Description
In Moshe's speech in which he commands regarding the centrality of worship and the eventual "place where God will choose to make His name reside", he uses a most curious phrase: "You will not do as we are doing today, each man what is right in his eyes." איש הישר בעיניו. This sounds as if there is lawlessness taking place in the desert, which is a surprising and awkward interjection into the speech. Beginning with both Midrash Halakhah and Midrash Agadah, exegetes throughout the millenia have grappled with the phrase with some surprising and, in some cases, diametrically opposing interpretations. These are presented along with a proposal for an understanding based on the use of this phrase (twice!) at the end of Sefer Shoftim
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