Chapter 10
“And it came to pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according unto all that the Lord had commanded him concerning them; After he had slain Sihon the king of the Amorites, which dwelt in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, which dwelt at Ashtaroth in Edrei” (Deuteronomy 1:3-4).1Guggenheimer notes that this means that all laws mentioned in Numbers from 1:1 to 19:22 were given either at the time of consecration of the Tabernacle, or during the second year after the Exodus. He also notes that the remaining 38 years are without record except for the list of stations (Num. 33) and the few remarks in Deuteronomy quoted at the end of this chapter. From the first of Shevat until the sixth of Adar, thirty-six days, did Moses our Teacher expound the entire Torah. On the sixth [of Adar] "And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die..." (Deuteronomy 31:14).2R. Jacob Emdin asks, if you have a difficulty understanding why Scripture reduced one year from the life of the righteous [Moses], see what he wrote in his Sefer Yaavetz, Section 133, at the end of this chapter. Guggenheimer notes that the computation of the date of Moses's death is quoted at length in the Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 38a, and in a shortened version, in Tosefta Sotah 11, in both versions of Tanhuma, and in Deut. Rabba, end of Vaethanan, and Sifry Deut. 304. He notes that according to all sources, Moses died on 7 Adar. He explains that Josephus puts Moses's death on 1 Adar because he simply copied the dates of the deaths of Miriam and Aaron. On the seventh of Adar "And Moses went and spake these words unto all Israel. And he said unto them, I am an hundred and twenty years old this day..." (Deuteronomy 31:1-2). Why does Scripture say "this day"? It says "this day" to teach us that on the seventh of Adar was Moses born, and on the seventh of Adar he died, as it is written "So Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he buried him in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Bethpeor: but no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated" (Deuteronomy 34:5-7).3R. Jacob Emdin notes that he explains in his Sefer Yaavetz which day of the week was 7 Adar. R. Eliyahu from Vilna explains that the argument is based on the verses "an hundred and twenty years old this day" (Deut. 31:2), and "And there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your cattle. And the number of your days I will fulfil" (Ex. 23:26), which mean that the just will complete the full measure of their years. Guggenheimer notes that the first part of Ex. 23:26 speaks of the general blessing bestowed on Israel and the second part is addressed to Moses personally. "And it came to pass after the death of Moses the servant of the Lord, that the Lord spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying, Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan..." "And Joshua commanded the officers of the people, saying, Pass through the host, and command the people, saying, Prepare you victuals; for within three days ye shall pass over this Jordan, to go in to possess the land, which the Lord your God giveth you to possess it" (Joshua 1:1-2,10-11). "And the people came up out of Jordan on the tenth day of the first month, and encamped in Gilgal, in the east border of Jericho" (Joshua 4:19).4Guggenheimer notes that the verse "Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise" (Joshua 1:2) means that Joshua should act immediately, on the day following the 30 days of mourning. He notes that according to this verse, Israel crossed the Jordan on 10 Nisan. Hence, the mourning started on the day of Moses's death, and to compute that day, one has to subtract 32 from 39. Count from there thirty-three days backwards, and you will learn that Moses our teacher died on the seventh of Adar. Three good providers arose for Israel, and these are they: Moses, and Aaron, and Miriam. And three good gifts were given through them to Israel, and these are they: the well, and the pillar of cloud, and the Mannah. The Mannah was [given] by the merit of Moses, the pillar of cloud by the merit of Aaron, the well by the merit of Miriam. Miriam died, the well disappeared, it was given back to Israel by the merit of Moses and Aaron. Aaron died, the pillar of cloud disappeared, it was given back to them by the merit of Moses. [Moses died],5R. Eliyahu from Vilna adds "Moses died" here. The bracket is a later addition. all three disappeared, and they did not return, as it is written "And I cut off the three shepherds in one month" (Zechariah 11:8). Did they die in one month? They died in one year! Miriam died on the tenth of Nissan,6R. Eliyahu from Vilna notes that this is a Tosephta of R. Yose the son of R. Yehudah, reported in the Babylonian Talmud (Taanit 9a). Guggenheimer notes that Megilat Taanit, which reports the same tradition, probably also is from the school of R. Yose the son of R. Yehudah, in contrast to Josephus who puts Miriam's death on the first of Nissan. R. Jacob Emdin, however, notes that R. Yose the son of R. Judah's opinion is accepted by Yerushalmi sources, such as the Yerushalmi Targum (Pseudo-Jonathan) to Num. 20, and copied from there by the Gaonic Halakhot Gedolot, and the medieval Tur and Shulhan Arukh. and Aaron on the first of Av,7R. Jacob Emdin notes that this disagrees with the Talmud, which puts the death of Aaron in Tammuz. Guggenheimer notes that French manuscripts have "first of Tammuz." He explains that in Seder Olam, Av always has 30 days. and Moses our teacher on the seventh of Adar. Rather, on the day that Moses died, all three disappeared and never returned.8R. Eliyahu from Vilna notes that, according to Seder Olam, all three good providers died in different months and the verse "And I cut off the three shepherds in one month" does not refer to the month of their death, but to the month in which the Temple was destroyed. R. Jacob Emdin interprets the statement in the Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashana 17a, that the wicked are judged for 12 months in Gehinnom, but that according to R. Yohanan ben Nuri the 12 months are counted from Passover to Shavuot, to mean that R. Yohanan ben Nuri holds that only the three Pilgrimage Festivals have the full status of Shabbatot. He explains that Seder Olam, however, is of the opinion that the term Shabbat is applicable also to the holiday of Sukkot. He also thinks that the statement that both Temples were destroyed on the end of Shabbat, at the end of a Sabbatical year, when the priests of the family of Jehoiarib were officiating, is a reference to the Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 22a, Arakhin 11b. From the Mannah that they collected on the seventh of Adar they ate until the sixteenth of Nissan,9R. Eliyahu from Vilna explains that this is based on Joshua 5:11, which states that from the day after Passover the children of Israel ate of the produce of the land. It follows that on that day, the Mannah ceased. He also notes that Ashkenazic manuscripts read "Shabbat" instead of "Sunday" for the date of rest at Alush (see chapter 5), but that the Babylonian Talmud (Sabbath 87b) states that they could have arrived at Alush on the Sabbath if we assume that in that year Iyyar was 30 days long. R. Jacob Emdin thinks that the statement "on the seventh of Adar they ate..." refers to the time after the death of Moses, and before the crossing of the Jordan, that by the principle "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain" one has to assume that the biblical year is counted from Nisan, not Tishri. Guggenheimer explains that by the principle "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain," the date of the last Mannah is taken to be that of the day before the beginning of eating food from the land of Israel, which is given as the day after Passover, 15 Nisan. as it is written "And the manna ceased on the morrow after they had eaten of the old corn of the land; neither had the children of Israel manna any more; but they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." (Joshua 5:12). Why does Scripture say "And the children of Israel did eat manna forty years, until they came to a land inhabited; they did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan" (Exodus 16:35)? The day Moses died, the Mannah stopped coming down. "They did eat manna, until they came unto the borders of the land of Canaan",10The meaning here is that the Mannah that they still had with them disappeared at the border of the land. R. Eliyahu from Vilna explains that Rashi interprets "yamim" in "yamim ve'arba'ah hodashim" (1 Sam. 27:7) as "two days and four months" and not as "one year and four months" since David went to Achish only after the death of Samuel, and Saul only ruled four months after the death of Samuel (according to Seder 'Olam). In addition, he notes that in French manuscripts the text reads "four months," not "about four months." Guggenheimer explains that the word "yamim" in the verse cited here, that usually means "days," must mean "two days" since by the principle "Scripture does not come to hide but to explain," if "yamim" meant "years," then David would have been with Achish for one full year and four months, but this is impossible by the chronology established in Seder 'Olam. that day the Manna that they had in their hands disappeared.11R. Eliyahu from Vilna explains that according to Seder Olam, they ate Mannah for 39 years and 10 months. R. Jacob Emdin explains that the correct reading is "39 years" since they ate unleavened bread in the 40th year, and Scripture counts a year as full if even one day of the year was complete, but that Seder Olam refers here to 40 "years of servitude" (Exodus 16:35), counting the time they spent as slaves in Egypt. That makes forty years minus thirty days, and thirty days that they ate from the cakes that they took with them from Egypt,12R. Eliyahu from Vilna notes that according to the Babylonian Talmud (Kiddushin 38a), "the cakes that they took out from Egypt had the taste of the Mannah." which were good for them, like the Mannah.
This is where the chapter ends and so does part 1 of Seder Olam