definition of "our inheritance" is connected with the Essence of the Holy One, blessed be He, regarding which it is said "and has no son" — He is above any matter that is outside of Him (even by way of choice) — and there the Jews are rooted: "Israel and the Holy One, blessed be He, are entirely one."
(From the sichos of 13 Nissan and Shabbos Parshas Shemini 5745)
Notes
1) Our parsha, 26:8.
2) See Yad Malachi, Principles of the Rambam, §6.
3) For to whatever extent we may be precise about the order in the Rambam's count of the mitzvos (which so far we have not found the Rambam himself explaining), it is understood — as is seen tangibly even with a person who is not orderly at all — that at least there is a reason for the beginning and for the end. And note the saying of our Sages (Berachos 12a): "הכל הולך אחר החתום" ("Everything follows the conclusion").
4) Yisro 20:2.
5) See Likkutei Sichos vol. 26, p. 59, note 8. And see the sichah of 13 Nissan 5745.*
*) And see Likkutei Sichos vol. 17, p. 225, note 4.
6) Mitzvos 209–229. And see mitzvah 186.
7) Mitzvah 230 — hanging; mitzvah 231 — burial. [The Rambam's wording in the "Count of the Mitzvos" (and similarly in the heading to the Laws of Sanhedrin, mitzvah 11) is "לקבור הנהרג ביומו" ("to bury the executed person on the same day"), but in Sefer HaMitzvos he writes: "ולשון ספרי כי קבור תקברנו מצות עשה והוא הדין בשאר מתים כו'" ("And the wording of the Sifri: 'You shall surely bury him' — a positive commandment; and the same applies to other dead etc."); and so it is implied in the Yad, Laws of Mourning 2:1; and see Laws of Sanhedrin 15:8 (and Lechem Mishneh, Laws of Mourning 4:8). The heading to the Laws of Mourning, end of mitzvah 1.]
8) See Chinuch, mitzvah 400: "ולפי הנראה מדברי הרמב"ם ז"ל שכל עיקר אזהרה אינה רק על בי"ד שדנים* בענין הנחלה וזה לשונו שכתב הוא מצוה לדון בדיני נחלה" ("And as appears from the words of the Rambam, of blessed memory, the entire main command is only upon the court that judges* in the matter of inheritance; and these are his words, as he wrote: 'It is a mitzvah to judge the laws of inheritance'").
*) So it reads in the Chinuch before us (and so in the Chavel edition — based on old printings and manuscripts). But in Sefer HaChinuch with the commentary Minchas Yitzchak the reading is "שידוני," and likewise in the notes on Sefer HaChinuch by the author of Maayan HaChochmah (5564) — printed in Sefer HaShlamos on the Minchas Chinuch (Schlesinger edition) — the wording of the Chinuch is copied as "שידונו" ("that they should judge"). And seemingly this is how it should read.
9) And although the mitzvos ([OCR unclear]) for the court to execute etc., and likewise [OCR unclear] and burying the executed person on the same day etc. ([OCR unclear]) — were mitzvos of the court, not mitzvos of the person at his death or matters that come after his death, nevertheless they were at least mitzvos fulfilled on the person, and after his death; whereas judging the laws of inheritance is not a mitzvah fulfilled on the person (at his death or after his death), but a mitzvah of the court to judge the property of a person who died. As in the text.
10) Except that from mitzvah 236 onward (apart from mitzvah 247) the discussion is about mitzvos entrusted to the court in relation to a person's money (unlike the mitzvos [OCR unclear], which are court punishments relating to his body). Therefore one may say that he concludes with the mitzvos regarding his money after his death.
11) Especially since according to this it is not a conclusion with something good — see Tosafos, end of Niddah. And see at length the sichah of Shabbos Parshas Miketz 5744 regarding concluding with good in the Rambam's work.
12) See Rambam, Sefer HaMada (Jerusalem, 5724).
13) There, 11.
14) And in the Smag, positive commandment 96, only this verse is brought.
15) And so it is brought in the Chinuch there (the continuation of the verse "והעברתם גו'" and the verse "והיתה גו'").*
*) And what is written there, "לחקת עולם" ("an everlasting statute") — seemingly it is a printing error, and it should read "לחקת משפט."
16) And so it is in his Sefer HaMitzvos — mitzvah 248.
17) So it is in several mitzvos, where he brings from the verse only the beginning of the matter.
18) But in Sefer HaMitzvos, Heller and Kafich editions, there is "וכו'," "וגו'" ("etc.").
19) And as is known, in several matters Sefer HaYad is in the manner of the Mishnah.
20) Tractate Uktzin.
21) Mishlei 8:21.
22) The Rambam's Commentary on the Mishnah there; Rosh and Rav (Bartenura) there.
23) And the actual conclusion is with the saying of R. Shimon ben Chalafta: "לא מצא הקב"ה כלי מחזיק ברכה לישראל אלא השלום כו'" ("The Holy One, blessed be He, found no vessel that holds blessing for Israel except peace etc."). And see Likkutei Sichos vol. 22, p. 50, note 44 (and Sefer HaSichos 5748, vol. 2 (Kehot, 5749), p. 665ff.), that it is the continuation and explanation of the saying "In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will cause etc. to inherit . . those who love Me, Yesh."
24) 27:4.
25) "As it is written (Va'eira 6:8): 'ונתתי אותה לכם מורשה אני ה'' ('And I will give it to you as an inheritance, I am the L‑rd') — it is an inheritance to you from your forefathers" (Bava Basra 119b. And see also Avodah Zarah 53b; and elsewhere).
26) 26:54.
27) There, 55.
28) Especially according to the views that the division "To the many you shall increase their inheritance, and to the few you shall decrease their inheritance" was said also regarding the general division of the Land of Israel among the twelve tribes (not only regarding the families within the tribe) — see Sifri on our parsha there (on the verse "איש לפי פקודיו" — "each according to his count"); Rashi there; and see Encyclopedia Talmudis, entry "Goral" (p. 416). It follows that also in the division of the entire Land of Israel to all the Jewish people, all three were present — inheritance, by lot, and portion ("To the many you shall increase etc.").
29) And the Urim VeTumim were one matter with the lot, proving that the lot was by Divine inspiration — see Rashi on our parsha, 26:54; Rashbam, Bava Basra 122a, s.v. "והיה מכוין." And see the Encyclopedia there.
30) I Shmuel 26:19, and Rashi and others there. Rambam, Laws of Kings 5:12.
31) Eikev 11:12.
32) See Va'eschanan 4:20; Eikev 9:26, 29; Haazinu 32:9; and in many places in Nach.
33) Tanchuma, Re'eh 8. And see Bamidbar Rabbah 23:7 (at its end).
34) And in the Mechilta (Beshalach 15:17): "יבואו ישראל שנקראו נחלה לארץ שנקראת נחלה ויבנו בית המקדש שנקרא נחלה בזכות התורה שנקראת נחלה" ("Let Israel, who are called an inheritance, come to the Land, which is called an inheritance, and build the Beis HaMikdash, which is called an inheritance, in the merit of the Torah, which is called an inheritance").
35) Before the Morning Prayer (and so it is in the Rambam's "Order of Prayers" — at the end of Sefer Ahavah).
36) See also the maamar beginning "אשרנו" 5696 (Sefer HaMaamarim Kuntreisim vol. 2, p. 728); the maamar beginning "אשרנו" 5700, and its end.
37) In general, similar to the difference between the three levels of our portion, our lot and our inheritance (in Torah etc.) — see Likkutei Sichos vol. 3, p. 115ff., and the sources cited there. And there it is in a somewhat different manner from what is explained below in the text.
38) See Or HaTorah, Re'eh, p. 762, the question along these lines regarding the Jews' inheriting the Torah — for "the Torah . . endures forever." And see also Or HaTorah, Tisa, p. 1971.
39) And although the Rambam rules that "כל המוכר בעין יפה מוכר" ("Whoever sells, sells generously") (Laws of Sale 25:13), this is through and because of the money he received. And in this very matter there is an advantage to a gift — that "כל הנותן בעין יפה נותן יותר מן המוכר" ("Whoever gives, gives more generously than one who sells") (there in the Yad).
40) See also Likkutei Torah, Vayikra 2b (and elsewhere). And there — regarding the second mode: a flow by gratuitous kindness.
41) Wording of the blessing over the Torah.
42) Mishlei 16:33.
43) See Gittin 50b; Bava Basra 156a; and elsewhere. And see Likkutei Sichos there, note 41.
44) Except that this is not in the category of a payment (as in a sale) that compels him to give him the gift; its role is only that it causes the inclination of the giver's soul toward the recipient (and the actual gift comes only from the goodwill of the giver of the gift). — And see the discussions on whether a sale is like a gift (Bava Basra 64a, end, ff.; 71a, and the commentaries there; and in the sources noted in the previous note).
45) Haazinu 32:9. And see Iggeres HaTeshuvah ch. 4 (and in Likkutei Perushim etc. there — p. 214).
46) See Or HaTorah (Yahel Or) on Tehillim (p. 451): "מה טוב חלקנו ע"ד חלק ה' עמו" ("'How good is our portion' — along the lines of 'G‑d's portion is His people'").
47) Beginning of ch. 2. And see Iyov 31:2.
48) Parshas Re'eh 14:1.
49) One may say that this is why the main matter of the choice is in the body of the Jews, "הנדמה בחומריותו לגופי אומות העולם" ("which resembles in its materiality the bodies of the nations of the world") (Tanya ch. 49). And see Likkutei Sichos vol. 8, p. [OCR unclear], in the notes.
50) And similarly there are two aspects in the Beis HaMikdash: "Beis HaMikdash" (the Holy House) — the holiness in it itself; "Beis HaBechirah" (the Chosen House) — due to the choice of the Holy One, blessed be He. One may say that this is why the Rambam called the laws of the Temple by the name "Laws of the Chosen House," for this is the main novelty and elevation of the Temple (see regarding all this Likkutei Sichos vol. 9, p. 143; p. 146ff.; vol. 24, p. 83ff.). And similarly there are two aspects in the Land of Israel; see Likkutei Sichos vol. 8, p. 402ff. And note the Mechilta cited in note 34, regarding the connection of the Jewish people, the Land of Israel and the Beis HaMikdash.
51) Va'eschanan 7:6; Parshas Re'eh 14:2.
52) Parshas Re'eh there.
53) Which is stated in the preceding verse in Parshas Re'eh there.
54) On all the above (regarding the advantage of the choice in the Jews over the fact that they are children of the Omnipresent) — see at length Likkutei Sichos vol. 1, p. 5ff.; vol. 8, p. 409ff.
55) In a gift there is a further (shortcoming of) limitation — that it comes because of the limitation of the "satisfaction" that the recipient caused. But what is relevant here regarding the lot is the matter stated in the text.
56) Tehillim 45:17. And see Bava Basra 159a, beginning.
57) See in many places in the books of the Tzafnas Paneach (Responsa Tzafnas Paneach, Dvinsk, vol. 1, §108; Warsaw, vol. 2, §108; Tzafnas Paneach, Miluim 13a). And see there that this is the difference between a non-Jew and a Jew.
58) Accordingly, perhaps one can explain what is implied in the Rashba (Responsa of the Rashba, vol. 3, §125), that the inheritance of the heirs takes effect at the completion of death, not after death — see Ketzos HaChoshen, beginning of §252.
59) Koheles 4:8, and Koheles Rabbah on the verse.
60) See Koheles Rabbah there: "בן מאין יש לו אלא שחבב הקב"ה לישראל וקראן בנים כו'" ("From where does He have a son? Rather, the Holy One, blessed be He, cherished Israel and called them children etc.").
61) Note also Shir HaShirim Rabbah 2:16 (1): "הוא לי לאב ואני לו לבן . . הוא לי לרועה . . ואני לו לצאן" ("He is a Father to me and I am a son to Him . . He is a Shepherd to me . . and I am a flock to Him"). And see Or HaTorah, Re'eh, p. [OCR unclear]; p. 796; Likkutei Sichos vol. 16, p. 253.
62) In [OCR unclear] of the Maggid, 2:3 (§6) (and likewise in Keser Shem Tov §241; and see Toras HaChaim — Likkutei Amarim and Or Torah, at their beginning) it is explained that the form of the Jews is engraved in His thought as the form of a son is engraved in the thought of the father; except that with human beings this (that the form of the son is engraved in the thought of the father) applies only after the son is born, whereas with G‑d it can be said that even before the Jews were created their form was engraved in His thought. But it is understood that this is not the level of "our portion" [OCR unclear], for this level of thought ("before the Jews were created") is on a level above the level of "Father," because "Father" means — and the content of the name is — that he has a "son," whereas the level of thought "before the Jews were created" is above (preceding in essence) the level of "Father"; and the fact that the form of the Jews is engraved in this thought is because the Holy One, blessed be He, chose with His free choice that the form of the Jews should be engraved in it (like the form of a son that is engraved in the thought of the father).*
*) And see in a somewhat different manner the maamar beginning "מים רבים" 5738, §5 (Likkutei Sichos vol. 20, p. 279; Sefer HaMaamarim Meluket vol. 1, p. 276).
63) See Hemshech 5672 (vol. 2, p. 1141); the maamar beginning "תקעו" 5694, §2 (Sefer HaMaamarim 5701, p. 7): that in the Time to Come the flow will not be in the manner of giver and receiver, but the revelation of the very Essence.
64) Shemos 4:22.
65) Up to the root of the created being, the Patriarchs and their service, as will be explained below.
66) See the Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 60:4 (from Magen Avraham there, §2): "שכשיאמר ובנו בחרת יזכור מתן תורה" ("that when he says 'And You have chosen us,' he should remember the Giving of the Torah"). And see Tanya ch. 49.
67) See Likkutei Sichos vol. 11 there.
68) Note Shaarei Orah, in the introduction (2a, end, ff.), regarding the root of the grasp (that Jewish souls have) of Torah and mitzvos [OCR unclear], that it is "because the root of the letters of the Torah is in the essence of the Chochmah of the Primordial Torah, which is the power of His essential Chochmah itself, which is included in His very Essence (far above even the level of the power that begets Jewish souls in His likeness etc.), and this was the matter of the grasp of the Jewish souls at the time of the Giving of the Torah etc." See there, where two reasons are [OCR unclear] regarding Torah and mitzvos etc. And see Likkutei Sichos vol. 1 there, note 49.
69) In the commentary at the end of Uktzin.
70) So it is in Kafich's translation. In the Commentary on the Mishnah before us, the wording differs.
71) See the Rambam at its beginning, regarding existence and its truth.
72) And see also Likkutei Sichos vol. 22, p. 50 (ff.).
73) Except that He is not bound by this, for since the cause of their being His children is the will for them [not as in the level of "our portion," where the cause of G‑d's will for the Jews is that the Jews are "children" and He is "our Father," and this will is, so to speak, compelled; unlike the level of "our lot"], this level of thought in itself is abstracted from the form of the "son" (the Jews), since it is above the description "Father," and only due to the will and choice of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the Jews did the Jews become His children and "their form was engraved" (as above, note 62, in the words of the Maggid) also in this thought; and therefore He is not bound by this.
Key Lesson
The Rambam ends the count of the mitzvos with inheritance because it expresses the deepest bond between the Jewish people and G‑d. Beyond "our portion" (rooted in a Jew's service and in the holiness of his soul) and beyond "our lot" (G‑d's free choice of the Jewish people), "our inheritance" reveals that a Jew is, so to speak, one with G‑d's very Essence, as an heir stands in the place of the one bequeathing; this oneness will be fully revealed in the Time to Come as the culmination of all Torah and mitzvos.