Kommentar zu Dewarim 34:8

בני ישראל THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL [WEPT] — i.e., the men; but regarding Aaron, — because he pursued peace, and made peace between a man and his fellow, and between a woman and her husband, it is stated, (Numbers 20:29) “The whole house of Israel [wept for him]” — the men and the women (Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 17).

ויתמו ימי בכי אבל משה ויהושוע בן נון מלא רוח חכמה, for during the days of weeping for Moses there was neither wisdom nor counsel (חכמה ועצה).

ויבכו בני ישראל, The Jewish people wept, etc. When Aaron's death is reported in Numbers 20,29, the Torah wrote that "the whole house of Israel wept for thirty days." Our sages in Avot de Rabbi Natan 12 claim that Aaron's having been a lover of peace was the reason why he was mourned even more than Moses when he died.

V. 8. ויתמו ימי בכי אכל משה .ויבכו וגו׳ die Tage des Weinens, in welchem die Trauer um Mosche sich äußerte, waren damit zu Ende, die Trauer dauerte fort.

ויבכו בני ישראל, “The Children of Israel wept, etc.” when Aaron had died the Torah describes “the whole house of Israel” as having mourned his passing.(Number 20,29) The reason for the difference was that at that time anyone seeing Moses cry at the death of his brother could not help crying also. When Moses died there was no one left of such a stature that it would cause him to cry also. Alternately, the women did not weep at Moses’ passing.

Rabbi Avraham ben Ezra wrote that the line in Numbers refers to the whole house of Israel weeping in honour of Moses who remained alive. One must not accept his explanation as it is not permissible to change a verse which describes a virtue of the people and to downgrade this virtue by attributing it to a less noble consideration. By doing so Ibn Ezra suggests that when Moses himself died the people did not get unduly upset when he was being eulogised.

Perhaps we may understand the difference in the people's reaction to the two deaths as stemming from the fact that Aaron's death was unexpected whereas they had been informed well in advance that Moses was about to die. The sudden realisation that Aaron had died had a more profound effect on the people. Moses had told the people for six weeks running, during all his exhortations, that he was approaching his death (compare Deut. 4,22). No wonder that they did not react as profoundly at the time Moses was eulogised as at the time Aaron was eulogised.

Another possible reason for the difference in the reported reaction of the people was due to the immediate visible effects of Aaron's death such as the disappearance of the protective clouds which had hovered over the encampment of the Israelites ever since the Exodus. Their disappearance had been followed immediately with an attack by the Canaanite as explained in Taanit 3. These factors combined to stir the entire nation into weeping at Aaron's death. When Moses died they did not experience such a negative fallout; on the contrary, they knew the way was clear to cross the Jordan and take possession of the land of Canaan.

Still another possibility to explain this relatively muted reaction by the Jewish people to Moses' death was the fact that immediately after Moses died the Shechinah settled on Joshua. The people took comfort from this fact. This may be compared to someone who has lost a bag of precious stones, but has found some pearls instead. Although he mourns the loss of the stones, he does not do so with the same intensity as he would have done had he not found the pearls. This is why not all of the people wept at Moses' death. This is also the reason that the report of the people weeping for the death of Moses is followed immediately by the report that Joshua was filled with a spirit of wisdom, etc. When Aaron had died this was equivalent to the loss of diamonds which had not been replaced by other precious stones. Even though Eleazar was appointed as High Priest in his father's stead, they did not weep for the absence of a High Priest but for the loss of something which was irreplaceable, i.e. the benefits Aaron's presence had bestowed upon them.