Kommentar zu Bamidbar 2:9

ראשנה יסעו THESE SHALL FIRST JOURNEY — When they saw the cloud departing, the priests blew the trumpets and the camp of Judah moved off first, but when marching, they marched retaining the positions in which they always encamped: the Levites and the wagons in the centre (v. 17), the division of Judah in the East (v. 8), that of Reuben in the South, Ephraim’s in the West (v. 19) and Dan’s in the North (v. 25).

ראשונה יסעו, “they are to be the first ones to journey.” Our sages in Tanchuma Bamidbar 14 mention that wherever you look throughout the Scriptures you will always find the tribe of Yehudah mentioned first, being in the forefront. This is true in connection with the journeys, the encampments, the offering of the inaugural sacrifices, the battles against the Canaanites remaining after Joshua’s death (Judges 1,1-2). The same will hold true in the future when the message of the impending redemption will arrive; Yehudah will be the first one to proclaim it as we know from Isaiah 52,7: ”how welcome on the mountain are the footsteps of the herald announcing happiness, heralding good fortune; announcing victory, telling Zion, “Your G’d is King!” Similarly, in Nachum 2,1: “Behold on the hills the footsteps of a herald announcing good fortune! Celebrate your festivals O Yehudah.” [In both verses quoted it is Yehudah who is addressed. Ed.]

When they see the cloud. Rashi is answering the question: How did they know when to travel in order that they would be first to travel. For one cannot say that they traveled at their own volition, since the Torah writes “on the word of Hashem did they travel” (Bamidbar 9:18). Thus Rashi explains, “When they saw the cloud…” Re’m writes that one might question: Why does Rashi omit Moshe’s declaration “Arise Hashem…” (Bamidbar 10:35) and only mention the lifting of the cloud and the blowing of the trumpets? It appears that Rashi only comes to explain how they knew to prepare themselves to travel, and he says that they knew this “when they see the cloud rise.” However, the actual journey was not until Moshe said “Arise Hashem.” Thus when the verse writes “they travel first” it means that they were the first to prepare themselves to travel. I will write more about this in Parshas Beha’aloscha (ibid). (Nachalas Yaakov) I myself say that Rashi omitted this, because in Parshas Beha’aloscha he also brings the Beraysa on the verse “on the word of Hashem did they travel” (Bamidbar 9:18), and that they traveled in response to three things. (See Rashi Bamidbar 1:2) See there.

The way they camped. This is according to the view that they traveled in the shape of a box. The explanation of the term “gatherer for all of the camps” (Bamidbar 10:25), that is written concerning Don, means that if anyone from the tribes who had already traveled lost something, Don would return it to them. However, Rashi does not mean to say that the banner of the tribe of Don was the very last of all the banners, in accordance with the opinion that they traveled in the shape of a beam.