Комментарий к Бамидбар 12:10

והענן סר AND THE CLOUD DEPARTED, and only afterwards, ומרים מצרעת כשלג BEHOLD, MIRIAM BECAME LEPROUS, WHITE AS SNOW. A parable! This may be compared to a king who said to his son’s tutor, “Chastise my son, but do not do so until I go away from you, because I feel pity for him” (Sifrei Bamidbar 105).

והענן סר, as one needs to keep one’s distance from anyone afflicted with tzoraat, and so that the afflicted person could be removed from the encampment of the people.

והנה מצרעת, and here she was afflicted with Tzoraat. There was no need to repeat this seeing the Torah had already mentioned it in the first half of our verse. According to Sifri who claims that Aaron too had been afflicted the repetition could mean that whereas Aaron had already been cured Miriam continued to be afflicted. According to Sifri Aaron's affliction disappeared as soon as he turned towards Miriam. Accordingly, we would have to assume that Moses had not been looking at Miriam at all. Why else would he have to be informed by Aaron of her affliction before he would pray for her?

והענן סר מעל האהל, “and the cloud departed from above the Tent.” If the Torah referred to the cloud which had descended onto the entrance of the Tabernacle in verse 5, the Torah would now have had to describe it as “the cloud departed from the entrance of the Tent.” Seeing that the word מפתח is missing, we must assume that the cloud the Torah speaks of is the one which always signaled that the people should either move or make camp. Seeing the cloud departed the Israelites thought that they were meant to break camp and start moving. However, G’d commanded them to wait for seven days. This is the meaning of the words תסגר שבעת ימים, “let her be quarantined for seven days” (verse 14). When the Torah reported afterwards that the people did not journey this is equivalent to saying that the cloud had not actually traveled away from the Tabernacle any distance at all. It only departed to show that ordinarily, if not for Miriam’s quarantine, the people would have been on the way already. In other words, the Torah made it clear to everyone that the entire people’s progress toward the Holy Land had been delayed for seven days in honor of Miriam.

V. 10. והענן וגו׳ והנה מרים מצרעת כשלג ויפן אהרן אל מרים והנה מצרעת. In dem Momente, in welchem die Wolke vom Zelte gewichen war, והנה, sah man, dass Mirjam schneeweiß aussätzig war. Als Aharon sich hinwandte und den Aussatz näher ansah, והנה, erkannte er, dass der Aussatz jene נגע-Art des im Gesetze besprochenen צרעת war, die den davon Betroffenen, als von dem göttlichen Unwillen betroffen, kennzeichnet (siehe Wajikra Ende Kapitel 13).

והענן סר והנה מרים מצורעת, “when the cloud had cleared, Miriam had been struck with tzoraat”. It is not seemly for the holy cloud of G-d to remains next to a ritually impure person.