출애굽기 15:22의 주석

ויסע משה AND MOSES CAUSED [ISRAEL] TO JOURNEY — He made them journey against their own will, because the Egyptians had adorned their horses with ornaments of gold and silver and with precious stones, and the Israelites were finding these in the sea. Greater, indeed, was the booty they obtained at the Red Sea then the booty they had brought out of Egypt — as it is said (Song 1:11) “Circlets of gold (the booty of the Sea) will we make thee together with the studs of silver” (which we brought forth from Egypt) (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 12:36). On this account he was compelled to make them journey on against their will.

ויסע משה את ישראל, Moses made Israel move on, etc. This was the only march which was initiated by Moses. Every subsequent move occurred at G'd's initiative.

ויסע, a causative construction, hiphil. When the Torah writes, as it does most of the time, vayisa, this is in the intransitive active mode, meaning “he journeyed,” instead of “he made (someone) journey,” as is the case here. Similar constructions involving both the kal mode and the hiphil mode of the verse are: vayagesh את פר החטאת, “he presented, brought near, the bull of the sin offering,” (Leviticus 8.14) as distinct from vayigash, “he approached (himself).” Similarly, a construction such as vayipol is in the intransitive active mode, meaning: “he fell, or he prostrated himself deliberately,” whereas the transitive mode of the same word (root) would be “vayapel,” “he threw down.”

ויסע משה, “Moses caused Israel to journey, etc.” Ibn Ezra writes that originally the cloud used to travel in front of the Israelites and the pillar of fire would travel behind them. After the Egyptians had been drowned, and the people no longer were in a state of fear from pursuers, and they no longer traveled at night also, the cloud departed and Moses instructed the people which way to move forward in accordance with directions he received directly from G’d. There were only 6 journeys all the way to Mount Sinai. The climate at that time of year was pleasant in that region, neither too cold nor too dry so that those that did not have tents of their own did not even need tents to sleep in at night. When they came to the region of Mount Sinai they made tents for themselves, as they expected to remain in the same location for a number of nights until the Tabernacle would be ready. [According to the Torah’s report they remained encamped at Mount Sinai for 11 months and 20 days. Ed.] Moses had informed them that they would remain there until the Tabernacle would be built. This was the reason why they had brought the shittim beams with them out of Egypt. In order to provide a visible symbol of these, Moses commanded them to construct the huts on the Sukkot festival, as the Torah says in Leviticus 23,43 כי בסוכות הושבתי את בני ישראל, “For I have house the Israelites in huts, etc.” They certainly could not very well have dwelled in the clouds for all this time. [a reference to the tradition that the Israelites “dwelled” in tents in the desert. Ed.] There is no comparison between “huts” and “clouds.” Once the Tabernacle had been constructed, G’d made a cloud take up position above that Tabernacle. (compare Exodus 40,38 “for the cloud of the Lord would be above the Tabernacle by day, and fire would be on it at night, before the eyes of all of the Children of Israel throughout their journeys.”) Whenever the cloud would move, this was the signal for the Israelites to commence journeying once they had left Mount Sinai, and this is why the Torah describes two pillars traveling with the Israelites, one by day and one by night. These two pillars would alternate with one another by day and by night respectively. If the report is based on historical tradition that these clouds were identical with the ones commonly known as the ענני הכבוד, the clouds proving the Presence of a Divine Presence, שכינה, we will abandon our rational approach to the subject and accept that tradition. Our sages explain the unusual wordויסע as proof that Moses had to make the Israelites travel in the direction of the desert against their will. One reason was that the loot they garnered at the sea was many times more than what they had taken with them from Egypt. Other commentators hold that this was not a criticism of the Israelites, but a compliment to them; they had been so enthralled by the spiritual uplift during their miraculous salvation that it had caused them to exclaim “this is My G’d, let me build Him an appropriate residence,” (15,2) that they could not entertain the thought of leaving a location where they had such a wonderful vision.

He made them travel against their will. . . [Rashi knows this] because otherwise, why does it say, “Moshe led”? They always traveled by command of Hashem.

וילכו שלשת ימים במדבר ולא מצאו מים. The distance covered was one which normally requires three days’ travel. They covered this distance in the space of only one day. This means that actually the period that they were without water was a single day. It is not normal for people, and especially such a large body of people, to keep marching for three days without having any water.

V. 22. ויסע משה. Es kommt dieser Ausdruck bei keinem der ferneren Züge vor. Der Ausdruck sagt, dass ein mehr als gewöhnlicher Nachdruck dazu gehörte, sie zu dem Aufbruch von dem Gestade des roten Meeres zu bewegen. Und in der Tat, das an diesem Gestade Erlebte, die dort geschaute Gottesmacht trug Momente genug in sich, Geist und Gemüt dort dauernd zu fesseln. Und nun zumal von dieser Stätte des unmittelbaren Gottesschutzes hinein in eine Wüste zu ziehen, die unter allen Teilen der Wüste die schauerlichste und ödeste sein soll. Daher auch der Ausdruck ויצאו: sie zogen hinaus, also eigentlich aus einem schützend umschließenden Orte in dessen Gegenteil.

וילכו שלשת ימים, “they walked for a period of three days;” when the Israelites had left Egypt they had taken vessels containing drinking water with them. As soon as they ran out of water they raised their voices complaining (verse 24) Instead of displaying a minimum amount of patience, they complained immediately. An alternate interpretation: the expression וילכו שלשת ימים במדבר ולא מצאו מים, is an allegory; the people had been hoping to find Torah=מים=life sustaining water, but were sorely disappointed not to have found it, so they complained. In Isaiah 55,1, Torah has been equated with water. This is the reason why Ezra introduced the custom to read publicly from the Torah every Monday and Thursday, so that the people would not have to go without listening to a Torah reading for three successive days. (Talmud, tractate Baba Kamma, folio 82)

The Egyptians adorned their horses with gold and silver ornaments and precious stones. . . You might ask: Is it not written (12:36), “They drained Egypt of its wealth,” and Rashi explains [in Bereishis 45:18] that they made Egypt like the depths of the sea which has no fish, [i.e., they emptied Egypt from its wealth]? The answer is: Here it is speaking of their hidden treasures.

שלשת ימים במדבר, “for three days in the desert.” They camped three times, at Eytam, Pihachirot, and Marah.

We will make gold bracelets for you, together with silver studs. . . I.e., “gold bracelets” are the booty of the sea, and “silver studs” are from the booty of Egypt — as stated in Midrash.