4. Your clothing did not wear out upon you, nor did your foot swell these forty years.
ד. שִׂמְלָתְךָ לֹא בָלְתָה מֵעָלֶיךָ וְרַגְלְךָ לֹא בָצֵקָה זֶה אַרְ בָעִׂים שָנָה:
Rashi writes:
Your clothing did not wear out: The clouds of glory would rub their [the Israelites’] clothes and clean them so that they looked like freshly laundered clothes. And also their children, as they grew, their clothes grew along with them, like a snail’s shell, which grows along with it- [Pesikta d’Rav Kahana p. 92a]
שמלתך לא בלתה: ענני כבוד היו שפים בכסותם ומגהצים אותם כמין כלים מגוהצים, ואף קטניהם כמו שהיו גדלים היה גדל לבושן עמהם, כלבוש הזה של חומט שגדל עמו:
nor did [your foot] swell: Heb. לֹא בָצֵקָה [This means:] Neither [did your foot] swell like dough בָצֵק, as [usually happens] with those who walk barefoot, that their feet swell.
לא בצקה: לא נפחה כבצק, כדרך הולכי יחף שרגליהם נפוחות:
One might interpret that second comment as indicating that the Jews did not wear shoes, and yet there was this special protection from the clouds of glory that their feet did not swell. The problem with such an interpretation is that there is a pasuk, in Devarim 29,4, in Parashas Ki Taso, which clearly indicates that they indeed wore shoes:
4. I led you through the desert for forty years [during which time] your garments did not wear out from upon you, nor did your shoes wear out from upon your feet.
ד. וָאוֹלֵךְ אֶתְכֶם אַרְ בָעִׂים שָנָה בַמִׂדְבָר לֹא בָלוּ שַלְמֹתֵיכֶם מֵעֲלֵיכֶם וְנַעַלְךָ לֹא בָלְתָה מֵעַל רַגְלֶךָ:
If they wore shoes, why should we think that their feet would swell? Based on this particular understanding of Rashi's point, there is an apparent contradiction between Rashi and that other pasuk, or else between the two pesukim.
Many propose solutions:
- Gur Aryeh states there was never a problem, or contradiction. Rashi isn't saying that they went about barefoot. Rather, he is explaining this pasuk in Ekev in light of that pasuk in Ki Savo: Because their shoes were kept fresh and didn't wear out -- וְנַעַלְ ךָ לֹא בָלְתָה מֵעַל רַגְלֶךָ -- they did not have to walk barefoot. And because they did not have to walk barefoot, their feet did not swell -- וְרַגְלְךָ לֹא בָצֵקָה. Because only the feet of barefoot walkers swell -- כדרך הולכי יחף שרגליהם נפוחות -- and these Jews did not need to walk like those barefoot walkers.
- Siftei Chachamim, state that the ones with shoes were those who left Egypt, but those who were born in the Midbar did not possess shoes.
- Biurei MeHaRi explains that HaShem does not make a miracle when not necessary. Rather, the portion of the shoe surrounding the foot and leg did not wear out; only the soles of the shoe that normally wear out continued to do so. Just as the clothes did not suffer from sweat and did not need cleaning since the Clouds constantly “dry-cleaned” the clothes.
- The Taz provides a similar solution. the ananei hakavod were rubbing and cleaning the clothing, including the shoes. But if the ananei hakavod represent HaShem's glory, it is not fitting for them to have rubbed the soles of the shoes. And so those soles wore away. Despite this, via Divine favor, their feet did not swell. And so we can establish both pesukim in this manner.
- Rabeinu Bachye and the Imrei Shfer explain in another manner. All the Shevatim wore shoes and the verse says their shoes did not wear out. However, Shevat Levi who carried the Mishkan on their shoulders were bare feet and regarding them the passuk states their feet did not swell.
- Otzros haTorah offers another explanation. The passak (25,18) states that “all the feeble ones were left behind.” Rashi states that the “feeble one” were those that due to their sins were ejected by the Clouds. The Medrash tells us they were Shevat Dan that carried the idol of Micah. Their shoes did wear out and they went without shoes.
