ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף דברים 4:45

אלו הדברים, according to the plain meaning of the text the names mentioned in this verse all are names of locations, as we find that it is customary for the text of the Torah to give detail followed by further detail of the places whose exact location the Torah wishes to elaborate on in greater detail. For instance, in Genesis 12,8 when describing Avraham as pitching his tent in some place, it refers first to Beyt El, and then elaborates by saying that the he found himself with Beyt El on his east and Ai on the west. In Exodus 14,2, the Israelites are described as making a turnabout before a place described as Pi Hachirot, elaborating by saying that this Pi Hachirot is between Migdol and the sea to the north of Baal Yzefon. In Judges 21,19 an annual festival was observed at Shiloh which is described as situated north of Beyt El, east of the highway which runs from Beyt El to Shechem and south of Levonah.
If locations which did not have the distinction of serving as places where parts of the Torah were revealed to the Jewish people were described in such detail, it is not surprising that places where such parts of the Torah were revealed are described in detail. (compare Numbers 9,1, Exodus 12,1-2, Leviticus 25,1 Numbers 33,3) Here too, the locations are described with detail upon detail; they are the places that served Moses to explain the laws of the Torah, the ceremonial laws, the statutes, and the social laws. (compare 4,45-46, as well as verse 5 in our chapter.)

Before the giving of the Torah at Marah. The verse (above 4:45), “These are the statutes, etc.,” implies that the Ten Commandments here were said exactly the same as they were said above. If so, how could Moshe add here, “As Adonoy commanded you, etc.”? [Therefore, it cannot refer to the first Ten Commandments, but it must refer to Marah.]. Rashi explains likewise in Maseches Sanhedrin 56b: Moshe could not have said, “As Adonoy commanded you at Sinai” in the plains of Moav. For Moshe did not repeat the Mishnah Torah and warn about its commandments of his own accord. Rather, he repeated them just as he had received them. And whatever was written in the repetition of the Ten Commandments was written on the Tablets, and was heard at Sinai. See further in Tosefos (Maseches Shabbos 87b) where a difficulty is raised: Perhaps “As Adonoy commanded, etc.,” refers to the manna (Shmos 16:23) where Hashem also commanded them regarding Shabbos. The answer is: Regarding honoring one’s father and mother it is also written (v.16), “as Adonoy commanded, etc,” which cannot refer to the manna. For regarding the manna, Hashem did not command them about honoring one’s father and mother. Therefore, “as Adonoy commanded” mentioned regarding Shabbos also does not refer to the manna.

There is another comment by Shemot Rabbah 51,3 concerning the appearance of the words משכן twice in succession at the beginning of our portion. The reason mentioned is that it hinted at the fact that there would be two permanent Temples replacing this mobile structure at a future date, i.e. the first Temple and the second Temple. The verse alluding to this is Nechemyah 1,7 חבל חבלנו לך. Thus far the Midrash.
If you will take a close look at the words המשכן משכן העדות you will find that these three words contain a hint of the number of years that the first and second Temple were standing. You will also find an allusion to the number of years which elapsed between the Exodus from Egypt and the erection of the first Temple. The numerical value of the letters in the word המשכן plus the letters themselves (5) amount to 420, i.e. the number of years that the second Temple was standing. The word משכן gives you the number of years the first Temple was standing, i.e. 410 years. The word העדות when spelled without the letter ו, amounts to the number 480, the number of years between the Exodus and completion by Solomon of the first Temple. The fact that one year seems to be missing from the number required (479 instead of 480), is accounted for by the fact that the Tabernacle was built in the second year after the Exodus so that from the time of its erection to the completion of Solomon’s Temple actually only 479 years elapsed. Moses realised all these numbers already by means of his Holy Spirit. This is the meaning of the introduction to our portion with the words אלה פקודי המשכן משכן העדות.
Another view of these words is found in Tanchuma Pekudey 4 where Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai is quoted as saying that the word עדות refers to the Torah. The opening verse of our portion would be equivalent to: “these are the various laws of the Torah, one group of which is know as עדות.” The whole matter may be illustrated by a parable. A king had a daughter for whom he built a palace. He made her dwell inside this palace protected behind seven curtains The King said that anyone entering it in order to visit his daughter (without his permission) would be tantamount to insulting his own honor. This explains why the Tabernacle was known by two different names. We have one verse in which the Tabernacle is referred to as משכן העדות, i.e. the Torah. In another verse the Torah .refers to the same building by speaking of it as לפני משכן ה' ‘in front of the Tabernacle of the Lord.” G’d made it plain that anyone who would debase and besmirch the Torah (G’d’s daughter) would be as if he had debased and besmirched G’d Himself.
You should know that when the Roman Emperor Hadrianus entered the Temple he was swearing and cursing (G’d). [Actually it was still the general Titus who entered the Temple seeing that Hadrianus lived later, after the destruction. Ed.] Concerning such a situation David said (Psalms 74,5) ‘it is like men wielding axes against a gnarled tree.” He (G’d) raises such wicked people to make it appear as if they were about to fell the tallest cedars in order to convert same into ladders reaching heaven itself in order to capture it. However, their attempts invariably end in failure and they have to abandon them.” When such enemies of the Lord realize their impotence to defeat Him, they attack us, His “daughter” to take out their frustration on us. This is what David referred to when he said (Psalms 79,1) “heathens have attacked Your domain.”
Rabbi Chiya bar Abba said: “to whom can we compare the hostile heathen? To a man who hates his ruler and would like to engage him in combat but is unable to do so. What does such a disgruntled subject of the ruler do? He goes to the circus which the ruler is visiting and attempts to undermine the structure. Seeing that he is afraid of being discovered by the ruler and executed for his attempt to harm him, he introduces a digging tool under the main pillar of the circus hoping to thereby bring about the collapse of the structure which would kill the ruler while collapsing.” This is how and why the hostile heathens attack the Jews. They realize that we are crucial to G’d’s universe. By destroying us they hope to discredit Him. Concerning these ill-fated attempts of such enemies of the Lord, David says (Psalms 2,2) “kings of the earth take their stand, and regents intrigue together against the Lord and against His anointed.” This is an example of how those who are unable to kill the donkey attack the saddle instead, or to those who, while unable to kill the lion, kill the donkey instead in order to vent their frustration.