Comentario sobre Exodo 12:37

מרעמסס סכתה FROM RAMESES TO SUCCOTH — These were distant from one another 120 miles and yet they reached there in one moment, as it is said, (Exodus 19:4) “and I carried you as on eagles’ wings” (cf. Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:35 and Rashi on Exodus 19:4).

[The distance between them was] 120 mil. [Rashi knows this] because Scripture did not need to write, “From Ramseis,” since we already know that they were in Ramseis, as it is written in Parshas Vayigash (Bereishis 47:11). Thus, “From Ramseis” is mentioned only to tell us that they traveled a distance of 120 mil in a moment.

To Sukkos. There were about six hundred thousand. They departed Ramseis in such confusion and haste that there was no time to conduct a count. Therefore only when they came to Sukkos was their number known.

V. 37. רגלִי,da es unverändert im Plural bleibt, so scheint es ein Kollektivbegriff zu sein, eine zu Fuß gehende Menge: Fußmannschaft. — Frauen sind nicht genannt, daher scheint auch unter טף nur die männliche Jugend verstanden zu sein. Es ist damit der damals gegenwärtige und künftige Kern der Nation bezeichnet.

ויסעו בני ישראל, “the Children of Israel journeyed;” they covered 120 miles in a single hour. This is what was meant when we read in Exodus 19,4: ואשא אתכם על כנפי נשרים, “I carried you on the wings of eagles.” That particular verse contains the letter ם three times at the end of a word. This is a hint at the number 120. If we needed a further reminder, the numerical value of the words על כנפי also amounts to 120. (Attributed to הרב משה).

ויסעו בני ישראל מרעמסס סוכותה, “The Israelites journeyed from the city of Ramses in the direction of Sukkot.” The whole people first had first assembled in Ramses; this was the city where they had performed most of their slave labour in that year [before the onset of the plagues when they had taken a “rest.” Ed]

הגברים ADULT MALES — from twenty years old and upwards (Shir HaShirim Rabbah 3:6).

Who were twenty years and older. [Rashi knows this] because in Parshas Bamidbar, the males are counted from twenty years and older, and the number is similar to this one — and both counts were taken within one year. We cannot suggest that here they were counted from thirteen years old, because then the count in Parshas Bamidbar would be less, as they would not all turn twenty within one year. Thus, the count here must have been from twenty years and older.

Besides the children. The word taf actually includes women and the elderly as well as children. It is derived from the word tafel, meaning “ancillary”.

סכותה, Rabbi Nechemyah said that the suffix ה in this word substitutes for the missing prefix ל.