Комментарий к Бамидбар 10:40

עשה לך MAKE THEE etc. — make לך, “for thyself” (on thy own behalf) suggests that they shall blow them in your presence, as before a king, as it is said, (with reference to Moses) (Deuteronomy 33:5) ויהי בישרון מלך “and he was king in Jeshurun”.

עשה לך שתי חצוצרות כסף, seeing that the immediate plan was for the people to journey to the Holy Land without delay, G’d gave the commandment for the trumpets to be used as “Royal trumpet blasts,” announcing the moving of the Tabernacle to a new location, or announcing the arrival of the Tabernacle at its next location. The trumpets would also be blown before battles, as we know from verse 9.

עשה לך שתי חצצורות "make two trumpets for yourself." Why did Moses require trumpets to announce the journeys when all the Israelites could see the cloud move and this was their signal to commence packing and journeying? Perhaps the reason is that not all the tribes began their journey at the same time. The tribe of Yehudah was the first to break camp followed by the members of the clan of Gershon who carried the Tabernacle, followed by the camp of the tribe of Reuven, etc. The trumpets were required so that each group knew exactly when to start moving. When we questioned the need for the trumpets we could have also questioned why the trumpets were described as לך, "for yourself" i.e. for Moses. The fact is that just as G'd had paid Moses the compliment not to let the clouds move or come to rest without Moses telling it to, so G'd paid him the compliment of allowing him to give the signal to break camp by means of the trumpets. In that sense then the trumpets were Moses'. The word לך means that these trumpets would be at the exclusive disposition of Moses. Sifri on our verse understands the word to mean that Moses had to pay for these trumpets out of his own funds. Bamidbar Rabbah 15,15 suggests that only Moses was allowed to blow these trumpets. As there are 70 different ways to explain the Torah, all of these explanations are legitimate.

והיו לך למקרא העדה, these trumpets were to be Moses’ personal property to be used to alert the congregation in times of need by blowing in them. A second purpose would be to alert the encamped Israelites to get ready to move on. מסע, the word is a noun similar to נסיעה.

עשה לך שתי חצוצרות כסף, “make two silver trumpets for yourself!” The trumpets were to be made of silver instead of gold, in order not to remind Hashem of the golden calf each time they would be used. The sound, otherwise, would be associated with the loud noise the Israelites made when they danced around that idol. (Compare Exodus 32,18)

At the time of departure of המחנות (the camps). Most texts read “departure of המסעות (the formations)” meaning at the time of the departure of the formations, each comprising three camps, each under its banner. Either way, with this Rashi ensures that one not say that when they wanted to travel they would sound the trumpets. For this is not the case; rather the cloud folded first, and afterwards Moshe would say “Arise Hashem.” Only afterwards would they sound the blasts. Therefore, Rashi explains that that at the time of the departure of the camps when they prepared themselves to travel, they would not depart until the trumpets were sounded.

Kap. 10. V. 2. חצוצרות. Die Wurzel ist offenbar: הצר mit verdoppeltem zweiten Wurzelbuchstaben, statt eines Dagesch forte: חַצוֹרָה . So Chron. II. 5, 13 מְחַצְצרִים fürמְמַצְרִים . Wie aus unsern Bemerkungen zu Bereschit 2, 18 und Schmot 27, 9 erhellt, istחָצֵר die einem Hauptmittelpunkt sich anschließende Umgebung, ein umkreisendes Zubehör, also "Hof" in seiner eigentlichen Bedeutung. חצר würde also heißen: einen Hof um sich bilden. Auf Instrumentaltöne übertragen wäreחצר : ein Signal ertönen lassen, und חצוצרה ist das Signalinstrument, die Trompete. Ein jedes Signal ruft nämlich alle die, an welche es gerichtet ist, entweder in Wirklichkeit oder mit dem aufmerkenden Geiste zu dem hin, von welchem es ausgeht, es macht also diesen zum Mittelpunkt eines ihm sich anfügenden Kreises, es ist ein hofbildendes Zeichen, sein Instrument ist: חצוצרה, das "hofbildende", in den Hof rufende Instrument. —(ספרי) שיהו שוות במראה בקומה ובנוי :שתי חצוצרות , wie überall, wo nur zwei Objekte angeordnet werden und die Zweizahl neben dem Plural genannt ist, die völlige Gleichheit derselben gefordert wird (siehe Wajikra 16, 7). V. 34, 4 wird bestimmt, dass mit einer Trompete das Signal zur Berufung der Repräsentanten der Volksgemeinde, der Häupter der Tausende als Nationaleinheit, mit zweien aber der Nation in ihrer Vielheit gegeben werde. Aus doppelten Gründen dürfte daher die völlige Gleichheit beider Signalinstrumente gefordert sein: die Häupter und das Volk in ganz gleicher Würde und die Vielheit der Nation in völliger Gleichheit aller ihrer Glieder zu zeigen. — כסף: Silber ist das edle חצר-Metall (siehe Schmot Kap. 27, Ende). — מקשה: aus einem Stück gehämmert, die Einheit und Gleichheit des Rufenden und des Gerufenen vergegenwärtigen. Doch ist מקשה bei הצוצרות nicht מעכב (Menachot 28 a). —:עשה לך והיו לך כל הכלים שעשה משה כשרים לו וכשרים לדורות חצוצרות כשרים לו ופסולים לדורות, daselbst. Alle durch Mosche angefertigten Geräte durften auch nach seinem Tode gebraucht werden, nur nicht die חצוצרות, daher das wiederholte לך. Wohl dürfte damit der spezifische Unterschied zwischen Mosche und allen seinen Nachfolgern eben diesen seinen Nachfolgern im Bewusstsein gehalten sein. Das ולא קם נביא עוד בישראל כמשה fand seinen sprechendsten Ausdruck darin. Die Trompeten, welche Häupter und Volk zu Mosche gerufen hatte, durften nach Mosche Tode für keinen andern an den Mund gesetzt werden. — מסע .ולמסע את וגו׳ hat verbale Bedeutung: zum Aufbrechen lassen, daher את המחנות. So שתהא מזמן העדה ומסיע את המחנות :ספרי.

עשה לך שתי חצוצרות, “make yourself two trumpets, etc.” they were meant to be at Moses’ disposal at all times so that he would not have to send out to find someone who owned trumpets.

עשה לך MAKE THEE — from that which is thine own and not from the common funds (Sifrei Bamidbar 72).

והיו לך למקרא העדה, to assemble the people or their leaders in front of the Tabernacle. G’d wanted that the trumpets be used to render honour to the king.

את המחנות, as if the Torah had written למחנות, for the encamped communities.

עשה לך MAKE FOR THYSELF” also suggests: you make them and use them, but no one else.

למקרא העדה [THAT THOU MAYEST USE THEM] FOR THE CALLING OF THE ASSEMBLY — i. e. when you wish to speak to the Sanhedrin and the rest of the people and you summon them to assemble unto you, you shall summon them by the trumpets.

ולמסע את המחנות AND FOR THE JOURNEYING OF THE CAMPS — at the time of departing on the journeys you shall blow them as a signal. Consequently you must say that they used to travel by a three-fold call: by the command of the Holy One, blessed be He, by the word of Moses (cf. Rashi on v. 18 at the end), and by the sound of the trumpets (Boraitha d’ Mlechet ha-Mishkan s. 13).

מקשה OF BEATEN WORK — from a block of silver you shall make them by hammer blows (Sifrei Bamidbar 72).

ותקעו בהן WHEN THEY BLOW WITH THEM — with both of them; and this (protracted sound, a “Tekiah” on both trumpets) is the signal for summoning the congregation, as it is said here, “then all the congregation shall assemble unto thee at the entrance of the tent of meeting”.

ןתקעו בהן, in both of them.

VV. 3-7. ותקעו וגו׳. Aus V. 7 ist ersichtlich, dass mit תקע ein anderer Ton als mit הריע bezeichnet sei, und wenn es nun V. 5 ותקעתם תרועה und nicht והרעותם, analog dem תריעו des V. 7 heißt, so kann damit nichts anderes, als eine Verbindung beider Töne, die Einleitung der תרועה durch eine תקיעה bestimmt sein, demgemäss dann תרועה יתקעו des V. 6 das Schließen der תרועה durch eine תקיעה anordnete. In der Tat entspricht diesem auch die Halacha (R. H. 34 a). תקע heißt ursprünglich: einschlagen, einen Nagel in die Wand, einen Pflock oder Pfahl in den Boden, oder: die Hand des Versprechenden in die Hand des das Versprechen Empfangenden. Letzteres ist symbolisch das energievolle, völlige Hingeben des Tatvermittelnden, oder vielmehr, da es gewöhnlich תקע כף und nicht יד heißt, des Besitzfassenden in die Macht des andern. Die Hand des Versprechenden wird damit dem andern dienstbar. Es wird dabei so sehr die Hand als Ausdruck der tatschaffenden oder vielmehr besitzenden Persönlichkeit begriffen, dass es auch rein reflexiv התקע: sich einschlagen (Job 17, 4) gebraucht wird. Daher (Prov. 6, 3) von dem, der einem andern einen Handschlag gegeben: באת בכף רעך. Auf die Musik übertragen, bezeichnet er das kraftvolle und anhaltende Hineinstoßen einer Luftsäule in ein Blasinstrument, oder den dadurch hervorgebrachten stark und anhaltend ins Ohr dringenden Ton, תקיעה daher: פשוטה, der gerade, anhaltende, ungebrochene Ton eines Blasinstruments. — רוע und רעע, brechen, תרעם בשבט כרול (Ps2, 9), bezeichnet in der Musik den gebrochenen, zitternden, aus vielen kleinen Stößen bestehenden Ton: תרועה. V. 2 wird als nächster Zweck der חצוצרות angegeben: מקרא העדה und מסע המחנות: Berufung der Gemeinde und Aufbruch des Lagers zu signalisieren, und ist Verse 3, 4 und 7 als Signal für die Berufung: תקיעה, der gerade ungebrochene Rufton bestimmt, Verse 5 und 6 für den Lageraufbruch: תרועה, der gebrochene Alarmton, und zwar ותקעתם תרועה: eingeleitet mit תקיעה, und תרועה יתקעו: ausgeleitet mit תקיעה. Zur Berufung der Volksgemeinde als Einheit, d. i. in ihrer Repräsentanz, "den Fürsten und Häuptern der Tausende Israels", ward, dem Begriff der Einheit entsprechend, mit einer Trompete geblasen (V. 4). Sollte aber die Volksgemeinde in der Vielheit aller ihrer Glieder erscheinen, so wurde, dem Begriff der Vielheit entsprechend, das Signal mit zwei Trompeten gegeben. Das Zeichen zum geordneten Lageraufbruch war, wie bemerkt: תרועה, welcher תקיעה voranging und תקיעה folgte. Da nun תקיעה der Rufton, תרועה der Alarmton ist, so spricht sich die Bedeutung der kombinierten Töne also aus: die erste תקיעה ruft alle zum gebietenden Oberhaupte hin. Würde die תרועה nicht unmittelbar folgen, so wäre die Weisung: sich zum Oberhaupte zu begeben, um dort seine Befehle zu erhalten. Es folgt aber sofort תרועה und erteilt sofort den Befehl, sich und alles in Bewegung zu setzen, das Lager für den Aufbruch abzubrechen und bereit zu machen. Die Schluss-תקיעה gebietet ihnen, nach Abbruch des Lagers dorthin zu folgen, wohin sie weiter der Befehl des Oberhauptes bescheidet; es dürfte dies der Sinn des תרועה יתקעו למסעיהם sein: sie lassen der תרועה eine תקיעה folgen und geben damit die Weisung für ihre Weiterzüge.

When they will blow them. The people could tell when they blew both of them together because the sound of one was different than the other. Alternatively, they would lengthen the sound of one more than the other.

Nach dem Wortlaut des Textes (Verse 5 und 6) ward das Aufbruchssignal nur für den Aufbruch des zweiten, des Südlagers, wiederholt, der Aufbruch des West- und und des Nordlagers erfolgte aber ohne weiteres Signal. In der Tat, erwägen wir den V. 14 gegebenen Bericht eines Lageraufbruchs, so war auch nur zu einem Signale für den Aufbruch des ersten und des zweiten Lagers Veranlassung. Während nämlich das erste, das Lager Juda aufbrach, waren, wie daselbst V. 17 und aus Kap. 14, 4 und 15 ersichtlich, zuerst die Heiligtumsgeräte in die vorgeschriebenen Gewänder gehüllt den Kehathiden zu übergeben und sodann der Abbruch des Tempelzeltes und Vorhofes und deren Aufladen auf die Transportwagen durch die Gersoniden und Merariden zu vollziehen. Es war wesentlich, dass dieser Tempelab- und Aufbruch vollendet war und sich die Gersoniden und Merariden dem Lager Juda nachfolgend angeschlossen hatten, bevor sich das zweite Lager in Bewegung setzte und diesem die bereits seit dem Aufbruch des ersten Lagers mit den Heiligtumsgeräten bereit stehenden Kehatiden sich nachfolgend anschlossen, damit, wie es V. 21 ausdrücklich heißt, bei der Lagerrast, vor Eintreffen der Kehatiden, die Gersoniden und Merariden bereits zur Rast gekommen waren und das Tempelzelt und den Vorhof zur Aufnahme der anlangenden Heiligtumsgeräte aufgerichtet und bereit gestellt hatten. Es war also wesentlich, dass das zweite Lager sich nicht früher in Bewegung setzte, bevor der Tempelab- und Aufbruch vollendet war und hatte dieses daher das zweite Signal abzuwarten. Die übrigen Lager, die bis dahin schon völlig zum Aufbruch bereit standen, folgten dann von selbst. Nach dem ספרי erfolgte jedoch noch ein drittes Signal zum Aufbruch der beiden letzten Lager und wäre dies mit dem תרועה יתקעו למסעיהם angeordnet. Nach einer andern daselbst gegebenen Ansicht wurde aber zum Aufbruch eines jeden der vier Lager das Signal mit der Trompete gegeben.

ואם כאחת יתקעו AND IF THEY BLOW BUT WITH ONE TRUMPET (i.e. a “Tekiah” on one trumpet) — it is a sign to summon the princes, as it is said here, “then the princes shall gather themselves unto thee”. Their meeting place, too, was at the entrance of the tent of meeting. This is derived from a ג"ש in the Sifrei (Sifrei Bamidbar 73:1 from the use in both cases of the same expression ותקעו and יתקעו: not from ונועדו — ונועדו as erroneously stated.)

They too, meet. Because if this were not so, the congregation and the leaders would differ in two matters. Rashi had to explain this in order to answer the question: In the verse it is written “they shall present themselves to you…” but it does not write where they were to do so. Thus he explains “[they] too…” since it is obvious that the words “they shall present themselves” are used to make a scriptural comparison.

This is derived from a scriptural comparison. Here it is written ונועדו (they shall present themselves) and referring to the congregation it is written ונועדו. Just as there it refers to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, so too here it refers to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

ותקעתם תרועה WHEN YE BLOW AN ALARM — The signal for the camps to set out on the journey was a Tekiah, a Teruah (a tremulous sound) and again a Tekiah. Thus is it derived in the Siphre from the apparently redundant verses (Sifrei Bamidbar 73:2; cf. Rosh Hashanah 34a).

ותקעתם תרועה ונסעו המחנות החונים קדמה, seeing that this flag also had the carriers of the Tabernacle in its wake.

Tekiah, teruah, tekiah — this is how it is extrapolated by Sifri. For it is written “if you blow (תקעתם — from the same derivation as the word “tekiah”) a teruah” (v. 6) implying a tekiah followed by a teruah. It then written “a teruah they shall blow (יתקעו)” implying a teruah followed by a tekiah. How is this understood — as a tekiah, teruah, tekiah. We need not ask: Why then do we not have two teruos in the middle? Because we never find two teruahs one after the other. The reason for having written “teruah” twice is that one is needed for a gezeirah shavah (Scriptural comparison) to Yom Kippur, and any gezeirah shavah is based upon superfluous wording.

החונים קדמה, “who were encamped on the eastern side;” the flag of the army group headed by Yehudah.

AND THE CAMPS THAT LIE ON THE SOUTH SIDE SHALL SET FORWARD. Scripture explained the purpose of the two t’ruoth,¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. the first one being [the sign] for those encamped eastward to go forward, and the second one for those encamped southward to set out on the journey. And it states [in the verse before us], a ‘t’ruah’¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. they shall blow for their journeys, meaning that they should blow [this quavering alarm] for all their journeys, that is to say, they should blow a third t’ruah for the camps on the west side to set forth, and a fourth one for the camps on the north side to set out on the journey, for each standard journeyed by itself, as He explains: And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward;¹⁰³Further, Verse 22. And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan set forward.¹⁰⁴Ibid., Verse 25. And thus it is taught in the Beraitha of the Work of the Tabernacle.¹⁰⁵Beraitha of M’lecheth Hamishkan, Chapter 13. But in the Sifre the Rabbis have taught:¹⁰⁶Sifre Beha’alothcha 73. “I might think that just as he blows for the camps in the east and the south to set forward [as Scripture clearly explains], so he is to blow for [those that were encamped in] the west and the north; Scripture therefore states [in the verse before us], a ‘t’ruah’ they shall blow for their journeys, that is, one blowing for the two [remaining standards]. And some Rabbis say that there were three [sounds, i.e., t’kiah, t’ruah, t’kiah]¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. for [the camps in] each and every direction.” Thus far [the language of the Sifre], and such indeed is the plain meaning of Scripture, that they should blow [for the camps] in each direction, as I have explained.

ותקעתם תרועה שנית, as a result of which the second “flag” would start journeying, the ones that were positioned to the south. This “camp” was accompanied by the Levites carrying the sacred vessels.

ותקעתם תרועה שנית, "and you will blow a second Teruah, (alarm) etc." One blast of the trumpets did not suffice to cause all the tribes to start moving. Sifri 2,73 states that the members of the clan of Gershon were occupied in dismantling the Tabernacle and had started moving before the tribe of Reuven. This made it necessary to blow the trumpets again to give a signal to the tribe of Reuven, situated in the South, to start moving following the clan of Gershon behind the components of the Tabernacle.

ונסעו המחנות החונים תימנה, “and the groups encamped to the south shall start marching.” Nachmanides writes that the correct interpretation of our verse is that two blasts of teruah will be trumpeted, one to alert the people of the eastern camp to start moving, followed by another alerting the people in the southern camp to get moving. This is why the Torah wrote:

החונים תימנה,”who were encamped on the southern side;” the army group headed by Reuven and his flag. We might have thought that just as signals were blown for the eastern and southern army group to form in formation, so the trumpets would also be blown as signals for the army group in the west and the one in the north. By writing the word t’ruah, alarm, in the singular mode the Torah made clear that only two alarms were blown on these trumpets “for them to commence their journeys (pl).” There is another opinion which holds that separate alarms were blown on the trumpets for each army group.

A ‘T’RUAH’ THEY SHALL BLOW FOR THEIR JOURNEYS. I have already explained in Seder ‘Emor El Hakohanim’ (Speak unto the priests)¹⁰⁷Leviticus 21:1. The verse referred to is ibid., 23:24. that the t’ruah alludes to the [Divine] attribute of justice, for so it is written concerning the journeyings that they were ‘al pi Hashem’ (at the commandment of the Eternal) by the hand of Moses,¹⁰⁸Above, 9:23. The expression pi Hashem alludes to the attribute of justice (Abusaula). and it is that [attribute] which brings victory in war, as it is written, And when ye go to war in your land … ‘vahareiothem’ (ye shall sound a ‘t’ruah’).¹⁰⁹Further, Verse 9. Therefore Moses said, and let them that hate Thee flee ‘mipanecha’ (before Thee),¹¹⁰Ibid., Verse 35. Literally: “from before Thy face.” and I have already explained the secret of the panim (face) in the Ten Commandments.¹¹¹Exodus 20:3. And similarly you see that the wall of Jericho fell to the sound of a t’ruah, for it is written, Ye shall not shout … until the day I bid you ‘hari’u’ (sound a ‘t’ruah’); ‘vahari’othem’ (then shall you sound it),¹¹²Joshua 6:10. and it is written, and the people sounded a great ‘t’ruah,’ and the wall fell down.¹¹³Ibid., Verse 20. It was for this reason that it [the city of Jericho] was declared cheirem (devoted) [to the Eternal, and prohibited for private use.].¹¹⁴Ibid., Verse 17. But when the assembly is to be gathered together ‘tithke’u’¹¹⁵Further, Verse 7. — they are deserving that the t’kiah¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. be sounded, for the ‘p’shutah’ [plain long and continuous sound] alludes to the [Divine] attribute of mercy, for “His right hand is p’shutah (stretched out) to receive the penitent” [as it is stated at the Closing Service on the Day of Atonement — a time of mercy]. Therefore, when the ark rested, Moses said, ‘Return, O Eternal, unto the myriads of thousands of Israel.’¹¹⁶Further, Verse 36. And it is written, And in the day of your gladness and in your appointed seasons … ‘uthkatem’ (ye shall blow a ‘t’kiah’),¹¹⁷Ibid., Verse 10. since war is [suitable] for t’ruah [which alludes to the attribute of justice, as explained above], and the appointed seasons and joyous occasions are for mercy [i.e., for the sound of t’kiah, which alludes to mercy].¹¹⁸Tziyoni. And our Rabbis have received by tradition that there should be a long continuous sound before [the t’ruah] and a long continuous sound after it and the t’ruah in the middle, on the New Year, the Day of Atonement [of the Jubilee year],¹¹⁹Leviticus 25:9. See Ramban there. and at the bringing of the offerings,¹²⁰See “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 70-71. in order not “to mutilate the shoots” [of faith]. But as far as their purpose is concerned, the one is for t’kiah [which alludes to mercy] and the other for t’ruah [which alludes to judgment].¹¹⁸Tziyoni. The student learned [in the mystic lore of the Cabala] will understand.

תרועה יתקעו למסעיהם, this had to be spelled out as both the tekiah sounds and the teruah sounds would be blown by the trumpets in conjunction with the journeying of the camps. The former sounds to make sure the people would all be assembled in their assigned spots, the latter to ensure that the Levites were in position with their respective carts, etc. Just as the people in order to assemble were called by means of the tekiah, so the princes when they were to assemble were called by means of the tekiah blasts, without the teruah blast.

תרועה יתקעו למסעיהם, after already having written ותקעתם תרועה שנית ונסעו המחנות וגו', “you will trumpet a second teruah and the camps in the south will get moving.” Apparently, there was a third teruah signaling the people encamped on the west side to start moving, and a fourth teruah when the time had come to signal to the fourth group, the ones encamped to the west of the Tabernacle to start moving and to make up the rearguard, as it were. Ibn Ezra writes that there was no trumpet blast after the easternmost camp had began to move. He offers proof for what he writes by pointing out that the Kehatites and with them the priests who did the blowing of the trumpets traveled ahead of the flag (army group) of Ephrayim. [How could they signal to army groups a long way behind them? Ed.] In the Sifrey the opinion is voiced that just as there were trumpets blown for setting the eastern army group and the northern army group in motion, the same may have been done in order to set the two other army groups to get moving. The author does not express a definitive view as to how many such teruot were blown to get the people moving.

ותקעתם תרועה שנית, “you will blow a second alarm.” From this verse we learn that every time a t’ruah was blown it had been preceded by the signal known as tekiyah both before and after.

ותקעתם תרועה שנית, Rashi comments on this line as follows: the signal to start journeying was to blow in this order: tekiyahtruah tekiyah. If the trumpets were being used to call the people to an assembly, however, no t’ruah was blown. Our author continues with speculations about what appears to be repetition in this paragraph. As there will not again be an opportunity to reenact the procedure in reality, I have decided to save time and space and not translate his speculations.

ובהקהיל את הקהל וגו׳ AND WHEN THE CONGREGATION IS TO BE GATHERED TOGETHER etc. — Because it is stated, (v. 2) “and they shall be unto thee for calling together the assembly and for the journeying of the camps”, you must reason as follows: How is it in the case of “the calling of the assembly”? A Tekiah was made by two priests and on both of them (on two trumpets), since it states, (v. 3) “when they blow with them (cf. Rashi on that verse). So, too, is the setting out of the camps to be by means of both trumpets. One might, however, also reason as follows: How is it in the case of the “journeyings of the camps”? The priest sounds a Tekiah, a Teruah, and another Tekiah (cf. Rashi on v. 5)! So, too, in the case of “calling the assembly together”, he blows a Tekiah, a Teruah and a Tekiah, so that it follows that there is no difference between the signal for “calling the assembly” and that for the “journeyings of the camps”. Scripture, however, states here: “And when the congregation is to be gathered together, etc.” to intimate that no Teruah is sounded at the calling of the assembly (ולא תריעו), and the same rule applies to calling the princes. — Thus we have a different signal for the three occasions: “the calling of the assembly” is done by both trumpets, and that of the princes by one — but neither in this nor that signal is there a Teruah, whilst “the journeying of the camps” is done by both trumpets with a Teruah, a Tekiah preceding and following it (Sifrei Bamidbar 74).

Since it says. Rashi is answering the question: Firstly the Torah already writes above “you shall blow and you shall present yourselves…” Furthermore from where would one learn a requirement for a tekiah, teruah, tekiah such that it had to write “you shall blow [a tekiah] but not a teruah.” He answers “since it says, ‘They shall be used by you…’”

ובהקהיל את הקהל, “but when the assembly is to be called together, etc.” on this verse Rashi comments: “seeing that we might have thought that seeing that the construction of the trumpets had been introduced as something that Moses was to do personally, and use by himself, that just as for breaking camp there would be a blast of tekiyah followed by a blast of t’ruah, followed again by a blast of tekiyah, the same would be the signal for a general assembly; However, if that were so how would the people have known the significance of these blasts? In order to prevent such a misunderstanding, the Torah in our verse specifically warns that when the trumpet call served to call the people to an assembly there would not be the alarming blast of the t’ruah.”

Perhaps, just as, when initiating the camps’ departure. Since the two are compared together, one might have said that ‘just as when initiating the camps’ departure…” therefore it was necessary to exclude this.

ובני אהרן ... יתקעו AND THE SONS OF AARON … SHALL BLOW [WITH THE TRUMPETS] at the occasions of these (above-mentioned) assemblings and journeyings.

V. 8. וכני אהרן הכהנים. Es erscheint in hohem Grade bezeichnend, dass das חצוצרות-Signal durch die כהנים und zwar, nach ר׳׳ע im Sifri, durch ,כהנים תמימיםdurch עבודה-fähige כהניםzu geschehen hatte, wie der Ausdruck בני אהרן הכהנים (Wajikra 1, 5 u. f.) immer bedingt. Dieselben, die im Gesetzesheiligtum die symbolischen Handlungen der Hingebung der Nation an das Gesetz, namens des Gesetzes entgegenzunehmen und zu vermitteln hatten, das sind dieselben, durch welche namens des Führers der Nation die Berufung derselben oder ihrer Häupter zu Vernehmung dessen erging, was namens des Gesetzes zu vollbringen war. Hier wie dort waren sie die Herolde des Gesetzes an die Nation, und wenn das Oberhaupt der Nation seinen Ruf durch die כהנים ergehen ließ, lag eben darin der Gedanke, dass er nicht kraft seiner Persönlichkeit, sondern kraft seiner Stellung zum Gesetze berief. — והיו לכם לחקת עולם: außer der im Vorhergehenden bestimmten temporären Verwendung, die nur auf die Zeit der Wanderung in der Wüste beschränkt war, erhalten die חצוצרות im folgenden eine bleibende Bedeutung für die Zukunft, und auch da sollen sie nur von den כהנים gehandhabt werden (siehe zu Verse 9 und 10).

והיו לכם לחוקת עולם לדורותיכם, “they shall be for you as a statute forever, throughout your generations. These (trumpets) will serve you as a statute. They were given to you as a statute, i.e. only to be used while in the desert; whereas all the other vessels used in the Tabernacle or in connection with it, were to be used also after the people settled in the Holy Land, i.e. “throughout your generations.”

וכי תבאו מלחמה בארצכם, “when you go to war against an enemy who has invaded your land, etc.” Onkelos translates this verse as וארי תעלון לאגחא קרבא בארעכון, “when you go out to fight a battle in your land, etc.” If that were correct, then the letter ל as the prefix to the word מלחמה would be absent in our verse and the meaning would be “if you go to war,” or “when you go to war.” This in turn would raise the question why the Torah here uses the word תבא instead of the word תצא that is standard for describing a war fought outside the boundaries of the Land of Israel. (Compare Deut. 20,1; 21,10; 23,10) Possibly, the Torah alludes to the fact that the trumpets were to be made use of in the manner described only in a war which is defined as מלחמת חובה, an obligatory war, not an expansionary war, a מלחמת רשות. All the wars described with the introductory words: כי תצא, are wars which are not obligatory, as proven by the fact that it was possible to dodge the draft and to return home after having answered the original roll call, as elaborated upon in Deut. In our verse the Torah speaks about an obligatory war, and this is why the term יצא is not mentioned here. This is also why the Torah adds the word בארצכם, “in your land,” i.e. you have been invaded. According to Sifrey our verse speaks of wars both within our borders or without, but in either case we are the victims of aggressive neighbors. The letter ו at the end of the word תבאו is therefore quite unnecessary and may be used in lieu of the missing letter ל in front of the word מלחמה.

V. 9. וכי תבאו מלחמה. Durchaus der gewöhnliche Ausdruck für: in den Krieg ziehen ist: יצא למלחמה. Selten ist der Ausdruck בוא למלחמה. Er findet sich namentlich noch: Kap. 32, 6 in Mosches Anrede an die Söhne Gad und Reuben: האחיכם יבאו למלחמה. Während in יצא למלחמה das rüstige, auch das freiwillige Hinausziehen in den Kampf, das Aufsuchen des Kampfes außerhalb des eigenen Gebietes liegt, bezeichnet בא למלחמה und mehr noch unser בא מלחמה das sich den Gefahren des Kampfes Unterziehen, das in den Kampf Geraten. Der Krieg ist unprovoziert da, und man muss hinein. So daher Mosches Frage: האחיכם יבאו למלחמה und im Gegensatz dazu: זאתם תשבו פה! Eure Brüder möchten gewiss ebenso gern wie ihr bereits zur Ruhe gekommen sein. Allein, der Krieg ist eine Notwendigkeit, der Krieg ist da, eure Brüder müssen hinein und ihr wollt euch der Pflicht entziehen?! Auch Kap. 31, 21 אנשי הצבא הבאים למלחמה spricht ja von den איסור- und טומאה-Folgen, welche ihre Beteiligung an dem Krieg für sie herbeigeführt und die jetzt nach beendigtem Kampfe zu beseitigen waren. Sie waren entstanden, nicht weil sie יצאו למלחמה, sondern weil sie באו למלחמה, weil sie durch den Kampf zur Berührung von Leichen und Erbeutungen von איסור-Geräten gelangen. Abgesehen davon, dass nach dem ספרי zu V. 5 der Teilnahme an diesem Kampfe, dem als der letzte Akt in Mosche Leben voraus bezeichneten, das Gepräge der Unfreiwilligkeit aufgedrückt war (siehe daselbst). In unserer Stelle spricht offenbar das וכי תבאו מלחמה von dem unprovozierten, unfreiwilligen Verteidigungskampfe. Er ist ja: בארצכם. Es ist kein Eroberungskrieg außer Landes, der Feind ist im Lande. Er ist eingebrochen und bedrängt euch in eigenem Lande. Er ist צר הצר אתכם, ihr seid in Not. In dieser Bedrängnis: והרעתם בחצצרת. Der sofort angegebene Zweck dieser תרועה mit ונזכרתם :הצוצרת und ונושעתם, lässt offenbar in dieser Terua einen an Gott gerichteten Hilferuf erkennen. Wenn im Vorhergehenden die Töne eine von dem Führer an die Nation ergehende Aufforderung signalisieren, so ist es hier die Nation, welche vermittelst derselben ihren Ruf zu Gott ertönen lässt, und indem es wiederum die כהנים sind (siehe zu V. 8), welche diesen Ruf erheben, so ist es eben das Gesetz, dessen Heiligtumsdiener sie sind und welches das Band bildet zwischen der Nation und Gott, in Hinblick auf welches die Erhörung erhofft wird. Wie aber als Signal zum Lageraufbruch die Terua die Aufforderung entält, sich mit rüstiger Tätigkeit in Bewegung zu setzen, so ist auch die an Gott in der Not gerichtete Terua nichts anderes als der Ruf: קומה והושיעה נא, oder wie es V. 35 heißt: קומה ה׳ ויפצו אויביך וגו׳. Es heißt aber nicht einfach: והרעתם וגו׳ ונושעתם וגו׳, sondern ונזכרתם .ונזכרתם וגו׳ ונושעתם וגו׳ setzt voraus, dass bisher die זכירה gefehlt habe. Gott hatte sie verlassen, hatte sie den natürlichen Wirkungen der Verhältnisse anheimgegeben, ihre natürliche Schwäche dem überlegenen Feinde gegenüber hat ihre Bedrängnis erzeugt. Der erste Gedanke des zu Gott dringenden Rufes ist daher: Wende dich wieder zu uns, richte deine Fürsehung wieder zu uns, stehe uns wieder bei, und die zu erflehende Hilfe ist dann nur die unmittelbare Folge dieser dem Volke wieder zugekehrten Gottesgegenwart. Wenn, wie die Halacha lehrt, jeder Terua eine Tekia vorangeht und also auch diese Terua des Hilferufs mit Tekia eingeleitet war, so wäre, wie die die Terua des Lageraufbruchs einleitende Tekia die Aufmerksamkeit der Nation im Geiste zu dem Führer ruft, also auch diese Tekia nichts als der Aufruf zu Gott, sein Angesicht uns wieder zuzuwenden, nichts als der Fleheruf: זכרנו! Die eine solche Terua schließende Tekia spräche dann die Bitte aus: Bleibe auch bei uns, nachdem du uns geholfen, verlasse uns nicht wieder, wandle mit uns!

וכי תבאו מלחמה, “and when you go to war;” the Torah employs a variety of words when referring to becoming involved in wars, another one being והיה כי תראנה מלחמה, “it will be when war will break out” (Pharaoh to his people in Exodus 1,10)

על הצר, “on account of the enemy that oppresses you,” (a defensive war) the preposition על, as “on account of” occurs also in Psalms 44.23: כי עליך הורגנו כל היום, “for on Your account we are being killed on any day;”

'ונזכרתם לפני ה, “you will be remembered before (the throne) of the Lord;” the Torah will proceed to explain how this scenario will unfold, i.e. you will be saved from your attackers.

על עלתיכם [YE SHALL BLOW WITH THE TRUMPETS] OVER YOUR BURNT OFFERINGS — Scripture is speaking of a communal burnt offering (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 77; Arakhin 11b).

Of the communal offerings. Because the Torah writes “for your burnt-offerings and for your peace-offerings” juxtaposing peace- offerings with burnt-offerings. All burnt-offerings are of the highest sanctity while some peace-offerings are of the highest sanctity and some are of lower sanctity — for example, the peace-offerings of the congregation are of the highest sanctity and those of the individual are of lower sanctity. Therefore, the peace-offerings were juxtaposed with the burnt-offerings to teach that just as the burnt-offerings are only of highest sanctity, so too these peace-offerings are only of the highest sanctity, referring to the peace-offerings of the congregation. We then return and learn the case of the burnt-offering from the peace-offering. Just as the peace- offering which is of the highest sanctity is an offering of the congregation, since one never finds a peace-offering of the highest sanctity that is not an offering of the congregation, so too the case of the burnt-offering refers to an offering of the congregation.

V. 10. וביום שמחתכם. Aus 53 סוכה b ist ersichtlich, dass täglich beim Morgen- und Abend-תמיד, und ebenso zu allen מוספים am Schabbat und י׳׳ט mit den הצוצרות geblasen wurde und wird dort (54a f.) nur die Frage erörtert, ob, wenn ein Tag kombinierte Festcharaktere trägt und demgemäss mehrere מוספין dargebracht werden, z. B. שבת und ר׳׳ח oder שבת und ר׳׳ח, an welchem drei מוספין für שבת, für ר׳׳ח und für ר׳׳ה zu vollziehen wären, die תקיעות für jedes besondere מוסף zu wiederholen oder die verschiedenen מוספין zusammen nur von einer תקיעה zu begleiten seien, und entscheidet sich die Halacha für das letztere. Schwierig ist es nur, wie demgemäß unser Text zu verstehen sei. Ausdrücklich genannt sind מועדים und ראשי חדשים, und außerdem יום שמחתכם. Es ist einerseits die Frage, was mit וביום שמחתכם bezeichnet ist, ein Begriff, der jedenfalls außerhalb der מועדים liegen muss, da er neben denselben genannt wird, andererseits, unter welche der gegebenen Kategorien תמיד und שבת zu subsumieren wären. Im ספרי sind zwei Ansichten. Die eine erklärt: וביום שמחתכם אלו שבתות und lässt es unerörtert, unter welcher Bezeichnung dann תמידים zu finden wären; die andere versteht unter תמידים :וביום שמחתכם und lässt es unbesprochen, welche Bezeichnung dann שבתות mit begreifen solle.

ותקעתם בחצוצרות, “you will blow the tekiyah blasts with the trumpets, etc.” (the Torah speaks of joyous occasions) in order that the people will realise that the offerings on their behalf are at that moment being presented and they can tune in spiritually to the meanings of these sacrifices.

אני ה׳ אלהיכם I AM THE LORD YOUR GOD — From here we derive the regulation that on the New Year Festival Biblical verses referring to God’s Kingdom (מלכיות) must be recited together with such as have reference to the blowing of the Shofar (שופרות), and to Divine remembrance (זכרונות), because it states here “ותקעתם” — which is an allusion to לזכרון" ;שופרות" — which is an allusion to זכרונות; and אני ה׳ אלהיכם — which is an allusion to מלכיות etc. (Sifrei Bamidbar 77; cf. Rashi on Leviticus 23:24 and Note thereon).

As a remembrance. This is the shofar and the remembrance.

Wir bemerken zuerst, dass שמחה durchaus nicht notwendig eine durch besondere Veranlassung gehobene Stimmung bezeichnen müsse, sondern sehr wohl auch diejenige heitere Stimmung, dasjenige Frohgefühl unseres Innern bezeichnen könne, die eigentlich den Grundton unseres ganzen Seins bilden sollen. Stellen wie Ps. 90, 14. 4, 8. 97, 11. 100, 2 und 104, 34; Pred. 9, 7. 3, 12. 5, 18 und 11. 9; Prov. 5, 18. 23, 24 u. 25 und 13, 9 dürften dies hinlänglich belegen. Und nun gar die Nation als solche, und von dieser ist ja hier die Rede, die unsterbliche, die kein Sterben und kein Verarmen kennt, אין צבור מת ואין צבור עני, und an der Gottesstätte des Gesetzesheiligtums, an deren Schwelle Tod und Trauer zurückbleiben müssen, wo unterm Lichtstrahl der Gottesgegenwart nur שמחה של מצוה, nur die Heiterkeit der Gottesfreude und des Pflichtbewusstseins vor Gott gedeiht, wo der Gedanke zur Wahrheit wird: שהשמחה במעונו, und jeden der Ruf empfängt: עבדו את ד׳ בשמחה: da dürfte jeder normale Tag als יום שמחה zu bezeichnen sein und diese Bezeichnung hier nur im Gegensatz zu dem vorangehenden יום צרה stehen, wo durch die Gottverlassenheit Not und Bedrängnis über die Nation eingebrochen war. Es kann daher sehr wohl וביום שמחתכם die täglichen תמידים-Opfer begreifen und שבתות mit unter מועדיכם verstanden sein. Ist doch, insbesondere hinsichtlich der speziell den Tag charakterisierenden Opfer, שבת unter dem allgemeinen Begriff מועד mitgefasst, wie nach Peßachim 77 a der Schlußausspruch: אלה תעשו לד׳ במועדיכם (Bamidbar 29, 39) alle קרבנות צבור, die קבור להם זמן, also auch מוספי שבת, in sich begreift (siehe oben zu Kap. 9, 2).

על זבחי שלמיכם, “and over the sacrifices of your peaceofferings;” this is a reference to sheep offered on Shavuot, when the trumpets were only blown to call attention to communal mandatory offerings.

Wenn aber jeder normale, nicht durch besonderes Leid getrübte, durch das Gottesbewusstsein, das ihn in allen seinen Momenten begleitet, ein יום שמחה ist, so ist ja der Tag, der wie der Schabbat diesem Gottesgedanken besonders geweiht ist, der den Gedanken, welcher das Schaffen und Streben aller übrigen Tage begleitend mit dem Hauch der שמחה durchweht, ganz ausschließlich zu seinem Inhalte hat, vorzugsweise und ganz eigentlich als der יום שמחתנו zu begreifen. In welcher Stimmung der Schabbat auch das Menschengemüt treffen mag, in vollen Blütentönen, im welken Klageton, oder sinnend sich die Rätsel des Lebens lösend, עלי עשר ועלי נבל עלי הגיזן בכנור, der Gedanke, in einer Gotteswelt, mit Gottesgeschöpfen, unter Gottes Schaffen und Wirken zu leben und zu streben, wie ihn der Schabbat weckt, wird immer zu dem Bekenntnis drängen: שמחתני ד׳ בפעלך במעשי ידיך ארנן, oder wie es unser Gebetbuch ausspricht, ישמחו במלכותך שומרי שבת! Es kann daher auch unter יום שמחתכם speziell der שבת verstanden sein, und תמידים wären dann unter מועדיכם mitbegriffen, wie sie ja speziell hinsichtlich der so bedeutungsvollen דחית הטומאה mit unter den Begriff מועד fallen (siehe oben zu Kap. 9, 3).

והיו לכם לזכרון, “which shall be for you a memorial;” on those days blowing tekiyah will accompany the burnt offerings, whereas when the trumpets are blown on account of war, especially the t’ruah, alarming sounds, this was to bring your merits to the attention of the Lord so that He would help you prevail against your enemies.

Es sagte uns somit das Gesetz: wenn an Tagen heiteren Gottesbewusstseins, in Zeiten besonderer uns zur Vereinigung mit Gott ladender Erinnerungen, an zur Selbstverjüngung uns aufrufenden Tagen, wir diesem Gottesbewusstsein, diesem Hinstreben zu Gott, dieser Selbsterneuerung in עולות der תמידים und מוספים und שלמי צבור der כבשי עצרת den Ausdruck unserer "Gottesnähe" suchenden Tatenweihe und Lebensfreude geben, sollen wir durch תקיעה mit חצוצרות Gott "anrufen", auf diese durch die Zeitmomente geweckten Gelöbnisse unserer " קרבת אלקי" suchenden Hingebung herabzuschauen, und uns also zu nahen, wie wir, Seinem Rufe folgend, in Seine Nähe hinanstreben. Die תקיעה-חצוצרות bei den קרבנות צבור ist also wiederum der Ruf Israels an Gott, zu uns zu kommen, sie drückt ganz eigentlich den Gedanken: קרבן aus, und in unserem Hinanstreben zu Gott und dem angerufenen Sichherablassen Gottes zu uns wird das verwirklicht, was alle diese Opfermomente zu מוערים — auch שבתות und תמידים sind Opfer-מועדים, siehe oben zu Kap. 9, 3 — zu Momenten der Vereinigung Israels mit seinem Gotte macht.

Nach der Halacha war auch diese תקיעה bei den Opfern nicht einfach, sondern תקיעה תרועה תקיעה wie beim Hülferuf des vorigen Verses, und wenn es gleichwohl dort והרעתם und hier ותקעתם heißt, so wird nach der Erklärung des רמב׳׳ן damit dort auf תקיעה, hier auf תרועה der Nachdruck der Bedeutung gelegt. Dort ist es eine von תקיעה eingeleitete und begleitete תרועה, hier sind es תרועה einleitende und begleitende תקיעות. Dort ist das göttliche Einschreiten das Ziel und die angeflehte Gottesnähe das Mittel, hier ist die Gottesnähe das Ziel und ein göttliches Einschreiten die Vermittlung. Denn auch die Gottesnähe, die bleibende Gottesnähe ist durch ein Einschreiten göttlicher Allmacht, durch eine Wundertat göttlicher Allgnade, durch כפרה bedingt, die alles, was in unserer Vergangenheit unserem Streben der Gottesnähe gewürdigt zu werden entgegensteht, aufhebt und uns einer neuen reinen Zukunft fähig, wiedergeboren ihr hingibt. Die תרועה-תקיעה-תקיעה der Opfer ruft daher Gott zu uns (תקיעה), uns כפרה zu schaffen (תרועה), um uns ferner nahe bleibend durchs Leben zu geleiten (תקיעה).

Es ist nicht unmöglich, dass diese verschiedene Bedeutung der תקיעה תרועה תקיעה als Hilferuf oder als Opferruf auch in der Art ihrer Ausführung gekennzeichnet gewesen sein möge, und dort in Tonstärke und Dauer die תרועה, hier die תקיעות hervorgehoben waren; ähnlich wie dies für die Kombinierung von חצוצרות und שופר an תענית und ר׳׳ה (R. H. 26 b) die Vorschrift war.

והיו לכם לזכרון לפני אלדיכם. In Stellen wie והיה היום הזה לכם לזכרון (Schmot 12, 14) ebenso von den Namen auf אפוד und חשן (daselbst 28, 12 u. 29) und sonst auch von den ולזכרון בין עיניך :תפלין scheint זכרון nicht das Erinnerungsmittel, sondern das Objekt zu bezeichnen, auf welches das Gedächtnis gerichtet sein, das in Erinnerung gehalten werden soll. Auch hier scheint Subjekt von והיו nicht חצוצרות, sondern die עולות וזבחי שלמים zu sein, die durch die תקיעות für uns לזכרון לפני ד׳ gebracht werden. Die תקיעות sind der Aufruf zu Gott, Gott möge unsere Vollbringungen auf Erden wahrnehmen und unserer damit ausgedrückten Hingebungsgelöbnisse eingedenk bleiben, und das: והיו לכם וגו׳ verheißt abseiten Gottes die Erfüllung dieser zu ihm aufsteigenden Bitte und zugleich die Folgen derselben mit אני ד׳ אלקיכם, der Verwirklichung des uns verheißenen dauernden Bundesverhältnisses mit Gott. Näher betrachtet, entsprechen die drei Sätze: ותקעתם והיו לכם לוכרון ,אני ד׳ אלקיבם, dem Inhalte der ותקעתם .תקיעה ,תרועה ,תקיעה ist der mit der תקיעה zu Gott gerichtete Anund Aufruf, זכרון die von Gott in תרועה erflehte Würdigung unserer Opfer durch ל אני ד׳ אלקיכם כפרה die mit der letzten תקיעה auf Grund der כפרה erflehte, durchs Leben begleitende göttliche Bundesnähe. —

(Vergl. das zu Wajikra 23, 24 über die תקיעות mit שופר an ר׳׳ה und יובל Bemerkte.) R. H. 26 b u. 27 a wird gelehrt, dass im Tempel שופר und חצוצרת immer verbunden waren. An ר׳׳ה ertönten zu beiden Seiten des שופר gleichzeitig חצוצרת, das שופר länger, die חצוצרת kürzer, weil die eigentliche Mizwa des Tages שופר war. An Tagen des Notfastens, תעניות, ertönten den beiden חצוצרת zur Seite gleichzeitig שופרות, die חצוצרת länger, das שופר kürzer, weil חצוצרת die Tagesmizwa war. Diese Kombinierung der חצוצרת und שופר im Gottesheiligtum findet ihren Ausdruck in der Aufforderung בהצוצרת וקול שופר הריעו לפני המלך ד׳ (Ps.98, 6). Erwägen wir, dass mit שופר Gottes Ruf an uns, mit חצוצרת unser Ruf zu Gott ergeht, so spricht deren stete Verbindung im מקדש, der Stätte des Gottesgesetzes und der Gottesverheißungen, die Wahrheit aus: שופר wird von חצוצרת begleitet, und תצוצרת muss von שופר begleitet sein, d. h. wenn wir auf Gottes an uns ergehenden Ruf (שופר) hören, so können wir auch der Erhörung unseres zu Gott gerichteten Rufes (חצוצרת) gewärtig sein, und: wir können unseren Hilferuf in der Not (חצוצרת) nur dann zu Gott emporsenden, wenn wir gleichzeitig uns auffordern und entschließen, seiner an uns gerichteten Stimme (שופר) zu gehorchen. —

Einen Wortausdruck haben die תקיעות bei den Opfern in der רצה :ברכת עבודה unserer täglichen den תמידים entsprechenden ש׳׳ע, insbesondere aber in der Einschaltung: יעלה ויבא an מועד- und ר׳׳ח-Tagen gefunden.

בחדש השני [IN THE SECOND YEAR] IN THE SECOND MONTH [THE CLOUD DEPARTED] — Consequently you must say that they spent at Choreb twelve months less ten days, since on the New Moon of Sivan (the third month) they encamped there (Exodus 19:1) and did not journey until the twentieth of Eyar of the following year.

בחודש השני בעשרים בחודש, after the ritually impure had purified themselves and had brought their Passover offering on the 14th of the second month, the trumpets were constructed so that Moses could use them to call the people to mobilize for their journey away from Mount Sinai. The Torah informs us of the order in which the 4 army units and their flags were marching and how all this was organized with the help of the trumpets. It also describes the manner in which the trumpets were used on different occasions at the Temple and during times of war. When the cloud lifted off the Tabernacle it began its journey in the direction of Kadesh Barnea, which was the first town in the land of Israel which the Israelites encountered on that journey, described as the journey across “the great and awesome desert” in Deuteronomy 1,19, when Moses is quoted as recalling: “we arrived at Kadesh Barnea.”

בשנה השנית בחדש השני, in the second year in the second month, etc. In this instance the reason the Torah mentions the year before mentioning the month of the year was in order to establish a linkage between the paragraph describing the cloud lifting to the exact date on which this event occurred, i.e. on the twentieth of the month. [According to our author this is the preferred manner in which such matters are to be described. Ed.]

Twelve months minus ten days. As is written in Parshas Yisro (Shemos 19:1). (Divrei Dovid) asks: I do not know what Rashi is teaching us with this! It is apparently to resolve the difficulty with what is written above “or a year (lit. days) that the cloud prolonged its stay…” (9:22) which refers to a year. But where do we find that they camped for twelve months, given that the longest encampment was here at Chorev until [the journey to] the desert of Paran? This was not a complete year because Rosh Chodesh Sivan of the first year was the beginning of the encampment and on the twentieth of Iyar of the second year they traveled from there. He answers that only ten days were missing and since they were camped for most of Iyar it was as if they were there for the whole month, meaning that it was considered a complete year.

V. 11. מעל משכן העדות .ויהי בשנה וגו׳ (siehe zu Kap. 9, 15). Die Wolke ruhte auf dem משכן, weil es die Wohnung des Zeugnisses war. Sie ruhte eigentlich auf dem Zeugnis; denn eben es, das Zeugnis des göttlichen Gesetzes, war das Band, das die Gegenwart Gottes im Volke vermittelte. — בחדש השני בעשרים וגו׳. Es war am vierzehnten dieses Monats noch erst von den im Nissan verhindert Gewesenen das פסח קטן begangen und mit ihm wiederholt die Bestimmung Israels als Volk der Gottesführung zum Bewusstsein gebracht, bevor sie nun, nach fast zwölfmonatlichem Lagern am Sinai, ihre Weiterzüge zum Eintritt in das verheißene Land des Gesetzes antreten sollten.

למסעיהם means, in accordance with the regulations set forth for the journeys of their divisions — which should be the first to set out and which the last.

Kivros Hata’avoh. We see that from the desert of Paran, which was termed Kivros Hata’avoh, they traveled to Chatzeros, and afterwards it is written that the people traveled from Chatzeros and camped in the desert of Paran. But surely they had already been in the desert of Paran, which was Kivros Hata’avoh, as it is written here. Therefore Rashi explains that Kivros Hata’avoh was in the desert of Paran, meaning that the desert of Paran covered a large area and contained the places called Kivros Hata’avoh and Chatzeros, which were all in the desert of Paran. In the end they arrived at the border of the desert of Paran, which is what was meant when the Torah says that they camped in the desert of Paran at the end of the Parshah (12:16).

V. 12. נסע .ויסעו וגו׳ למסעיהם, verwandt mit ויסחך מאהל ,נסח (Ps.52,7), heißt eigentlich: sich aus seinem bisherigen Ruhepunkte erheben, daher: aufbrechen, sich in Bewegung setzen (daher auch das verwandte נפה ,נסה: jemandem eine Tätigkeit aufgeben, ihn prüfen, üben). Es heißt dann auch das fortgesetzte Aufbrechen, sich ununterbrochen erheben, in Fortbewegung bleiben: ziehen. Dieser Begriff: Ziehen wird ja vorzugsweise von der Fortbewegung einer schwer in Bewegung zu setzenden Masse, wie hier eines ganzen Lagers und so auch bei Abraham eines ganzen Hausstandes gebraucht, deren jeglicher Fortschritt eigentlich ein fortgesetztes Aufbrechen ist. In unserem Kapitel kommt es daher in beiden Bedeutungen: Aufbruch und Zug vor. Hier: sie brachen auf, um die ihnen bis zum Eintritt in das Land bevorstehenden Züge anzutreten. — ויסעו וגו׳ ממדבר סיני וישכן הענן במדבר פארן. Für jetzt war es nur noch ein Zug von einer Wüste in die andere.

וישכון הענן במדבר פארן, “and the cloud came to rest in the wilderness of Paran.” This region included the location which became known as Taveyrah, another name for kivrot hataavah, where the meat hungry people died from overeating as if ravenously hungry. Included were also the locations named chatzerot, Ritmah, and Kadesh, all reminders of minor or major disasters. Proof of this is the fact that in Parshat Massey where all 42 way stations of the journeys of the people are listed chronologically, no mention is made of the wilderness of Paran.

במדבר פראן IN THE WILDERNESS OF PARAN — The place “Kibroth-hattavah” (Numbers 12:34) was in the wilderness of Paran and there they encamped after this journey (cf. Numbers 33:16—17 with our verse and with Numbers 11:34—35).

After this journey. So that one would not err and say that they camped there after the second journey, after leaving Kivros Hata’avoh, since that place was called Taveirah. For this reason Rashi explained that it was “after this journey.”

V. 13. ויסעו בראשנה על פי ד׳ ביד משה. Auch von Ägypten bis zum Sinai waren sie unter göttlicher, durch Mosche vermittelter Führung gewandert. Allein in der in Vorstehendem gegebenen Weise: als Gottes Gesetzesvolk um das Heiligtum seines Gesetzes in Heereslagern gruppiert, nach der auf dem Gesetzeszeugnis ruhenden oder sich von ihm erhebenden Wolke zur Rast oder zur Wanderung gewiesen, und von der voranschreitenden Bundeslade des Gesetzeszeugnisses geleitet, also waren sie noch nie gewandert.

'על פי ה, “at the command of the Lord;” by means of blowing the trumpets. [not verbal commands to Moses each time. Ed.] An alternate interpretation of these words: the command of the Lord was conveyed to the people when they observed the Levites dismantling or reerecting the Tabernacle.

AND OVER HIS HOST WAS NACHSHON THE SON OF AMMINADAB. I do not know why He mentioned here the names of the princes of the standards, since He has already mentioned them.¹²¹Above, 2:3, 10, 18, 25. And if you answer that this was to hint that [on the twentieth of Iyar when they set out on the first journey from the wilderness] these princes were alive — this has already been alluded to in the section of the standards,¹²¹Above, 2:3, 10, 18, 25. since from the day of the census [on the first of Iyar] till the time of the journey [on the twentieth of that month] not one of all those who were counted died. Perhaps the verse comes to tell us that even when they travel on the way the prince is to go at the head of his host, who are to follow his command, and he is to dwell as a king in the army,¹²²Job 29:25. and they are not to travel as sheep which have no shepherd,¹²³Further, 27:17. nor are they to appoint someone else for this purpose, as they do in the case of the priest who was anointed for war purposes.¹²⁴See Deuteronomy 20:2-4.

ויסע דגל מחנה יהודה, “The flag of the camp of the tribe of Yehudah journeyed, etc.” Whereas the Torah writes the word נסע, when reporting the other camps as starting their respective journeys, in reporting that the camp of Yehudah began its journey the Torah wrote ויסע, using the inverted future mode. In terms of the respective numerical value of these two words, it results in Yehudah being shortchanged 40 as the word ויסע=146, whereas the word ונסע amounts to 186. This may be an allusion to the tradition that the bones of Yehudah were constantly in restless motion in their coffin throughout the 40 years that the Israelites wandered in the desert; a delayed retribution for his leading part in the sale of Joseph to the Ishmaelites.

V. 14. לצבאתם: in geordneten Heeresgruppen. Vermutlich waren auch innerhalb eines jeden Stammes die Familien zusammengruppiert, und bezieht sich hierauf diese bei allen Lagern wiederkehrende Bezeichnung. Es läge näher, sie auf die jeder Fahne zugeteilten drei צבאות von Stämmen zu beziehen, wenn es צבאותיו in bezug auf דגל oder מחנה hieße. Der Plural bezieht sich offenbar auf das vorangehende בני יהודה, und dürfte daher innerhalb der בני יהודה selbst mehrere צבאות voraussetzen lassen.

ועל צבאו, “and in charge of its army, etc.” Nachmanides writes that he did not know why the Torah at this stage mentions the princes in charge of each army group once more. If the Torah meant to tell us that all of these princes were still alive, we already know this from Numbers We have a tradition that from the day of the count reported in that chapter until the beginning of the journey of the Israelites from Mount Sinai not a single Israelite died. Perhaps what the Torah wanted to hint to us is that during the journey the respective prince always marched at the head of his army group and generally performed the functions incumbent upon him, issuing instructions to his tribe and ensuring that these instructions were carried out. Each tribal leader performed the function performed in later periods by the כהן משוח מלחמה, the priest anointed especially for duty during expansionary wars.

והורד המשכן THEN THE TABERNACLE WAS TAKEN DOWN — As soon as the division of Judah was on the point of journeying, Aaron and his sons went in (into the Tabernacle), took down the Partition Vail and covered the Ark with it, as it is said, (Numbers 4:5) “and when the camp setteth forward (i. e. is on the point of setting forward) Aaron shall come, and his sons, [and they shall take down the Partition Vail, etc.]”; the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari then dismantled the Tabernacle, and loaded it on the waggons, and started off (so Berliner’s edition which adds ונוסעים). The Ark and the other holy vessels, the burden of the sons of Kohath (cf. Numbers 3:31), remained as they were, covered over, the latter hanging on poles, until the division of the sons of Reuben set out, and only after that did (v. 21) “the Kohathites set forward”.

AND THE TABERNACLE WAS TAKEN DOWN; AND THE SONS OF GERSHON AND THE SONS OF MERARI WHO BORE THE TABERNACLE SET FORWARD. The indication of the verses on this subject is as follows: After the standard of Judah had set forward, they would begin dismantling the Tabernacle, and the beginning of this dismantling was when Aaron and his sons came [into the Tabernacle] and took down the partition Veil, as it says, And when ‘the camp’ setteth forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons, and they shall take down the Veil etc.,¹²⁵Above, 4:5. that is to say, when the first camp [i.e., that of Judah] set forth. When they [the priests] finished covering the ark and all the holy vessels which were to be borne by the Kohathites, the Levites would take down the whole Tabernacle and load it upon the wagons; and the sons of Gershon and Merari then journeyed [with these wagons] after the standard of Judah, the ark and the holy vessels remaining covered and placed upon the staves until the standard of Reuben set forth. And the meaning of the verse Then the Tent of Meeting, with the camp of the Levites, shall set forward in the midst of the camps¹²⁶Ibid., 2:17. is that the Tent of Meeting together with all the camps of the Levites shall set forward in the midst of those camps perviously mentioned, for the Gershonites and Merarites journeyed between the standard of Judah and that of Reuben, while the Kohathites journeyed between the standard of Reuben and that of Ephraim, as He is to explain. He mentioned the reason [for the Gershonites and Merarites journeying before the Kohathites, namely] so that they might set up the Tabernacle before they [the Kohathites who carried the ark and the holy vessels] arrive¹²⁷Verse 21. [and thus they could immediately deposit the holy vessels therein].
However, in the Beraitha of the Work of the Tabernacle¹⁰⁵Beraitha of M’lecheth Hamishkan, Chapter 13. I have seen the following text: “They blew t’kiah, t’ruah, ‘t’kiah,¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. and the standard of Judah would set forth first, as it is said, And in the first place the standard of the camp of the children of Judah set forward.¹²⁸Verse 14. The sons of Aaron would then enter [the Tent of Meeting] and take down the Veil, and cover the ark with it, as it is said, And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall go in, and his sons etc.¹²⁵Above, 4:5. They then blew t’kiah, t’ruah, t’kiah,¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. and the standard of the camp of Reuben would set forth. The sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari would immediately enter and dismantle the Tabernacle, and load it upon wagons and re-erect it [in the new resting-place] by the time the sons of Kohath arrived, as it is said, And the Kohathites the bearers of the Sanctuary set forward, that the Tabernacle might be set up against their coming.¹²⁷Verse 21. They blew t’kiah, t’ruah, t’kiah,¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. and the standard of Ephraim would set forth. The sons of Kohath would immediately enter and dismantle the Sanctuary,¹²⁹The word hamikdash (the Sanctuary) is evidently to be understood as in Verse 21 here: And the Kohathites the bearers of ‘the Sanctuary’ set forward, which Rashi explains as meaning: “the bearers of ‘the holy vessels’” [and not of the Sanctuary itself, for it was carried by the sons of Gershon and Merari]. This explanation is also clearly evident from the language of Ramban further on [“and the sons of Kohath would … load the holy vessels upon their shoulders”]. and put it upon their shoulders, as it is said, And when Aaron and his sons have finished covering the Sanctuary etc.”¹³⁰Above, 4:15. — The Beraitha of the Work of the Tabernacle thus contradicts the previous explanation, that the Gershonites and the Merarites set forward immediately after the standard of Judah, since the Beraitha states that they journeyed after the standard of Reuben. Ramban now interprets the Beraitha so that it accords with the above interpretation which is in line with the simple meaning of Scripture. But perhaps the following is the correct interpretation of the Beraitha: “They blew t’kiah, t’ruah, t’kiah¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. to alert the standard of Reuben to set forth, [but they did not actually set forth at once, for] immediately the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari would precede them and dismantle the Tabernacle, but they would journey before the sons of Reuben. Similarly, they blew t’kiah, t’ruah, t’kiah¹⁰²A t’ruah is a succession of nine tremulous or quavering sounds. A t’kiah is a continuous plain sound. The sh’varim are broken disconnected sounds, but they are not as broken as those of the t’ruah. The three broken sounds of the sh’varim are equal [in length of time] to the nine quavering sounds of the t’ruah. that the standard of Ephraim be ready to set forth, and the sons of Kohath would immediately set forth and load the holy vessels upon their shoulders, and they would journey before the sons of Ephraim.” Thus the Rabbis taught that the journeying of the Levites should be preceded by blowing [of the trumpets], and immediately after them came the standard which followed them.

והורד המשכן, “The Tabernacle was dismantled.” The meaning of the paragraph starting with ויהי בשנה השנית in 10,11 is to describe the journey of the Tabernacle, i.e. the camp of the Levites traveling surrounded by the various army groups, as Rashi has outlined when he described that as soon as the army group of Yehudah had started marching the sons of Aaron would lower the dividing curtain in the Tabernacle and would wrap up the various sacred furnishings. When these had been wrapped, the Levites, i.e. Gersonides and Merarites, took apart the beams comprising the walls of the Tabernacle and loaded them onto the wagons, etc. These wagons with those Levites would be traveling behind the army group of Yehudah, ahead of the army group of Reuven.

V. 17. והורד המשכן וגו׳ und V. 21. ונסעו הקהתים וגו׳, siehe zu V. 6.

נשאי המקדש means, the bearers of the holy articles (not of the structure of the Sanctuary itself for this was the burden of the sons of Gershon and Merari; cf. v. 17).

Who were preceded. Meaning that Scripture uses abbreviated language. והקימו (they erected) either refers to those who erected, or it refers to the sons of Gershon and Merori who were mentioned previously. It is not possible to say that the Kehosites erected it before the arrival of the sons of Gershon and Merori. He adds that this was “when the cloud rested” and “the signal for making camp…” because without this it would have appeared that the sons of Gershon and Merori who traveled before the camp would encamp in any place that saw fit. But this is impossible because it is written “they camped by the word of Hashem” (9:18). The meaning of “by the time of their arrival” is “before they arrived,” because the intent of this statement is that at the time when they arrived the Mishkon was set up and they would immediately place the Ark and the Holy vessels inside.

והקימו את המשכן, “so that they would be able to erect the Tabernacle.” According to Rashi, the subjects in this verse are the members of the house of Gershon and Merari. There is a full stop here in Rashi’s commentary. When Rashi continues there with: “two army groups had already preceded them,” this does not refer to the ”Merarites and Gersonidides,”but refers to a different subject, namely the order in which the journeys proceeded. Rashi has to be understood as follows; “when did the members of the house of Gershon and Merari reerect the Tabernacle? After the first two army groups which had already preceded them and who in turn had preceded the Kehatites carrying the Holy Ark on their shoulders, had passed. The members of the house of Gershon and Merari had traveled as part of the first two army groups. When they observed that the cloud had stopped moving, this was their signal to reerect the Tabernacle. During that period the Kehatites arrived and found the Tabernacle ready to receive the Holy Ark.

והקימו את המשכן AND THEY SET UP THE TABERNACLE [BEFORE THEY CAME] — this means: The sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari who were in front of them (the Kohathites) travelling together with the two divisions, those of Judah and Reuben, set up the Tabernacle as soon as the cloud rested, and the sign for encamping became visible above the division of the camp of Judah (cf. Rashi on 9:17). Now when they encamped and whilst the sons of Kohath were coming after them with the two last divisions (Ephraim and Dan), the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari erected the Sanctuary. When the sons of Kohath arrived, they already found it in its proper place and they put into it the Ark, the table, the candelabrum and the altars. The following therefore is what the verse implies: והקימו, and they — i.e. those who had to erect the Tabernacle — erected it, עד before באם their arrival — the arrival of the sons of Kohath.

The departure of the two banners. Meaning that the sons of Gershon and Merori would travel before the camps. When the Torah writes “the banner of the camp of Yehudah traveled” (v.13) and afterwards it is written “and dismantled the Mishkon” (v. 17), Re’m explains that “the banner of the camp of Yehudah traveled” means that they prepared to travel but not that they actually traveled, as it is explained there in depth. If so, the sons of Merori and the sons of Gershon preceded the sons of Kehos by two banners. Before the banner of the camp of Yehudah traveled, and immediately after they saw the cloud depart, Aharon and his sons came in and dismantled the Paroches and covered the Ark with it. The sons of Gershon and the sons of Merori then dismantled the Mishkon and loaded it onto the wagons and traveled. However, the Ark and the Holy vessels in the load of the sons of Kehos would remain covered and placed upon poles until the banner of the camp of Reuven traveled.

מאסף לכל המחנת [THEN THE BANNER OF THE CAMP OF THE CHILDREN OF DAN SET FORWARD] WHICH WAS THE GATHERER OF ALL THE CAMPS — The Talmud Yerushalmi Eruvin 5:1 has the following statement: Because the tribe of Dan consisted of numerous troops (i. e. was more numerous than each of the other tribes, except Judah which marched on the front, cf. Chapter II), it marched in the rear so that if anyone of the other tribes lost anything, he (Dan) restored it to him. (מאסף לכל המחנת therefore means “the one who gathered in everything belonging to all the camps”.) — There is one authority that holds that they traveled in formation like a box (i.e. in a military square) and derives this from the text, (Numbers 2:17) “just as they encamp so shall they journey” , and there is another authority that maintains that they traveled in a straight line like a beam, and derives this from the statement that Dan was “the gatherer of all the camps”.

They traveled in the shape of a box. Like Rashi explains in Parshas Bamidbar (2:9) — the banner of Yehudah was on the east, Reuven’s on the south, Ephraim’s on the west and Don’s on the north. Therefore they had to spread out to a width of two banners and consequently [Don] had to be heavily populated. However, according to the opinion that they traveled one after the other in the shape of a beam, and deriving this from “gatherer for all the camps” — even if Don was not heavily populated, they could gather whatever was lost. You might ask: The tribes [traveling under the banner] of Yehudah were more populous than the tribes [traveling under the banner] of Don, because the tribes [traveling under the banner] of Yehudah comprised 186,400 while the tribes [traveling under the banner] of Don totaled only 157,600, as the Torah writes in Parshas Bamidbar (2:9, 31). (Gur Aryeh) answers: Yehudah traveled first, given that he was the king, and therefore the last to travel was Don who had the largest population after Yehudah.

V. 25. מאסף לכל המחנות. Der Wurzel אסף liegt der Begriff zu Grunde: etwas ganz in sich, oder überhaupt zu einem von allem andern gesonderten Zwecke hinnehmen. Es ist, ebenso wie viele andere אבר ,אכל ,פ׳׳א usw. (siehe Bereschit 31, 37 u. f.) סף: mit vorgesetztem individualisierendem א׳: enden, aufhören, um einer einzigen anderen Bestimmung hingegeben zu werden (vergl. zu Bereschit 49, 1). Daher heißt אסף ja auch einfach: fortnehmen, ohne Rücksicht auf eine andere Hinwendung des Gegenstandes, wie: אסף ד׳ את חרפתי (Bereschit 36, 23 und sonst). Bei einer ins Feld ziehenden Heeressäule heißt die voranschreitende Spitze: החלוץ, wörtlich: der "Detachierte", es ist die vom übrigen Truppenkörper losgelöste, vorausgesandte, "rüstigste" Truppe, die zuerst ins Treffen kommt und überhaupt überall die ersten Schwierigkeiten zu überwinden hat. Der Schlussteil der Heeressäule heißt: מאסף, die den Truppenkörper abschließende, zu einer Einheit bindende und zusammenhaltende Truppe, die "Nachhut", eine Bezeichnung, in welcher wohl auch der mit אסף verwandte Begriff des abwehrenden Schutzes seinen Ausdruck findet (siehe Josua 6, 9 ff.). Im Jeruschalmi (Erubin 5, 1) sind zwei Ansichten über die Zuggestalt, in welcher die Lager auf den Zügen sich gruppierten. Die eine Ansicht gibt ihr die Quadratform, כמין תיבה, ganz so wie sie auch lagerten, Juda voran, rechts Reuben, links Dan, Efrajim im Rücken; denn es heißt: כאשר יחנו כן יסעו (Kap. 2, 17). Die andere Ansicht schließt aus unserem Verse: מאסף לכל המחנות, dass sie כקורה, in gerade gestreckter Linie gezogen, Juda an der Spitze, ihm nachfolgend Reuben, Efrajim und Dan, welcher letzterer somit im wahren Sinee מאסף, die Heeressäule schloss. Allein, wenn wir bedenken, dass nach Kap. 10, 14-21 unbezweifelt die Kehatiden dem Lager Reuben folgten, damit die dem Lager Juda folgenden Gersoniden und Merariden das משכן bereits aufgeschlagen haben konnten, wann die Kehathiden eintrafen, und ebenso, dass das Lager Dan erst nach dem Lager Efrajim sich in Bewegung setzte, wie es hier die Reihenfolge lehrt, und Kap. 2, 31 ausdrücklich heißt: לאחרונה יסעו so kann schwerlich die Ansicht כמין תיבה der Meinung sein, dass sie auch auf ihren Zügen die Form eines geschlossenen Ouadrats bewahrten; vielmehr dürfte diese Ansicht nur die Auffassung geben, dass sie auch in ihren Zügen die Ordnung der Lagerung also bewahrten, dass Juda voran, sodann nicht hinter Juda, sondern rechts gehalten, Reuben folgte, darauf in gerader Linie mit Juda Efrajim zog und endlich links gehalten Dan die Züge schloss, so dass beim Haltmachen zur Lagerrast jedes Lager in die angeordnete Seitenstellung eintraf.

מאסף כל המחנות, “as the rearguard of all the camps;” the word מאסף, which literally means “ingathering,” was chosen here as this tribe was responsible to see to it that any stragglers who for one reason or another had not been able to keep up with the pace of the rest of the people, would not be left behind.

מאסף לכל המחנות, “the rearguard of all the camps. (army groups) Rashi comments that the reason why the tribe of Dan formed the rearguard was that it was very numerous. Anyone who had lost something during the journey would hand it in to members of that tribe awaiting the loser to claim it. This follows the opinion that the Israelites were moving in the pattern of a box. The camp of Dan was in a northerly direction as a matter of routine. [The land of Israel being situated north of the land of Egypt, this would be normal. Ed.] Seeing that they numbered so many soldiers they could spread out over a wide area so that the left flank would actually be partially in the west. It would therefore be appropriate to apply the term מאסף, “ingatherer,” to that army group headed by the Danites. If you were to argue that according to the text of the Torah, the army group headed by Yehudah numbered about 16000 more soldiers than that of Dan, what Rashi meant was that of the three tribes comprising the army group headed by Dan, the tribe of Dan itself was more numerous that the other two tribes that formed part of his army group. The members of the tribe Dan itself were the hindmost of all the tribes in the various army groups.

Another opinion is that they traveled in the shape of a beam. When they camped, it was in the shape of a box, as is written in Parshas Bamidbar. You might ask: According to the opinion that they traveled like a beam, how do we understand the words “as they camp, so shall they travel” (2:17). The answer is that as they camped — each man with his banner and his camp — so too they traveled; as it is written “Bnei Yisroel shall camp, each man at his own banner, and each man at his own camp” (1:52).

מאסף לכל המחנות, “the hindmost of all the army groups;” if any member of any of the other army groups due to fatigue fell behind, they would all be included in the group headed by the tribe of Dan, so that they would not become lone stragglers. We find the expression מאסף having a similar meaning in Judges 19,18: ואין איש מאסף אותי הביתה, “and no one would be willing to give me shelter in his house.”

אלה מסעי means: This is the order, of their journeyings (i.e. these words do not mean, “these are the stations”, as the introductory words of chapter Numbers 33:1, where the names of the stations are enumerated; here Scripture merely intends to state that this was the order which they had to keep when journeying).

This is the order of their journeys. Rashi is answering the question: “These are the journeys” implies that it refers to the places where they camped and traveled from. However, here the Torah does not expand on the details; instead it describes them later in Parshas Masei. Thus Rashi explains that this is the order of their journeys, meaning that “these are the journeys” refers to the order of their journeys — how they would journey, who was first and who was last.

V. 28. אלה מסעי: so war überhaupt die Aufbruch- und Zugesordnung bei allen ihren ferneren Zügen, ויסעו, und jetzt, nun zogen sie also.

ויסעו AND THEY JOURNEYED means, on the very same day mentioned at the beginning of the chapter did they set off.

On that day they journeyed. Meaning on the day when the cloud was removed. One should not say that since the cloud preceded them by three days in order to prepare the way, they certainly traveled on the next day. For this reason Rashi explains that they traveled immediately. Re’m explains that “They journeyed on that day” refers to the twentieth day of the second month. However, “Bnei Yisroel traveled on their journeys” (v.12) merely means that they traveled according to the order of the banners journeying.

חבב is identical with Jethro, as it is said, (Judges 4:11) of the sons of Hobab, the father-in-law of Moses”. (Thus חתן משה in our verse is to be connected with חבב and not with רעואל המדיני immediately preceding). — But why then does it state (Exodus 2:18) “and they (the daughters of Jethro) came to Reuel, their father”, since he was their grandfather and not their father? It teaches us that children are in the habit of calling their grandfather by the term “father”. — He (Jethro) was called by several names: Jethro, because he added (it was through him there was added) a section to the Torah (viz., Exodus 18:21 ff.); Hobab (חֹבָב) because he loved (חֹבֵב) the Torah, etc.

AND MOSES SAID UNTO CHOBAB. I have already explained¹³¹At the beginning of Seder Yithro (Exodus 18:1). that Chobab [of the root chavav — love] was the new name which they gave to Jethro when he converted to the Torah of Israel, for such is the way of all proselytes, for he calls His servants by another name.¹³²Isaiah 65:15. See my Hebrew commentary, p. 230, for source of this practice of renaming proselytes. Now Moses had begged him to go with them and had told him without explanation, and we will do thee good.¹³³In Verse 29 before us. But Chobab thought that they would give him of the spoil, silver and gold, garments, sheep and herd, but that he would not have an inheritance among them [in the Land]. Therefore he did not want [to go with them] and he answered, “But I will depart to mine own land, and to my kindred,¹³⁴Verse 30. since there I have an inheritance, wealth and honor.” So Moses told him, “'Leave us not, I pray thee,’¹³⁵Verse 31. for because of your familiarity with the wilderness thou shalt be to us instead of eyes¹³⁵Verse 31. [i.e., a guide] in the conquest of the lands, and you will show us the way by which we must go up,¹³⁶Deuteronomy 1:22. and of all that goodness the Eternal shall do unto us, the same we will do unto thee.”¹³⁷Verse 32. Moses thus hinted that he would be given an inheritance in the good Land as a reward for his trouble and help that he would extend to them in the conquest of the Land. In my opinion Chobab consented to this offer and he did so [as Moses requested of him], as I have mentioned there.¹³¹At the beginning of Seder Yithro (Exodus 18:1). And so the Rabbis said in the Yerushalmi:¹³⁸Yerushalmi, Bikurim I, 4. On the term “Yerushalmi,” see Vol. III, p. 192, Note 44. “The children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, bring first-fruits and read [the section of first-fruits, wherein it is stated, I have brought the first of the fruit of the soil which Thou, O Eternal, hast given me],¹³⁹Deuteronomy 26:10. because it is written, Come thou with us, and we will do thee good.”¹³³In Verse 29 before us.

נסעים אנחנו, "we are about to commence our journey, etc." Why did Moses use this introduction? Yitro knew that the Israelites were about to journey towards the land of Canaan! The Sifri on our verse, apparently aware of this question, says that Moses meant to emphasise that a single journey would suffice to bring the Israelites to their ultimate destination. We may see confirmation of this in Moses using the word אותו, "it," when referring to the place the journey would lead to. This word was quite unnecessary. Moses clearly referred only to to the land of Canaan seeing that G'd had never promised the patriarchs that the Israelites would inherit the lands of Sichon and Og. He meant to stress that there would be only that one journey. Another meaning of what Moses might have referred to was that the words אתן לכם referred to the lands of Sichon and Og which G'd would give to the Israelites of the present generation without having already allocated it to the patriarchs (compare what we wrote on Numbers 7,42). Seeing that at that time the Israelites were on the way to Canaan via the lands of Sichon and Og, Moses did not mention the land of Canaan by name but spoke vaguely about the land that G'd said He would give to the Israelites although he had not promised this to their forefathers. He had prophetic knowledge of this although G'd had not yet mentioned any of this to the people. This in spite of Sifri 2,289 describing those lands as having been appropriated by the Israelites themselves. The fact is that G'd approved of that conquest as a land the Israelites settled in after the event.

לחובב, another name for Yitro, as we know from Judges 4,11 מבני חובב חותן משה, “of the sons of Chovav, the father-in-law of Moses.”

ויאמר משה לחובב, “Moses said to his father-in-law Chovav, etc.” Ibn Ezra writes that Re-uel was the father of Tzipporah, as we know from Exodus 2,18 ותבאנה אל רעואל אביהם, “when they came home to their father Re-uel, etc.” Chovav was the brother of Tzipporah and he is identical with Yitro, for the Torah wrote that Moses said of him: (verse 31) ידעת חנותנו במדבר, “you are familiar with where we are encamped in the desert,” and it is also written in connection with Yitro (Exodus 18,5) אל המדבר אשר הוא חונה שם, “to the desert where he was camping” (Moses). If someone were to argue that Yitro was Moses’ father-in-law, the answer is that it is the custom of the Torah to refer to the father of the girl as well as to her brother as חותן, proof being the line לחובב בן רעואל המדיני חותן משה after it had already been made clear that Chovav was a brother of Tzipporah. Many commentators are of the opinion that Chovav and Yitro are identical, that he was the father of Tzipporah, whereas Re-uel was the grandfather. As far as the words אל רעואל אביהם is concerned, this is no different than when the Torah quotes Yaakov as referring to אלוקי אבי אברהם, the “G’d of my father Avraham,” when we all know that Avraham was Yaakov’s grandfather and not his father. Nachmanides writes that Moses pleaded with Chovav to accompany the Jewish people, saying to him in general terms והטבנו לך, “we will treat you well;” Chovav understood this to mean that the Jewish people would let him share in the spoils of war but that he would not receive a share of the Land of Israel as an ancestral piece of land. This is why Chovav replied that in that case he would prefer to return to a land that was his own, where he was not just tolerated as a newcomer to whom one had accorded a courtesy. When Moses became aware of Chovav having misunderstood the nature of his offer, he changed his approach by begging Chovav not to abandon him and the Jewish people, seeing that he had already become so valuable to them by having served as their eyes. He added that they would share with him all the good G’d were to do for His people on an equal basis. He hinted that Chovav would receive a portion of the land as an ancestral heritage. Nachmanides believes that Chovav accepted this offer and bases himself on the Jerusalem Talmud (Bikkurim 1,5) where the descendants of the Keyni, (Yitro’s offspring) are granted the right to refer to the land of Israel as their heritage and they read the passage about bikkurim just as does any natural born Jew whose ancestors had been slaves in Egypt. Their claim is based on Moses having said to Chovav לכה אתנו, “please join us,” in our verse above.

ויאמר משה לחובב, “Moses said to Chovav, etc.” Nachmanides writes that the Chovav mentioned here is identical with Yitro, Moses’- father-in-law. He was given a new name when he converted to Judaism. It is customary to give converts a new name when they are accepted into the Jewish religion. This is what happened to Tzipporah’s father. Her grandfather’s name was Reu-el. This is based on Isaiah 65,15 that “His servants will be known by another name.” This is the meaning of Exodus 2,18: “the said to Reu-el their father,” i.e. to their grandfather. The reference to a grandfather as a “father” is not unusual; we have seen this already in Genesis 32,1 where Yaakov speaks about “the G’d of my father Avraham.” We also find that Belshazzar was described as the son of Nevuchadnezzar although he was the grandson of Nevuchadnezzar (Daniel 5,2).
On the other hand, our sages in the Mechilta at the beginning of Parshat Yitro claim that Yitro had seven different names.
When Yitro said in verse 30: “I will not go but I will return to my country and my birthplace I will go,” Moses had turned to him without specific proposals just saying the Jewish people would treat him well (verse 29). Yitro understood this remark in terms of the Israelites giving him money, that they were going to let him share in the loot to be gained as a result of the conquest of the land of the Canaanites. He did not think that Moses’ promise would include land in the conquered country. This is why he declined the offer. He pointed out that in his own country he was better of, owning inalienable pieces of land, enjoying prestige, etc. When Moses became aware of this he told him: “please do not abandon us, etc.” He implied that Yitro’s knowledge of the desert etc., made him invaluable to the Jewish people. He assured him that he would share in all the advantages that would accrue to the Jewish people. He hinted that there would be a proper heritage for Yitro and his family in Eretz Yisrael in return for his assistance in conquering the land. I believe that Yitro agreed to this proposal. Thus far the commentary of Nachmanides.

This was Yisro. Rashi is answering the question: It is not clear to whom the phrase “Moshe’s father-in-law” in this verse refers — whether it refers to Reuel or to Chovav his son? He answers that it refers to Chovav who was Yisro, as it states “Of the children…” Re’m There are those who ask: Surely Rashi already gave this explanation in Parshas Yisro? Furthermore, why did he have to mention that Yisro had many names? The answer is that Rashi was answering the question: The Torah writes “Chovav son of Reuel…” This presents a difficulty either way; if Chovav was Yisro, and Reuel was his father — then Yisro was not called Reuel. But if Chovav was the son of Yisro, meaning that Yisro was called Reuel then he could not have been called Chovav. If so, how do we find that he had seven names? Rashi answers that Chovav was Yisro and that he was also called Reuel. And do not be surprised that Yisro was called Reuel when his father was also called Reuel. With regard to his father, his actual name was “Reuel,” this is to be contrasted with Yisro who was called Reuel because of his actions — for he became a ריע לאל (a friend to God).

V. 29. ויאמר משה. Richter 4, 11 wird חובב der Schwiegervater Mosche, חתן משון, genannt, es bezieht sich daher auch hier das חתן משה wohl nicht auf רעואל sondern auf הבב, und wenn Schmot 2, 18 רעואל der Vater, אביהן, Ziporas und ihrer Schwestern genannt wird, so ist darunter wohl nur der Großvater zu verstehen, wie אלהי אבי אברהם (Bereschit 32, 10) und in sonstigen Stellen, auf welche Ramban dort hinweist. Als eigentlicher Name erscheint Schmot 3, 1 u. 4, 18 יתר und יתרו, so ja auch Schmot18. Nach Ramban (daselbst) habe Jitro nach seinem Übertritt zum Judentum den Namen חובב erhalten und erscheint daher seitdem unter diesem Namen. Siehe auch ספרי zur Stelle. Die Wurzel חבב, im Rabbinischen so häufig Ausdruck der Liebe und Wertschätzung, kommt in תנ׳׳ך nur einmal: Dewarim 33, 3 vor: אף חובב עמים כל קדשיו בידך. Verwandt scheint die Wurzel mit dem ebenfalls rabbinisch sehr gebräuchlichen, in תנ ך nur einmal vorkommenden חוב, die Schuldpflicht: חבולתו חוב ישיב die Zurückgebung des Pfandes übt er als eine Schuldpflicht (Ezech. 18, 7), und es dürfte חבב eine verpflichtende Liebe und eine Liebe aus Pflichtgefühl bedeuten. Dürfte vielleicht die Stelle אף חובב עמים sagen: auch wenn du die Völker durch höchste Wohltat verpflichten willst, nimmst du seine, Israels, Heilige alle in deine Hand: d. h. indem du den Völkern die höchste Wohltat erzeigen willst, sind Israels Heilige dazu das Werkzeug in deiner Hand, והם תכו לרגלך וגו׳ sie, die Völker: werden in sich zu deinen Füßen geführt, indem es, Israel, von deinen Worten ihnen entgegenträgt, — dürfte dies vielleicht der Sinn der Stelle sein: so wäre ja חבב der spezifische Ausdruck für die die Völker zur Gotteserkenntnis und zum Gottesgehorsam durch Israel führende Gotteswaltung, die eben hierin die größte, die Völker verpflichtende Liebestat übt, und חובב (vergl. die Formen: עוֹלָל ,שׁוֹלָל ,שׁוֹבָב die alle passivischer Bedeutung sind) wäre der durch solche höchste Liebestat Gott Verpflichtete und sich verpflichtet Fühlende, ein Name, der dem so bewusstvoll vom Heidentum ins Judentum eingetretenen Jitro in hohem Grade gebührte. Welcher Pflichternst sich von Jithro auf seine Nachkommen vererbte und in hervorleuchtendster Weise in ihnen zur Betätigung kam, werden wir noch unten (Verse 31 und 32) zu bemerken Gelegenheit haben.

נוסעים אנחנו, “we are about to embark on our journey to the Holy Land;” according to Rashi, Moses invites Yitro to become a partner to Israel. At this point Moses still believes that both he and the people are on the way to immediately enter the Holy Land and to settle there. When Moses had suggested to G-d that He send someone else to be the leader of the Jewish people, (Exodus 4,13), Rashi commented that the reason why Moses said this was that he knew that he himself would not get to the Holy Land. According to the plain meaning of what Moses is saying here to his fatherinlaw, it is clear that he included himself among the people who would get to the land of Israel. He reasoned that if the people were to know that the man who had taken them out of Egypt and performed all these miracles would not be allowed to enter the Holy Land, what possible chance would an ordinary Israelite have to ever to get to that land? He therefore pretended that he would get there. An alternate interpretation: Moses said this only to Yitro, as he reasoned that if he told or hinted to Yitro that he himself would not get to the Holy Land, surely Yitro would not believe that he would succeed where Moses did not, and therefore he would decline Moses’ offer.

נוסעים אנחנו אל המקום WE ARE JOURNEYING UNTO THE PLACE — Immediately — within three days — we shall enter the Land of Canaan. They said this, because on this first journey after leaving Sinai they really set out with a view to entering the Land of Israel, only that they sinned at the incident of “those who complained” which prevented their further progress (Numbers 11:1). — But why did Moses include himself with them in the statement “ we are journeying” to enter the land? Because the decree that he should not enter it had not yet been made regarding him, and he was yet under the belief that he would enter (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 78:3).

Within three days. For it is not written “we are הולכים (going)” rather “נוסעים (journeying).” This implies that this was [still] their first journey, except that they sinned in the incident of the complainers. And what Rashi comments “within three days…” his proof is because in this passage it is written “they traveled from the mountain of Hashem a journey of three days” (v. 33).

Still another thought that Moses may have had in mind when he said the words אותו אתן לכם is that they were a hint that Moses personally would capture those lands and allow the two and a half tribes to inherit them. The singular אותו was an allusion to the fact that Moses would not conquer the land of Canaan on the West bank of the Jordan, but that G'd would give it to Joshua.

נסעים אנחנו: Es geschah also dieser Aufbruch in der Voraussetzung, nunmehr sofort in das Land einzuziehen. Die Gesetzgebung war ja vollendet und stand somit zunächst die Besitzergreifung des Bodens bevor, auf welchem das Gesetz seine volle Verwirklichung finden sollte.

והטבנו לך, “we will treat you well.” He meant that Yitro would be allowed to share in the loot the Israelites would secure from the Canaanites. He had not been authorized by G-d to promise him an ancestral piece of land in the Holy Land.

And he thought he would enter. You might ask: In Parshas Shemos, Rashi explains the [meaning of the] words “in the hand of another whomever you wish to send” (4:13) that ultimately Moshe would not bring them into the Land, or be their redeemer in the future. From there we see that Moshe knew that a decree had been issued [so why did he now think that he may enter]? The answer is that he certainly knew that he would not enter the Land to be a leader over them, nonetheless he thought that he would enter like [an ordinary] person amongst them. However this raises a difficulty: At the end of Parshas Shemos (6:1) Rashi explains that “You will see what will be done to Pharaoh, but you will not see what will be done to the seven kings of the nations when I bring them in to the Land.” This implies that he would not enter at all. The explanation is that he certainly thought that he would enter, however the conquest of the Land of Israel lasted fourteen years and Moshe thought that Hashem was telling him that he would not [live to] see those fourteen years, rather that he would enter and die there. Therefore Rashi here states that he thought that he would enter, but not that he would bring them in — for Moshe knew that he would not bring them in. We also see this in Parshas Chukas (20:12). [One might ask:] In Parshas Beshalach (Shemos 15:17) Rashi comments on the phrase “you will bring them” that Moshe prophesied that he would not enter the Land of Israel, apparently not even as an ordinary Jew, while here Rashi comments that he thought that he would enter. The answer is that he prophesied but he did not know what he prophesied. (Nachalas Yaakov) He answers the difficulty stemming from the verse (Shemos 6:1) “Now you will see…” — but you will not see the war with the seven kings. The verse is to be understood as follows: The decree of “because you did not believe in Me” (Bamidbar 20:12) had not yet been issued. Regarding that decree the Torah writes “therefore you will not bring this congregation in to the Land.” Rashi explains that He swore precipitously so that they would not engage in lengthy prayer over this, implying that they would have been able to annul the first decree through prayer. Therefore Moshe here says “we are journeying” because he was not concerned about the decree of “Now you will see…” because he thought that it would be annulled through prayer. Consequently, he did not wish to involve himself in lengthy prayers until the time came, and this is why he said “we are journeying.”

לכה אתנו והטבנו לך. "come with us and we will treat you well." According to Sifri 1,132 Moses indicated that the land of Canaan would only be shared out amongst the ancestral tribes, excluding proselytes. A a result he could not promise his father-in-law a share in that distribution except as a gift rather than as an ancestral possession for all times. This is the reason Moses phrased his promise carefully, saying והטבנו לך, "we will do good for you." The implication was that the Israelites would donate some of their land to Yitro. Moses was afraid that there were five kinds of objections Yitro could raise, all of which would cause him to decline Moses' offer. As a result of Moses' concern for his father-in-law's sensitivities he tried to anticipate them when he made his offer. The five considerations Yitro could have were the following: 1) A recipient of a gift feels embarassed vis-a-vis the donor as we know from the Jerusalem Talmud Orlah 1,3 where this principle is applied to people eating food which is not their own. 2) The recipient feels that if he were to accept the gift his image would henceforth be reduced in the eyes of the donor. 3) Seeing that people of stature feel they demean themselves by accepting relatively small gifts, Yitro might prefer to do without the gift rather than to lose "face" by accepting something not commensurate with his image of himself as an important personage. The remaining 2 reservations Yitro might have had to do with the nature of the promise. Moses might reconsider his promise at some future date prior to it having been fulfilled. This could be due either to 4) Moses changing his mind due to envy or due to miserliness or because the fondness he entertained for Yitro at this time might undergo a change. 5) A time would come when Moses would simply not be able to make good on his promise. Considering all these reservations Yitro might entertain Moses addressed all of them in the way he phrased his offer.

When Moses invited Yitro to journey with the Israelites as a prelude to his receiving the gift of part of the land of Canaan, he wanted to make him feel that as a result of his travelling with the Israelites he would have some kind of claim on being compensated. He did not need to look at the gift as something undeserved. There was no call for him to feel in the least embarassed about accepting a piece of land in the land of Canaan. He would also not have to feel that he would lose face in the eyes of the donor as he would receive only what he deserved. Neither would he have to worry about the promise being reneged on seeing that he was not abandoning his country and travelling with the Jewish people except on condition that they would keep their promise to him. When Moses chose the expression והטבנו לך, he stressed that the size of the gift would be commensurate with a personage of his eminence and accepting it would in no way demean him or his children. In fact the piece of land Moses had in mind to grant to Yitro and his family would be qualitatively superior to that of the tribes. Our sages say that the Israelites gave Yitro and family the most fertile land around Jericho (compare Sifri on our verse).

Come along with us. First, Moshe promised a material benefit to Chovav, when he said: We will treat you well. Moshe did not mention Hashem in this offer and Chovav did not want to accept. Then, Moshe promised him a spiritual benefit — that he would be included in the Sanhedrin, which is called the eyes of the congregation, as it says: And you will be our eyes. In the context of this spiritual benefit, Moshe mentioned Hashem: It shall be that the very good which Hashem will bestow. Hashem will give of His Spirit upon him. To this, Yisro agreed.

When Moses added: "for G'd has spoken good concerning Israel," he addressed the two remaining concerns Yitro might have entertained. He implied that since the promise was made with the consent of G'd, Yitro did not have to fear that G'd would be unable to keep His promise. Moreover, he did not have to fear that the value of the gift would be such that the recipient's dignity would suffer for having accepted a gift not worthy of his stature. Seeing that G'd was not in the habit of reneging on a promise, he did not have to worry on that score either. In the few instances where G'd is reported as having changed His mind (Exodus 32,14), He only reconsidered something evil He had considered doing to people. He never went back on a promise to do good for people.

אל ארצי ואל מולדתי [AND HE SAID TO HIM, I WILL NOT GO; BUT I WILL DEPART] TO MINE OWN LAND, AND TO MY KINDRED — (the Hebrew may be translated: but for my own land and for my own kindred I must go) — “I must go” whether for the sake of (אל) my property (ארצי) or for the sake of (אל) my family (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 79).

כי אם אל ארצי ואל מולדתי אלך, so that in his old age he would not have to adjust to the different climate and food in a country he had not grown up in.

כי אם אל ארצי…אלך, "but I will rather go to my own country." Why did Yitro have to say אלך, seeing he had already said that he would not go with the Israelites? Perhaps this can be explained on the basis of Mechilta in Exodus 18,27 where Moses let his father-in-law depart. Rabbi Joshua said that Moses allowed Yitro to depart from the most honoured place in the world [from the Presence of the Lord as displayed in the Tabernacle. Ed]. Rabbi Eliezer the Modai claimed that before he departed Yitro said to Moses: "light is effective only in a place of darkness." He meant that amongst the Israelites he was not needed to provide enlightenment seeing Israel basked in the light of G'd. In his own country, however, his new found enlightenment could be of benefit to his countrymen. There he might succeed in converting his countrymen to monotheism and then he would bring them to study Torah. In the event we might think that Yitro went home and did not convert his countrymen, look at what is written in the Book of Judges 1,16, where the members of the Kenite (Yitro's clan) are reported as haying come from the city of Jericho to join the tribe of Yehudah to live in the neighbourhood of Arad, part of the desert of Yehudah. It appears from the wording of the Mechilta that Rabbi Joshua was of the opinion that Yitro did not convert and that this was the reason Moses consented that he would leave the כבודו של עולם, the environment in which G'd's Presence predominated. On the other hand, Rabbi Eliezer the Modai believed that Yitro did indeed convert to Judaism. The extraneous word אלך can be explained satisfactorily according to either of these two views. According to Rabbi Joshua Yitro told Moses: "I will not go but I will go to my country; should you think this is only because I prefer my country over the land of Canaan, this is not so; even granted that what you have to offer me is attractive, nonetheless I will go (back to my country)." According to Rabbi Eliezer we must read Yitro's remark as follows: "I will not go (at this stage) but will return to my country (in order to convert my countrymen). At a later stage אלך, I will go (and join you) as per the report in the Book of Judges." The reason that Yitro mentioned both "my country and my birthplace" is that he implied that if he failed to convert all his countrymen to Judaism at least he was certain he could convert all the people in his hometown. [Our version has a different text entirely, such as that Moses showered his father-in-law with gifts. Ed.]

Whether for the sake of my properties or for the sake of my family. Because “to” is written twice. Rashi’s comment means to say “whether I go for the sake of my properties,” which I have as an inheritance and I will go to sell. Or “whether I go for the sake of my family,” in order to convert them — as we find (Shemos 18:27) that “he went to his land” where Rashi explains “to convert the members of his family.” Nonetheless it was his intention to return there but not to settle. I have found this said in the name of the Maharal of Prague.

כי אם אל ארצי ואל מולדתי אלך, “but I prefer to go to my country and my birthplace” [to die there. Ed.] According to our author, Yitro preferred the evil he knew to the evil he did not know, i.e. he knew what awaited him in Midian, but he did not know what awaited him in the land of Canaan.

אל נא תעזב LEAVE [US] NOT, I PRAY THEE — The word נא is an expression of entreaty. Here it means: I beg of you, not to leave usin order that people should not say, “Jethro did not become a proselyte out of pure love for the Jewish faith. He believed that the proselytes, too, would have a portion in the Land; now, however, that he saw that they will have no portion in it he has deserted them and gone his own way (Sifrei Bamidbar 80).

אל נא תעזוב אותנו. At least allow your children to go with us,

אל נא תעזב אותנו, "please do not abandon us, etc." According to Rabbi Eliezer Hamodai we must understand this verse as Moses asking Yitro not even to leave the Jewish people's camp temporarily. He alluded to this with the word נא. Regarding Yitro's argument that a light is quite superfluous during the time the sun shines, Moses did not accept that argument. He pointed out that Yitro's contribution to the Jewish people had already demonstrated that his presence was invaluable to them, i.e. ידעת חנותנו במדבר, i.e. when he told Moses to select heads of tens, etc. to help him judge the people he had proven that he had analysed the Israelites' problems in the desert correctly. Moses had demonstrated at that time that he accepted Yitro's advice thereby proving that Yitro's "light" could shine even while the moon or the sun were shining, i.e. while they enjoyed the Presence of the שכינה in their midst (Exodus 18,13-27).

כי על כן ידעת, while you have been with us in the desert you have become as indispensable as our eyes.

So that they will not say. Rashi is answering the question: Why did he request that Yisro go with him, surely the journey would have been for his own benefit. Then, since he did not want any favors, Moshe should have left him. Rashi explains “so that they will not say…”

VV. 31 u. 32. ויאמר אל נא וגו׳. Die Bitte erschien in den vorhergehenden Versen vom Standpunkte des Interesses Chobabs geäußert: לכה אתנו והטבנו לך. Sie hatte er zurückgewiesen: לא אלך וגו׳, ich möchte um keines Vorteils willen auf Heimat und Vaterland verzichten. Mosche wiederholt sie daher und erklärt sie näher: אל נא תעזב אתנו, dein Hierbleiben ist uns Bedürfnis, dein Fortgehen wäre ein "Verlassen" כי על כן וגו׳: denn nicht in deinem Interesse, sondern beshalb habe ich dich gebeten (siehe Schmot 18, 5) ידעת וגו׳: du besitzest die Terrainkunde für unser Lagern in der Wüste, du kennst dort jede Örtlichkeit, und überall, wo wir von Gott angewiesen werden unser Lager aufzuschlagen, da sind dir alle örtlichen Vorteile bekannt, die wir zum Aufenthalt benutzen können. והיית לנו לעינים: du kannst uns dort zu Augen dienen, kannst uns deine örtliche Kenntnis und Einsicht zugute kommen lassen, und wenn ich והטבנו לך geäußert, so habe ich nicht an eine Belohnung gedacht, sondern הטוב ההוא וגו׳ והטבנו לך Ersatz sollst du bei uns finden für Heimat und Vaterland, die du um unsertwillen aufgibst. Durch das Opfer, das du uns bringst, und den großen Nutzen, den du uns schaffst, erwirbst du dir das Recht und erwächst uns die Verpflichtung, dir Land und Heimat unter uns zu gewähren. An dem Lande, das Gott uns gibt, (es ist dies das טוב in Mosche erster Anrede V. 29) werden wir dir Anteil geben. Indem diese Gewährung mit demselben Ausdruck geäußert wird, der für die Bezeichnung der Gewährung des Landes an Israel gebraucht ist: אשר ייטיב ד׳ עמנו והטבנו לך, so dürfte darin die Feinheit liegen: du brauchst dich nicht zu scheuen dies, als wäre es eine Wohltat, von uns anzunehmen; wir selber erhalten ja alle das Land ebenso nur als Wohltat aus Gottes Händen, und was uns eine reine Wohltat ist, טובה עמנו, das ist für dich eine dir gebührende: טובה לך. Die Tatsache, dass Richter 1, 16 Nachkommen von Mosche Schwiegervater עיר התמרים, die Dattelstadt, nach Chron. II. 28, 15 Jericho: יריחו עיר התמרים, bewohnten, spricht dafür, dass Chobab Mosche Bitte erfüllte und mit Israel ins Land zog, und muss derselbe nach seiner ersten Heimkehr (Schmot 28, 27) Mosche wieder in der Wüste besucht haben. In dieser Stelle, Richter 1, 16, wird der Schwiegervater Mosche קיני genannt, und scheint dieser Name seine Abstammung zu bezeichnen. Jedenfalls stammen die בני קיני von חובב, dem Schwiegervater Mosche. Denn Richter 4, 11 heißt es ausdrücklich: וחבר הקיני נפרד מקין מבני חובב חתן משה, und als Saul (Sam. 1, 15) gegen Amalek auszog und einen kenitischen Zweig unter der amalekitischen Bevölkerung fand, forderte er sie (daselbst 6) auf, aus Amalek fortzuziehen, damit sie nicht in Mitleidenschaft gerieten und motivierte diese Aufforderung: ואתה עשיתה חסד עם כל בני ישראל בעלותם ממצרים. So bewahrte Israel dankbar das Andenken an die von Mosche Schwiegervater genossenen Dienste. Die fruchtreichste Gegend um Jericho, דושנה של יריחו, wurde nach dem ספרי z. St, den Nachkommen Jitros eingeräumt, die sie vierhundertvierzig Jahre bis zum Tempelbau bewohnten. Aber auch Jitros חובבErnst vererbte sich unter seinen Kindern. Sie, die קינים הבאים מחמת אבי בית רכב, bildeten nicht nur die משפחות סופרים, die durch Pflege der Wissenschaft hervorleuchtenden jüdischen Familien, die יושבי יעבץ, die ihre reichen Gefilde um Jericho verließen, um in der Wüste Juda sich dem in geistiger Meisterschaft leuchtenden Jaabez als Jünger anzuschließen (Chron. I. 2, 55 und 4, 9 u. 10, sowie Richter 1, 16 ספרי z. St.), wie aus dem angeführten Zitat erhellt, waren sie auch בית רכב, die Rechabiten, die, der Weisung ihres großen Ahns Jonadab getreu, früh schon das staatliche Verderbnis erkannten und mieden, auf Acker und Land, auf feste Wohnsitze und Weingenuss verzichtend, ein ewiges Nomadenleben gelobten, um sich und ihren Nachkommen Freiheit und Sittenreinheit zu retten, und — sich vielleicht noch bis heute in den Rechabiten der arabischen Wüste erhalten haben, getragen von der göttlichen Verheißung: לא יכרת איש ליונדב בן רכב עמד לפני כל הימים (Jirmija 35, 2-19).

כי על כן ידעת חנותנו במדבר, “for you know how we can best make camp in the desert.” [Moses tries to make Yitro feel that his presence has become indispensable for the Jewish people. Ed.] He also implied that seeing that his father-in-law had become a witness to the miracle G–d performed daily for His people, how could he leave them at this juncture?

אל נא תעזוב אותנו, “please do not abandon us!” We have not been able to show you how well we can treat you thus far. (B’chor shor)

כי על כן ידעת FOR THOU KNOWEST OUR ENCAMPMENT IN THE WILDERNESS] — For (כי) it is fitting for you to do this, because (על כן) you have known our encampments in the wilderness and you have seen the miracles and the mighty deeds that have been wrought for us.

כי על כן ידעת חנותנו במדבר, for this was the purpose of your getting familiar with our ways in the desert. If your children depart also you will be desecrating the name of the Lord among the nations as they will say: “if Yitro would have seen any merit in this religion surely he and his sons would not have abandoned them!” Both Yitro and his sons agreed with this argument of Moses so that in the end only Yitro returned to his country, as we know from Exodus 18,27 “Moses saw his father-in-law Yitro off, and he went by himself back to his own country.” There is no question that his children remained with the Jewish people, as the Book of Judges testifies when writing about “the children of the Keyni, the father-in-law of Moses, having previously ascended from the city of palms with the tribe of Yehudah.” (Judges 1,16).

Past tense. Meaning because he had seen the miracles and wonders that Hashem did for Yisroel. And that is what the verse is saying “You were eyes for us,” meaning that you saw it all with your eyes.

According to the view of Rabbi Joshua we must explain this verse as follows: The words אל נא תעזב mean that at this stage it was not appropriate for Yitro to depart. The reason it was inappropriate was that inasmuch as he was already familiar with the Jewish people's camp seeing their encampment was protected by G'd's cloud-and no one else knew their precise whereabouts-his knowledge was a security risk (compare Bamidbar Rabbah 19,20 in connection with Numbers 20,29 that Aaron had died). If he had never come to visit and had familiarised himself with the camp of the Israelites, Moses would not have minded his return to his homeland. According to the Midrash we referred to the whereabouts of the location of the camp of the Israelites remained a secret until the death of Aaron when the cloud enveloping the entire camp disappeared. Now that Yitro had been taken into G'd's confidence disappeared. Now that Yitro had been taken into G'd's confidence by knowing the whereabouts of the camp he should not depart. Another reason he should not leave was the fact that G'd had approved of the advice he had given to Moses and it had become part of the jurisprudence of the people. This is what he meant by describing Yitro as having become "the eyes of the Jewish people." If Yitro were to leave the Israelites after all this, this would be a desecration of the name of G'd. The Israelites would say that if a man who had participated in all their supernatural experiences and whom they had considered as on a high spiritual level could leave this could only prove that he had not been worthy to experience these miracles in the first place. Seeing that Yitro refused to remain, Moses expelled him from the proximity of the שכינה.

Es ist aber diese von Mosche an seinen Schwiegervater gerichtete und von Mosche niedergeschriebene und verewigte Bitte, bei ihnen in der Wüste zu bleiben, um sie mit seiner Terrainkunde und Einsicht zu unterstützen, ein Faktum von nicht geringer Bedeutung für eine gerechte und wahrheitsgetreue Würdigung der "Sendung Mosis". Wie der organisierende Rat eben dieses Schwiegervaters (Schmot 18, 13-27) für alle Zeiten dokumentiert, wie wenig von organisatorischem Talente, diesem ersten Erfordernis eines staatbauenden Legislators, Mosche inne wohnte, so macht die uns hier bekundete Tatsache alles zu Schanden, was von einer angeblichen Vertrauteit Mosis mit den Lokalitäten und Eigentümlichkeiten der Wüste gefabelt wird, um das Göttliche unserer Wüstenwanderung zu dem gemeinen Begriff einer klugen und schlauen menschlichen Führerschaft hinabzustimmen. Der Mann, der zur elementarsten Organisation und zur zweckmässigsten Lagereinrichtung des Rats seines Schwiegervaters bedurfte und beides zu ewigem Gedächtnis in seinem Volke niederschrieb, der hat Gesetzgebung und Führung nur als Organ Gottes vollbracht und war am allerweitesten entfernt, sich mit einem Nimbus höherer als menschlicher Einsicht und wundertätiger Macht zu umgeben.

כי על כן ידעת חנותנו, “for the reason you came here to see where we were encamped was in order to join us.”

כי על כן ידעת — This is similar to על אשר ידעת, like (Genesis 38:26) “For (כי) she has acted rightly, because (על כן) I did not give her to Selah, my son”; (Genesis 19:8): “For (כי) this kindness please do out of respect to me, because (על כן) they have come under the shadow of my roof”; (Genesis 33:10): “For (כי) it is fitting and proper for you to accept my present, because (על כן) I have seen your face."

Future tense. According to the first explanation the word לנו (for us) raises a difficulty, therefore Rashi brings another interpretation. However, according to the other interpretation there is a difficulty: Since the Divine Presence was among them and enlightened their eyes through Moshe, why would they need Yisro? Consequently Rashi brings the last interpretation. However, according to the last interpretation alone there is a difficulty that the Torah should have said “you shall be like eyes for us.” Therefore all the reasons are necessary.

והיית לנו לעינים, “and you have become our eyes” this is to be understood as Genesis 18,3: אם נא מצאתי חן בעיניך “if only I will find favour in your eyes.” The word עינים is used in the same sense as פנים, “face, front.” An alternate interpretation: other potential converts to Judaism will look at you as the example that inspires them to follow his example. (B’chor shor)

והיית לנו לעינים — The verb is in the past tense and we have to understand it just as the Targum renders it: and all the mighty deeds that have been wrought for us thou hast seen with thine own eyes. Another explanation is that it is the future tense: whatever things will be hidden from our eyes, you will enlighten our eyes about it. Still another explanation is that the passage means that you will be held in affection by us as our “very eye-balls”. as it is said, (Deuteronomy 10:19) “and ye shall love the stranger” (Sifrei Bamidbar 80).

והיה הטוב ההוא AND IT SHALL BE THAT WHAT GOODNESS [THE LORD SHALL DO UNTO US, THE SAME WILL WE DO UNTO THEE] — What good did they actually bestow upon him (i.e. when did they redeem their promise)? They (our Sages) say: When the Israelites were parcelling out the Land the most fertile part of Jericho proved to extend over an area of 500 by 500 cubits; they left it unparcelled and said: He in whose portion of land the Sanctuary will be built shall take it as a substitute for giving up the land upon which the Temple was built. In the meantime, however, they gave it to the children of Jethro — to Jonadab the son of Rechab, [as it is said, (Judges 1:16) “And the children of the Kenite, Moses’ father-in-law, went up out of the city of the palm tree” (which is identical with Jericho; cf. Deuteronomy 34:3)] (Sifrei Bamidbar 81).

והיה כי תלך עמנו, "It will be when you come with us, etc." Why did the Torah repeat the word והיה before coming to the principal message in the verse? Besides, the entire verse seems superfluous as it contains essentially what Moses had offered Yitro already in verse 29? We will try and explain the verse both according to the view of Rabbi Eliezer Hamadoi and the view of Rabbi Joshua. According to the view of Rabbi Eliezer we must look at the word והיה as being simply a continuation of Moses' offer in verse 29 as follows: "Seeing that you have already become "our eyes," you will continue to be so when you decide to remain with us. You will most certainly not be viewed as a proselyte whose new-found enlightenment can hardly be expected to illuminate at a time when the sun of enlightenment shines all around, etc." According to the view of Rabbi Joshua, Moses merely urged Yitro to retain the stature he had acquired while on visit with the Jewish people.

A fertile area of Yericho. דושנה [means] fertile land.

אשר ייטיב ה' עמנו “the good that the Lord will do for us.” Moses refers to nations in addition to the seven Canaanite nations. He refers to Exodus 34,24: והרחבתי את גבולך, “I will expand your boundaries.” According to another view, Moses promised Yitro and his family the land belonging to the Kenites. This had been included as one of the ten nations whose lands G-d had promised to Avraham as being part of greater Israel (Genesis 15,19). This is why in future years the descendants of Yitro are usually referred to as Kenites, as for instance in Numbers 24,21, where Bileam prophesied about them. Compare also Samuel I 15,6 ויאמר שאול אל הקני, “Shaul said to the Kenite.”

According to Rabbi Eliezer the words והיה הטוב ההוא אשר ייטיב השם "the good G'd will perform with the Jewish people, etc." mean that Moses urged Yitro not to leave and to return at a later date seeing that Moses was interested that Yitro should share in the land at the time Israel would reach the land of Canaan. If he were present at that time it would be easy to grant him some of the most fertile land of that region. This could not be guaranteed if he would not be present at the time of the distribution. Actually, Yitro was persuaded by Moses argument and agreed to remain. When he found out later that the Israelites' entry into the Holy land had been postponed for 40 years, he decided to sit out this waiting period in his own country rather than in the desert. He used the interval to convert his countrymen and eventually returned to join the Jewish people and took them up on their offer. According to Rabbi Joshua our verse is also meant to tell Yitro not to view himself as inferior because he was "only" a proselyte. This is why Moses assured him that he would receive a full share of all the good G'd had in store for the Jewish people when the time came. Not only that, but he would receive of the most fertile soil that the land of Canaan had to offer.

דרך שלשת ימים [AND THEY DEPARTED FROM THE MOUNT OF THE LORD] THREE DAYS’ JOURNEY — A distance of three days’ journey they miraculously travelled in one day, because the Holy One, blessed be He, desired to bring them straight away into the Land (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 82).

AND THEY SET FORWARD FROM THE MOUNT OF THE ETERNAL THREE DAYS’ JOURNEY. According to the plain meaning of Scripture, the cloud [of the Eternal] journeyed and went before them for three days and the ark followed the cloud in front of the people, and it did not come to rest in that place until the night of the third day, when the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran,¹⁴⁰See Ramban further, 12:16 for explanation of this area. which was a good place for them to camp in. This is the sense of [the expression] to seek out a resting-place for them.¹⁴¹Verse 33. And when the cloud rested they erected the Tabernacle and brought the ark into it. Scripture, however, did not explain whether they also journeyed at night.

דרך שלשת ימים, to the border of the land of Israel, for within the space of 3 journeys they had advanced to Kadesh Barnea opposite the desert of Paran. From there the spies were dispatched. As Moses explained in Deuteronomy 1,22 “you all approached me asking: ‘let us dispatch men, etc.’” This was the place where the Jewish people had been encamped in the desert of Paran which has been mentioned here in 12,15 after the delay due to Miriam’s having been afflicted with tzoraat. The spies had returned to that location at the end of their mission. (Numbers 12,16) [The fact that the place from which the spies were dispatched is described by Moses as הר האמורי, the mountain of the Emorite, proves that this was within the boundaries of the land of Canaan of which the Emorite was the leading tribe. Ed.]

'מהר ה, for the people at that time had still not moved from Mount Chorev in the desert of Sinai. This was after the Tabernacle had been erected, as I have explained in connection with Numbers 1,1 on the words מדבר סיני.

וארון ברית ה' נוסע לפניהם דרך שלשת ימים, “and the Ark of the Covenant of Hashem journeyed before them a three–day distance.” According to Rashi this was the Ark containing the broken pieces of the first set of Tablets. This Ark traveled ahead of the main body the distance normally covered in three days’ march. Nachmanides writes that according to the plain meaning of the text neither the Ark nor the cloud preceded the people at all in terms of physical distance; the Torah describes that the Ark and the cloud would move for three days uninterruptedly without taking time out to make an even temporary “pit stop” until the evening of the third day. On that evening the cloud came to rest in the desert of Paran, and this is the meaning of the words לתור להם מנוחה, “to espy a suitable resting place for them” in our verse. The people would not make camp until they had reached that location. They then proceeded to re-assemble the Tabernacle and they brought into it the various furnishings, first of all the Holy Ark. What is not clear is whether during these three days the people marched also at night. Ibn Ezra writes that when the Torah wrote in verse 21 that the Kehatites journeyed and erected the Tabernacle before the people arrived, refers to the Kehatites journeying behind the first two flags, (army groups) does not apply to the first time the people moved away from their 11 months encampment at the bottom of Mount Sinai. During that journey the Ark did travel a distance of three days’ march ahead of them.

ויסעו מהר ה, “they journeyed from the mountain of the Lord.” The Israelites journeyed away from Sinai, the cloud leading the way. The Ark was being carried by the Kehatites behind the cloud. The cloud did not stop moving until the evening of the third day as it had been searching for a suitable site to make camp. This is the meaning of the words לתור להם מנוחה, “to search out for them a place to rest.”
Our sages in Shabbat 116 interpret the words מהר ה' as meaning מאחרי ה', that as soon as they left the environment of Sinai the people deviated from following G’d, they literally fled from the nearness of G’d. Different desires began to surface. These desires surfaced on the 22nd day of Iyar seeing that on the 20th of that month the cloud had risen from the Tabernacle and commenced to move. The first day of the three days which is mentioned here was the 20th of the month, the day the cloud started moving. The overpowering desire to eat meat surfaced on the 22nd of the month; the meat materialised on the same day and the people kept eating of the quail for 30 days until the 22nd of Sivan. Why did the sages in Shabbat have to interpret events in this manner? It was to teach us that as soon as the people moved away from Mount Sinai they no longer felt that they were under the immediate benevolent supervision of Hashem. They believed that this kind of supervision existed only right at the Mountain of G’d. The expression הר ה' as opposed to הר האלו-הים is so unusual that the sages felt the essence of the move was “away from the Torah element associated with that mountain.”

They traveled in one day. For if not so, why does it say “a journey of three days.”

VV. 33 u. 34. ויסעו וגו׳. Indem es nicht heißt: ויסעי שלשת ימים, sondern דרך שלשת ימים, so ist damit wohl die Beschwerlichkeit und Anstrengung vergegenwärtigt, die ein solcher dreitägiger Weg verursachte. Allein ארון ברית ד׳ נסע לפניהם דרך שלשת ימים, sie hatten auf diesem ganzen dreitägigen Wege die ihnen voranschreitende und den nächsten entsprechenden Rastort für sie erspähende Lade des Gottesbundes vor Augen, und dieser stete Anblick durfte ihnen wohl die Frische und Heiterkeit einer bewussten Gottesnachfolge erhalten, so wie ענן ד׳ עליהם, die bei ihrem Aufbruch über ihnen bleibende und mit ihnen ziehende Gotteswolke sie des auf ihrer Wanderung sie stets begleitenden Gottesschutzes sicher sein lassen konnte.

וארון ברית ה' נוסע לפניהם, “and the Holy Ark of the Covenant with Hashem traveled in front of them. During each night the Divine cloud was resting above the Holy Ark. Clearly the Israelites had not been able to travel without resting for three days and three nights. Jewish law rules that if someone swears an oath that he would not three for three consecutive days, i.e. for 72 hours, he will be subjected to the penalty of 39 lashes, as he undertook something he knew he would not be able to fulfill. (Talmud, tractate Shavuot, folio 25.) The cloud would resume its position above the camp of the Israelites in the morning, and the Levites would make the necessary preparations before the main body of the people resumed travelling. This is the plain meaning of the words: נוסע לפניהם, “was travelling ahead of them.” The Holy Ark was a distance of three days’ walking on foot in front of the main body until the people came to Kadesh in the desert of Paran. (Numbers 13,3) From then on they travelled without the Holy Ark, as we know from Numbers 14,44, when Moses did not allow the ones who were then willing to try and conquer the land of Canaan to take the Holy Ark with them. The meaning of the words: דרך שלשת ימים , is “a distance of three days’ march. This construction is also found when the Torah describes G–d as having created the universe in six days, i.e. ששת ימים. (Exodus 20,11)

'ויסעו מהר ה, “they journeyed away from the Mountain of the Lord;” all this time the Israelites had still remained next to Mount Sinai.

וארון ברית ה' נסע לפניהם דרך שלשת ימים AND THE ARK OF THE COVENANT OF THE LORD WENT BEFORE THEM IN THE THREE DAYS' JOURNEY — This was the Ark that went with them whenever they waged war and in which the broken Tablets were placed. It traveled in front of them a distance of three days’ journey to prepare for them a proper place for encampment (Sifrei Bamidbar 82; Talmud Yerushalmi Shekalim 6:1).

וארון ברית ה' נוסע לפניהם דרך שלשת ימים, during these three days that they spent on these three journeys through the “great and awesome desert,” (Deut.1,19) the Ark was traveling ahead of the Jewish people. The purpose was to remove any dangerous obstacles in the path of the advancing Israelites. However, during the remainder of the journeys the Ark was positioned within the center of the marching armies as described in Numbers 2,17. This was in line with the other holy artifacts transported by the Kehatites in that position of the marching order.

דרך שלשת ימים, they walked for a period of three days, not making camp until the end of the third day. Seeing that this had been very strenuous, the people began grumbling, as we know from Numbers 11,1, a phenomenon which also occurred in the last year of their wanderings and is recorded in Numbers 21,4. At that point the mood of the people is described as ותקצר נפש העם בדרך וידבר העם באלוקים ובמשה, “the people’s soul was restive on the journey and they spoke out against G’d and against Moses.”

Went with them. Meaning that it was the Ark which traveled in front of them that went with them to war. Moshe made it before he brought down the second set of Tablets, and it was not the Ark that Betzalel made after Yom Kippur. After they removed the second Tablets from that Ark and placed them in the one that Betzalel had made, the broken Tablets were placed in it and remained there. This Ark would go out with them to war, as well as journeying in front of them. However, the Ark which contained the second Tablets would journey in the midst of the camp, as it is written in this Parshah (v. 21).

דרך שלשת ימים, “for a distance of three days’ march;” the Torah did not write simply “שלשת ימים “ for three days; but it wrote: “a distance of three days.” This means that when they had started journeying they encamped once before the incident with the quails for a distance of three days march. These dates were the 20th of Iyar, the 21st and the 22nd of Iyar.

וארון ברית ה' נוסע לפניהם, during these entire three days, looking for a suitable place for them to make camp; for the cloud was seeking out such a location.

לתור להם מנוחה, a safe and secure place for camping in this awesome desert.

'וארון ברית ה, and the Ark of the covenant with the Lord, etc.,” some people claim that Moses had been carrying it, just as has been written in Michah 6,4: “I sent ahead of you Moses, Aaron and Miriam.” In other words, Moses carried the ark he had made for the second set of Tablets, whereas the Ark that had been made by Betzalel was carried between the second and the third army group as described earlier.

וענן ה׳ עליהם יומם AND THE CLOUD OF THE LORD WAS UPON THEM BY DAY — Seven times is the word ענן used in the account of their journeys alluding to four clouds which screened them on all four sides, one that was above them, one beneath their feet, and one in front of them which leveled the elevations and raised the depressions, and killed all serpents and scorpions (Sifrei Bamidbar 83:1; Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 13:21:2; Br. d’ Melechet ha-Mishkan 14).

וענן ה' עליהם יומם, it was not traveling ahead of them as it did during the other journeys, seeing that the Ark was performing the task of seeking out a suitable spot for making camp. Instead, it positioned itself above the people.

Seven clouds. The seven clouds are enumerated in Sifri: (1) “The Cloud of Hashem was above them” (here). (2) “Your Cloud stands” (Bamidbar 14:14). (3) “And in a Pillar of Cloud You go” (ibid.). (4) “When the Cloud tarried” (ibid. 9:19). (5) “When the Cloud was raised” (Shemos 40:36). (6) “If the Cloud was not raised” (ibid. v. 37). (7) “For the Cloud of God was over the Mishkon” (ibid. v. 38). All of them were related to the journeying and encampment of Bnei Yisroel. See Nachalas Yaakov and Gur Aryeh.

וענן ה' עליהם יומם ולילה, “and the cloud of the Lord was above them both by day and by night. Regarding Rashi’s commentary that there were seven clouds during theIsraelites’ journeys, they were not all mentioned in a single paragraph, as pointed out in Torat Kohanim. Four enveloped them from the four directions of the globe, and two from above and below. The seventh traveled ahead of them. This latter one is the one mentioned here. The others are mentioned in Numbers 14,14, Numbers 9,19, Exodus 40,36 and 40,37. According to the view of Rabbi Yehudah, there were 13 such clouds, 2 in each direction of the globe, two above and two below, and one in front of them. According to the opinion of Rabbi Yoshia, there were only four clouds, whereas according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah hanassi, there were only two such clouds.

FROM THE CAMP — From the place where they encamped.

ויהי בנסע הארן AND IT CAME TO PASS WHEN THE ARK PROCEEDED [THAT MOSES SAID etc.] — He (the Lord; cf. Shabbat 115a) made for it (for this section) dividing marks (inverted “Nuns”), in front and behind it, in order to indicate that this is not its proper place (it would more fittingly find a place in the section dealing with the march of the people in chapter Numbers II. after v. 17). But why, then, is it written here? In order to make a break between the narrative of one punishment and that of another punishment etc., as is stated in the Talmudic chapter commencing with כל כתבי (Shabbat 115b, cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 84:1).

AND IT CAME TO PASS WHEN THE ARK SET FORWARD. “He [the Eternal] made for this section [i.e., this verse and the following one] a special mark in front of it and behind it [by placing two inverted letters nun at the beginning and end of it] in order to indicate that this section is not in its proper place.¹⁴²“And where does it belong? Said Rav Ashi: In the section on the standards” (Shabbath 116 a). That is, above in Chapter 2, after Verse 17, which states: Then the Tent of Meeting … shall set forward etc. This section, beginning with And it came to pass when the ark set forward …, should have followed on there. Why then was it written here? In order to separate between [the narrative of] one punishment and that of another punishment, as is stated in the Chapter of ‘Any of the Holy Scriptures.’”¹⁴³Shabbath 115 a. The text quoted is on 115 b-116 a. This is Rashi’s language. But the Rabbi did not explain to us what is this [first] “punishment” from which it was necessary to separate [the later verses], for there is no “punishment” mentioned here in Scripture before the verse, And it came to pass when the ark set forward. The language of the Gemara there is:¹⁴⁴Ibid., 116 a. “The second punishment is [the section], And the people were as murmurers.¹⁴⁵Further, 11:1. The first ‘punishment’ is that which says, And they set forward from the mount of the Eternal,¹⁴¹Verse 33. on which Rabbi Chanina said: This teaches us that they turned aside from the Eternal.” On this [statement of Rabbi Chanina] the Rabbi [Rashi] wrote there in his commentaries: “Within three days of their journeying the mixed multitude … fell a lusting¹⁴⁶Ibid., Verse 4. complaining about the [lack of] meat, in order to rebel against G-d.” But these are astonishing words, for the “punishment” stated in the verse And the people were as murmurers [… and the fire of the Eternal burnt among them etc.]¹⁴⁵Further, 11:1. is written first,¹⁴⁵Further, 11:1. and that of the lusting is second,¹⁴⁶Ibid., Verse 4. and they are both next to each other [so why did Rashi mention the sin of the lusting following upon their journeying as the first “punishment,” since that of the murmurers is closer to it]? Perhaps the Rabbi [Rashi] thought that these episodes were not written in their [chronological] order, and that He [already] alluded to the first [punishment] in saying, [and they set forward] from the mount of the Eternal,¹⁴¹Verse 33. for perhaps they already intended to do so [to demand meat] from the time that they set forth on that journey; but He made a break [by writing the section of the ark], and then wrote the second [punishment, i.e., that of the murmurers], and afterwards He went back to [relate the actual realization of their original intention to ask for meat, namely] the first punishment. But there is neither rhyme nor reason in this [explanation].
But the meaning of this interpretation [of the Rabbis that they set forward from the mount of the Eternal indicates a punishment, is based on that which] they¹⁴⁷The reference is to the Rabbis in the Talmud, Sabbath 116 a, and Ramban is saying that their interpretation is not based on the explanation given there by Rashi, but on an Agadah, as brought down in the name of Midrash Yelamdeinu by Tosafoth ibid., (see Preface to Vol. I, pp. vii-viii). found in the Agadah, that “they set forward from Mount Sinai with joy, just like a child who runs away from school, saying: ‘Perhaps He will give us more commandments [if we stay]!” This then is the sense of the expression, And they set forward from the mount of the Eternal,¹⁴¹Verse 33. meaning that their intention was to remove themselves from there because it was the mount of the Eternal. This is the first “punishment” [i.e., the first sin, as explained further on], and then He interrupted [with the section on the ark] in order that there should not be three punishments one after the other, so that it would have established a basis for further punishment.¹⁴⁸A repetition of three similar events establishes a legal presumption of recurrence. See also Amos 2:6, that G-d’s long-suffering is at an end with three sins. He called the [first] sin “punishment” even though no actual punishment occurred to them because of it, [but since they deserved to have been punished, it is called a “punishment”]. Perhaps were it not for this sin of theirs He would have brought them into the Land immediately [and so there was indeed a “punishment”].

ויהי בנסוע הארון proceeding to enter the holy Land;

ויהי בנסע הארון, And it came to pass when the Holy Ark would journey, etc. This entire paragraph requires analysis. It may best be explained in connection with a kabbalistic concept (Eitz Chayim 332, chapter 1) I have mentioned repeatedly, i.e. that the reason the Israelites had to trek through the desert was to locate and rescue "sparks" of sanctity which were held captive by the spiritually negative forces whose domain is the desert and other inhospitable parts of the earth. We must appreciate that all these spiritually negative forces may be divided into two categories. One category is essentially a seducer who endeavours to bring his adversary to heel by luring him into immoral and unethical behaviour against man and G'd. The other category consists of various types of destructive forces which simply attack the body of a person trying to kill or to maim him. It is not the nature of this second category of spiritually negative force to engage in seduction of its victim. The words ויהי בנסע הארון refer to the Ark journeying while all kinds of these captive sparks of sanctity cleave to it. As a result of these "sparks" of sanctity establishing contact with the Holy Ark, their captors exploded. This is what is meant by the Torah writing קומה ה׳ ויפוצו אויביך, "Rise up O Lord and let Your enemies be scattered." The "enemies" the Torah refers to are the קליפות, the spiritually negative forces which up until then had held the sparks of sanctity in their grip. Now they would lose that grip. The word ויהי which usually introduces a paragraph containing a painful element refers to the pain experienced by these קליפות. As to the other category of spiritually negative forces, the seductive ones, the Torah writes וינוסו משנאיך מפניך, "let them that hate You flee before You." Here the Torah referrred to those forces who display their hatred of G'd indirectly by seducing G'd's servants into becoming disloyal to Him. The Torah describes these "enemies" of G'd in the plural as there are many such forces as we have learned in Yuma 69 that there are separate evil urges, one luring us to serve idols, another luring us to engage in illicit sexual relations, etc. All of this occurred בנסוע, while the Holy Ark was in motion. Whenever the Holy Ark was stationary the Torah used a different wording to describe how the Holy Ark reacted to such spiritually negative forces. When the Presence of G'd is limited to a specific site, i.e. when the Holy Ark is stationary inside the Holy of Holies, this is equivalent to a declaration by G'd that there are no such "sparks" of sanctity nearby which the Ark would have to search out by moving in their direction and passing such a location.

'קומה ה, seeing that during the period of their wanderings the Shechinah had been absent from its usual place above the kapporet.

ויהי בנסוע הארון, “Whenever the Ark would journey, etc.” Rashi writes that this short paragraph that is bracketed within two inverted letters נ has been inserted here in order to separate one unhappy occurrence from the next one. According to his opinion the Israelites deviated from G’d’s path already during the three days of their very first march away from Mount Sinai. The group of people described as אספסוף, rabble, (11,4) already cultivated a craving for meat, thereby rebelling against the manner in which Hashem had fed the people thus far. Nachmanides has difficulty with Rashi’s interpretation, pointing out that the unhappy occurrence mentioned in verse 1 of chapter 11, preceded the craving of the people for a meat diet. This פורענות, is followed by the rabble’s craving for meat immediately, without any intervening verses in verse 4. Where then did the verses 35 and 36 in our chapter separate one unhappy event from another? Nachmanides concludes that what Rashi meant was that the moving away from Mount Sinai (verse 33) was the first of the unhappy events which occurred so frequently from now on. The Midrash describes the moving away of the people from the spiritually lofty environment of Mount Sinai as similar to a child turning its back on the books from which he is supposed to absorb useful information.

That this is not its place. And where is its place? Above in Parshas Bamidbar along with the banners and the journeying where the Torah writes “The Tent of Meeting journeyed, the camp of the Levites…” (2:17). It would have been correct for this to have been written after that verse, therefore Hashem made the nuns as an indication, meaning that this chapter should have been written fifty (nun has a numerical value of fifty) chapters previously. For this reason the Torah wrote the nuns backwards to teach that its place is fifty chapters above and not fifty chapters below.

VV. 35 u. 36. ויהי בנסע הארן. Wir haben bereits einleitend zu Kap. 8, 1 bemerkt, wie in diesem Abschnitte die mit der Wiedererneuung des Bundesverhältnisses zu Gott nach der Egelverirrung im Schmot Kap. 34 abgebrochene Entwicklungsgeschichte des Volkes Israel wieder aufgenommen und weitergeführt wird. Wäre dieses Volk bereits auf der Höhe gestanden, welche eine Verwirklichung der nunmehr am Gottesberge vollendeten Gesetzgebung voraussetzt, es hätte der weitere Verlauf seiner Geschichte einen anderen, einfacheren Inhalt gewonnen. Der Weg vom Gottesberge hätte sofort ins Gottesland geführt, und eine treue Verwirklichung dieses Gesetzes im Lande hätte das jüdische Gesetzesheiligtum und das jüdische Gesetzesvolk zu einer weithinaus in die Völkerkreise der Menschheit strahlenden Gottesleuchte erhoben — eine Bestimmung, die jetzt erst am Ziele der Zeiten winkt, — und wie Israels Geschichte, so wäre auch die Geschichte der Menschheit eine andere geworden.

'קומה ה' וגו, “rise up O Lord, etc.” this is a prayer that if enemies will gather to attack the Israelites they should be dispersed by G–d before carrying out their plans. If, for some reason they had already succeeded in massing, G–d should put them to flight. [In both instances Israel’s enemies are described as G–d’s enemies by definition. Ed.]

ויהי בנסוע הארון, “It would be that whenever the Ark was moving forward, etc.” According to the Talmud in tractate Shabbat folio 116, quoting the opinion of Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel, this short paragraph in the Torah (which is bracketed) will be removed from the Torah scrolls at some time in the future and it will be rewritten in the appropriate place. If so, why was it not written in the proper place to begin with? It was meant to separate positive occurrences that the people experienced from negative ones, such as the ones we will shortly be reading about. What is the “appropriate” place that it should have appeared in? According to Rabbi Yossi, on the folio of the Talmud in Shabbat 116, it should have appeared when we read about the flags, immediately after verse 21 in our chapter, where the Torah describes the Kehatites as carrying the Holy Ark.'

‘קומה ה RISE UP O LORD — Because it (the Ark) was in front of them a distance of three days’ march, Moses exclaimed, “Stay and wait for us, and do not travel further away from us; this is to be found in Tanchuma 2:10:7 on Sedra ויקהל.

קומה ה' ויפוצו אויביך, if the people had not insisted on dispatching the spies the march would have been proceeding unopposed, the enemies scattering before the armies of G’d without offering resistance. Isaiah 17,9 phrases it thus: “In that day their fortress cities shall be like the deserted sites which the Choresh and the Amir abandoned because of the Israelites, and there shall be desolation.”

Between one punishment and the next. You might ask: The last punishment — “the people were like complainers” — is clear; however what was the first punishment? The answer is that above it is written “and they traveled from the Mountain of Hashem” (v.33) while it should have said “they traveled from the Mountain of God.” This teaches that they left like a child who runs off from school. It is also termed a punishment because they turned away from Hashem.

When the Ark stopped moving and came to "rest," this was equivalent to a declaration that such sparks of sanctity had been located and that the Ark now had to come to "rest" on account of those "sparks." This is what Moses had in mind when he said: ובנחה יאמר שובה השם רבבות אלפי ישראל, "may G'd (the Ark) bring back all these scattered sparks of sanctity in their tens of thousands." The reason is that they are all called "Israel" just as the name Israel is equivalent to the term sanctity. Perhaps Moses alluded to this by using the word אלפי, a word which symbolises something exalted, superior [Aluf, a general, for instance. Ed.] You will find that Samael gave up a great many such sparks of sanctity. Just consider the background Ruth, the great-grandmother of David, came from. Moses intended to strengthen the power of the sanctity of the Jewish people to overcome the power of the spiritually negative forces in that environment and to "rescue" all the "sparks" of sanctity which still abounded in these desert regions with his prayer.

Allein das Volk stand noch nicht auf der Höhe seines Berufes; gleich mit dem folgenden Verse werden wir in die Mitte seines Lagers hinabgeführt und damit eine Reihe von Verirrungen eingeleitet, die zuletzt das ganze damalige Geschlecht als des Einzugs in das Land des Gesetzes unfähig und unwürdig, den verheißenen bleibenden Besitz des Landes für die nächsten Jahrhunderte selbst noch weit erst in die Erziehungsgeschichte Israels zu seinem Berufe hineinreichend (Ps.106, 27) erkennen, und selbst für den Antritt dieses Erziehungslebens im Lande das Aussterben des damaligen und das Heranwachsen eines neuen Geschlechtes abwarten ließen. Der vorangehende V. 34 dildet daher einen der bedeutendsten Abschnitte, einen wahren Wendepunkt in der jüdischen Geschichte. So sehr, dass dieser V. 34 als Ende eines Buches, das folgende Kap. 11 als Anfang eines neuen Buches, betrachtet wird, und die beiden dazwischen stehenden Verse 35 und 36 ein ספר חשוב בפני עצמו, ein bedeutsames Buch für sich bilden, und daher auch durch סימוניות מלמעלה ולמטה eingeklammert sind, also, dass eigentlich nicht fünf Bücher Mosis, sondern in tiefem Grunde deren sieben zu zählen sind (Schabbat 115 b u. 116 a und Jadajim 111).

ויאמר משה קומה ה, “Moses said:” arise O Lord, etc.” He said so as the cloud appeared to have disappeared at the time when the people were on the march.

ויפצו איביך [RISE UP, O LORD] AND LET THINE ENEMIES BE SCATTERED — i.e. those who massed for battle.

וינוסו מפניך, lest the Israelites would wipe them out.

Those gathered together … These are the pursuers. Rashi is answering the question: The Torah should have written the opposite, because it is typical first to flee, and afterwards, out of fear for the pursuers, to disperse. But here it writes first “they will disperse.” Therefore Rashi explains that “they will flee” does not refer to those who will disperse. R. Yaakov Triosh.

Versuchen wir, den Inhalt dieser bedeutsamen Verse zu fassen:

וינסו משנאיך AND LET THOSE THAT HATE THEE FLEE BEFORE THEE, — this refers to the pursuing enemies (those actually engaged in battle) (Sifrei Bamidbar 84:3).

These are the haters of Yisroel. (Nachalas Yaakov) It appears to me that Rashi explained so because it is not possible to use the term “hate” toward Hashem. Nonetheless I do not know why he did not make this comment on the words “May your enemies disperse” which is written before. Kitzur Mizrochi answers that it is because the words “those who hate you have raised [their] heads” that is brought as a proof fits better with the words “those who hate you,” rather than “your enemies,” since there it does not mention enemies.

Es heißt: בנסע הארן ויאמר משה קומה וגו׳ und ובנחה יאמר שובה וגו׳, wenn die Lade aufbrach, forderte sie Mosche zum Aufbrechen auf, und wenn sie zur Rast einging, forderte sie Mosche auf, zu rasten — Aufbruch und Rast geschah ja nicht in Folge von Mosche Aufforderung, und doch begleitete Mosche beides mit seiner Aufforderung, als ob das erst noch zu geschehen hätte, was bereits geschah. — Offenbar spricht dies das höchste, vollste und vollendetste und freudigste Eingehen in den göttlichen Willen aus, das jede Willensbestimmung Gottes, als wäre es die eigene Willensregung begrüßt, die höchste Betätigung jenes Gamaliel'schen: עשה רצונו כרצונך (Aboth II, 4). Ähnlich (ספרי) z. St. ויאמר משה קומה ד׳ וכתוב אחד אומר על פי ד׳ יסעו וכו׳ משל למלך שאמר לעבדו הנראה שתעמידני בשביל שאני הולך ליתן ירושה לבני, wo darin auch der völlig zusammenwirkende Einklang der Willensregung Mosche mit dem göttlichen Willen gefunden wird. Dieses völlige selbstlose Ein- und Aufgehen in den göttlichen Willen ist aber der vollendetste Höhekontrast zu der Stimmungs- und Gesinnungsniedere, auf welcher Mosche zeitgenössisches Geschlecht sich noch befand, wie die sofort zu berichtenden Ereignisse bekunden, es ist eben jene Höhe geistiger und sittlicher Gottdurchdrungenheit die als nationale Gesamteigenschaft erst am Ziele der Zeiten winkt und jenes durch Israel und sein Gesetz angebahnte Ziel der Zeiten bedingt, deren Mangel aber eben den großen Wendepunkt in Israels Geschichte herbeigeführt, welcher die Stelle, die dieses Moschewort uns geschrieben entgegenträgt, als scheidenden Zwischenraum zwischen zwei Büchern jüdischer Geschichte begreifen lässt.

משנאיך THOSE THAT HATE THEE — These are those who hate Israel, because whoever hates Israel, hates “Him who spoke and the world came into existence”, as it is said, (Psalms 83:3, 4) “[For lo, thine enemies are in an uproar] and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head” — and who are these that hate Thee? The next verse states this (v. 4): “They who have taken crafty counsel against thy people” (Sifrei Bamidbar 84:4).

Und es ist הארן, es ist die Lade des von ihm überbrachten Gesetzes, deren Aufbruch und Einkehr Mosche mit der Aufforderung zu Gottes Aufbruch und Gottes Einkehr begrüßte. In den Zügen dieses seines Gesetzes erblickte Mosche somit die Züge Gottes auf Erden. Wo dieses Gesetz seine Stätte nicht findet, da ist keine Stätte für die Gottesgegenwart, und wo sich diesem Gesetze die Stätte bereitet, da gestaltet sich eine Stätte für die Gottesgegenwart auf Erden.

Und es erkannte Mosche, dass dieses Gesetz von vornherein bei seinem Eintritte auf Erden in weiten Kreisen אויבים und משנאים zu erwarten habe. Seine Anforderungen des Rechts und der Liebe stehen zu sehr im Gegensatz zu den Diktaten der Gewalt und der Selbstsucht, deren Fluch zwar die Schwachen und Bedürftigen, so lange ihre Schwäche und ihre Bedürftigkeit dauert, fühlen, deren Aufrechthaltung gegen das Gesetz des Rechts und der Liebe sich aber Koalitionen der Machtaber gegenseitig garantieren. Diese bilden die stillschweigend verbündeten אויבים des Gesetzes, die seinem Einzuge entgegentretenden Gesamtheitsschranken.

Und seine Anforderungen sich selbstbeherrschender Sittenheiligung stehen zu sehr im Gegensatz zu den Reizen unveredelter Sinnlichkeit, um nicht in der Einzelbrust der unveredelten Massen aller Schichten nicht nur שונאים, sondern משנאים, nicht nur Hass, sondern auch Verfolgung zu finden. Und doch erkannte Mosche in seinem Gesetze den letzten Sieger auf Erden. Eben weil die weltgeschichtlichen Ein- und Fortzüge seines Gesetzes die ein- und fortschreitenden Züge Gottes in der Gesellschaft und in den Gemütern der Menschheit bedeuten, die Feinde und Hasser seines Gesetzes, die Feinde und Hasser des Gottesreiches auf Erden sind, darum sprach er, wann er die Gotteslade seines Gesetzes aufbrechen sah, die Zuversicht aus, dass dieses Gesetz seinen Rundgang auf Erden vollenden, dass vor seinem einschreitenden Eintritt die Koalition der Feinde zerstieben und der verfolgende Hass in schene Flucht sich verwandeln werde. So auch קומה ד ויפוצו :ספרי אויביך אלו המכונסים וינוסו משנאיך אלי הרודפים מפניך הם נסים ואין אנו כלום לפניהם וכו׳ (das מכונסים und רודפים ist aus dem Gegensatz zu ויפוצו und וינוסו geschlossen, und ist auch שַנֵא im Piel eine Propaganda des Hasses, ein Gehässigmachen des gehaßten Gegenstandes).

ובנחה und wann die Lade des Gesetzes zur Ruhe ging, schaute Mosche im Geiste nicht נחו, sondern נחה, schaute jene Zeit und jenen Kreis, wo das Gesetz nicht mehr in männlich starkem Gegensatz zu dem Menschenverein auf Erden stehen wird, wo es, in seiner ungeschmälerten Männlichkeit, gleichwohl "die Vermählte" die מאורסה der Gesamtheit und des einzelnen, sich getragen fühlen wird von den Menschen in ihrem Gesamt- und Einzelstreben, und das wird die Zeit sein, wo die Tausende Israels in Myriaden verwandelt sein werden, die Zeit, von welcher einer der letzten Nachfolger Mosche gesprochen: — וגלוו גוים רבים אל ד׳ ביום ההוא והיו לי לעם ושכנתי בתוכך (Secharja 2. 15). Wenn daher "mild" die Lade zur Ruhe ging, sprach Mosche: "Kehre wieder ein, Gott, in die Myriaden der Tausende Israel!" — רבבות אלפי ישראל kann nicht wohl heißen: zehntausendmaltausend, oder gar zweimal zehntausendmaltausend. Es hätte dann die kleinere Zahl voranstehen müssen: אלפי רבבות wie אחותנו את היי לאלפי רבבה (Bereschit 24, 60). Ohnehin zählte Israel zu Mosche Zeiten höchstens 2 1/2 Millionen Seelen, während רבבות אלפי ישראל zwanzig Millionen wären. Wir glauben daher, darin die Myriaden der Tausende Israels, d. h. die Myriaden erblicken zu dürfen, die sich aus den jüdischen Tausenden entwickeln, durch Abstammung und Anschluss. Ohnehin sind ישראל noch nicht gerade strikte: tausend. Es sind die geschlossenen Mengen innerhalb der Nation und der Stämme. Vergl. ראשי אלפי ישראל (Kap. 1, 16 usw.) אלפי הדל במנשה (Richter 6, 15).

Ist unsere Auffassung nicht ganz irrig, so wären diese beiden Verse ein Kompendium der ganzen mit Mosche göttlicher Sendung eingeleiteten Geschichte Israels und der Menschheit, und wohl bilden diese beiden Verse ein bedeutsames Buch für sich. Einen Kommentar zu ihnen glauben wir aber im Ps. 68 zu finden, dessen Inhalt eben die mit Israel und dem Gesetze eingeleitete Geschichte des siegreichen Gottesreiches auf Erden bildet. Selbst im Wortlaut kündigt dieser Psalm sich als Nachklang unserer beiden Verse an. Man vergleiche mit ihnen Verse 2 und 18. Dieser letztere: רכב אלקי׳ רבתים אלפי שנאן אדני בם סיני בקדש, zweimalzehntausend seliger Tausende waren bis dahin die Träger göttlicher Herrlichkeit: jetzt ist Gott unter ihnen und sein Sinai ist im Heiligtum (siehe Schmot 27, 8), ist ebenso umschreibende Erläuterung des שובה ד רבבת ישראל — (die רבכות אלפי ישראל אלפי sind jetzt, was bis dahin רבתים אלפי שנאן waren, שנאן wie שאנן, vergl. צונה und צאן) — wie V. 2 f. יקום אלקי׳ יפוצו אויביו usw. unmittelbar קומה ד ויפוצו אויביך usw. wiedergibt.

‘שובה ה [AND WHEN IT RESTED HE SAID] שובה O LORD — Menachem ben Seruk renders it (the word שובה) by an expression denoting “rest”. Similar is (Isaiah 30:15) “In rest (בשובה) and tranquility shall ye be saved” (cf. Ibn. Ezra).

שובה, may Your rest be here with us, as per Psalms 132,14 זאת מנוחתי עדי עד, “this is My resting-place for all times.” Even though You will display Your presence in front of Israel in order to chase out their enemies, may the resting place of the Shechinah be in our midst.

Twenty-two thousand. “Myriads” and “thousands” refer to two myriad and two thousand, for if not so, Scripture should say only “Come to rest Hashem, among the myriads of Yisroel,” because “a myriad” on its own always refers to ten thousand. And we do not find anywhere that Scripture mentions thousands in conjunction with myriads.

'ובנחה יאמר וגו, “and when it rested he would say, etc;” Moses would say when the cloud came to rest above the Tabernacle: ‘may the hundreds of thousands of Israelites rest in this place without diminishing in numbers. May their next departure find them without any of them being absent or missing.’ Compare (Deuteronomy 30,3)

ובנחה, “and when it came to rest, etc.” the spelling of this word appears defective and it is to be read as if it had been written with the letter ו at the end instead of the letter .ה

רבבות אלפי ישראל [GIVE REST O LORD UNTO] THE MYRIADS OF THOUSANDS OF ISRAEL — This teaches us that the Shechinah does not rest upon Israel if they are less in number than twenty-two thousand (Yevamot 64a; Sifrei Bamidbar 84:5).

ה' רבבות אלפי ישראל, another description of an attribute of G’d, not unlike that of ה' צבא-אות אלפי ישראל. The reason why G’d is accorded the attribute “G’d of Hosts,” is only on account of the hosts (armies) of Israel.” The reason Moses said: רבבות אלפי ישראל, this is reminiscent of Psalms 68,18 רכב רבותים אלפי שנען, perhaps at that time the total number of Israelites including women and children amounted to that number.

ובנחה יאמר שובה,”and when it came to rest, he (Moses) would say: “return O Lord, etc.” This was necessary as the cloud had previously been inert. Moses wanted the cloud to actively “dwell” above the camp of the Israelites.

רבבות אלפי ישראל, “unto the tens of thousands of families of Israel.” The expression means that Moses wished for the Presence of the glory of the Lord to be manifest in the midst of the tens of thousands of families comprising the Jewish people. רבבות, this is one of the words that loses the prefix letter ב, such as we find the first time already in Exodus 31,17: כי ששת ימים, which we would have expected to be: כי בששת ימים, “for during six days.” The author quotes a number of such examples, singling out: Genesis 38,11. An alternate interpretation: the meaning of the line: קומה ה' ויפוצו אויביך, “arise O Lord so that Your enemies will scatter,” is the standard prayer we ought to recite whenever engaging on a journey.

The line commencing with: 'שובה ה, is the prayer to let the traveler complete his journey without mishap, so that when counting his companions he will find that none were lost during the journey. The author quotes Deuteronomy 30,3, ושב ה' אלוקיך את שבותך, “and the Lord your G’D will return with your captives, etc.,” to support his view.

The word ושוב there is to be understood as if Moses had said: והשיב, “He will bring back.”

And that is that He commanded us to blow with trumpets in the Temple during the bringing of the holiday offerings. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "And on your joyous occasions and on your festivals [...], you shall blow, etc." (Numbers 10:10). In the explanation (Rosh Hashanah 26b), they said that this commandment (on public fasts) is with the trumpets. And the regulations of this commandment were already explained in the Sifrei, in Rosh Hashanah and in Taanit. And likewise are we commanded to blow with trumpets at times of need and of distress, when we yell out in front of God, may He be exalted. And that is His saying, "When you are at war in your land against an aggressor who attacks you, etc." (Numbers 10:9). (See Parashat Behaalotecha; Mishneh Torah, Fasts 1.)