Musar for Sanhedrin 179:8
אביי סבר לה כרב חסדא ומתרץ לה כרב חסדא המתנבא לעקור דבר מן התורה דברי הכל בחנק לקיים מקצת ולבטל מקצת ר"ש פוטר והוא הדין לרבנן ובעבודת כוכבים אפילו אמר היום עיבדוה ולמחר בטלוה חייב מר כדאית ליה ומר כדאית ליה
Our Rabbis taught: If one prophesies so as to eradicate a law of the Torah, he is liable [to death]; partially to confirm and partially to annul it. — R. Simeon exempts him. But as for idolatry, even if he said, 'Serve it to-day and destroy it to-morrow,'<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' That is partial annulment. ');"><sup>13</sup></span> all declare him liable. Now, Abaye agrees with R. Hisda,<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Missing footnote. ');"><sup>14</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
ואתחנן אל ה' בעת ההיא . Our פרשה begins by extolling the virtues of the Holy Land, i.e. the second of G–d's gifts to the Jewish people. The atmosphere of ארץ ישראל which our sages (Baba Batra 158) have described as contributing to one's knowledge and intelligence is a necessary step for someone who wishes to acquire the "crown" of Torah, i.e. become a true Torah scholar. We have it on the authority of Isaiah 2,3 that: כי מציון תצא תורה, ודבר ה' מירושלים, "Torah comes forth from Zion and the word of G–d from Jerusalem." Thence it proceeds to the Celestial counterpart of ארץ ישראל, also known as עולם הבא. We know that this is so from Isaiah 60,21: ועמך כולם צדיקים לעולם יירשו ארץ, "As to your people, they are all righteous and will inherit ארץ forever." This is the context in which the land of Israel is mentioned at the beginning of our portion. The middle and last sections of the portion deal with the subject of how the Torah was given to the Jewish people.
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