Le Deutéronome 10:7 Commentaire : Rashi & Ibn Ezra

ומן הגדגדה וגו׳ AND FROM GUDGODAH [TO JOTBATH etc.] — And at Mosera you made a great mourning on account of the death of Aaron which was the cause of this your retreat, and it seemed to you as though he had died there” (Yerushalmi Sotah 1:10 at end; Mekhilta; cf. Midrash Tanchuma חקת and Pirkei DeRabbi Eliezer 17; see Rashi on Numbers 21:4). — Moses placed this reproof immediately after the mention of the breaking of the tablets to indicate that the death of the righteous is as grievous before the Holy One, blessed be He, as the day on which the tablets were broken, and to tell you that is was displeasing to Him when they said, (Numbers 14:4) “Let us set up a head (another god; see Rashi on that verse) in order to part from Him, as was the day on which they made the golden calf (Leviticus Rabbah 20:12).

From there they marched to Gudgod This is not the same as “Ḥor-Haggidgad” [Numbers 33: 32]. Rather, it is the general name for the region that includes Ṣalmonah [Numbers 23: 41], Punon [Numbers 23: 42], and also כ Ovot [Numbers 23: 43].

Yoṭvata here is the place that is elsewhere called “Be’er” (for so it is written: “from thence they went to Be’er” [Numbers 21: 16]), which explains the phrase an area rich in brooks of water. The nobles dug with their staves, and water flowed forth [cf. Numbers 21: 18]. This verse, containing the statement from there they marched to Gudgod, is juxtaposed to “Eleazar ministered” [: 6]. Even though I previously told you [comment on Exodus 29: 42] that Israel offered no sacrifices after they left Mount Sinai, it seems likely that they did offer them when they arrived at Ṣalmonah and Punon. Thus the beginning of Eleazar’s ministry as High Priest occurred in those places, on Rosh HaShanah (he officiated in the place called B әכ er on Yom Kippur). The explanation, then, is as follows: “Eleazar officiated when they marched to such-and-such a place. And why was Eleazar the kohen? Because at the time of the worship of the Calf, God set apart the tribe of Levi, to carry the Ark, and to stand before God .”