Kommentar zu Dewarim 23:11

מקרה לילה [IF THERE BE AMONG YOU ANY MAN THAT IS NOT CLEAN BY REASON OF] UNCLEANNESS THAT CHANCETH HIM BY NIGHT — By night: Scripture speaks of what usually occurs (but the law applies also if the uncleanness happens at day time) (Sifrei Devarim 255:3).

Scriptural law is expressed in common circumstances. Because it is common to have an emission at night but it is not common during the day. But, certainly if one has an emission during the day, he too will become defiled.

And by way of the simple meaning of Scripture the verse warns that a man to whom a [nocturnal] pollution occurred, should leave the camp completely for the reason mentioned, that G-d walks among us to help us and the camp is holy, and that our hearts are to be intent towards the Holy One, blessed be He, hoping for His help and that we put not our trust in a human arm.²⁷⁷See ibid., 17:5. A similar reason is also for the command to cover excrement,²⁷⁸See Verse 14. for the entire camp is like the Sanctuary of G-d. From this law we deduce, concerning a place of prayer, that we must remove ourselves four cubits away from excrement [if it is behind us]²⁷⁹Berachoth 25a. or as far as the eye can see [if it is in front of us]. However, our Rabbis interpreted it:²⁸⁰Pesachim 68a. In other words, while according to the plain meaning of Scripture the person who suffered a pollution is to leave the entire camp, the Rabbis say that he is required to leave only the camp of the Levites, and, of course, the camp of the Divine Presence, if the ark of G-d was there with them (see above 10:1). See also “The Commandments,” Vol. I, p. 39, Note 2 with respect to such “camps” in the city of Jerusalem. An army with the ark of G-d in its midst has the status of “a Sanctuary of G-d” as Ramban expressed it above. Therefore the laws of the three camps into which Jerusalem was divided when the Sanctuary existed were also applicable to an army camp. “Then shall he go abroad out of the camp, he shall not come within the camp²⁸¹Verse 11. — neither in the camp of the Levites, nor in the camp of the Divine Presence” when the ark of G-d was there with them. The covering of excrement also, in their opinion, is required when mentioning G-d’s Name in prayer or in the reading of the Sh’ma. If so, this too, is an admonition which he restated²⁸²The commandments pertaining to sending out the impure have already been stated in Numbers 5:2-3. But here they were “restated” with respect to an army etc. here with respect to an army in order that everything should not be as lawless as in the camps of the peoples. These commandments as well are then explanatory [of those mentioned before].²⁸²The commandments pertaining to sending out the impure have already been stated in Numbers 5:2-3. But here they were “restated” with respect to an army etc.
Now, the reason for covering excrement is not because excrement is like something unclean that defiles its location and breaks through and rises [like the impurity of the dead]. Rather it is because it is forbidden to see it during time of prayer when the heart cleaves to the Glorious Name,²⁸³Further, 28:58. because ugly things give rise to ugliness in the soul and they confound the intent of the pure heart, but when it is hidden from the seeing eye there is no harm.

VV. 11 u. 12. כי יהיה וגו׳ selbst im Kriegeslager das Bamidbar 5, 2 — 4 angeordnete שלוח מחנה hinsichtlich der טומאות היוצאות עליו מגופו (siehe daselbst) beachtet werden; selbst im Kriegslager

מקרה לילה, “due to nocturnal emission of semen during the night;” the letter מ in the word מקרה here is a prefix not part of the word itself, just as it is in the word משדה in Leviticus 27,16: משדה אחוזתו, “part of his ancestral field.”

ויצא אל מחוץ למחנה THEN HE SHALL GO ABROAD OUT OF THE CAMP — This is a command,

He is not permitted to enter the camp of the Levites, certainly not, etc. Rashi means, because “camp” is written twice in the verse. You might ask that these two “camps,” are being used, one for a positive command and one for a negative command! Furthermore, why does Rashi learn the camp of the Shechinah from a kol shekein? He should have [simply] said, “And he is not permitted to enter the camp of the Levites or the Shechinah.” The answer is that Rashi is saying as follows. When it is written, “He must go out of the camp,” this must mean the camp of Shechinah because why should we include any other camps? Afterwards when it is written, “He may not enter into the midst of the camp,” this includes even the camp of Levites. But this raises a difficulty, since one with the defilement of an emission enters the camp of Shechinah which has greater sanctity, transgresses only a positive command as it is written, “He must go out, etc.,” but if one enters the camp of the Levites which has less sanctity, one transgress a negative command, which is more severe than a positive command, as it is written, “He may not enter, etc.” [To resolve this difficulty] Rashi answers that if a negative command forbids one from entering the camp of Levites, then “certainly [too], he may not enter the camp of the Shechinah.” You might ask that one is not permitted to derive [new laws that incur] punishment from a kol shekein? The answer is that this rule only applies when the law is not hinted to in the Torah at all, but here it is written that he transgresses a positive command, and only the negative command has to be derived from a kol shekein, in this case we would punish [someone who transgresses by using such a derivation]. Re”m answers that the camp of the Shechinah and the camp of the Levites are both [forbidden] because of the sanctity of the Shechinah and are [therefore] regarded as one camp, etc., [and in such a case we can derive punishment from a kol shekein]. See there where he discusses this at length.

לא יבא אל תוך המחנה HE SHALL NOT COME WITHIN THE CAMP — This is a prohibition (Sifrei Devarim 255:4). He is forbidden to enter the “camp of the Levites”, and all the more so, the "camp of the Shechinah". (cf. Sifrei Devarim 255:5; Pesachim 68a and Rashi on Numbers 5:2).