In our parsha, Moshe challenges Am Yisrael’s behavior, saying (32:6), “Is this how you repay Hashem, O vile (‘naval’) and unwise nation? Is He not your Father, your Owner? Has He not created you and fashioned you?” What did Moshe mean here, and what did he mean by referring to them as “naval”?
Ramban explains that “One who repays evil to someone who has been benevolent to him, is called ‘naval.’” Based on this, Ramban explains the pasuk above: “Is this how you repay Hashem?”—Is this the recompense with which you repay Hashem for the good things He has done for you, “O vile nation” that repays evil for good. “Is He (Hashem) not your Father”?—for He begot you and raised you, like a father. And He is also “your Owner”—for He has made you His acquisition, for He brought you forth from nothingness and you became existent; and [by the same token], everything that exists is an acquisition of His. He “Created you and fashioned you”—as the expression (in Iyov 31:15), “Was it not the One Who fashioned us in the womb?”
According to Ramban, it seems that a naval is an ingrate who pays back evil to someone who has given him good. Thus Moshe was seemingly rebuking Am Yisrael for being ungrateful towards Hashem.
Moshe may have continued relating this theme of ungratefulness, of paying back evil instead of good to Hashem Who has given them much good. He said (32:15), “And Yeshurun became fat and kicked … contemptuous of the Rock of its salvation.” It seems from here perhaps that although Hashem helped Am Yisrael so much, as He was “the Rock of its salvation,” Bnei Yisrael responded—they gave back—with contempt, with evil. Moreover, the Sforno comments that when the pasuk says they “kicked,” it means they acted “like animals who kick the very people who provide them with their food.” Indeed, Bnei Yisrael seemingly demonstrated such ungratefulness to Hashem who gave them so much good—they paid back evil instead of good, to He who gave them much good.
Moshe said further (v. 21), “They provoked Me (Hashem) with a non-god, angered me with their vanities; so shall I provoke them with a non-people, with a vile (‘naval’) nation shall I anger them.” Based on Ramban’s understanding that naval means an ingrate, it can be suggested that this pasuk is expressing the concept of middah k’negged middah (measure for measure): Am Yisrael perhaps showed their ungratefulness to Hashem—provoking Hashem, giving back with evil instead of paying back with good—and thus they were subject to being provoked by a nation that perhaps demonstrated that very deficiency, as they too are described as “naval.”
Am Yisrael may have used the good—the very gifts themselves that Hashem gave them—as a way to turn away from Hashem. The pasuk (v. 18) states, “You ignored the Rock Who gave birth to you, and forgot God Who brought you forth.” The Dubno Maggid explains this pasuk with a parable: Reuven owed money to Shimon, and Reuven consulted with Levi for advice as to how he can free himself from Shimon since Shimon was oppressing him greatly. Levi advised him that when Shimon comes next, he should begin to act crazy and chirp and hoot and dance. Reuven heeded and employed Levi’s advice the next time Shimon came to him, and Shimon, seeing that Reuven became crazy, let go of him.
Some time later, Reuven approached Levi for a loan which he would pay back after a certain amount of time. Levi loaned it to him, and when the time to pay it back arrived, Levi came to him to claim payment of the loan, upon which Reuven reacted by chirping and hooting and dancing—as he did earlier by Shimon. Levi raised his staff and wacked Reuven, and exclaimed, “Vile one (‘naval’)! Why, it was I who gave you this advice! You think I gave you this advice to use on me?!”
The Dubno Maggid thus seems to explain that Hashem bestowed us with the gift of forgetfulness to help us forget difficulties, distressing tidings and pain from the past—things that may hold one back from progressing, positively experiencing and maximizing one’s potential in life. This facet of human nature carries a significant ability to aid one’s success and accomplishments in life. Yet, instead of utilizing this God-given gift of forgetfulness for its intended, helpful purpose, a person might instead use it to forget Hashem, thus revealing an extreme level of vileness (“nevala”). Hence, the pasuk can be understood as follows: “You ignored the Rock who gave birth to you,” meaning, Hashem created you with the nature to be able to forget, and Hashem did this intentionally for your good and for your ability to thrive in life; but instead, you “forgot God Who brought you forth”—you used this nature of forgetfulness to forget Hashem (see Ohel Yaakov, Ha’azinu, and Lekach Tov, Ha’azinu 32:18).
Based on this insight, it can be suggested that when Moshe referred to them as “naval,” he was perhaps referring to this level of ungratefulness where they took the very blessings and gifts that Hashem bestowed them with, and used them perversely, to go against Hashem’s wishes.
Hashem may bestow upon us blessings and give us much goodness and abilities. Yet we can perhaps learn from the above how imperative it is to be mindful of how we are using the good that Hashem gives us, and whether or not we are utilizing the good for good—for its intended purpose, in the way that Hashem intended that it should be used.
Binyamin is a graduate of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchak Elchanan, and Wurzweiler School of Social Work.
