One of the tragic events that we commemorate on Shivah Asar B'Tamuz is the breaking of the Luchos after the chet ha’Eigel. Yet, when we study the events carefully, we find an intriguing machlokes between Rashi and the Ramban regarding exactly when the sinners were punished.
Rashi (33:11) explains that Moshe Rabbeinu descended from Shamayim on the seventeenth of Tamuz and broke the Luchos. On the eighteenth of Tamuz he burned the Eigel and punished those who had sinned, and only on the nineteenth did he ascend Har Sinai once again to daven on behalf of Klal Yisroel. The Ramban disagrees. He maintains that Moshe broke the Luchos and punished the sinners on the very same day, the seventeenth of Tamuz.
Why, according to Rashi, was there a delay? There is another famous machlokes between Rashi and the Ramban concerning the nature of the punishments. Rashi explains that there were three categories of sinners. Those who worshipped the Eigel in the presence of witnesses and after receiving proper warning were killed by the sword. Those who had witnesses but no warning died through a mageifah. Those whose sin had no witnesses were forced to drink the water mixed with the ground-up remains of the Eigel, similar to a sotah, and they died if found guilty.
The Ramban disagrees. Since Hashem Himself commanded the punishment, there was no need for the normal requirements of warning and testimony (הוראת שעה). Why then were there three punishments? The Ramban explains that they corresponded to three levels of involvement. Those who actually offered korbanos to the Eigel were killed by the sword. Those who embraced and kissed it died in the mageifah. Those who merely rejoiced in its existence were punished through the miraculous drink.
The Brisker Rav explains that these two machloksim are really one. They both stem from a fundamental disagreement regarding the nature of the punishment. Rashi understood that the sinners were judged according to the regular rules of Beis Din. Under normal halachic procedure, a person sentenced to death is not executed immediately. Beis Din waits until the following day so that the judges can review the case and ensure that the verdict is absolutely correct. Therefore, according to Rashi, the sinners were punished on the eighteenth of Tamuz.
The Ramban, however, understood that this was a hora'as sha'ah, a special emergency measure carried out by direct command of Hashem. Since the normal procedures of Beis Din did not apply, there was no reason to delay. The punishment could take place immediately, on the seventeenth of Tamuz itself.
As we commemorate Shivah Asar B'Tamuz, the day on which Moshe Rabbeinu broke the Luchos, we are reminded that every action carries consequences. Whether the punishment followed the normal procedures of Beis Din or was a special decree from Hashem, the message remains the same: no aveirah is insignificant. The tragedy of the Eigel teaches us the importance of remaining loyal to Hashem even during moments of confusion and challenge.
To be continued……
