Commentaire de citation sur Josué 4:15

A rational approach to our verse: the term של נעליך is not to be confused with the term חלוץ נעליך. Whereas the latter means: ”take off your shoes,” similar to the expression שלוף נעליך, in Ruth 4,7 “taking off a sandal,” or to Deut. 25,9, “she will strip off his shoe,” the word של is related to שלילה, something negative and means that there was no need for Moses to wear shoes in such a place. He was warned to strip off what the shoe represented, i.e. material concerns. The act of removing his shoes was a mental preparation to ready him to become G’d’s vessel, His prophet. The lesson was that just as a man can take off his shoe at will, so he can divest himself of material concerns and concentrate on spiritual concerns. Instead of remaining attached to the עור, the leather of his shoe, he should become attached to the enlightening properties of his illuminating intellect, his אור השכל. When Joshua received a similar command in Joshua 4,15 he was told של נעלך, “remove your shoe (singular).” The difference between Moses and Joshua was that Moses had separated from his wife and was thus able to divorce himself more easily from earthly concerns. Joshua had not. G’d had told Moses in Deut. 5,28: “you- stay here with Me,” something which had enabled him to remain closer to G’d and to holiness.

על ארבע פעמותיו, “on its four corners.” Rashi, following Onkelos, understands the word פעמות as referring to the four corners of the ark, and suggests that these rings were fastened at the upper third of the ark close to the כפורת, the lid. There were altogether only four such rings. When the Torah writes later ושתי טבעות וגו', these are not additional rings, but the reference is to two out of the four rings being fastened on one of the sides of the ark. Nachmanides writes that there certainly were not more than four rings, but that he cannot agree with Rashi that these rings were fastened in the upper third of the ark, something he considers physically impossible, as it is a well known fact that the higher the rings for the staves were positioned the more difficult would it be for the carriers of the ark to carry their load. [this editor has seen a calculation by the late Rabbi Eliyahu Ki Tov, of sainted memory, that the ark with its combined content weighed approx 39000kg. If so, it could only be lifted with the help of a miracle, and Nachmanides’ concern is of no practical significance. Ed.] A second argument by Nachmanides against the view of Rashi, is that it is far more dignified that more of the ark would be exposed to view when it was being transported, seeing it was borne on the shoulders of the sons of Kehat. [I find this argument also irrelevant as the ark, in common with all the other furnishings was covered by blue woolen cloth, and thus not visible to the people at large while it was being transported. Ed.] The following is the commentary on the location of the rings. by my late father of sainted memory the רא'ש. “Personally, I prefer Rashi’s commentary to that of Nachmanides, seeing that the Talmud in tractate Shabbat chapter 8 states that if someone carries a load on the Sabbath more than 10 tefachim (100 cm) above ground he is guilty of carrying in the public domain on the Sabbath, the reason being that the sons of Kehat carried the ark at a level higher than that. [This in itself is an unusual halachah as the domain known as רשות הרבים, the public domain, is not considered as such at a level above 10 tefachim. However, since all the details of forbidden activities on the Sabbath are directly derived from what was forbidden on the Sabbath for the Israelites in the desert, this anomaly resulted. Ed.] The Talmud derives this from the fact that according to the measurements given in the Torah, the height of the ark at one and a half cubits was 9 tefachim without the lid, which was an additional tefach thick. It is derived from there that any load that is transported by means of staves, (such as the ark) has the staves affixed at the juncture of the first and the second third from the top. The rationale given in the Talmud is that the major part of the height of the ark would be above the level of the shoulder height of the carriers, would be in constant state of swinging to and fro, a most uncomfortable if not impossible manner of transporting such a heavy load. On the other and, when two thirds of the height of the ark was below the shoulder height of the Kehatites carrying it, the task of carrying it would be much easier. I believe (Rosh speaking) that there were not 4 but 8 rings, 4 small rings attached to the 4 corners, in order to enable the ark to be properly positioned. There were another 4 rings along the respective sides each about one quarter of the distance from the respective corners. They were attached to the sides forming the width of the ark. The staves of which the Torah writes, were inserted through these latter 4 rings along the sides. This explains why in connection with the first 4 rings the Torah added the words על ארבע פעמותיו, whereas no mention of these corners is made in connection with the second set of 4 rings that were attached along the walls of the ark. Ibn Ezra writes that wherever else the wordפעמות appears, it refers to legs. He quotes verses from Isaiah, Psalms, and Song of Songs, to prove his point. He therefore concludes that the ark had legs attached to its four corners, and that it would have been disgraceful for such a holy vessel as the ark to be simply resting on the floor of the Tabernacle, [especially as the “floor” apparently was not even a carpet over the desert sand. Ed.] The four rings by which the ark was carried, were attached near the bottom, immediately above the legs. The other 4 rings were decorative, much higher than the ones by means of which the ark was carried. Nachmanides, while agreeing that the word פעמות appears elsewhere in our Scriptures always as meaning ”feet,” comes to the conclusion that it means the steps taken by the feet here, but that the feet referred to were those of the priests carrying the ark [through the Jordan river, for instance compare Joshua 4,15 Ed.] The Torah thereby hints that the rings were attached at the corners at the bottom of the ark, the length of the ark faced the eastern wall of the Tabernacle, whereas the rings faced north, one at the north east corner and the other at the northwestern corner. The two southern rings were exactly opposite them at the southeast and southwest corners respectively. The feet of the priests would move between the positions of the rings.