Commentaire sur Les Nombres 5:2

צו את בני ישראל וגו׳ COMMAND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL etc. — This section was spoken on the day when the Tabernacle was erected; there were eight sections spoken on that day, as is related in Treatise Gittin 60a, in the chapter beginning with the word הנזקין.

AND THEY SHALL SEND AWAY FROM THE CAMP EVERY LEPER etc. After he [Moses] had erected the Tabernacle, He commanded that the impure should be sent away from the camp in order that the camp should be holy and fit for the Divine Presence to reside therein, this being a commandment which was applicable immediately and in [all subsequent] generations.³²See ibid., Vol. I, pp. 39-40. And because He counted Israel after their families, by the house of their fathers,³³Above, 1:2, etc. and separated from them the mixed multitude³⁴Exodus 12:38. See Ramban above, 1:18. which was among them, He concluded with [the law of] the guilt-offering for robberies³⁵Leviticus 5:21-26. See Vol. III, pp. 56-57. [which has to be brought] by one who robs a proselyte.³⁶Further, Verse 8.

צו את בני ישראל וישלחו מן המחנה, "Command the Israelites to expel from the camp, etc." The reason the Torah wrote this paragraph immediately after the appointment of the Levites to their respective tasks was because G'd had commanded the Levites themselves to keep away from areas possessing a certain degree of sanctity, areas reserved for priests alone. This is why the Torah added that also the Israelites were forbidden to enter areas normally available to them if they had become afflicted with ritual impurity, for instance.