Point By Point Summary Of TosfosDaf Series

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1) TOSFOS DH v'Shabbos Bereishis Einah Tzerichah Kidush Beis Din

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2) TOSFOS DH Yom Selichah u'Mechilah

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3) TOSFOS DH Yom she'Kalu Bo Mesei Midbar

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3) TOSFOS DH Yom she'Kalu Bo Mesei Midbar

תוספות ד"ה יום שכלו בו מתי מדבר

(SUMMARY: Tosfos gives a different explanation of the Midrash that the Rashbam brings.)

בשנה אחרונה נמי מתו וידעו שכבר כלתה גזרה כי כבר מתו כל בני כ'

(a) Explanation #1: People died also in the last year [in the Midbar], and they knew that the decree finished, for everyone who was 20 (or more, when they were counted);

ולפי שהיו אבלים עד מקצת יום של ט''ו לא חזר הדיבור שאין השכינה שורה לא מתוך עצלות ולא מתוך עצבות

1. Because they were mourners until part of the day of the 15th, the Dibur (intense Nevu'ah of Moshe) did not return until then, for Shechinah does not dwell amidst laziness or sadness;

כדאשכחן גבי יעקב (תנחומא פ' וישב) שכל אותן ימים שנתאבל על יוסף לא שרתה עליו שכינה כדאמר [בשבת] (דף ל:)

2. This is like we find regarding Yakov. All the days that he was mourning over Yosef, the Shechinah did not dwell on him, like it says in Shabbos (30b).

ולכך כל ימי אבילתן של ישראל לא חזר הדיבור שבזכותן היה מדבר עם משה

3. Therefore, all the days of the Aveilus of Yisrael, the Dibur did not return, for in [Yisrael's] merit Hash-m spoke with Moshe;

כדאמרי' בריש מכילתא לאמר ר' יעקב אומר צא ואמור להם שבזכותן אני מדבר עמך שכל אותן שלשים ושמונה שנה שהיה כועס על ישראל לא היה מדבר עם משה ואהרן שנאמר ויהי כאשר תמו וכו'

i. Source - Citation (Mechilta - R. Yakov): "Leimor" - [Hash-m told Moshe] go tell [Yisrael] that in their merit I speak with you. [We know this,] for all 38 years that Hash-m was angry at Yisrael (after the Meraglim), He did not speak with Moshe and Aharon, for it says "when finished... (after everyone counted died, va'Ydaver Hash-m Elai)." (Rashi (Vayikra 1:1 DH Elav) brings from Toras Kohanim that Hash-m spoke only to Moshe! When it says "to Moshe and Aharon", it means that Moshe should say to Aharon. Perhaps Tosfos' words "with Moshe and Aharon" mean this - PF.)

וממדרש איכה שהיה רבינו שמואל מביא ראיה קשיא טובא

(b) Explanation #2: The Rashbam brought Midrash Eichah [that people did not die in the last year]. This is very difficult.

שאם לא מתו בשנה אחרונה למה נתעכב הדיבור שנה ויותר שלא חזר

(c) Question #1: If they did not die in the last year, why did the Dibur delay returning to Moshe more than a year [after the last people died]?

ועוד ט''ז אלף ופרוטרוט היה למות כל שנה ולפי מדרש איכה היו מתין חמשה עשר אלף ופרוטרוט בכל שנה

(d) Question #2: If so, 16,000 and a remainder (less than 1000) should have died every year. According to Midrash Eichah, 15,000 and a remainder died every year!

1. Note: Tosfos assumes that only the evil Meraglim died when they returned in the second year. If people died also in the last year, 603,550 died over 38 years, an average of about 15,900 every year. If they did not die in the last year, they died over 37 years, an average of about 16,300 every year. Tosfos ignores about 15,000 who died from Korach's rebellion and the ensuing plague. We do not know how many were among the Yisraelim counted (males between 20 and 60, not from Levi), nor how many counted died with the Ma'apilim, or due to complaining (Bamidbar 11:1), or from the Slav. If in all more than 11,550 counted died from these, in any case an average of less than 16,000 died each Tish'ah b'Av.

ועוד למאן דאמר בירושלמי במועד קטן שכולן בני ששים מתו חידוש גדול הוא זה שצריך לומר שחמש עשרה אלפים ופרוטרוט נולדו במצרים בכל שנה זה קודם זה

(e) Question #3: According to the opinion in the Yerushalmi in Mo'ed Katan that they all died 60 years old, this is a great Chidush. We must say that 15,000 and a remainder were born in Mitzrayim every year before this! (According to the Midrash that four fifths of Bnei Yisrael died during the plague of darkness, surely many more were born. It was special Hashgachah that this many survived of every age - PF.)

ועוד שלא היתה שמחה מפני הדיבור שחזר [אלא] שאז כי איתמלי סיהרא ידעו שפסקה גזרה מעליהם

(f) Question #4: The Simchah was not because the Dibur returned (the Gemara connotes that the 15th of Av was a Yom Tov due to return of the Dibur), rather, because the moon was full and they knew that the decree ceased from them!

ועוד מה שמחה היא שקדמו למות מאשתקד והכתיב (שמות כג) את מספר ימיך אמלא

(g) Question #5: What was the Simchah that they died early the previous year? "Es Mispar Yamecha Amalei"! (Maharsha - they knew that only the 600,000 counted will die. When the 15th came, they realized that all had already died. This is reason to be sad, for it is a Brachah to live all one's allotted years!)

ועוד אם מיהרו למות מאשתקד א''כ לא מתו בני ששים אותן שהושלמו להן עשרים שנה בשעת יציאתם שלכך תלה בכ' שנה לפי שהיו בני כ' בצמצום

(h) Question #6: If they died early the previous year, those who completed 20 years when they left [Mitzrayim] did not die when they were 60 (unlike the opinion in the Yerushalmi cited above. Do not say that there was no one between 20 and 21 when they left. The Torah) attributed [the count and the decree] to 20 years, because there were men exactly 20 (i.e. between 20 and 21)!

ונראה לר''ת לפי מדרש איכה שלא מיהרו למות אלא בשנה אחרונה ביטל מהן הגזרה ונשארו מהן ט''ו אלף ופרוטרוט אותן שהיו ראוין למות בשנה אחרונה

(i) Explanation #2 (R. Tam): According to Midrash Eichah, they did not die early. Rather, in the last year the decree was annulled from them, and 15,000 and a remainder remained, those who should have died in the last year;

כמו שמצינו בחזקיהו דכתיב (מלכים ב כ) צו לביתך כי מת אתה והאריך לו הרבה

1. This is like we find regarding Chizkiyah. It says (Melachim 20:20, in a Nevu'ah) "command your house (what to do after you die), for you will die", and he lived much longer.

[והא דכתיב (במדבר כו) ולא נותר מהם איש כי אם כלב בן יפונה ויהושע בן נון

(j) Comment - Implied question: It says "no man remained from them, except for Kalev ben Yefuneh and Yehoshua bin Nun"!

היינו מאותן שראוין למות קודם שנתבטלה הגזרה דכלב ויהושע היו בני ארבעים בשלוח מרגלים כדפרישית לעיל (ד' קיז: ד''ה מכאן)

(k) Answer #1: That means [that no man remained from] those who should have died before the decree was annulled [except for Kalev and Yehoshua. They should have died beforehand, for] Kalev and Yehoshua were 40 when the Meraglim were sent, like I explained above (117b).

אי נמי בתחלה נגזר אפי' על בני כ' בצמצום ולבסוף ריחם עליהם הקב''ה ולא מתו אלא אותן שהיו בשעת גזרה לכל הפחות בני עשרים וחדש שחדש בשנה אחרת חשוב שנה ולא יום אחד

(l) Answer #2: Initially, the decree was even on men who were exactly 20. Afterwards, Hash-m had mercy on them, and only those who were at the time of the decree at least 20 and a month, only they died, for a month in another year is considered a year, but a day is not [considered a year];

כדאמרי' (מסכת פרה פ''א מ''ג) גבי פלגס שכל חדש שלם אינו לא שה ולא איל

1. This is like we say (Parah 1:3) about a Palgas (a sheep in its 13th month). The entire month it is not a Seh and not a ram.

i. Note: Also Sefer ha'Yashar (Teshuvos, 68:7) and Gur Aryeh (Shemos 12:5) say like Tosfos, that after a year it is not called a Seh. I do not know their source. The Mishnah says that a Palgas is not a Keves, and not a ram. Chulin 74b permits redeeming a firstborn donkey with an animal older than a year, from a Ribuy "Tifdeh". The Havah Amina to disqualify was from a Gezeirah Shavah "Seh-Seh", but not from the word Seh itself! Also, if Seh is only within one year, we should include from the Ribuy only what the Gezeirah Shavah would exclude (e.g. females), but not what the word Seh itself excludes! It is explicit there in Chidushei ha'Ran, and implicit in the Rashba, that Seh connotes even older than one year. Also Yalkut Shimoni (Yechezkel 383:45) expounds "Seh" to exclude a Bechor, and "Min ha'Tzon" to exclude a Palgas. This connotes that Seh does not exclude a Palgas!

ונשארו בשנה אחרונה כל אותן שהיו בני כ' בצמצום]

2. In the last year, all who were exactly 20 (i.e. less than a month more than 20, at the time they were counted) remained. (This ends the comment.)

הכי נמי אשכחן בדילוג קץ זכו כי גר יהיה זרעך מיצחק לא זכו ועבדום וענו אותם וכו'

(m) Support #1 (for Explanation #2): We find like this regarding skipping (making earlier) the deadline [for redemption]. If they merit - "Ki Ger Yihyeh Zar'acha" from Yitzchak. (The verse continues "... va'Avadum v'Inu Osam Arba Me'os Shanah]". Avraham's seed were considered Gerim (they did not own the land they lived in) for 400 years, i.e. from Yitzchak's birth until Yetzi'as Mitzrayim.) If they do not merit, "they will enslave and afflict them" (400 years of actual slavery).

והשתא אתי שפיר דמשום חמשה עשר אלפים ופרוטרוט לשנה לא נתייחד הדיבור עד חמשה עשר באב של שנה אחרונה שהיו ראוין למות והיו עצובין בכך עד דאיתמלי סיהרא

(n) Support #2: Now it is fine that due to the 15,000 and a remainder, the Dibur did not [return] directly until the 15th of Av of the last year, for they were proper to die, and they were sad about this, until the moon filled.

ומה שהקשה ר''ת לפירוש הקונטרס למה נשתהה הדיבור שנה ויותר

(o) Repeat of Question #1 (against Rashbam): [If they did not die in the last year,] why did the Dibur delay returning to Moshe more than a year?

י''ל נמי שאין השכינה שורה לא מתוך עצבות והן היו עציבין לפי שהיו סבורין למות באותה שנה

(p) Answer: We can say also [for the Rashbam] that Shechinah does not rest amidst sadness, and they were sad, for they expected to die that year.

והאי דנקט נמי חמשה עשר אלפים ופרוטרוט לאו על כל שנה ושנה קאמר אלא רוב השנים

(q) Answer (to Question #3): It says "15,000 and a remainder" [died every year]. It does not mean that every year [was the same], rather, most years. (Perhaps this means that this was the average.)

ומיהו קשה על פירוש רבינו שמואל דלמה חפרו קברים בשנה אחרונה כיון שמאשתקד מתו כל אותן שהיו ראוין למות

(r) Question (against Rashbam): Why did they dig graves in the last year, since all who should have died, they died the previous year?

שכל אחד היה יודע בעצמו שלא היה מבן עשרים ועד ששים מפקודי משה ואהרן:

1. Everyone knew about himself that he was not between 20 and 60, among those that Moshe and Aharon counted!

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4) TOSFOS DH Shiv'ah Kiplu Kol ha'Olam

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