כִּי֩ יְהוָ֨ה אֱלֹהֶ֜יךָ מִתְהַלֵּ֣ךְ ׀ בְּקֶ֣רֶב מַחֲנֶ֗ךָ לְהַצִּֽילְךָ֙ וְלָתֵ֤ת אֹיְבֶ֙יךָ֙ לְפָנֶ֔יךָ וְהָיָ֥ה מַחֲנֶ֖יךָ קָד֑וֹשׁ וְלֹֽא־יִרְאֶ֤ה בְךָ֙ עֶרְוַ֣ת דָּבָ֔ר וְשָׁ֖ב מֵאַחֲרֶֽיךָ׃ (ס)
Sebab Yang Mahakekal, Allahmu, berjalan di tengah-tengah perkemahanmu untuk menyelamatkan engkau dan untuk menyerahkan musuh-musuhmu kepadamu; karena itu perkemahanmu harus kudus, supaya Ia tidak melihat sesuatu yang tidak senonoh di antaramu, lalu berbalik meninggalkan engkau.
Sforno
בחודש הראשון, after he had taken a census of the males fit for service in the army according to their ages. Moses was to make all the preparations necessary to arrange for the orderly entrance of the Israelites into the land of Canaan.
This involved first and foremost that the inhabitants of the camps of the Israelites be ritually pure in conformity with the Torah’s imperative that the army of the Jewish people when assembled must be holy (Deuteronomy 23,15). Needless to say that it must not contain people who had not cleansed themselves of their ritual impurity. They also had to be certain that no members of the Israelite camp was the product of an illegal union between people whose incestuous relationship carried the karet penalty. The purpose of all this was that G’d’s Shechinah would rest on the troops, and that therefore victory would be assured and casualties minimized.
The Talmud in Sotah 11 and 31 relates that the Jewish people had 4 virtues to their credit on account of which they merited entering and conquering the land of Canaan already at that time if the sin of the spies had not intervened. We know that Moses was convinced that the conquest of the land of Canaan was at hand when he asked his father-in-law Yitro to remain with him and to partake in that event. (Numbers 10,29)
These merits were: 1) the altar had been successfully consecrated, the offerings of the Jewish people were being accepted by G’d. 2) the Levites had been consecrated. 3) The Jewish people had demonstrated eagerness when observing the anniversary of the Exodus by performing the required ceremonies in difficult circumstances. 4) They had followed their G’d to an inhospitable desert even though they had no idea if and when the cloud would lift and indicate that they were suddenly to break camp. Their entire situation was such that sometimes they would remain in the same spot for months or years, whereas other times they would break camp and re-establish camp after only 24 hours, all of which involved a tremendous upheaval when we consider that we speak about two and a half to three million souls.
In order to describe the various merits the Jewish people had in their favour at the time the Torah told us at this point about these events instead of relating them in chronological order, as we might have expected. Consecration of the altar occurred in the first month of the second year, so did the consecration of the Levites, and so did the celebration of the second Passover. Seeing that the beginning of the Book of Numbers speaks of events in the second month of that year, we could have questioned the Torah’s sequence. However, the Torah had a purpose in delaying the report about the last mentioned events in order to demonstrate that had it not been for the disastrous mission of the spies everything would have been in place for an immediate ascent to the Holy Land. The entire paragraph is another illustration of the principle known as אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה, that the Torah is not a record of events in chronological order. The Torah most certainly is very orderly, has been written after careful consideration, but G’d, the author, had decided that “order” does not necessarily mean “chronological sequence.”
This involved first and foremost that the inhabitants of the camps of the Israelites be ritually pure in conformity with the Torah’s imperative that the army of the Jewish people when assembled must be holy (Deuteronomy 23,15). Needless to say that it must not contain people who had not cleansed themselves of their ritual impurity. They also had to be certain that no members of the Israelite camp was the product of an illegal union between people whose incestuous relationship carried the karet penalty. The purpose of all this was that G’d’s Shechinah would rest on the troops, and that therefore victory would be assured and casualties minimized.
The Talmud in Sotah 11 and 31 relates that the Jewish people had 4 virtues to their credit on account of which they merited entering and conquering the land of Canaan already at that time if the sin of the spies had not intervened. We know that Moses was convinced that the conquest of the land of Canaan was at hand when he asked his father-in-law Yitro to remain with him and to partake in that event. (Numbers 10,29)
These merits were: 1) the altar had been successfully consecrated, the offerings of the Jewish people were being accepted by G’d. 2) the Levites had been consecrated. 3) The Jewish people had demonstrated eagerness when observing the anniversary of the Exodus by performing the required ceremonies in difficult circumstances. 4) They had followed their G’d to an inhospitable desert even though they had no idea if and when the cloud would lift and indicate that they were suddenly to break camp. Their entire situation was such that sometimes they would remain in the same spot for months or years, whereas other times they would break camp and re-establish camp after only 24 hours, all of which involved a tremendous upheaval when we consider that we speak about two and a half to three million souls.
In order to describe the various merits the Jewish people had in their favour at the time the Torah told us at this point about these events instead of relating them in chronological order, as we might have expected. Consecration of the altar occurred in the first month of the second year, so did the consecration of the Levites, and so did the celebration of the second Passover. Seeing that the beginning of the Book of Numbers speaks of events in the second month of that year, we could have questioned the Torah’s sequence. However, the Torah had a purpose in delaying the report about the last mentioned events in order to demonstrate that had it not been for the disastrous mission of the spies everything would have been in place for an immediate ascent to the Holy Land. The entire paragraph is another illustration of the principle known as אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה, that the Torah is not a record of events in chronological order. The Torah most certainly is very orderly, has been written after careful consideration, but G’d, the author, had decided that “order” does not necessarily mean “chronological sequence.”
Da'at Zekenim
ושבת עד ה' אלוקיך, “and (then) you will return to the Lord your G–d;” elsewhere (Deut.23,15) it says in indirect speech: ושב ה' אלוקיך את שבותך ורחמך, “and the Lord your G–d will return with your captives and have mercy on you. Why does this have to be repeated? In the Talmud, tractate “Yuma”, folio 86, the Talmud says that repentance is important as it hastens the arrival of the redemption. This is based on Isaiah 59,20: ובא לציון גואל, ”and the Redeemer will come to Zion,” why? The verse continues with ושבי פשע ביעקב, “when the sinners among Yaakov have repented.” Rabbi Yossi bar Yehudah added that when a person transgresses a commandment once he is forgiven. By the time he transgresses a fourth time he is no longer subject to forgiveness. He bases himself on Amos 2,6: “thus said the Lord; for three transgressions of Israel, for four I will not revoke it (evil decree);” this is how the Talmud in tractate Yuma folio 86 understands that verse. I heard a reason for this attributed to Rabi Meir Levi, who stated that access to the Lord is guarded by three different “fences.” The first is overwhelming noise, the second is fire, and the third is a region of strong wind; finally there is a region in which almost inaudible sound is heard; (Compare Kings I 19, 11-12) in each region of these fences there are angels. When a person sins for the first time, the angels in the first region obstruct such a person’s access to commit further sins. This results in his obtaining forgiveness [as without this he would continue to sin having started to do so. Ed.] This process continues in varying degrees if he commits a second or third sin [without having repented in the interval. Ed.] When he sins a fourth time, having already breached the fences separating him from the Presence of G–d three times, he is no longer subject to forgiveness, as we know from Isaiah 65,3-7: “the people who provoke My anger who continually, to My very face, sacrifice in gardens and burn incense on tiles etc. etc. such things make My anger rage, like fire blazing all day long and I will not stand idly by but will repay deliver their sins into their bosom and the sins of their fathers as well.” In other words, G–d is patient until sinning has become a pattern of the sinner’s lifestyle before He reacts irrevocably.
Rav Hirsch
Vergleichen wir nun die Bedeutung dieser drei טומאה-Kategorien, so erscheinen sie in sprechendster Beziehung zu den verschiedenen Lagergebieten, aus denen ihre Entfernung geboten ist. Die נגעי צרעת haben sich uns Wajikra Kap. 13 u. 14 in allen ihren gesetzlichen Bestimmungen als Gottesfinger für soziale Entartung ergeben. Es ist soziale Reinheit, welcher die Entfernung des מצורע fürsorgen soll, und ist es daher begreiflich, daß der מצורע auch aus dem מחנה ישראל zu entfernen ist. זב וזבה stehen auf dem Boden der zu pflegenden geschlechtlichen Reinheit (siehe daselbst Kap. 15). Geschlechtliche Reinheit, Reinheit des geschlechtlichen Lebens, ist aber die allererste Anforderung an alle diejenigen, die geistig höher, Gott näher sein sollen. Jüdischer Anschauung ist geistige Höhe kein Freibrief für sittliche Entartung. Vielmehr je höher die geistige-Begabung und der geistige Beruf, um so ernster und umfassender werden die Anforderungen der Sittenreinheit. Unsere Dichter, unsere Sänger usw. unsere Männer der schauenden Erkenntnis und des lehrenden und zündenden Wortes haben nicht den Geist der Gottheit und den Leib wollüstiger Sinnlichkeit zu ergeben. Uns ist es gesagt, daß wo ערוה weilt, Gott und das Göttliche entflieht, ולא יראה בך ערות דבר ושב מאחריך (Dewarim 23, 15) ספרי) מלמד שהעריות מסלקות את השכינה). Die jüdischen אורים waren immer mit תומים gepaart, und יחוס, geschlechtliche Reinheit, musste schon die Wiege umgeben haben, in welcher unsere Priester und der Sängerchor unseres Heiligtums zum Leben erwachten (siehe Arachin 11a). Das ist der Geist, der מחנה לויה zu durchwehen hatte und ihn vergegenwärtigt שלוח זב וכו׳ ממחנה לויה. Den Gegensatz, welchen טומאת מת zu der Wahrheit des jüdischen Gottesgedankens bildet, welchem die תורה und ihr Heiligtum angehört, haben wir im Wajikra wiederholt zu berühren gehabt (siehe daselbst zu 5, 13 und 21, 5 u.s.). Dem heidnischen Gedanken ist Tod und Leiche eine Huldigung seiner Gottheit. Sie offenbarten die Macht, welcher der stolze Mensch erlegen, und diese Macht, die unwiderstehliche Macht der Naturgewalt, ist sein Gott. Die jüdische Wahrheit aber spricht: אין במות זכרך בשאול מי יודה לך, nicht Tod und Grab ist Gottes Signatur und Huldigung, die Gewalt, der der Mensch im Tode erliegt und die das Grab seiner Hülle bettet, ist selbst Gottes und – des göttlichen Menschen Untertan, der sie im Leben beherrscht und ihr auch im Tode nicht erliegt, לא תעזוב נפשי לשאול, der ihr nur die Hülle lässt, die, selbst irdisch, ihrer Natur ist, der aber im Leben mit der göttlichen, gottentstammenden Freiheit seiner sittlichen Kraft Gott schon nahe ist und sterbend mit entfesseltem Fluge ganz zu Ihm zurückeilt. Nicht der gestorbene, der lebende und mit seiner sittlichen Kraft in gottähnlicher Selbstbestimmung den irdischen Anteil seines Wesens frei meisternde, der lebende Pflichtmensch ist eine Offenbarung und Huldigung Gottes; denn die frei sich selbst bestimmende Kraft im Menschen, die der eigentliche Kern seiner Persönlichkeit ist, ist selber ein Funke von Gottes Geist, ist selber ein Hauch von Gottes allmächtig freiem Wesen und ist in jedem sich sittlich frei betätigendem Pflichtmomente eine unter Gottes Beistand gezeitigte Frucht aus der göttlichen Natur des Menschenwesens. Nicht die Leiche, חי חי הוא יודך, jubelt die jüdische Wahrheit, der lebendige Mensch ist Offenbarung und Huldigung des אלקים חיים und weist Tod und Leiche, טמא מת und die damit verwandten מגע שרץ ונבלה (siehe Wajikra zu 11, 47), überhaupt alle durch Berührung von außen dem Menschen werdende טומאה aus dem Bereiche des Gottesheiligtums: טמא מת משתלה חוץ למחנה שכינה.