The Divine Lesson, Flour and Dew

My lesson (likḥi) shall drop like rain, My saying shall flow down like the dew - like a downpour on the herb, like a shower on the grass.                        Deuteronomy 32:2

Ba’al haTurim notes that the gematriya of “likḥi” equals that of “kemaḥ” (flour), hinting that flour, the mundane aspect of human life, must be guided by Torah, which is God’s lesson. Ultimately, the goal of mitzvot is to sanctify the material and man himself, to create a true partnership between body and soul.

Ba’al haTurim also connects our verse’s use of the word “tal” (dew) with “I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall blossom as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon.” [Hosea 14:6] Thus, the lesson is that Torah is like dew for Israel only, not for other nations.

My father noted that indeed, this relates to our Sages’ teaching that God offered Torah to other nations, but each asked “what does Torah contain?” When God told the Ishmaelites that Torah forbids adultery, their response was “we cannot accept it.” God answered the sons of Esau that Torah prohibits murder, to which they responded “we cannot accept it.”

We can note the irony: in both cases, the mitzva which caused these nations to reject Torah is included within the seven Mitzvot of the Sons of Noah, which are incumbent upon all nations.