ויעשו את הפסח בראשון, “They prepared the Passover in the first month, etc.” Nachmanides writes that in accordance with the opinion of the sages this was the only time that the Israelites celebrated the Passover during all the years they were in the desert. The reason was that they had uncircumcised slaves and children whom they could not circumcise due to the hazard of infection in the desert conditions. The matter is discussed in Yevamot 72. However, in Sifri Behaalotcha 67 the word בראשון is understood as a criticism of the Children of Israel for having celebrated the Passover only on that occasion. Similarly, Amos 5,25, where the prophet speaks of “did you offer sacrifice and oblation to Me those forty years in the wilderness?” is also seen as a criticism of the Israelites for not offering all these sacrifices. This criticism is based on the unnecessary words “in the first month, the fourteenth of the month, in the evening in the desert of Sinai.” It would have sufficed for the Torah to write that the Israelites offered the Passover in accordance with the rules laid down by G’d. The additional details provided are a hint that this was the one and only time the people did observe the Passover. (Thus far Sifri). The reason that the Torah saw fit to write this passage at this point was that the inauguration of the Tabernacle and the Altar took place in the first month (of the second year); this was the month the Levites were set apart. Seeing that in connection with the Passover observance the Torah wrote (Exodus 12,25) “it will be when you come into the land, etc.,” and in Exodus 13,11 the Torah also appeared to tie the observance of the Passover to the Israelites coming to the Holy Land, the Torah here had to legislate its observance now as otherwise the people would have thought that the desert was not a suitable location for offering the Passover.

עמדו ואשמעה מה יצוה ה' לכם, “stand still while I will hear what Hashem will command concerning you (your problem).” According to Rashi the word עמדו means that the people concerned were to wait at the entrance of the Tabernacle and Moses would immediately relay to them G’d’s response. He adds that a human being who can give such an assurance that G’d will respond to him without delay is really one that is blessed. The fact that Moses said: “what Hashem is going to command to you,” rather than “what Hashem is going to say to me” demonstrates his humility in attempting to deflect attention from himself. The reason that Moses added the letter ה to the word ואשמעה, instead of saying ואשמע, may have been an allusion to the last letter ה in the tetragrammaton, a phenomenon we have encountered repeatedly. The voice he expected to hear was the one of which G’d had said in Exodus 15,26 אם שמוע תשמע לקול ה' אלוקיך וגו', “if you will surely hearken to the voice of the Lord your G’d, and do what is right in His eyes. etc.” From that attribute embodied in the letter ה, G’d’s directives would issue forth. Onkelos hints at that in his translation when he translates עד דאשמע מה אתפקד מן קדם ה' על די לכון, “until I hear what it (this attribute) orders from Hashem concerning you.”

If Moses did not know the answer himself this is not held against him as it was when he did not know the answer to the query of the daughters of Tzelofchod (Numbers 27,1). In that instance the answer did not need divine guidance as even the Gentile nations appreciate that before the brothers of the deceased are entitle to inherit him, daughters as next of kin take precedence. If Moses nonetheless did not know, this was a punishment for his having made a careless remark when he told the chiefs of tens, fifties, hundreds, and thousands that when they encountered a matter too difficult for them they should submit it to him and he would deal with it (Deut. 1,17). Seeing that Moses had not known the answer to a simple question, the sages considered this as a form of punishment for him. The law involving a possible postponement of the Passover celebrations for individuals who through no fault of their own could not participate on the date set aside for it, was something that had to be legislated and could not be arrived at by use of one’s intellect. Not knowing the answer could not therefore be considered a failing on the part of Moses and therefore a form of punishment.

או בדרך רחוקה, “or on a distant road;” The Massoretes placed a dot on the last letter of this word to teach us that the subject is not physical distance but that even if the person in question stood barely outside the threshold to the courtyard of the Temple during the entire period permitted for the slaughtering of the Passover, he is halachically considered just as distant as if he were miles distant from the Temple. The observance of פסח שני, “an alternate Passover,” involves eating unleavened bread while leavened bread is in the house and does not need to be removed. The date is not considered a Yom Tov, i.e. a festival, with the attendant work prohibitions. The eating of chametz is prohibited only as part of the Passover meal. This is Rashi’s comment..

I have already explained the reason that chametz is prohibited on the (regular) Passover in a kabbalistic way (Exodus 13,3). The principal reason is that one should not think that only the attribute of Justice was involved in orchestrating the Exodus and that the attribute of Mercy did not have a part in it. Anyone thinking otherwise is guilty of a severe form of heresy. Seeing that the “second” Passover is on a date which is historically unrelated to the date of the Exodus, there would not be any significance to not eating chametz at that time. Seeing that both the attribute of Mercy (as represented by the matzah, and the attribute of Justice as represented by the chametz) were involved in the Exodus there is no question of heresy involved by keeping the chametz in the house.

Nachmanides sees in the dot by the Massoretes merely a hint that distance is subjective and that what appears distant to one person may be considered nearby to another younger one, someone equipped with transportation, for instance. This is why the Torah repeats that “he was not on the way,” i.e. although the way was not even distant from the Temple.

על פי ה' יסעו ועל פי ה' יחנו, “they would journey at the command of the Lord and they would make camp a the command of the Lord.” The Torah only had to write the words: “the Children of Israel would journey or make camp at the command of the Lord.” The additional words על פי ה' יחנו appear quite superfluous. Seeing that we know all this from Exodus 13,21 where the Torah wrote that “G’d walked ahead of them by day in a pillar of cloud etc.,” the meaning of our verse here has to be that the words על פי ה' יסעו are a reference to the attribute of Justice. The very word has a connotation of the attribute of Justice seeing the word is always used in connection with going to war. By contrast then, the words על פי ה' יחנו, is reminiscent of the attribute of Mercy, the very word יחנו, reminding us of מנוחה, rest, calm, quiet, the opposite of war and warfare. We have a parallel situation where both the attribute of Justice and that of Mercy appear side by side. When the Torah speaks of ויהי בנסוע הארון in Numbers 10,35-36 the word נסע refers to he attribute of Justice and Moses‘ call for G’d’s foes being scattered clearly shows that forces of the attribute of Justice must be at work. When Moses continues speaking about the Ark coming to rest this indicates that now the Torah speaks about the attribute of Mercy. Whenever the Israelites are assembled in their thousands and tens of thousands the attribute of Mercy is nearby. At any rate, we must not perceive of these two attributes as separate and independent entities, rather they are bound up with each other, sometimes one attribute predominating, sometimes the other. Concerning this arrangement the prophet Jeremiah speaks of the kindness demonstrated by Israel in its youth when it followed G’d into the desert an area full of agents of the attribute of Justice in the form of harmful animals. The fact that the Israelites were always saved in such surroundings testifies to the attribute of Mercy being present although the habitat “desert” is that of agents of the attribute of Justice. Similarly, in Egypt, among all the negative influences Israel was exposed to they did not perish, proof of the presence of the attribute of Mercy (in some degree) even there. This is what Hoseah 13,4 had in mind when he said: “only I, the Lord, have been your G’d ever since the land of Egypt.” When the Israelites were being redeemed from Egypt, the Torah testifies that this occurred as an intervention by G’d with a “strong hand.” References to this “strong hand” appear in Moses’ prayer after the golden calf episode (Exodus 32,11) at the sea of reeds, (Exodus 15,2), in Exodus 15,6, etc. There is a constant interchange of references to the attribute of Mercy and the attribute of Justice, each appearing at the most unexpected times and places. All this demonstrates that both forces are constantly on the alert and circumstances determine which force asserts itself as dominant. At the very moment when the attribute of Mercy appeared at its most near, when G’d took up residence in the Tabernacle, Moses could not enter, as if rebuffed by the attribute of Justice. Having appreciated all this, we must not be surprised when the words 'על פי ה' are understood as the attribute of Mercy instead of as the attribute of Justice.

ובהאריך הענן , “and when the cloud remained stationary for a long period,” the Torah describes these matters at length to compliment the Israelites who were guided in their journeys or lack of movement by the behaviour of the cloud. The desert was not uniform; some places where the Israelites camped were more pleasant than others, and it would have been understandable for the people to be restless to get away from the less pleasant sites. Proof that there were distinct differences in the natural habitat are such descriptions as “the bitter waters at Marah” contrasted with the pleasant oasis Eylim which was liberally supplied with date palms (Exodus 15, 23 and 27 respectively). The Torah testifies that as soon as the cloud would move, even if the camp was a very pleasant site, the Israelites would get ready to move. To sum up: the Israelites instead of arranging their journeys in accordance with their own preferences submitted willingly to the decision made on their behalf by G’d as expressed by the movement of the cloud. The Torah here also describes another act of kindness by G’d in that all occasions when the people broke camp were in the morning. We derive this from the words או יומם ולילה, “or a day and a night,” instead of או לילה או יום, “or a night and a day” (verse 21). According to the report of the creation (Genesis 1,5 as interpreted by Chulin 83), day followed night, i.e. ויהי ערב ויהי בוקר. However, had the Torah followed that script, we would have concluded that at least on some occasions the Israelites were required to break camp in the evening.