| א. השוואת מפרשים |
| A. Comparison of the Commentators |
"Then Moses said unto Aaron: 'This is it that the LORD spoke, saying: Through them that are nigh unto Me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.'"
כבר אמר לי השם שהוא יראה קדושתו בקרובים אליו כטעם (עמוס ג') "רק אתכם ידעתי מכל משפחות האדמה, על כן אפקוד עליכם את כל עוונותיכם". וכאשר אראה בם קדושתי, אז אהיה נכבד, ועל פני כל העם אֶכבד וייראו ממני.
This is what God has told me God has already told me that He will manifest His holiness through those who are near Him — even if they must suffer for it, as in the passage “You only have I known…” [Amos 3:2]. Thus the verse means, “When I manifest myself in holiness among them, then I shall be glorified; and I shall be glorified in the face of all the people, and they shall fear Me.”
רמב"ן, (אחרי הביאו את דברי רש"י הנ"ל בשינוי נוסחה "עכשיו אני רואה שהם קדושים ממני וממך"):
...לשון רש"י ממדרש רבותינו. ואם כן (כלומר: לפי פירוש זה) יהיה טעם "ונקדש בכבודי" שיהיה קדוש בעיני כל העם ובמכובדי וידעו כי אני שוכן בו. ר"א (=ר' אברהם אבן עזרא) גם כן אמר "הוא אשר דיבר ה' לאמור" – כבר אמר לי ה' שיראה קדושתו בקרובים אליו "כטעם רק אתכם ידעתי"... (עד סוף דברי ראב"ע כנ"ל). ואם כן (=לפי פירוש זה של ראב"ע) – הוא דיבור ולא נכתב, כי השם הודיעו דרכיו, שכך המידה הזאת לפניו. ולדעתי בדרך הפשט אין צורך לכל זה, כי "דבר ה'" – גזרותיו ומחשבתו ועניין דרכיו, ו"הדיבור" ייאמר בכל אלה (קהלת ג'): "דיברתי אני עם לבי" – חשבתי מחשבה זו, וכן (יהושע ה'): "וזה הדבר אשר מל יהושע" - זה העניין. וכן (בראשית מ"ג): "על דבר הכסף המושב באמתחותינו", וכן (בראשית כ"ד): "ותהי אשה לבן אדוניך כאשר דיבר ה'" – גזר. וכמוהו (מלכים א' ט"ז ל"ד): "באבירם בכורו ייסדה ובשגיב צעירו הציב דלתיה, כדבר ה' אשר דיבר ביד יהושע". והנה אמר משה: המקרה הזה הוא אשר גזר ה' לאמור אל לבו: "בקרובי אקדש", שלא יהרסו אל קדושתי "ועל פני כל העם אכבד" – שיהיו נוהגים כבוד במשכני.
This is what the LORD meant when He said: [After citing the words of Rashi] - these are [the words] of Rashi from a midrash of our Rabbis. But if so, its understanding would be [as if the words stated], "and I will be sanctified by My glory," such that I will be holy in the eyes of all of the people and of My honored ones. And [R. Ibn Ezra] also said, "'This is what God has told me' - God has already told me that He will manifest His holiness through those who are near Him — even if they must suffer for it, as in the passage 'You only have I known…' (Amos 3:2) [etc.," as in the citation above]. But if so, it was told, but not written down [in the Torah] - that God informed him of His ways, that this trait of His is like this. And in my opinion, there is no need for all this according to the simple understanding. For the understanding of "the Lord spoke," is [that it is referring to] His decrees and His thoughts and the content of His ways. And "speech (dibbur)" is said about all these: "I spoke to my heart" (Ecclesiastes 1:16), [meaning] I thought this thought; likewise, "This is the speech (devar) for which Joshua circumcised" (Joshua 5:4), [meaning] this matter; likewise, "for the speech (devar) of the money that was placed in our sacks" (Genesis 43:18); likewise, "and she shall be a wife for your master, as the Lord had spoken" (Genesis 24:51), [meaning] decreed; and like that, "He laid its foundations at the cost of Abiram his first-born, and set its gates in place at the cost of Segub his youngest, in accordance with the speech that the Lord had spoken through Joshua" (I Kings 16:34). And so [here too] Moses said, "This event is that which the Lord decreed upon His heart: 'I will be sanctified through those close to Me,' such that they not destroy My holiness; 'and I will be glorified in front of all the people,' such that they will treat My Tabernacle with respect."
1. What is the difficulty in this verse for all three of them?
2. What difference is there in the three resolutions of the difficulty?
3. Does Rashi follow the same approach that he followed in Genesis 32:13 s.v. and I will make your seed; in Exodus 14:12 s.v. that we have spoken; in Exodus 32:27 s.v. Thus spoke the Lord; in Deuteronomy 5:12 s.v. as he commanded you; and in Deuteronomy 12:21 s.v. and you shall slaughter as I commanded you?
4. What is R. Ibn Ezra's proof from Amos 3:2?
5. ההולך הראב"ע כאן בדרך שבה הלך ב:
5. Does R. Ibn Ezra follow the approach here that he followed in:
(א) הלא זה הדבר. איננו מפורש. רק ידענו כי כן היה. כי איך יאמרו לו בפניו דבר שלא היה. והדבר הזה הוא בכלל ולא שמעו אל משה
S.v. Is this not the thing?: It is not explained. We only know that it was so; as how would they say something that had not happened to his face. And this thing is included in "and they did not listen to Moses."
ד"ה ויאמר: כבר אמר לי השם כי אתם חייבים לשבות מחר, שלא תעשו מלאכה אפילו אוכל נפש.
S.v. And He spoke: God had already told me that you are obligated to rest tomorrow, that you not do work - even [preparation of] food for oneself.
6. What is the difficulty shared by our verse and Genesis 24:51; and how does R. Ibn Ezra resolve it there?
7. Kor HaZahav on Rabmban corrects the words of Ramban to be, "such that I will be holy in the eyes of all of the people through My honored ones" (instead of "and of My honored ones," as is written in all the standard texts). Can you explain his correction?
8. השווה דברי הרמב"ן כאן לדבריו בראשית א' ג':
8. Compare Ramban's words here to his words on Genesis 1:3:
ד"ה: ויאמר אלוהים יהי אור: מלת "אמירה" בכאן להורות על החפץ, כדרך "מה תאמר נפשך ואעשה לך" (ש"א כ ד), מה תרצה ותחפוץ, וכן "ותהי אשה לבן אדוניך כאשר דיבר ה'" (להלן כד נא), כאשר רצה כי כן הוא הרצון לפניו...
And God said, "let there be light:" The word, saying, here is to indicate will; in the same way as (I Samuel 20:4) "What does your soul say, and I will do it for you," [which means] what do you will and want; and so [too] (Genesis 24:51), "and she shall be a wife to the son of your master, as God has said," meaning as He willed; since this is how will is in front of Him...
האם פירוש "אמירה" שם מזדהה עם פירוש "דיבור" כאן?
Is his understanding of the word, "saying," there, the same is his understanding of the word, "speech," here?
ועיין גיליון בראשית תשי"ד שאלה ב.
And see the worksheet for Bereishit from 1954, Question 2.
9. What is the connection between here and I Kings 16:34 (which Ramban cites as his last example); does that verse not refer to Joshua 7:22; so what is the difficulty nevertheless shared by our verse and that verse?
ד"ה ויאמר משה אל קרח - ..."וישמע משה ויפול על פניו", לדרוש את השם לדעת מה יעשה, ואז נאמר לו "בוקר ויודע ה'" וגו', ולא נזכר זה רק בסיפור משה לעם. וכבר הראיתיך כי במקומות רבים פעם יאריך בדיבור השם אל משה ויקצר בסיפור משה, ופעם יעשה בהיפך, ולפעמים לא יזכיר האחד כלל, כאשר בא במעשה בני גד ובני ראובן שסיפר הכתוב המעשה במשה בעצמו, והוא נעשה על פי השם, כמו שאמרו (להלן לב לא) "את אשר דיבר ה' לעבדיך כן נעשה", וכתוב ביהושע (כב ט) "אל ארץ הגלעד אל ארץ אחוזתם אשר נאחזו בה על פי ה' ביד משה". ואם נאמר שהיה כן מפני הסכמת השם, כעניין שאמר (להלן לד יג) "זאת הארץ אשר תתנחלו אותה בגורל אשר ציוה ה' לתת לתשעת המטות וחצי המטה", ויהיה זה מן הדברים שעשה משה מדעתו והסכים הקדוש ברוך הוא על ידו (שבת פז), אינו נכון שיעשה משה דבר בחילוק הארץ אלא ברשות, כי הכל במצוות השם יעשה דכתיב "לאלה תיחלק הארץ" וגו'.
S.v. And Moses said to Korach: ... "And Moses heard and he fell on his face," to seek God, to know what to do. And then he was told, "In the morning, the Lord will make known, etc." However this was only mentioned in Moses' recounting to the people. And I have already showed you that [it is like this] in many places: One time it will be lengthy in the speech of God to Moses and brief in Moses' recounting, and one time the opposite; and sometimes one will not be mentioned at all - as with the story of the Children of Gad and the Children of Reuben. [There,] Scripture recounts the story with Moses himself, but it was done according to God, as it states (Numbers 32:31), "That which the Lord spoke to your servants, so shall we do." And it is [likewise] written in Joshua 22:9, "to the land of Gilead, the land of their own holding, which they had acquired by the command of the Lord through Moses." And if we were to say that [God's "command" here] is because of God's agreement, in the way that the matter is stated [specifically to exclude them from the actual command] (Numbers 34:13), "This is the land you are to receive by lot as your hereditary portion, which the Lord has commanded to be given to the nine and a half tribes" - and that this would be from the things that Moses did on his own and the Holy One, blessed be He, agreed with him (Shabbat 87) - [we would be wrong. For] it would not be right for Moses to do anything about dividing the land without authorization, as all of it was to be done upon the commandment of God - as it is written (Numbers 26:53), "To these shall you divide the land, etc." (which was spoken about Gad and Reuben as well).
האם הולך הרמב"ן בפירושו שם ובפירושו לבמדבר ל"ב ל"א המובא בקרח באותה הדרך שבה הוא הולך כאן, או בחר לו אצלנו דרך אחרת?
Does Ramban follow the same approach in his explanation there and his explanation to Numbers 32:31 cited in Korach as the approach he follows here; or did he choose a different approach in our case?
| ב. "וידם אהרן" |
| B. "And Aaron was silent." |
"And Aaron was still (vayidom)."
נהפך לבו והיה כאבן דומם, ולא נשא קולו בבכי ובמספד כאב על בנים, גם לא קיבל תנחומין ממשה, כי לא נותרה בו נשמה והדיבור אין בו.
His heart became like an inanimate (domem) rock, and he did not raise his voice in crying or eulogy, as would a father for [his] children; he also did not accept condolences from Moses. For he had no breath left in him, nor did he have any speech.
שם עולם:
...ויש הבדל בין דממה ושתיקה; שתיקה מורה על הפסקה מדיבור, ותימצא גם בתנועות חיצוניות כמו שאמר (תהלים ק"ז) "וישמחו כי ישתוקו", אבל דממה מורה גם שקט הלב ומרגוע הנפש בפנימיות, שלא הרהר אהרן אחר מידותיו של הקדוש ברוך הוא כלל אלא צידק עליו את הדין.
Shem Olam (R. Eliezer Lipman Licthenstein):
And there is a difference between stillness and silence (shtikah). For silence indicates a pause in speech, but you can [still] find outward movements, as it stated (Psalms 107:30), "They rejoiced when they were silent." But stillness also indicates quiet of the heart and inner peace of the soul. As Aaron did not call the traits of the Holy One, blessed be He, into question, but rather justified the judgement.
1. What is the difference between them; and which appears closer to the simple meaning of Scripture to you?
2. To which of the two could one bring backing from Psalms 37:7?