Komentarz do Liczb 9:15

המשכן לאהל העדות means THE TABERNACLE which is made FOR the purpose of being THE TENT for the tablets of THE TESTIMONY.

AND ON THE DAY THE TABERNACLE WAS RAISED UP. Now He resumes the telling of the journey [through the wilderness] and the commandments which they were commanded about it, such as the trumpets, which Moses was now commanded were to be for the calling of the congregation, and for causing the camps to set forward.⁹⁴Further, 10:2. The sense of the expression [And on the day the Tabernacle was raised up] the cloud covered the Tabernacle, even the Tent of the Testimony is to state that the cloud covered only the Tent of the Testimony, but not the court of the Tabernacle.

וביום הקים את המשכן, “and on the day the Tabernacle had been erected, etc.” now the Torah resumes the report of the Israelites’ journeys in the desert, prefacing it with the reminder that the clouds of G’d’s glory covered the Tent of Meeting by day and that it would be replaced each evening by a fire visible all night. The movements of these clouds or the fiery appearance would signal that the people were to either break up and move, or make camp, as the case might be. Audible signals were heard by means of the trumpets, as we shall be told in chapter 10

For the tablets of the testimony. Rashi is answering the question: “Mishkon” refers to the lower curtains, as he explains in Parshas Bamidbar (3:25), while the term “אהל” (tent) refers to the goats hair curtains that were above it. If so, how does the Torah say המשכן לאהל (lit. the Mishkon for the tent) which implies that the Mishkon was needed for the tent? Consequently, Rashi explains that it was “made to be a tent…” Re’m explains Rashi’s addition of the word “made” before the word לאהל (for a tent). Since the lamed of לאהל implies its purpose, as if it had said “to be a tent,” without its addition one would imply that the purpose [of the Mishkon] was related to the word “covered” — i.e. that the cloud covered the Mishkon to form a tent. However with the word “made” it is understood as being related to the Mishkon — meaning that the Mishkon was made as a tent. Rashi’s addition of the word “to be” would thus be in place of the lamed of לאהל. Furthermore, when Rashi adds the words “for the tablets of the testimony” this teaches that the Tablets were a testimony to Yisroel, not the tent. This is to be contrasted with the phrase “Mishkon of Testimony” (Shemos 38:21), which Rashi explains that it is “testimony to Yisroel…” For the word Mishkon (משכן) is related to the word Shechinah (שכינה — Divine Presence) which rests (שוכן) among us, a concept not appropriate for the word אהל. (Nachalas Yaakov). I have already fully explained in Parshas Terumah (Shemos 25:16) that sometimes the Tablets are referred to as “testimony,” sometimes the Torah is referred to as “testimony” and sometimes the Mishkon is referred to as “testimony.” See also the beginning of Parshas Pekudei (Shemos 38:21) etc. and elsewhere.

V. 15. וביום הקים וגו׳. Dieses וביום schließt das Folgende ohne allen Übergang so ohne weiteres dem Vorhergehenden an, dass dies den innigsten und natürlichsten Zusammenhang voraussetzt. In der Tat ist auch das Folgende nichts als eine konkrete Betätigung dessen, was das vorhergehende Peßach als Israels Bestimmung und Israels Gelöbnis symbolisch zum erneuten Bewusstsein und Ausdruck gebracht hatte. Als צאן seinem רועה, als Gottes Herde der Gottesführung sich bereit zu stellen, das ist ja, wie wir (Schmot 12, 3-6) erkannt, der Grundgedanke, mit welchem das erste Peßach Israel in die Gottesführung eintreten und sich ihrer würdig machen ließ, und das ist der Gedanke, der mit jedem wiederkehrenden Peßach als zu erneuendes Gelöbnis an Israel in allen seinen Gliedern herantritt. Alle Familien Israels, mit ihren Peßachlämmern zu Gott hintretend, sprechen aber nichts anderes aus, als על פי ד׳ יחנו ועל פי ד׳ יסעו, dass sie nur nach Gottes Ausspruch lagern und nach Gottes Ausspruch ziehen, dass sie da ihre Stätte finden wollen, wo Gott sie ihnen anweist, dorthin aufbrechen wollen, wohin Gottes Mund sie ruft. Wie sie diese hingebungsvolle Nachfolge Gottes zu lernen und zu betätigen hatten, das wird eben hier in dem Folgenden gezeigt.

וביום הקים את השמכן, ”and on the day when the Tabernacle had been erected;” since the Torah wished to speak about the journeys and the flags, it informs us about the manner in which the cloud that rested above the Tabernacle when the Israelites were stationary, ever since the Tabernacle had been put up.

יהיה על המשכן WAS UPON THE TABERNACLE — This has the sense of: was continuously being upon the Tabernacle. Similar is the usage in the whole section (i. e. the verbs יסעו, יחגו, ישכון etc. are imperfects expressing continuous action).

כסה הענן את המשכן לאהל העדות, “the cloud covered the Tabernacle that was a Tent of Testimony.” Nachmanides interprets these words as showing that the cloud only covered the actual Tabernacle, not the courtyard surrounding it.

Similarly, all the usages in the parshah. (Gur Aryeh) For the whole passage refers to what would take place continuously every day, as the Torah writes “so it always was” (v. 16). It would be incorrect to say “The cloud covered the Mishkon” in the past tense and later to say “in the evening it shall be over the Mishkon” in the future, because one does not follow from the other. Concerning the use of the word יהיה (lit. will be) in the future tense, see above in Parshas Beshalach on the verse “Thus sang…” (Shemos 15:1).

וביום הקים sofort, als das Heiligtum errichtet war, ließ sich die Wolke, durch welche Gott seine leitende Gegenwart im Volke ankündigte (Schmot 13, 21 u. 22). darauf nieder und bezeugte eben damit das משכן als die Gottesstätte, um welche das Volk, als um den gemeinsamen Mittelpunkt, sich gelagert zu halten hatte. — לאהל העדות. Kap. 17, 22 u. 23 bezeichnet אהל הערות den Raum des Allerheiligsten, in welchem der ארון העדות stand. Bereschit 49, 13 לחוף ימים ישכון bezeichnet ל־ die örtliche Richtung einer Stellung, so dürfte auch hier לאהל העדות die örtliche Richtung des כסה הענן angeben: die Wolke bedeckte die Wohnung der Zeugnisstätte zu, sie ruhte mit ihrer Basis auf dem אהל העדות, dem westlichen Teile der Wohnung und bekundete damit, dass eben die תורה es ist, deren Gegenwart im Volke die Gottesgegenwart bedingt.

כסה הענן את המשכן, “the cloud covered the Tabernacle.” This cloud was not the same cloud as the one that enveloped the entire camp of the Jewish people, and which therefore was at a higher elevation, as pointed out by Tanchuma Bamidbar 12. The cloud mentioned as covering the Tabernacle actually covered it as well as the surrounding area where the Levites had their dwellings.