Комментарий о цитате к Бамидбар 27:5

שמור את כל המצוה, “Observe the whole command ment, etc.” The Torah refers to the impending command to erect stones on Mount Eyval (verse 4) after they have been inscribed, stones taken from the river Jordan at the time the people would cross that river. These stones are intended to commemorate the miracles which occurred enabling the Israelites to cross the river without becoming wet at a time of year when it was swollen with melting snow from Mount Hermon. There were a total of 12 such stones as we know from Joshua 4,2 that one stone per tribe was to be erected. Joshua commanded the twelve men to whom he had assigned the task of taking these stones from the river after the people had completed crossing. These stones were carried on the shoulders of the twelve men, each of whom represented his tribe (Joshua 4,1-8). These stones were deposited next to the place at Gilgal where the Israeites spent the first night in the Holy Land, close to the river. The stones which were erected on Mount Eyval had the entire text of the Torah inscribed on them. Another twelve stones (Joshua 4,9) were erected in the river bed of the Jordan at the site of the miracle where the priests with the Holy Ark had crossed and G’d had arrested the flow of the river so as not to swamp the Holy Ark (Joshua 4,7). The reason the stones are described as having to be “large,” is to enable the engravers to inscribe the whole text of the Torah on their surface. The latter stones are reported as still being in existence at the time the Book of Joshua had been written. [What is written in Joshua 4,3-4 is an elaboration of what was mentioned in summary in the preceding verse 2.] (compare Daat Mikra). There were a total of 36 stones, three groups of 12. Twelve were erected in the river bed of the Jordan, before the Jordan had resumed flowing south. 12 were erected at Gilgal. The final twelve were taken all the way to Mount Eyval. These latter stones were made into the altar on Mount Eyval as mentioned by Rashi in his commentary on verse two of our chapter. [According to a view also mentioned by Rashi in conjunction with the Baraitha in Sotah 35, the stones which were made into a (temporary) altar on Mount Eyval were brought back to Gilgal and erected there.]
Our author feels that the plain meaning of our verses allows for only a total of 24 stones, 12 of which were erected in the river bed, whereas the other 12 were taken from the river. The stones erected in the river bed remain to this day and their purpose had been to enable the feet of the priests carrying the Holy Ark not to get wet in the slime while crossing the river. [The actual flow of the water had been arrested in deference to the presence of the Holy Ark. Ed.]
We find the expression באר used in Deut. 1,5 when Moses is reported as “explaining” the Torah. We find it used again in verse 5 of our chapter here. This gives rise to the exegesis by means of a גזרה שוה that just as Moses explained the Torah in 70 languages, the inscribing of the stones with the Torah also was in 70 languages.
The words והקמות לך אבנים גדולות (verse 3) may be understood as a כלל, a general summary of the subject under discussion, whereas the words (verse 4) והיה בעברכם את הירדן תקימו את האבנים האלה may be viewed as the details elaborating on the summary mentioned before. It is as if the Torah wanted to say that the twelve stones mentioned earlier were to be treated in a certain manner. Verse four refers to the aforementioned stones and instructs for them to be erected on Mount Eival. They are to be covered with plaster and then inscribed after the altar on Mount Eival has been erected. [the building of the altar is to precede the erecting of these stones, not as the wording appears at first glance (Rabbi Chavell) Ed.] Following all this, the stones are to be inscribed with the text of the entire Torah, well clarified (verse 8). If we do not explain the verse in this fashion i.e. on the basis of A) summary (כלל) followed by B) detailed instructions (פרט), the entire passage will sound confusing. What would be the point of writing in verse 8 that the entire Torah, well clarified, is to be inscribed on these stones, seeing that G’d had already instructed the Torah to be inscribed on the stones in verse 3? Furthermore, how could the Torah first write: “you are to write upon them” (verse 3), and subsequently “you shall build an altar there?” (verse 5). The Talmud in Sotah 32 also appears to understand our paragraph as an example of the exegetical principle of כלל ופרט.

If Moses did not know the answer himself this is not held against him as it was when he did not know the answer to the query of the daughters of Tzelofchod (Numbers 27,1). In that instance the answer did not need divine guidance as even the Gentile nations appreciate that before the brothers of the deceased are entitle to inherit him, daughters as next of kin take precedence. If Moses nonetheless did not know, this was a punishment for his having made a careless remark when he told the chiefs of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands that when they encountered a matter too difficult for them they should submit it to him and he would deal with it (Deut. 1,17). Seeing that Moses had not known the answer to a simple question, the sages considered this as a form of punishment for him. The law involving a possible postponement of the Passover celebrations for individuals who through no fault of their own could not participate on the date set aside for it, was something that had to be legislated and could not be arrived at by use of one’s intellect. Not knowing the answer could not therefore be considered a failing on the part of Moses and therefore a form of punishment.

A Midrashic approach to the above. The eleven sins listed here correspond to eleven virtues mentioned by King David in Psalms 15 as determining who is entitled to sojourn in G’d’s tent, i.e. Temple. Anyone residing outside the land of Israel is obligated to practice these virtues; they are the very opposite of the sins listed in our chapter here. When David demands that the person be הולך תמים, live without blame, this parallels the Torah’s demand in Deut. 18,13 תמים תהיה עם ה' אלוקיך, “you shall be wholehearted with the Lord your G’d.” David’s demand to be פועל צדק, “do what is right,” means he must not rob or steal anything belonging to his fellow. Our sages (Baba Batra 88) phrased it as “righteousness should emanate from you, you should give a little extra to your customer rather than a little less than called for by the scales.” This is the opposite of adjusting boundaries in one’s favor. The next stipulation of David, i.e. “speaking the truth in one’s heart,” means that one’s heart and one’s mouth, one’s pronouncements, should by in harmony with one another. This is the reverse of steering the blind person the wrong way, pretending to be helpful to him. The words לא רגל על לשונו, “his tongue is not given to evil,” is the opposite of “striking his fellow in secret” (verse 25). This is a form of slander, הולך רכיל. The words לא עשה לרעהו רעה, “he has not committed any harm to his fellow,” is the reverse of perverting justice, listed in our chapter in verse 20. The words וחרפה לא נשא על קרובו, “he has not brought shame on his relative,” mean that he has not perpetrated deeds which result in his relative becoming guilty of a sin, i.e. the reverse of the sexual acts described in our chapter. The words נבזה בעיניו נמאס “a contemptible man is abhorrent in his eyes,” mentioned by David (verse 4) as a qualification required to entitle one to be at home in the Temple, is the opposite of the sin of belittling one’s father and mother. The cause of such belittling is that one feels haughty and superior. Honouring those who are G’d-fearing, another prerequisite listed by David as part of the entrance fee to the Lord’s Sanctuary, is the reverse of belittling one’s parents. “Not having lent money to a fellow Jew and charging interest on it nor accepting a bribe against the innocent” (verse 5), is in stark contrast to the sin of spilling blood. People who take David’s moral/ethical demands to heart will be sure not to become shaky in their faith and fair conduct, ever.