The Scouts

13:1 On the 29th of Sivan, 2449, the day following their arrival at Ritmah, Moses addressed the people, telling them to prepare to enter and take possession of the Land of Israel. But the people (except for the tribe of Levi1) asked Moses to first send spies into the land in order to scout it out.2 Moses knew that it was not necessary to scout out the land, since God would lead them and do battle for them,3 but he agreed anyway, thinking that if the people would see that he was not afraid to send spies, they would withdraw their request.4 But the people did not withdraw their request. Still, Moses thought that if he sent men to report on the quality of the land,5 the people would get excited about possessing it when they heard the good reports about it. He therefore consulted with God, and God spoke to Moses, saying,

2 "Send out men, if you wish, who will inspect Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites. I already told them that it is a good land, but if they don't believe Me, let them inspect it. But since they doubt Me, they will now run the risk of misinterpreting what they see and forfeiting their opportunity to inherit the land. You shall send one man from each tribe to represent his fathers' tribe; each one should be a prince among them." By "princes" God meant "distinguished tribe members" or "clan leaders,"6 not the tribal leaders that had been designated a month and half previously.7 It was necessary to send a representative from each tribe because the primary purpose of this mission was to report on the quality of the land, and each tribe was distinguished with different qualities that would make it value different aspects of the land.8

3 So Moses sent the men out from the Paran desert with God's permission. All of them were men of distinction; they were leaders of the Israelites, i.e., the best of them.9 Nonetheless, 10 of the 12 intended to do more than just inspect the land and report on it, which is all that Moses sent them to do; they intended also to spy out the land and see how it could be easily conquered.10

4 These were their names: For the tribe of Reuben, Shamua the son of Zakur.

5 For the tribe of Simeon, Shafat the son of Chori.

6 For the tribe of Judah, Caleb the son of Yefuneh.

7 For the tribe of Issachar, Yigal the son of Joseph.

8 For the tribe of Ephraim, Moses' attendant, Hosea the son of Nun. (This was Joshua's given name.11)

9 For the tribe of Benjamin, Palti the son of Rafu.

10 For the tribe of Zebulun, Gadiel the son of Sodi.

11 For the other tribe of Joseph, the tribe of Manasseh, Gadi the son of Susi.

12 For the tribe of Dan, Amiel the son of Gemali.

13 For the tribe of Asher, Setur the son of Michael.

14 For the tribe of Naphtali, Nachbi the son of Vofsi.

15 For the tribe of Gad, Geuel the son of Machi.

16 These are the names of the men that Moses sent to inspect the land, but Moses now formally changed the name of Hosea the son of Nun to Joshua, which means "May God save you," that is, from the plans of the spies. Moses sensed that by acting not only as inspectors but as spies, the other men would risk perverting their intentions and draw false conclusions from the evidence they would gather. This was not reason enough to prevent them from going, since their intentions were good, but it was reason for caution.12

17 Moses sent them to inspect the quality of Canaan, and he said to them, "Go up this way to the worst part of the land first, the dry south part, and then climb up the mountain to see the better parts, so that you are left at the end of your tour with a good impression of the land.

18 See what the effect of the land is on the people who inhabit it: are they strong or weak? Are they few or many?

19 And what of the water supply of the land they inhabit? Is it good or bad? And what of the cities they live in: are they living in open cities or in fortresses? If they live in open cities, it means the land makes them strong and confident of their strength, but if they live in fortresses, it means they must be weak.

20 What is the soil like: is it rich or poor? And most importantly, since God told Abraham that he would not give the Land of Israel to his progeny until "the sin of the Amorites has run its course,"13 you must ascertain if there is a righteous individual still living in it, whose merit might protect them, as a tree provides shade from the sun, or not. And finally, you shall be courageous and take some of the fruit of the land back to show us, even though it may be dangerous to expose yourselves in this way."14 He told all 12 delegates to inspect the entire land, since it had not yet been divided into tribal territories and they therefore could not inspect just their particular tribe's area.15 It was the season when the first grapes begin to ripen.

Second Reading 21 So they went up and inspected the land, traveling westward along its southern border from the Tzin desert, which is in the southeast, and then they turned northward and traveled along the coast until Rechov, until they reached the way to Chamat (see Figure 1).

22 While they went up through the south, Caleb came by himself to Hebron16 in order to pray at the graves of the patriarchs that he not be persuaded to spy out the land, as the others planned.17 Achiman, Sheishai, and Talmai, descendants of the giant race that existed before the flood, were there. Now Hebron was a rocky area, the least arable region of the Land of Israel. This is why it was used as a burial ground. Nonetheless, its soil was so good that it was built up seven times better than was Tzoan, the choicest place in Egypt,18 which possesses the finest soil on earth.19 From this we see how excellent the Land of Israel was.

23 The spies came to the Valley of Eshkol and they cut off a branch with a cluster of grapes. This cluster was so big that eight of them carried it on two poles, and two others took one of the pomegranates and one of the figs; the pomegranates and figs were so big that each of them could only carry one. Joshua and Caleb did not carry anything, because by this time it was clear that the others had drawn conclusions from their observations and their intentions had become evil. True, Moses had commanded all of them to "take some of the fruit of the land," but Joshua and Caleb knew that bringing back fruit in order bolster false conclusions was not Moses' intention.20

24 They called that place the Valley of Eshkol ["cluster"] because of the giant cluster of grapes the Israelite spies cut down there.

25 Since God foresaw that the people would need a year to rectify each day that the spies spent scouting out the land, He made them travel miraculously fast. They returned from scouting the land at the end of only 40 days, having spent only a fourth of the time it would normally take to scout out the land. This was on the 8th of Av.

26 Just as their intentions became evil21 when they went, their intentions remained evil when they came back to Moses and Aaron and all the community of the Israelites at Ritmah, opposite Kadesh Barnea, in the Paran desert. They brought back a report to Moses, Aaron, and to the entire community, and they showed them the fruit of the land.

27 In order to look objective, they began by praising the land. They addressed Moses and said, "We came to the land you sent us to, and it is indeed flowing with milk and honey, and this is its fruit.

28 However, just like the fruit of the land is extraordinarily large, the people who inhabit the land are extraordinarily mighty, and the cities are fortified and extremely huge, and we even saw there descendants of the giant race that existed before the Flood. It is therefore impossible to conquer the land by natural means.

29 Nor will God help us supernaturally, because by doubting His protection we have forfeited it, and the Amalekites, who attacked us when we previously doubted His protection,22 dwell in the south land ready to strike at us again. And even if we can rely on Him to fight for us inside the land, the Hittites, the Jebusites, and the Amorites dwell in the mountainous region, and the Canaanites dwell on the coast and alongside the Jordan, so the land is surrounded by hostile nations, and there is no guarantee God will come to our aid outside the land."

30 Caleb saw that the other spies were turning the people against Moses. He silenced the people so he could talk about Moses by exclaiming "Is this the only thing Moses has done for us?" Thinking that he was going to list Moses' failures, the people remained quiet. But instead, he said, "The spies said that it is impossible to overcome the inhabitants of the land by natural means. But didn't God wage war for us supernaturally when Moses split the sea? The spies said that even if God will fight for us inside the land, there is no guarantee that He will help us overcome the hostile nations blocking our entry into it. But, in Moses' merit, hasn't God been providing us miraculously with manna during our trek in the desert, even though this trek is only a preparation for our entry into the land? The spies said that we have forfeited God's protection by doubting it. But in the case of the quails,23 didn't we doubt God's protection and He provided it anyway?" Having refuted their contentions,24 he concluded, "Surely, even if Moses tell us to ascend to heaven on ladders, we can successfully go up and take possession of it, for if Moses tells us we can succeed, we can indeed overcome it no matter how hard it may seem."

31 But the men who had gone up with him said in reply, "What difference does it make if God is on our side? We cannot go up against this people, for they are stronger than Him: God Himself cannot overcome them!"

32 In order to prove this point, they gave an evil report to the Israelites about the land that they had inspected, saying, "The land we traveled through to inspect is a land that consumes its inhabitants unnaturally: everywhere we went they were burying their dead." In fact, God had arranged this so the local populace would not notice the presence of the spies, but instead of recognizing this as God's providence, the spies interpreted it negatively. "And," they continued, "all the people we saw in it are men of unnaturally great size.

33 There we saw not only the mortal giants we mentioned before, but also supernatural giants: fallen angels, who are descendants of Og,25 a giant descended from the original fallen angels, Shamchazai and Azael, who assumed material form and descended to earth in the days of Enosh.26 These angels were involved with the beginnings of idolatry, so their race is therefore quite capable of rebelling against God. Even the names of these angelic progenitors indicate rebellion and destruction: Shamchazai means 'vision of desolation,' while Azael means 'a mighty angel' and is phonetically similar to Azazel,27 the name of a desolate, rocky cliff. Furthermore, since their descendant, Og, survived the Flood,28 it is clear that God has made at least some members of this race immune to Divine punishment. And these giants were much larger than the mortal giants we saw in Hebron: we looked like grasshoppers to ourselves next to them, and so did we seem to them, for we overheard them saying that there are ants in the vineyards that look like people!"29

14:1 When they heard that it would require supernatural power to overcome the inhabitants of the land, the people did not believe that God would manifest such power.30 The entire congregation of judges, the 70 elders, raised their voices and shouted, and the people wept that night, the night of the 9th of Av.

2 All the Israelites except for the tribe of Levi31 complained against Moses and Aaron, and the entire congregation of judges said, "If only we had died in Egypt, or if only we had died in this desert.

3 Why is God taking us to this land to fall by the sword? Our wives and children will be spoils of war. Is it not better for us to return to Egypt?"

4 The men said to each other, "Let us appoint a new leader and return to Egypt! And let us worship a new god, and return to the religion of Egypt!" The women, however, did not rebel.32

5 Moses and Aaron fell on their faces before the entire community of the Israelites, pleading with them not to rebel.

6 Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Yefuneh, who were among those who had inspected the land, tore their clothes as a sign of distress

7 and spoke to the entire community of the Israelites, saying, "The land we traveled through to inspect is an exceedingly good land.

Third Reading 8 If God desires us, He will bring us to this land and give it to us, this land flowing with milk and honey.

9 Just do not rebel against God, and then you will not need to fear the people of that land, for as long as we follow God's will they are ours to consume, as easily as our bread33—not like the spies said, that the land will consume us. Their Divine protection has departed from them, for while we were there we heard that the last, most righteous individual among them, Job,34 had just died. Thus, the condition that God placed on our conquest has been fulfilled,35 and He is with us; do not fear them!"

10 Still, the entire community of judges threatened to pelt Joshua and Caleb with stones for opposing them, but the glory of God appeared to all the Israelites in the form of a cloud that descended and rested in front of the Tent of Meeting. Understanding this as a sign that God wished to address Moses, they desisted.

11 This was the tenth time the people had challenged God to demonstrate His power instead of believing in it implicitly. God said to Moses, "Since the people have demonstrated that they do not wish to believe in Me, how long should I let this people continue to provoke Me? How long should I let them continue to refuse to believe in Me, despite all the signs I have performed in their midst?

12 They have betrayed their mission in this world, so I now have only one choice: I must strike them with pestilence and annihilate them! As for My oath to the patriarchs to give the land to their descendants, I will make you into a nation, greater and stronger than they."

13 Moses said to God, "True, they have forfeited their right to continue to live. But if You annihilate them as You propose to, the Egyptians will hear of it, and they have seen that You brought this nation out of their midst with great power.

14 They will say about the inhabitants of this land that even though You could overcome the Egyptians, You cannot overcome them. They might indeed realize that You are wiping out the Israelites for their own good, for they have heard that You, O God, are in the midst of this people; that You, God, appear to them in plain sight, that Your cloud rests over them, and that You go before them with a pillar of cloud by day and with a pillar of cloud by night. All of this indicates how much You favor the Israelites.

15 Nonetheless, if You kill this nation suddenly, as if You were killing one man, the nations who have heard of Your reputation will say as follows:

16 'Why didn't He wait to punish them until He brought them into the land, as He promised? It must be that since God was unable to bring this nation to the land which He swore to them, He slaughtered them in the desert. The inhabitants of Canaan are strong, and it is harder to battle a number of kings than it is to battle one Pharaoh.'36

17 Therefore, please, for Your sake, let the strength of God to forgive be increased, as You spoke—not as I did37—when You said,

18 'God is slow to anger both toward the righteous and the wicked, and abundantly kind, forgiving iniquity and transgression, cleansing those who repent and not cleansing those who do not, visiting the iniquities of parents on children only up to the third and fourth generations.'

19 Please forgive the iniquity of this nation in accordance with Your abounding kindness, as You have borne this people from Egypt until now."

20 And God said, "I have forgiven them, but only in accordance with your word, i.e., because of your argument about the impression that wiping them out all at once will have on the non-Jewish world, and therefore I will not wipe them out all at once.

21 However, this does not change the fact that they have shown themselves unworthy of entering the land in order to fulfill their Divine mission. Therefore, as surely as I live, and as surely as the glory of God fills the earth,

22 so do I swear that all the people who perceived My glory and the signs that I performed in Egypt and in the desert—and who nonetheless challenged me these 10 times38 and did not listen to My voice—

23 will not see the land that I swore to their fathers. All who provoked Me this time will not see the land, for I shall do away with them gradually. In this way, My glory will still fill the earth, for My power will not be questioned—as it would have been had I wiped out the whole people at once.39

24 But as for My servant Caleb, since he pretended to be party to the other spies' scheme so they would let him speak—while in fact there was a different, righteous spirit within him and he tried to dissuade the people from following them, for he was loyal to Me—I will therefore bring him to the Land of Israel to inherit Hebron, the place to which he came to pray to be saved from their error, and his descendants will drive its present inhabitants out.

25 Your enemies, the Amalekites and the Canaanites dwell in the valley. Since I am no longer planning to help the people enter the land, they will be powerless to overcome these enemies, just as the spies said in order to frighten the people.40 Therefore, as of tomorrow, we will change direction and journey into the desert, toward the Sea of Reeds." In fact however, God did not signal them to leave their present location (Ritmah) until 19 years later.

Fourth Reading 26 Having finished discussing the fate of the people in general, God spoke to Moses and Aaron about the fate of the spies themselves, saying,

27 "How much longer must I tolerate this evil congregation of spies, who are causing everyone else to complain against Me? I have heard the Israelites' complaints that the spies make them voice against Me. Since your argument about what the other nations will say does not apply here, I have to kill them immediately.

28 So now, say first to the Israelites what their fate is to be: 'I swear that as surely as I live,' says God, 'if I do not do to you just as you have spoken in My ears, it will be as if I do not live.

29 Your corpses shall fall in this desert, just as you wished.41 All of you who are counted in any tally of those 20 years old and up—i.e., everyone except those under 20, the Levites (who are counted from the age of one month42 or 30 years43), and the women and the mixed multitude (who are not counted at all)—will perish because you complained against Me.

30 And similarly, if you will enter the land that I swore I would settle you in, except Caleb the son of Yefuneh and Joshua the son of Nun, it will be as if I do not live.

31 As for your infants, whom you said will be taken captive as spoils, I will bring them there, and they will come to know the land which You despised.

32 But as for you, your corpses shall fall in this desert.

33 Your children shall wander in the desert with you for 40 years. Those of you who are 60 years old or older will die now; the rest of those who were 20 years old or older at the incident of the Golden Calf will die at the age of 60. It will thus take 40 years for you all to die out. In this way, your children will bear your guilt until the last of your corpses has fallen in the desert.

34 Your punishment will be according to the number of days that your emissaries, the spies, toured the land, 40 days, a day for each year; you will thus bear your two fundamental iniquities—this one and the sin of serving the Golden Calf—for 40 years. Thus you will come to know the extent of your alienation from Me.'

35 I, God, have spoken: I am nothing if I will not do this to the entire evil community who have assembled against me; in this desert they will end, and there they will die."

36 But as for the men whom Moses had sent to inspect the land, since, when they returned from their mission, they caused the entire community to complain against Moses by spreading their report about the land, he could not commute their sentence through his prayer, as he was able to for the rest of the people. By challenging his authority, they weakened his power to act for their benefit.44

37 Therefore, these men, who spread an evil report about the land, died immediately in a plague suited to them by God's method of punishment, measure for measure. Since they slandered by misusing their tongues, their tongues unrolled down to their navels45 and worms came out of their tongues and entered their navels, killing them. Their crime was particularly serious because they had recently seen how Miriam was punished for airing her grievances against Moses publicly instead of approaching him personally and privately, yet they did not learn from her mistake. They also failed to learn from how Miriam had underestimated Moses' stature: they felt that if God and Moses had sent them to inspect the land, then no one was more qualified than they were to evaluate the evidence they gathered—including Moses!46

38 But Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Yefuneh remained alive and even received the land-inheritance rights47 of the other men who went to tour the land.

39 Moses related all these words48 to the Israelites. The people mourned greatly.

40 But not all of them accepted God's verdict. Some of them arose early in the morning and ascended to the mountaintop on the route into the land, saying, "We have repented and are ready to go up to the Land of Israel, the place that God said He would give us, for we have sinned by wanting to return to Egypt."

41 But although they repented, they wished to take the initiative on their own rather than submit to Moses' leadership, so God told Moses to tell them that His decree remained in force and to warn them not to proceed.49 So Moses said to them, "Why do you transgress the word of God? It will not succeed.

42 Do not go up, for God is not among you; do not let yourselves be beaten by your enemies.

43 For the Amalekites and the Canaanites are there before you, and you will fall by the sword, because you have turned away from God, and therefore God will not be with you."

44 Nonetheless, they defiantly ascended to the mountaintop, but neither the Ark of the Covenant of God nor Moses moved from the camp.

45 The Amalekites and the Canaanites who lived on the mountain came down and smote them and crushed them, pursuing them until a place that was then named Chormah ["destruction"] because of their defeat (see Figure 2).50

Grain Offerings and Libations

15:1 Now that this episode was over, God encouraged the people by focusing their attention on the fact that their children would eventually inherit the Land of Israel. He did this by teaching them some laws that would apply only once they entered the land. God spoke to Moses, saying:

2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you arrive in the land of your dwelling place, which I am giving you,

3 and you make a fire-offering to God, i.e., an offering burnt on the Altar, in particular, one that takes the form of an ascent-offering or a festive-offering, the latter term meaning a peace-offering or a thanksgiving-offering—and you bring this offering either (a) in order to fulfill a pledge that you have made, (b) as a dedication, or (c) as an obligatory offering that you must offer on your festivals—to please God, whether from the herd or from the flock, you must offer an accompanying grain-offering and wine libation. The grain-offering will be burnt on the Altar and the wine libation will be poured out on the Altar. As long as you remain in the desert, however, you do not have to offer supplementary grain-offerings and libations together with your animal offerings. And even in the Land of Israel, you will only have to offer supplementary grain-offerings and libations with ascent-offerings and peace-offerings, but not with sin-offerings or guilt-offerings.

4 As to how much flour and wine you must offer, it depends on the animal being sacrificed: If it is a lamb, the one who brings his offering to God shall present a grain-offering containing one tenth of an ephah51 (about 2.5 liters or quarts) of fine flour mixed with a quarter of a hin (about a liter or quart) of oil.

5 And you shall offer a quarter of a hin of wine with the ascent-offering or the feast-offering as a libation, for each lamb.

6 Or, if it is a ram, you shall offer a grain-offering containing two tenths of an ephah (about 4.8 liters or quarts) of fine flour mixed with a third of a hin (about 1⅓ liters or quarts) of oil.

7 And you shall offer a third of a hin of wine for a libation; you shall offer these to please God.

Fifth Reading 8 If you offer one of the herd as an ascent-offering or feast-offering in order to fulfill a pledge that you have made (in which case you will most likely bring an ascent-offering), or as a dedication (in which case you will most likely bring a peace-offering) for God,

9 the one who brings his offering shall offer with this cow a grain-offering consisting of three tenths of an ephah (about 7.25 liters or quarts) of fine flour mixed with half a hin (about 2 liters or quarts) of oil.

10 And you shall offer half a hin of wine for a libation. The grain offering with its oil, which is burnt on the Altar, is a fire-offering to please God.

11 So shall it be done for each ox, ram, or kid, whether of the sheep or of the goats. All cattle require the same grain-offerings and libations; a goat requires the same grain-offering and libation as a lamb.

12 In accordance with the number of animals you offer, so shall you present grain-offerings and libations for each one, exactly according to their numbers (see Figure 3).

13 Every native born Israelite, who owns a portion of the land, shall do it in this manner, to offer a fire-offering to please God.

14 Similarly, if a convert resides with you or those among you in future generations, and he offers up a fire-offering to please God, as you make it, so shall he make it, even though he will not possess any land.

15 In general, one rule applies to the whole community, both to yourselves and to the convert who resides with you; one rule applies throughout your generations for you as for the convert, before God.

16 And just as there will be one "rule," there shall also be one law and one ordinance for you and the convert who resides with you.' "

The First of the Dough

Sixth Reading 17 God spoke to Moses further, saying:

18 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them, 'Although other laws that will take effect only upon your arrival in the Land of Israel will do so only once you have conquered and divided the land, the following is different. As soon as you arrive in the land to which I am bringing you

19 and you eat from the bread of the land, you shall donate some of it as a raised-offering to God, as follows:

20 Whenever you knead at least an omer of dough, the first thing you shall do with your dough is donate a loaf of it to a priest as a raised-offering. Just as you may donate the raised-offering of the threshing floor in any amount52—there is no fixed minimum—the same applies to how you shall donate this loaf. Nonetheless, you must give the priest enough to be considered a loaf—you may not just give him some crumbs.

21 The minimal size of this loaf is relative: from the first portion of your dough that you give to God, you must give enough to be considered a gift, and this is determined by the size of what you are baking. A private person, who bakes large loaves for himself and his family, should give at least one 24th of his dough, while a baker, who bakes smaller loaves, to sell, needs to give only one 48th of his dough.53 This applies in all your generations.' "

Offerings to Atone for Idolatry

22 God told Moses to teach the Israelites the following laws, as well: " 'It was explained previously that if the entire community commits an inadvertent sin together, they must offer a young bull as a sin-offering.54 However, there is an exception to this rule, namely, if you should all err and inadvertently commit the sin of idolatry. It was mentioned previously that idolatry is as serious a sin as transgressing all the other commandments together.55 But more than this, committing idolatry is actually tantamount to not fulfilling—i.e., transgressing—all the commandments, because someone who serves idols inherently contravenes the three bases of the commandments: he denies God's authority over him, betrays the historic covenant between God and the Jewish people, and contradicts logic. For this reason, idolatry is one of the two commandments that God spoke to Moses publicly on Mount Sinai.56

23 Furthermore, idolatry undermines the basis of the entire Torah altogether, so transgressing it is tantamount to abrogating all that God commanded you through Moses from the day on which God commanded you on Mount Sinai and from then on, as well as all that He will have commanded you for all generations through the succeeding prophets.57

24 If you all commit idolatry inadvertently because the Sanhedrin, who are the "eyes" of the community, mistakenly permit you to serve an idol in a particular way, then the entire community shall collectively offer a young bull as an ascent-offering to please God, with its prescribed grain-offering and libation, and, after that, one young he-goat for a sin-offering.

25 The priest shall atone on behalf of the entire community of the Israelites, and they shall be forgiven, for it was an error, and because of their error they brought their ascent-offering as a fire-offering to God and their sin-offering before God.

26 Both the entire community of the Israelites and any convert who resides with them shall be forgiven, for all the people were in error.

Seventh Reading 27 Similarly, it was explained previously that if an individual commits a sin inadvertently, he must offer either a she-goat or a she-lamb as a sin-offering.58 But if an individual sins by committing idolatry inadvertently, he must offer only a she-goat in its first year as a sin-offering.

28 And the priest shall atone for the erring person who sinned inadvertently before God, so as to atone on his behalf, and he shall be forgiven.

29 One law shall apply to anyone who sins inadvertently, both to the native born of the Israelites and to the convert who resides among them.

30 But should a person commit idolatry highhandedly, i.e., on purpose, whether he is a native born or a convert, he is blaspheming God, and a person who commits either idolatry or blasphemy shall be cut off from among its people—he will die prematurely and childless.59

31 For he has scorned the word of God that you heard directly at Mount Sinai and violated His commandment not to serve idols; that person shall be utterly cut off if he does not repent and thus his iniquity is still in him.' "

The Man who Gathered Sticks

32 The Torah now backtracks 13 months to the 28th of Iyar, 2448, the second Sabbath the Jewish people kept, and relates an incident involving the desecration of the Sabbath. This incident is recorded out of its chronological order in order to juxtapose it with the laws concerning idolatry just given, thereby indicating that desecrating the Sabbath is equivalent to committing idolatry and that keeping the Sabbath is equivalent to keeping the entire Torah. When the Israelites were first in the desert, they found a man gathering wood on the Sabbath day, and they warned him not to continue, for this is forbidden.

33 But he did continue, so those who found him gathering wood presented him before Moses and Aaron and before the entire community to be punished.60

34 They put him under guard, because when God had given them the commandment to observe the Sabbath, it had not been specified what was to be done to someone who desecrated it, like him. They knew that he was to be put to death, but they did not know by what means, because the Torah had not yet been given.61

35 God thereupon said to Moses, "The man shall be put to death as follows: the entire community shall pelt him with stones outside the camp. And similarly, whenever you must put someone to death by stoning, he should be stoned outside the camp and at a significant distance from the sentencing court."62

36 So the entire community took him outside the camp, and they pelted him to death with stones, as God had commanded Moses.

Tassels (Tzitzit)

Maftir 37 The following commandment—to attach tassels (tzitzit) to our garments—was given at Sinai, but it is placed here because it, too, is equivalent to keeping the entire Torah, as shall be seen presently. God spoke to Moses, saying:

38 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them that they shall make for themselves a tassel on the four corners of their garments, throughout their generations, and they shall affix a wool thread dyed turquoise with the blood of the chilazon (a sea creature) onto the tassel of each corner. This may be done even if the garment is made of linen, even though mixing wool and linen in a garment in usually prohibited.63 They should make each tassel by inserting four threads—three white and one turquoise—into a hole in the garment's corner, doubling them back on themselves, and then tying five knots with the two sets of half-threads.

39 Tell them: 'This tassel shall be for you to look at; when you see it, you will remember all the commandments of God, for the numerical value of the word for "tassel" [ציצית] is 600;64 this together with the 8 half-threads and 5 knots gives 613, the number of commandments in the Torah. This will help you remember to perform them. By focusing on God's commandments, you shall not wander after your hearts and after your eyes, after which you go astray. For the heart desires what the eye sees and then encourages you to go after it (see Figure 4).

40 And beyond the fact that seeing them will remind you to perform all the commandments, affix these tassels to your garments so that by doing so you shall remember and in effect perform all My commandments by wearing them. Thus you shall be holy, focused on your God.

41 I am God the merciful, who will reward you for your fidelity, but I am also your God, who will punish you if you are unfaithful. And since I took you out of Egypt on condition that I be your God and you obey Me, I am therefore God, your God, and you may not elect to ignore My commandments and waive their reward. And just as I took you out of Egypt and distinguished there between which Egyptians were firstborn and which were not, I can distinguish between a thread that is dyed with the blood of a chilazon and one that is dyed with something else, so you should not try to deceive Me. The implication of the Exodus vis-a-vis your obligation toward Me is particularly relevant to this commandment because the theme of the Exodus is intrinsically connected with all its details:

  • You must attach tassels to the corners of your garments because the word for "corners" (כנפיים, literally, "wings") alludes to how I took you out of Egypt "on eagles' wings."65
  • You must attach them only to four-cornered garments to allude to the four expressions I used when I described how I was going to take you out of Egypt.66
  • You must attach a turquoise thread because:
    • it alludes to the Egyptians' mourning over their firstborn dead (because the word for "turquoise" [תכלת] is similar to the Aramaic word for "mourning" [תכול]), and
    • it alludes to when this happened, the night of the 15th of Nisan (for its color is the color of the sky in the evening).
  • You must make the tassels out of eight half-threads in order to allude to the eight days that passed from when I pronounced this decree—which was the beginning of the Exodus—to the Song at the Sea, which signaled its completion.' "67