ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף שמות 19:21

‘B’MIDBAR SINAI’ (IN THE WILDERNESS OF SINAI). After having explained the laws of the offerings in the third book, He now began to set forth in this book the commandments which they [the children of Israel] were told with reference to the Tent of Meeting. Now He had already given a warning for all times about [the prohibition of] impurity relating to the Sanctuary and its holy things.¹Leviticus 5:2-3. See Ramban there (Vol. III pp. 52-54). Here He defined the boundaries of the Tabernacle whilst it was in the wilderness, just as He had set bounds for Mount Sinai when the [Divine] Glory was there,²Exodus 19:12. Ramban here, in stressing the parallels between the Tent of Meeting and Mount Sinai, is developing the idea that he mentions in Exodus at the beginning of Seder Terumah, that the Tent of Meeting was, as it were, a continuation of Mount Sinai. See Vol. II p. 435. and He commanded that the common man that draweth nigh shall be put to death,³Further, 1:51. just as He had said there, no hand shall touch him [i.e., the mountain], but he shall surely be stoned.⁴Exodus 19:13. He also commanded [here], And they shall not go in to see the holy things as they are being covered, lest they die⁵Further, 4:20. just as He warned there [at Sinai], lest they break through unto the Eternal to gaze, and many of them perish.⁶Exodus 19:21. He commanded here. And ye shall keep the charge of the holy things and the charge of the altar, [that there be wrath no more upon the children of Israel],⁷Further, 18:5. just as He said there, And let the priests also, that come near to the Eternal, sanctify themselves, lest the Eternal break forth upon them;⁸Exodus 19:22. and let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Eternal, lest He break forth upon them.⁹Ibid., Verse 24. Thus He commanded [here] how the Tabernacle and its vessels are to be guarded, and how they [the people] are to pitch round about it and how the people are to stand afar off, and how the priests that come near the Eternal⁸Exodus 19:22. are to treat it [the Tabernacle] when it is resting and when it is being carried [during the journeyings], and how they are to guard it. Now these are all [signs of] distinction and honor for the Sanctuary, just as the Rabbis of blessed memory have said,¹⁰Sifre Zuta Korach 18:4. “A King’s palace¹¹“And it is known that the term ‘palace’ is a reference to the Sanctuary” (“The Commandments,” Vol. I, p. 31). — It is possible, on first thought, to explain Ramban’s expression “and how they are to pitch round about it” that the pronoun “they” refers to all the Levites, and in that case the continuing expression “and how the people are to stand afar off” would thus complete the thought by contrast: the Levites are to encamp round about the Tabernacle, while the people are to stand afar off. But see in Chapter 2, Verse 2, that Scripture speaks clearly of the children of Israel encamping round about the Tabernacle. Hence the words of Ramban are to be understood as follows: the people are to pitch round about the Tabernacle, and when they approach it they are to stand afar off. This interpretation is fully borne out in the following chapters of this book of the Torah. that has guards over it cannot be compared to a palace that has no such guards.”

‘VAYIKRA’ (AND HE CALLED).¹I.e., And G-d called unto Moses. — The third book of the Torah thus receives its title from the first Hebrew word of the book. The English title Leviticus is derived from the Septuagint — the first Greek translation of the Bible — which gave it that name because a major part of the book is devoted to the laws relating to the priests and Levites. In the Talmud and related literature it is called Torath Kohanim (Law of the Priests). This is to be distinguished from the early Rabbinic commentary on the book, known also as Torath Kohanim. See further, Notes 65, 73, and 121. This book is the law of the priests and the Levites.²Further, 25:32: But as for the cities of the Levites etc. In it G-d explains matters concerned with all the offerings and watching over the Tabernacle [that it should not become defiled].³Ibid., 15:31: Thus shall ye separate the children of Israel from their uncleanness; that they die not in their uncleanness, when they defile My Tabernacle that is in the midst of them. The reference could not be to the actual guarding of the Tabernacle done by the priests and Levites every night throughout the night, (see “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 31-32), for that duty is mentioned in the Book of Numbers (18:4). It may possibly be also a hint to the special Service on the Day of Atonement which was designed to atone for any uncleanness that may have occurred in the Tabernacle or any part thereof (see further 16:16, and 33). By bringing the prescribed offerings on that day Israel fulfilled its duty of “watching over the Tabernacle” that it should not continue in its state of defilement but instead should be restored to its pristine purity and holiness. This is because one book [i.e., the second book of the Torah] was dedicated to the Egyptian exile and the redemption therefrom, and He completed it with an account of the building of the Tent of Meeting and the Glory of G-d which filled the Tabernacle,⁴Exodus 40:34. therefore He now commanded Moses about the offerings and about watching over the Tabernacle, in order that the offerings effect atonement for [the children of] Israel, and that their sins should not bring about the removal of the Divine Glory. Thus He commanded the priests that come near unto the Eternal that they sanctify themselves,⁵Ibid., 19:22. warning them against defilement of the Sanctuary and its hallowed offerings,⁶See Ramban further, 5:2. and also that they are not to break through to come up unto the Eternal,⁷Exodus 19:24. Ramban’s thought there is clearly based on his exposition [at the beginning of Seder Terumah — ibid., 25:1, Vol. II, pp. 435-436] that the Tabernacle constituted a continuation of the presence of the Divine Glory which had descended upon Mount Sinai. Ramban therefore continues here to show that the strictures which applied at the time of the Revelation find their parallels in the laws concerning the Tabernacle. just as He said, Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the ark-cover which is upon the ark, that he die not; for I appear in the cloud upon the ark-cover,⁸Further, 16:2. which is similar to the warning [given at the Revelation] lest they break through unto the Eternal to gaze, and many of them perish.⁹Exodus 19:21. After that¹⁰I.e., in the Book of Numbers (5:1-3). See Ramban there on Verse 2. He set limits to the Tabernacle, even as He had marked off Mount Sinai when the Glory of the G-d of Israel was there.

“Lift up the head etc.” Although Rashi explained this as a term for “taking an accounting” (Exodus 30:12), nevertheless it used the language of lift up [se’u], when you lift up [ki tissa], lift up [nassa], because through the act of counting, God elevates and lifts them with greater elevation above all nations who do not have an individual count, like the straw that the owner of the threshing floor does not count. Similarly, the nations do not have individual Providence, only general providence for the preservation of the species, like other animals and beasts of the field. But each individual from Israel is watched over specifically, and even one of them is considered as important as an entire nation, as it says, and many of them will fall (Exodus 19:21) — even if only one of them falls, it is considered as if many have fallen. Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, gave them a count like the stars, about which it is said, He brings out their host by number, He calls them all by name (Isaiah 40:26). So too it is said here by the number of names to indicate that those who lead the many to righteousness are like stars forever (Daniel 12:3), and each one has individual Providence. And regarding the contradiction raised in Yoma 22b between verses — it is written, the number of the children of Israel (Hosea 2:1), which implies they have a number, and then it says, like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured nor counted — according to the simple meaning, this is not a contradiction, because with the Holy One, blessed be He, they certainly have a number like the stars that He brings out and brings in by number. Thus they have a number to indicate that the Holy One, blessed be He, watches over each one individually. And what is written which cannot be measured nor counted refers to human beings, who certainly cannot count them due to their great multitude.

העד העד [THE MAN] DID SOLEMNLY PROTEST UNTO US — The Hebrew is an expression signifying warning and it is derived from the root עוד to bear witness, because a warning is, as a rule, given in the presence of witnesses. Other examples are (Jeremiah 11:7) “I earnestly forewarned (העדותי) your fathers”, and (Exodus 19:21) “Go, warn (העד) the people.