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16 [1] THOU SHALT NOT ‘THEILEICH RACHIL’ (GO UP AND DOWN AS A TALEBEARER) AMONG THY PEOPLE. “I say that because all those who sow discord [among brethren] and speak slander go into their friends’ houses in order to spy out what evil they can see or hear, so that they may tell it in the street — therefore they are called *holchei rachil* or *holchei regilah* (‘those who go about spying’) etc. And so did Onkelos translate [the verse before us]: *lo theichul kurtzin* [literally: ‘thou shalt not eat *kurtzin*’, which has the same meaning as], *‘va’achalu kartzeihon’* (*and they brought accusation against*) *the Jews;* ‘*achlu kurtza* (they slandered him) to the king.’ It appears to me that it was their custom to eat something in the house of him who accepted their slanderous words, this being a sort of final confirmation that the slanderer’s words are well-founded, and that he would stand by them. It was this snack that was called ‘the eating of *kurtzin*,’ [the word being associated with] the [Hebrew] expression, *‘koreitz’* (*he that winketh*) *with his eyes*, for such is the manner of all who go about slandering, to wink with their eyes, and to insinuate slanderous matters in order that [others who happen to] hear them should not understand them.” All this is the language of the Rabbi [Rashi].
But his explanation of this rendition of Onkelos has neither rhyme nor reason. For one who listens to a slanderer does not swear to him that he will believe his words, and [therefore the slanderer] need not give him a sign or token [to believe him]! Even when one slanders a servant to his master, the master does not assure him that he will listen to him, and so what sense is there to this “eating” [by the slanderer, as Rashi mentioned]? And Nebuchadnezzar did what he decided to do on the basis of his own decision about the righteous ones, and He did not offer food to the slanderers [to establish the veracity of their report], neither did he swear to them [that he would believe them], nor did he in fact believe them. Instead, he asked [of the righteous ones], *Is it true, O Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego* etc., and he commanded that if henceforth they were to bow to the image of gold that he had made, he would forgive them for their transgressions in the past! [All this shows that *va’achalu kartzeihon* does not refer to a meal eaten by the slanderers, to serve as the final confirmation that their slander was well-grounded, since in the case of Nebuchadnezzar, where this expression occurs, the king did not accept their report!] Nor did King Darius offer food to the slanderers of Daniel, except for *the wormwood and the gall*, and yet it is written of them, *those men that ‘achalu kartzohi’ of Daniel!* And even if it is true that it was so done in those [later] times, but since Scripture states *thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people*, why should Onkelos have mentioned this foolish custom [of the slanderer eating a little snack in the house of him who listened to his slanderous words], when it does not affect the admonition itself? Instead, the essential meaning of the Aramaic expression here [i.e., *lo theichul kurtzin*, is not a prohibition against “eating *kurtzin*,” but] is only a term for the act of making a sound, this usage being common in the language of the Sages: “And even if it were but goats, would they not *achluyei michlulei* (have to be shouted at)? And would you not have [to hire] a person *l’achluyei* (to shout) at them?” Jonathan [ben Uziel] translated: *Cry aloud* — *‘achlei;’ and ‘He will hiss’ unto them from the end of the earth* — *‘v’yachlilei;’ ‘and they shall roar’ against them like the roaring of the sea* — *‘v’yachlei’* against them. Similarly [Jonathan has translated] in many places. Thus the term *achal* [in Aramaic] denotes every form of making sound, whereby one makes his wish known without uttering words. Therefore this term was used [by the Sages, as mentioned above] to describe one who shouts at goats that enter a field, and [Jonathan used the same term in translating the Hebrew for] hissing, roaring and crying aloud. Now the way of talebearers is to come amongst a multitude of people, or before a ruler, and utter sounds in a guttural manner, and wink with their eyes, in order to hint that they have heard certain important matters until they press upon them that they tell them. This is why [talebearers in Aramaic] are called *ochlei kurtzin*, meaning “those who roar with hints.” And Onkelos who translated [the Hebrew] *rechiluth* (talebearing) [as *theichul kurtzin* — muttering hints], rendered into Aramaic the idea of the Hebrew, and was not particular to explain the precise meaning of the Scriptural expression. Such is always his style, since his intention is to make the subject understandable [and not necessarily to translate literally]. But in the Sacred Language talebearers are called *holchei rachil*, from the expressions, *all powders of the ‘rachil’* (*merchant*)*;* *‘rechulatheich’* (*thy merchandise*). For the *rocheil* (peddler) goes about the whole day, buying merchandise in various other places, just as the Sages mention, “peddlers that go around from town to town,” [and similarly the *holchei rachil* carry tales as if they were merchandise, from place to place]. And this is the sense of the word *b’amecha* (among thy people) — *Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer ‘among thy people’* — since the talebearer walks among many people. To differentiate between the two [the talebearer and the peddler], the talebearer was called *rocheil*, in a verbal form, [as the term *rocheil* can also signify the act of talebearing], while the peddler was called *rachil*, which is an adjectival noun denoting the person himself, just like *saris* (chief), *nazir* (a Nazirite), the name *rachil* thus hinting that peddling is of his essence, and is an act which reflects upon his person.
Version: Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976
Source: https://www.nli.org.il/he/books/NNL_ALEPH002108945/NLI
License: CC-BY