Commentaire de citation sur Les Nombres 33:2

Afterwards, they traveled to five cities after the death of Aaron on Mount Hor until the plains of Moab. This was in the fortieth year. Therefore, the Torah informs us that Israel was like those who have gone astray. They do not know the way and they have no rest, but the Holy One led them with the cloud and the fiery pillar; they illumined by day and night. Our sages gave a parable about a king who took his son to a physician in another, distant, country, to have him healed. When the king and his son returned to their home, the king said to his son. Dear son, do you remember that we rested in this place. We cooled down in this place because of the heat. In this place, your head hurt. So too, the Holy One wrote all the travels that Israel followed in the wilderness, at one time, in one place in the Torah. He showed them the good that He did for them for forty years. In each place he said, in this city you had this good, and in the other city you had that good. Therefore, he wrote the travels because He wanted to show the cities in the wilderness where things went well for Israel with wonders. So too, some Israelites will come into the wilderness in the days of the Messiah. The Holy One will do all the signs, miracles, and wonders as happened at the Exodus from Egypt. He will feed them with good food. He will lead them with light and clouds as He did for Israel in the wilderness, as the verse says, “and I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations” [Ezekiel, 20:35]. And I will bring you into the wilderness of the nations, in the days of the Messiah. Therefore “their starting points” [33:2] is written here twice. He shows us the Exodus from Egypt and the Exodus from the exile. Since the wilderness accepted the Israelites and things went well for Israel in the wilderness, the Holy One will pay the desert a good reward in the days of the Messiah. Beautiful and fragrant trees will grow there, like cloves and roses, beautiful fields and vineyards, and all sorts of good fruits and good oil. Where the people previously lived, these lands will become desolate and the wilderness will become habitable for people. The wilderness is as large as where people now live. From here we learn that the Holy One wants to pay a good reward to the wilderness, because it accepted Israel to dwell in it. How much more so, when a householder takes a scholar and honors him in his house, the Holy One will give him a doubly good reward.⁴Bahya, Numbers, 33:2.

Perhaps our verse intends to arouse in us three distinct kinds of love for G'd which G'd's creatures are familiar with. They are: 1) Loving Him for His goodness (spiritually speaking); 2) Loving Him for the pleasant sensation this affords us; 3) Loving Him because He is so useful to us. The words ואהבת את השם speak of love for what is good, G'd Himself being described as "good" in Psalms 145,9 טוב ה׳ לכל. The mystical dimension of loving G'd for the pleasant sensations He affords us is referred to in Psalms 34,9: "taste and see how good the Lord is;" The Psalmist means that amongst all the pleasant sensations a creature may experience none is comparable to contemplation of the goodness of G'd and of His name. The proof for this is Song of Songs 5,6 נפשי יצאה בדברו, "my soul departed when He spoke." When the pious die a death which is totally painless, such as the death by a kiss of G'd experienced by Moses and Aaron, this is the most pleasant sensation imaginable. So far we have heard that the word י־ה־ו־ה alludes to both spiritual goodness and the most sublime sensation a creature is capable of experiencing at the hand of G'd. The love of the useful which G'd represents is alluded to in the word אלוקיך, as we have defined this already in connection with Psalms 22,4. We have learned in Shabbat 30 that the last words in Kohelet 12 כי זה כל האדם "for this is what man is all about" refer to the whole world being created only for the sake of man observing G'd's commandments on earth. Loving G'd and fulfilling His commandments then is love of a most useful kind.

נגש יוסף ורחל, Joseph and Rachel approached; it is customary for the Torah when referring to a man and a woman in the same story to mention the name of the man first. Earlier, in verse 2, the Torah had mentioned the women first, even Rachel before Joseph. If you were to ask why Yaakov had not hidden Rachel just as he is supposed to have hidden Dinah? We would have to answer that all of Avraham’s descendants up to that time had strictly refrained from violating a married woman sexually. There was therefore no reason to suspect Esau of doing such a thing. Dinah, was single however, so that Yaakov reasoned that he might violate her. Joseph was not so sure and therefore insisted on walking ahead of his mother. [Seeing that he was at most seven years old at the time, it is difficult to see how he could have protected his mother in such a case. Ed.]