Commentary for Numbers 9:7

למה נגרע WHEREFORE ARE WE KEPT BACK? — He (Moses) had said to them, “Sacrifices are not permitted to be offered by anyone who is in a state of uncleanness”. They retorted, “למה נגרע” — Why should that prevent us? Let the blood be sprinkled on our behalf by clean priests, and let the flesh be eaten by the clean”. (i.e. let us partake of the flesh at night when we shall already be clean: see Note). Thereupon he said to them: “Stand still (i.e. wait a short time) and I will hear [what the Lord will command concerning you]” — he said this with confidence, like a pupil who is certain that he will get information from his teacher at any time. Happy, indeed, is a human being (lit., one born of woman) who may so confidently rely that at any time when he wishes to do so he may speak with the Shechinah! — This section, in fact, ought to have been said by Moses, just as all the other sections of the Torah, only that these men were privileged that it should be promulgated through their intervention, because “meritorious deeds are brought about by worthy men” (Sifrei Bamidbar 68; Bava Batra 119b).

אנחנו טמאים לנפש אדם למה נגרע, seeing that the ritual impurity we have incurred was incurred in the process of our fulfilling a positive commandment, why should the result of this be the misdemeanour of not fulfilling such an important commandment as observing the Passover at the appointed time?

Why should we be diminished, etc.: One needs to know the claim of the people in their statement, "why should we be diminished." Is the reason not answered by their own mouths - "we are impure"? And what do they want given to them - a new Torah? And maybe it is from the angle that they became impure with His consent, may He be blessed. Whether according to the opinion that they became impure from a corpse requiring burial or whether according to the opinion that they carried the coffin of Yosef, they thought that God would judge them as if they were pure, and in the same way that we find (Pesachim 77a) that God accepts the Pesach offering of the community when it is impure. And for this [reason], they claimed, "why should we be diminished" - and just because they preformed a commandment, they should be diminished from the Pesach offering? Or they meant to say that they be able to make up for the Pesach offering, like with the festive (chagigah) offering, about which they said (Chagigah 9a), "celebrate (chagog) the holiday through the whole festival." So too, God should command them that they be able to make up for the Pesach offering the next day, and that is the [meaning of the] statement, in its time, which is the time of the Pesach offering. And maybe for this [reason], the [previous] verse was exact to say on that day: According to the opinion that says that it was the seventh (last) day of their impurity, the explanation is that for this reason did they come on that day - so that he would say to them to make it up on the next day. And in this way, we gain the explanation [of something else]: God said this commandment of Pesach Sheni (the second Passover) after these men asked - to say that even if they will be pure during the days of Pesach, like in our case; nonetheless, he does not make it up during the seven days of Pesach like the festive offering, but rather on the second (next) month. It also means by saying, why should we be diminished, etc.: that since it was the seventh day of their impurity, that they were claiming that their Pesach offerings could be slaughtered for them; in the [same] way as we slaughter, and sprinkle [from, the offering] of one impurified by creeping animals (sherets) - since they will become pure at night and they only have [remaining] impurity on that day. And that is the [meaning of the] statement, in its time. And the rabbis, of blessed memory, said other matters - 'and these and those are the words of the living God.'