(ט) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (י) דַּבֵּ֛ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל לֵאמֹ֑ר אִ֣ישׁ אִ֣ישׁ כִּי־יִהְיֶֽה־טָמֵ֣א ׀ לָנֶ֡פֶשׁ אוֹ֩ בְדֶ֨רֶךְ רְחֹקָ֜הׄ לָכֶ֗ם א֚וֹ לְדֹרֹ֣תֵיכֶ֔ם וְעָ֥שָׂה פֶ֖סַח לַיהֹוָֽה׃ (יא) בַּחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֜י בְּאַרְבָּעָ֨ה עָשָׂ֥ר י֛וֹם בֵּ֥ין הָעַרְבַּ֖יִם יַעֲשׂ֣וּ אֹת֑וֹ עַל־מַצּ֥וֹת וּמְרֹרִ֖ים יֹאכְלֻֽהוּ׃ (יב) לֹֽא־יַשְׁאִ֤ירוּ מִמֶּ֙נּוּ֙ עַד־בֹּ֔קֶר וְעֶ֖צֶם לֹ֣א יִשְׁבְּרוּ־ב֑וֹ כְּכׇל־חֻקַּ֥ת הַפֶּ֖סַח יַעֲשׂ֥וּ אֹתֽוֹ׃ (יג) וְהָאִישׁ֩ אֲשֶׁר־ה֨וּא טָה֜וֹר וּבְדֶ֣רֶךְ לֹא־הָיָ֗ה וְחָדַל֙ לַעֲשׂ֣וֹת הַפֶּ֔סַח וְנִכְרְתָ֛ה הַנֶּ֥פֶשׁ הַהִ֖וא מֵֽעַמֶּ֑יהָ כִּ֣י ׀ קׇרְבַּ֣ן יְהֹוָ֗ה לֹ֤א הִקְרִיב֙ בְּמֹ֣עֲד֔וֹ חֶטְא֥וֹ יִשָּׂ֖א הָאִ֥ישׁ הַהֽוּא׃ (יד) וְכִֽי־יָג֨וּר אִתְּכֶ֜ם גֵּ֗ר וְעָ֤שָֽׂה פֶ֙סַח֙ לַֽיהֹוָ֔ה כְּחֻקַּ֥ת הַפֶּ֛סַח וּכְמִשְׁפָּט֖וֹ כֵּ֣ן יַעֲשֶׂ֑ה חֻקָּ֤ה אַחַת֙ יִהְיֶ֣ה לָכֶ֔ם וְלַגֵּ֖ר וּלְאֶזְרַ֥ח הָאָֽרֶץ׃ {ס}
בשנה השנית לצאתם מארץ מצרים בחדש הראשון ... בספרי (בהעלתך סז) אמרו ויעשו את הפסח בראשון וגו' בגנות ישראל הכתוב מדבר שלא עשו אלא פסח זה בלבד וכן הוא אומר (עמוס ה כה) הזבחים ומנחה הגשתם לי במדבר ארבעים שנה ... ויתכן שהגנות הזה הוא קלקלתם בענין המרגלים שממנה נתנדו ולא נשבה להם הרוח הצפונית ולא מלו ולפיכך נאסרו בכל הקדשים והיו נזופים או שתהיה הברייתא הזו כדברי האומר (מכילתא בא טו) אין מילת זכריו ועבדיו מעכבת בו והיו רשאין לעשותו ונתעצלו ולא עשו אותו והוא גנות גדול אבל הראשון הוא יותר נכון בעיני כי היה משה מכריחם לעשותו ולא היה מניחם בחיוב כרת אבל חג המצות שבעה והשבתת חמץ לא הוצרך לומר שנהגו בו שהן חובת הגוף הנוהגת בכל מקום וכבר נאמר בהם (שמות יב יז) לדורותיכם חוקת עולם:
IN THE SECOND YEAR AFTER THEIR COMING OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT, IN THE FIRST MONTH. ...in the Sifre the Rabbis have said: “And they brought the Passover-offering in the first month. Scripture speaks in a critical manner about Israel, inasmuch as [throughout their forty years in the desert] they brought only this Passover-offering....It is possible that [the reason why it is considered] their shortcoming is because of their sin in the affair of the spies, on account of which they fell into disesteem and the [cooling] northern wind did not blow upon them, [with the result that on account of the great heat in the desert] they could not circumcise themselves, and therefore they were prohibited to eat any sacred offerings, and they were “rebuked” by [G-d]. Or it may be that this Beraitha [of the Sifre which speaks of the “shortcoming” of Israel, as hinted at in this section] is in agreement with the words of the Sage who holds that [non-performance of] circumcision of one’s male children or servants does not prevent one from eating the Passover-offering, and therefore the people were permitted to bring the Passover-offering, but they did not trouble themselves to do it, and this is indeed a great “shortcoming.” The first interpretation, however, appears more likely to be correct, for [had they been obliged to bring it] Moses would have forced them to observe it and would not have allowed them [by not bringing it] to incur the penalty of excision. But as for the Festival of Unleavened Bread for seven days, and the removal [over that period] of leavened bread, Scripture did not have to say that they observed it [in the wilderness], since these are commandments that are obligatory on everyone’s person and apply in all places, and it has already been stated [that they are to be observed] throughout your generations by an ordinance forever.
בחדש הראשון .... ספר הכתוב ארבעה מעשים טובים שעשו ישראל שבהם זכו ליכנס לארץ מיד בלתי מלחמה לולא המרגלים כמו שהעיד משה רבינו באמרו לחובב נוסעים אנחנו אל המקום. ראשונה סיפר חנוכת המזבח. שנית זריזותם בענין חינוך הלויים. שלישית זריזותם בקרבן הפסח. רביעית לכתם אחרי האל יתברך במדבר אף על פי שהיה העלות הענן בזמנים בלתי נודעים פעמים ארוכים ופעמים קצרים באופן שהיה ראוי שתקשה עליהם מאד החניה והמסע. ולהודיע כל אלה ספר אותם כפי מדרגת היותם לרצון לפניו לא לפי הזמן שהיו בו ולכן ספר בכאן ענין חנוכת המזבח והלויים והפסח שהיו בחדש הראשון והיתה תחלת הספר בחדש השני והיה ענין חניתם ונסיעתם על פי ה' מיום צאתם ממצרים ועל כמו זה אמרו אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה וזה כאשר תכוין תכלית מה זולתי הזמן בסדר המסופר:
בחודש הראשון,
The Talmud in Sotah 11 and 31 relates that the Jewish people had 4 virtues to their credit on account of which they merited entering and conquering the land of Canaan already at that time if the sin of the spies had not intervened. We know that Moses was convinced that the conquest of the land of Canaan was at hand when he asked his father-in-law Yitro to remain with him and to partake in that event. (Numbers 10,29)
These merits were: 1) the altar had been successfully consecrated, the offerings of the Jewish people were being accepted by G’d. 2) the Levites had been consecrated. 3) The Jewish people had demonstrated eagerness when observing the anniversary of the Exodus by performing the required ceremonies in difficult circumstances. 4) They had followed their G’d to an inhospitable desert even though they had no idea if and when the cloud would lift and indicate that they were suddenly to break camp. Their entire situation was such that sometimes they would remain in the same spot for months or years, whereas other times they would break camp and re-establish camp after only 24 hours, all of which involved a tremendous upheaval when we consider that we speak about two and a half to three million souls.
In order to describe the various merits the Jewish people had in their favour at the time the Torah told us at this point about these events instead of relating them in chronological order, as we might have expected. Consecration of the altar occurred in the first month of the second year, so did the consecration of the Levites, and so did the celebration of the second Passover. Seeing that the beginning of the Book of Numbers speaks of events in the second month of that year, we could have questioned the Torah’s sequence. However, the Torah had a purpose in delaying the report about the last mentioned events in order to demonstrate that had it not been for the disastrous mission of the spies everything would have been in place for an immediate ascent to the Holy Land. The entire paragraph is another illustration of the principle known as אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה, that the Torah is not a record of events in chronological order. The Torah most certainly is very orderly, has been written after careful consideration, but G’d, the author, had decided that “order” does not necessarily mean “chronological sequence.”
או בדרך רחקה. נָקוּד עָלָיו, לוֹמַר, לֹא שֶׁרְחוֹקָה וַדַּאי, אֶלָּא שֶׁהָיָה חוּץ לְאַסְקֻפַּת הָעֲזָרָה כָּל זְמַן שְׁחִיטָה (פסח' צ"ג);
או בדרך רחקה [IF ANY MAN … SHALL BE UNCLEAN BY REASON OF A DEAD,] OR BE ON A DISTANT JOURNEY — There is a dot on it (on the ה of the word רחקה which letter is therefore regarded as non-existent; cf. Rashi on Genesis 18:9 and Note thereon), in order to tell that what Scripture means by בדרך רחקה is that it (the journey) need not really be a distant one, but that his sacrifice is postponed even though he was merely outside the threshold of the forecourt during the whole time that the ceremony of slaughtering the Passover sacrifice tasted. (Pesachim 93b, cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 69:2).
ויהי בנסוע הארון ... ולא פירש לנו הרב מה הפורענות הזו שהוצרך להפסיק בה כי לא נזכר כאן בכתוב פורענות קודם ויהי בנסוע הארון ולשון הגמרא שם פורענות שנייה ויהי העם כמתאוננים (במדבר י״א:א׳) פורענות ראשונה דכתיב ויסעו מהר ה' (במדבר י׳:ל״ג) ואמר רבי חנינא מלמד שסרו מאחרי ה' ... אבל ענין המדרש הזה מצאו אותו באגדה שנסעו מהר סיני בשמחה כתינוק הבורח מבית הספר אמרו שמא ירבה ויתן לנו מצות וזהו ויסעו מהר ה' שהיה מחשבתם להסיע עצמן משם מפני שהוא הר ה' וזהו פורענות ראשונה והפסיק שלא יהיו שלש פורעניות סמוכות זו לזו ונמצאו מוחזקים בפורענות וקרא החטא פורענות אע"פ שלא אירע להם ממנו פורענות ושמא אלמלא חטאם זה היה מכניסם לארץ מיד:
AND IT CAME TO PASS WHEN THE ARK SET FORWARD. ...The Rabbi did not explain to us what is this [first] “punishment” from which it was necessary to separate [the later verses], for there is no “punishment” mentioned here in Scripture before the verse, And it came to pass when the ark set forward. The language of the Gemara there is: “The second punishment is [the section], And the people were as murmurers. The first ‘punishment’ is that which says, And they set forward from the mount of the Eternal, on which Rabbi Chanina said: This teaches us that they turned aside from the Eternal.”...
But the meaning of this interpretation [of the Rabbis that they set forward from the mount of the Eternal indicates a punishment, is based on that which] they found in the Agadah, that “they set forward from Mount Sinai with joy, just like a child who runs away from school, saying: ‘Perhaps He will give us more commandments [if we stay]!” This then is the sense of the expression, And they set forward from the mount of the Eternal, meaning that their intention was to remove themselves from there because it was the mount of the Eternal. This is the first “punishment” [i.e., the first sin, as explained further on], and then He interrupted [with the section on the ark] in order that there should not be three punishments one after the other, so that it would have established a basis for further punishment. He called the [first] sin “punishment” even though no actual punishment occurred to them because of it, [but since they deserved to have been punished, it is called a “punishment”]. Perhaps were it not for this sin of theirs He would have brought them into the Land immediately [and so there was indeed a “punishment”].