Musar על במדבר 9:9

The paragraph describing the details of the פסח שני, alludes to the מחנה ישראל camp of Israel in accordance with what I have written earlier in my introduction to these three פרשיות. I had then described "the camp of Israel," as an allusion to the נפש, i.e. "soul," of the Jewish people. This is demonstrated by the introductory verse ויהי אנשים אשר היו טמאים לנפש אדם, "There were some men who had been impure through contact with the soul of a human being (Adam), etc." We have a tradition in the name of the Arizal, that Nadav and Avihu had been part of the נפש of אדם הראשון. These men whom the Torah describes as having been defiled through contact with נפש אדם are Mishael and Eltzafan who had carried the bodies of Nadav and Avihu out of the Sanctuary (Leviticus 10,4). This is the reason the Torah repeats here in 9,10, איש איש כי יהיה טמא לנפש אדם או בדרך רחוקה, וכו' The meaning is that whether someone is impure due to the present state of the נפש, such as Mishael and Eltzafan, or due to causes far distant in time such as the נפש of original "Adam", such as in the case of Mishael and Eltzafan, the result is similar.. The reason there is a dot over the letter ה, in the word רחוקה is that though it is to be understood literally it also alludes to what we have just described.