Pearls of Wisdom from the Parshah
These are the words that Moshe spoke to all of Yisrael on the other side of the Yarden, in the Wilderness, in the plain across from Suf, between Paran, and between Tofel and Lavan, and Chateiros and Di Zahav. (Bemidbar 33:38)
Since they are words of reproof, and it mentions here all the places where they angered Hashem, the verse did not state the point openly and mentioned it only by way of allusion. This was out of respect for the Jewish people. (Rashi)
The first verse of the parshah mentions a lot of places but doesn’t say what happened there. Rashi gives a reason for mentioning these places, explaining that they were all places where the Jewish people sinned, and since the Torah did not wish to spell out their sins, it merely alluded to them by mentioning the places where the sins occurred.
However, as we know, the Torah bears more than one interpretation.
Like a hammer shatters a rock. Just as a hammer shatters a rock into many splinters, so from one verse can emerge many interpretations.
Accordingly, there is room to offer an additional reason for the Torah’s mention of these place names.
Resh Lakish said: What is the meaning of “Of his judgment, his deeds?” It means that where a person’s judgment is, there his good deeds are mentioned.
A person’s good deeds are mentioned in the same place where he is judged. His virtues and positive characteristics are voiced. We learn this from Shaul Hamelech. When he was judged regarding the Givonim, his merits came up, as well.
This is because judgment and reproof need to be done in a truthful manner that relates to the nature of the act being judged. It is thus necessary to mention the person’s merits as well, because his good deeds throw light on the true nature of his bad deeds.
Let’s say a person sinned by not giving tzedakah when approached by a pauper. We need to know how he normally behaves in order to understand what happened here. If he usually is stingy and refuses to give, we may assume that his refusal to donate in this instance was a wrong deed. But if he always cares for the poor and sees to their needs, and just this time he turned away from a pauper, it shows that his act has a different nature altogether. It’s not because he evilheartedly committed a wrong deed. He just wasn’t paying attention, that’s all.
This is why a person’s merits need to be mentioned every time he is judged for his sins. Otherwise, his sins are cast in a false light.
It is even more important to make mention of any compelling circumstances or other factors that might serve to explain the sin. All this clarifies the true nature of the act. The Hebrew word for reproof, תוכחה, also means demonstrating and bringing proof for the truth of something.
The Jewish people’s sins had a lot of compelling circumstances and mitigating factors. Although these circumstances and factors were not sufficient to fully justify what was done, they still need to be taken into account in order to fairly judge the people. The positive points need to be considered, too.
This is why Moshe mentioned the Jewish people’s sins by means of these allusions which bring out aspects that are in the Jewish people’s favor, as will be explained.
“In the Wilderness” is explained by Rashi as the sin committed in the Midbar, where they said “Aren’t there enough graves in Egypt, that you took us to die in the Wilderness?!” Here the Torah mentions the people’s great merit that they followed Hashem into the Wilderness in the first place. Furthermore, the sin itself was caused by being in the Wilderness, in a desolate and inhospitable place.
“In the plain (ערבה)” is explained by Rashi as the sin of Pe’or, which they committed in the plains of Moav (ערבות מואב). The place they sinned was mentioned because the Moabites who lived in that place were the ones who caused them to sin. The Jewish people were not seeking out sins, chas v’shalom. On the contrary, the Moabites set them up and craftily enticed them. If the Torah would have said that they sinned with “Pe’or,” it would have sounded as if they were seeking idolatry. So it says, “In the plain (ערבה),” to hint that they happened to come upon a place where there were evil people who deliberately caused them to sin.
“Across from Suf” is explained by Rashi as referring to when they came to Yam Suf, where they said, “Aren’t there enough graves in Egypt, that you took us to die in the Wilderness?!” Here, too, the Torah mentions that they were facing the sea and were in mortal danger, and this caused them to complain. And the general rule is אין אדם נתפס על צערו – a person should not be held to account for what he said in his time of pain.
“Between Paran” is explained by Rashi as the wilderness of Paran, where they sinned by sending the Meraglim. Chazal say: Why is it called “Paran” (פארן)? Because they increased and multiplied (פרו ורבו). They sinned because they had a lot of children. It is natural for a person to be afraid of dangers that threaten his children. People fear for their children’s welfare even more than they fear for their own. In this passage, the children are mentioned many times. The Spies said וטפינו לבז יהיו – “Our little ones will be taken captive,” and regarding the punishment, it says וטפכם אשר אמרתם לבז יהיה – “Your little ones, about whom you said that they will be taken captive....” This implies that the love they felt for their children was a big factor in bringing them to sin.
“Between Tofel and Lavan.” This refers to the Manna. The people made accusations against the Mon, complaining that “no human being can ingest and not excrete.” They were living on a very high spiritual level, like that of angels, and they didn’t want to keep it up, because they were afraid that if they will fall from their high madreigah, they will be punished severely. Thus they wanted to live like normal human beings, who ingest and excrete, not like angels, who eat Mon. This idea is alluded to by “Tofel and Lavan.” [“Tofel” is related to תפלו, to make accusations. And] the Mon was white, “lavan.” This food was very, very fine. They could not bear its refined, exceedingly lofty nature.
“And Di Zahav.” Because of the silver and gold (“zahav”) that You showered on the Jewish people, to the point that they said, “Enough! (“dai”), this caused them to make the Golden Calf.
This last one is a proof of the validity of the whole approach we have taken, that the place names are mentioned in order to excuse and somewhat justify the sins committed by the Jewish people.
