פרשת עקב תשכ"ט - נאום משה: העגל והלוחות

ואתנפל לפני ה׳ כראשנה ארבעים יום AND I FELL DOWN BEFORE THE LORD, AS AT THE FIRST, FORTY DAYS, as it is said (Exodus 32:30) “And now I will go up to the Lord, perhaps I may atone [for your sin]”. At that ascent, which was the second I made, I tarried there forty days — consequently these terminated on the twenty-ninth of Ab, since he had ascended on the eighteenth of Tammuz. On that same day in Ab He became reconciled with Israel and said to Moses (Exodus 34:1) “Hew thee out two tablets”. He stayed there another forty days; consequently these terminated on the Day of Atonement (the tenth of Tishri). On that same day, the Holy One, blessed be He, was gladly reconciled (i.e. completely reconciled) with Israel and said to Moses, I have forgiven according to thy word. On this account it was appointed for pardon and forgiveness. And whence do we know that He was reconciled with them with complete goodwill? Because it is stated in respect to the forty days of the last tablets (in respect to third period of forty days) (Deuteronomy 10:10), “And I stayed in the mountain according to the first days”! What was the case with the first days? They were passed in God’s goodwill! (for they had not yet committed the sin of worshipping the golden calf). So, too, the last forty days were in God’s goodwill! You must now say (admit) that the intervening forty days were passed in God’s anger (Midrash Tanchuma, Ki Tisa 31; cf. Rashi on Exodus 18:13).

ובאהרן התאנף ה׳ AND WITH AARON THE LORD WAS ANGRY, because he listened to you.

The children of Israel traveled from Bәכerot-Bәné-Yaɐqan to Moserah. This verse is inserted here, because Moshe had said “I also prayed for the sake of Aaron at that time” [9: 20]; Scripture accordingly informs us that Aaron did not die, until the fortieth year. The evidence for the correctness of this explanation is that, while they were at Mount Sinai, “at that time, God set apart the tribe of Levi” [: 8] (as I have explained in my commentary on the parasha of Bәmidbar [comment on Numbers 3: 1]). Our ancestors asserted [Palestinian Talmud Yoma 1: 1 (38b)] that they backtracked to a previous encampment — but what then is to be done with the word “there” in there Aaron died, and there he was buried ? The Spaniard Rabbi Isaac ben Y ә hudah ibn Ghiyyat, of blessed memory, translated the word “there” into “then” (similarly, “from then on [literally: from there] he became a shepherd” [Genesis 49: 24]). But in my opinion none of this is needed. Rather, Beerot-Bәné-Yaaqan is not the same as “Bené-Yaaqan” [Numbers 33: 31]; and also, Moserah is not the same as “Moserot” [Numbers 33: 30]. Bәכerot-Bәné-Yaɐqan is another name for Qadesh, and Moserah is the name of the desert region surrounding Mount Hor. There are many similar instances (e.g., note that Scripture calls a place “the Shur Wilderness” [Exodus 15: 22], but in another verse says “the כ Eytam Wilderness” [Numbers 33: 8]).