מוסר אויף במדבר 5:6

"Against You alone have I sinned, and done what is evil in Your eyes; so that, etc." (Psalms 51:6). It is well-known that confession is a positive commandment which is in the Torah, as it is stated (Numbers 5:6-7), "When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the Lord [...]. They shall confess the sins which they committed." And the content of confession is that they confess and say to the Holy One, blessed be He, "I have sinned before you." And the Rabbis, may their memory be blessed, expounded, "Once a person has confessed and said, 'I have sinned,' no angel is allowed anymore to touch him, as it is stated (Numbers 22:34), 'And Bilaam said to the angel of the Lord, "I have sinned because I did not know that you were standing in the way before me."'" And likewise do we find with the Jewish people that when they sinned by expressing evil speech against the manna, they confessed and said (Deuteronomy 21:7), "We sinned by speaking against the Lord and against you"; so the Holy One, blessed be He, forgave them immediately. And Moshe [too] prayed for them, as it is stated, "Moshe prayed on behalf of the people." And even with the wicked, confession atones. So once they have accepted their punishment and confession, they merit life in the world to come. For thus have we found with Aakhan, that he confessed and said (Joshua 7:20), "Indeed I have sinned against the Lord, God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done." And immediately after he confessed, Joshua said to him (Joshua 7:25), "What calamity you have brought upon us; the Lord will bring calamity upon you this day." And [the Rabbis], may their memory be blessed, expounded, "This day are you visited by calamity; but you are not visited by calamity for life in the world to come." And it is not necessary to say this about the Jewish people, for confession even atones for the [other] nations of the world. For this is what have we found [concerning] Adoni-bezek, a great king among the kings of the Canaanites; and there were seventy kings of Canaan with severed thumbs and big toes collecting scraps under his table. [Even so,] once he confessed and mentioned God, it was atoned for him. And that is that which is written at the beginning of Judges [Judges 1:5-7), "At Bezek, they encountered Adoni-bezek, engaged him in battle, and defeated the Canaanites and the Perizzites. Adoni-bezek fled, but they pursued him and captured him; and they cut off his thumbs and his big toes. And Adoni-bezek said, 'Seventy kings, with thumbs and big toes cut off, used to pick up scraps under my table; as I have done, so God has requited me.' They brought him to Jerusalem and he died there." What is of interest [here], that the verse mentioned his death in Jerusalem? Rather, it is to teach you that once he confessed and mentioned God, may He be blessed, in his confession, his death was atonement, since he accepted his punishment as being measure for measure.

There is a difficulty concerning the sequence in which events are recorded in these three פרשיות. The Torah begins by relating the erection of the Tabernacle on the first of Nissan. Then it reports that G–d's Presence manifested itself there on the first day of the following month, lyar. The Torah then states that the people were counted. Next the Torah explains that henceforth the tribe of Levi would assume the functions that used to be reserved for the firstborn. The Torah proceeds to report the counting of the tribe of Levi, i.e. the Kehatites, the Gersonides and the Merarites. Their respective duties are also listed. After that, in Parshat Nasso, we read about the people who have to leave the camp because of impurity. Up to this point, the order of events is logical. At this point however, the Torah inserts other subjects, such as the steps for rehabilitation of people who have trespassed against Torah commandments. There follow the laws about סוטה, the woman accused of unproven infidelity. This in turn is followed by the laws governing the conduct of a Nazirite. Only after that does the Torah resume dealing with matters related to the Tabernacle, such as the Priests bestowing blessings on the people of Israel. This is followed by reports about the consecration of the Tabernacle/Altar by the offerings of the twelve tribal heads, נשיאים. This is followed by details about the candelabrum in the Tabernacle in Parshat Behaalotcha. At this point, the Torah again refers to the Levites (8,5), and their consecration. Why did the Torah interrupt with the legislation about פסח שני only to report subsequently about the encampment of the twelve tribes, the manner of getting ready to break or pitch camp? This is followed by a report that two trumpets had to be made, and by the proposal to keep Yitro with the Jewish people permanently. Next we hear how the Israelites complained about the manna, how they craved a meat diet, and how they were punished for their greed and lust. This is followed by Miriam's slanderous remarks about Moses and her punishment by צרעת. We will have to justify the order in which the Torah relates all these matters by showing how each is directly related to what follows. The numbers three and four respectively, which play a major role in our Parshah, find their counterpart in the layout of Jerusalem and the Holy Temple.

והתודו את חטאתם . The Sefer HaChinuch writes that we are commanded to confess all our sins before G–d as soon as we feel sorry to have committed such sins. The manner in which this is done is that the sinner recites: "O Lord, I have sinned inadvertently, knowingly, or even out of feelings of rebelliousness," followed by a list of the sins committed. It is necessary to spell out each sin as explicitly as one is capable of, and beg for forgiveness. The procedure should not be something cursory. Our sages add that even sins that can be atoned for by the bringing of a sacrifice must be spelled out at the time the sacrifice is offered. Concerning such sins, the Torah says in Numbers 5,6: "Speak to the children of Israel, any man or woman who will commit any of the sins one is apt to commit against one's fellow man thus breaking faith with G–d, and that person becomes aware of his guilt, he shall confess their sins which they have committed." The Mechilta there comments that the words in Leviticus 5,5: והתודה אשר חטא עליה, indicate that the confession must take place before the sin offering has been slaughtered.