The Torah relates that (19:1-2) ‘In the third month from the Exodus of Bnei Israel from Egypt, on this day, they arrived in the Wilderness of Sinai. They journeyed from Rephidim and arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai and they encamped in the Wilderness; and Israel encamped there, opposite the mountain.’
Rash comments:’On this day’: On Rosh Chodesh.
‘They journeyed from Rephidim’: Why did the Torah have to repeat and explain from where they had journeyed? Did it not already state that they journeyed from Rephidim? It repeated to compare their journey from Rephidim to their arrival in the Sinai desert - just as their arrival was with repentance, so was their journey from Rephidim.
‘And Israel encamped: ויחנו: singular, denoting that they envamped there ‘as one man with one heart’ - but all the other encampments were with complaints and with strife.
The Malbim writes:’In the third month from the Exodus..’: First, the Torah wanted to explain that only now was it the time for the stand at Sinai, and that this was not possible earlier, as the preparation for this was the departure of Bnei Israel from Egypt, as the Torah could not be given to individuals - only to six hundred thousand men who had been prepared to ascend the mountain of Hashem and to receive His Torah.
‘Till now, while there were in each generation, individuals of this stature, for the Torah to be given, there had to be a holy nation, all of the members being of this stature - and only now, did this occur, as while they had grown to this number in Egypt - and were purified by the furnace of their harsh servitude - they had mot then yet attained the required level.
‘They had not attained it, either, on their departure from Egypt, as they werd not fully purified from the impurity that attached to them, there.
‘This was only attained by their journeys and the miracles wrought by Hashem that they saw - a new, loftier miracle on each journey, to test and elevate them.
‘Till this journey, they had made ten such journeys, as all things of kedusha cannot be less than ten in number.
‘Further, as our Sages teach, they had not yet been healed from the spiritual illnesses they suffered in Egypt, but Hashem did not want to delay giving them the Torah only when they entered the Land, so He ensured that the journeys wrought the necessary purification and healing.
‘And they journeyed from Rephidim’: teaching that their departure from there was also ‘on this day’, as till then they had to be in Rephidim - which was their tenth journey - as there they had no water, and it was given to them from the rock, in Choreb - they did not merit that water be given to them, miraculously, in Rephidim, as they were lax in their Torah toil there, and only merited that it occur in Choreb, where they were destined to draw from the well of Torah.
‘Throughout their encampment in Rephidim, they met their water needs from Choreb, which was nearby.
‘Nevertheles, it is correct to say that only ‘on this day they arrived at the Wilderness of Sinai’, as though many of them did so earlier, they did not leave Rephidim, their tents of dwelling and their families remaining there, till this day.
‘Only on this day, when the Cloud of Glory moved from Rephidim, did the people do likewise, journeying to the Wilderness of Sinai.’
The Ohr Hachaim opens his exposition, by asking:’Since out of His great love for them, Hashem yearned to give Bnei Israel, His Torah, as their betroth, why did He delay doing so till the third month - surely on of the signs of love, is the the desire not to tarry?
‘Hashem gage an answer to this: the reason was not because of any lack of desire, but the unreadiness of the the groom - Bnei Israel were not ready, being till then in the impure land of Egypt, and being likened to a nidah, requiring a seven week period to be pure.
‘This is why the Torah says:’from the Exodus of Bnei Israel from Egypt’, alluding to the reason being their exodus from Egypt, which caused the delay till the third month - the proof being that as soon as this time passed, on the very day they journeyed and arrived.
‘They journeyed from Rephidim’- this raised a difficulty,, as this passuk should have come after the preceding passuk, that said that they ‘arrived in the Wilderness of Sinai’ - the answer may be the teaching of our Sages (Midrash Rabba ) :’Love spoils the usual order’
‘Therefore, as soon as Bnei Israel arrived in the desert - this being the day yearned for by the Creator, the Torah, the upper denizens, and the lower denizens, who eagerly awaited it, from the day of Creation, all of whom looking forwards to the day of the arrival of Bnei Israel in the Wilderness of Sinai.
‘Now that that day arrived, they could not hold from relating the matter, and immediately announced it, saying:’this day Bnei Israel arrived’ - the desirer and the object of desire were united, and heaven and earth rejoiced, as this was the the purpose of Creation and its hope - the Torah after this, returned to relating the details of the matter. ‘The objective of the Torah here was to teach the three main matters, which are the principal preparations by which Hashem wishes to give the Torah.
‘First, is the strengthening and intensification of toil in Torah, as laziness is the main cause of the loss of its attainment.
‘Against this, the Torah relates that ‘they journeyed from Rephidim’, an allusion to leaving their laxity in Torah toil, in which they transgresses there.
‘Second: humility and submimissiveness, as the words of Torah will only rest on one who lowers himself, and makes himself like the desert - that all trample on- against which, it said:’They arrived in the Wilderness of Sinai’: the desert.
‘Third, unity wit a full heart, alluded to by the singular ויחן - ‘as one man with one heart’ -which made them worthy to receive the Torah.’
Rav Chaim Shmulevitz brings the commentary of the Ohr Hachaim, and elaborates on each of the three elements, first on the required toil in Torah, noting:: Our Sages say that ‘Torah is only acquired by one who, as i were, ‘kills himself’ in his striving to acquire it.
‘The sacrific required, can be learned from Yaakov Avinu, who during the fourteen years he learned. In the Yeshiva of Shem and Eber, did not even sleep on the stone floor, so as not to lose any of his time, from learning Torah.
‘We can further learn this lesson, from our Sages teaching that, Hashem ‘leaves all His affairs’ to reward - measure-for-measure, those who ‘leave all their private affairs’, to study Torah.
‘The second preparation - to be like the desert - requires the rectification of all our midot - especially pride and haughtiness.
‘We learn this from the Gemara ( Taanit 20:2 ):’ A person should always be soft like a reed ’, bending before others, and nullifying his opinion in favor of theirs - and not like the unbending cedar that never yields to others - because of this, it is the one chosen for the instrument from which the quill used to write sifrei Torah, tefillin and mezuzut are made.
‘Third: to be ‘as one man with one heart’, as our Sages say : Because Bnei Israel hated machloket, and loved peace, and became one entity, the hour has arrived, to give them the Torah.’’.
Rav Gedalia Schorr adds his gloss, to the principle laid down by the Ohr Hachaim, commenting:’’Our Sages note that the Torah, in stating that Bnei Israel ‘journeyed from Rephidim’, was alluding to the place being so called, because there Bnei Israel רפו ידיהם מדברי תורה: ‘weakened their hands from toil in Torah’ - presumably the parshiot they received at Marah.
‘The language of the Sages suggests that though they did learn Torah, they did so ‘with weakened hands’, without striving or toiling, and it was this that caused the ‘weakening of their hands’.
‘This - as the Ohr Hachaim laid down - is the first condition necessary to acquire Torah - their laxity awakening the sad lament of the voice which calls out, from Choreb:’woe to men, from the offence to the Torah’.
‘Thre second condition - to be like the desert - though we see people who are not at this level of humility, having some Torah, to truly acquire Torah can only be achieved by abandoning all other desires.
‘The third condition - for all to be as ‘one man with one heart - can be seen in there being one letter in the Torahfor each of the 600,000, aa only in this way was the Torah gIven to Bnei Israel.’
The Kli Yakar adds:’From our Parasha, we can learn that Bnei Israel were not deserving of receiving the Torah until there was peace between them, as if there was disputation - this one permitting and this one forbidding - we would find that there are two Torot.
‘This is why it says: ‘In the third month..on this day they arrived in the Wilderness of Sinai’, this being the month whose sign is ‘twins’, alluding to love and amity , as then there will ne ‘great peace for the lovers of the Torah’.
‘After this, the Torah states that ‘they journeyed from Rephidim,’ where they had been in dispute, which caused them to weaken their hands from Torah, but now they travelled away from dispute, ‘and arrived in the Wilderness of Sinai’ -st the desert, a place which caused them to be unified, as the search for honor and control - the root cause of most diputes - has no place there.
‘Further they saw that Hashem had chosen Har Sinai, the lowest of all mountains, on which to rest - denoting that He chooses the humble.
‘They, too, chose the midah of humility, and arrived ‘as one man with one heart.’’
The Netziv offers a different understanding as to the importance of proper preparation for matters of kedusha.
He expounds: Our Sages comment - as Rashi brings - on the doubling of the mention of the departure of Bnei Israel from Rephidim, and their arrival, in the desert, to teach that both their departure and their arrival, were with repentance.
‘He asks: מאי נפקא מינה :Why should we care that they departed already with repentance?
He answers: We
learn from here, that in matters of sanctity, the earlier a person prepares himself towards it, the more ready is he for it.
‘The Gemara ( Baba Metzia 85: ) praises Rabbi Chiya for proffering that, to prevent Torah from being fotgotten. , when there arose a need to teach it to young children, he would himself plant the flax plant, and make the flax from, then attend to it being suitable for making rope traps, with which he would trap the kosher animals, from whose hide he could make the parchment he needed for writing sifrei Torah, which he could then use to teach the young children:
‘Why- you may well ask - did he see the need go go to so much trouble himself? Because -‘he would answer / his efforts instilled extra sanctity in the hearts of the children whom he would teach, from the fruits of his efforts.
A parting gem, from the Ben Ish Hai, to explain the double mention - in our opening passage- of the arrival in the desert, and of the departure from Rephidim.
Expounds the sage:’Since we already read in the opening sentence that ‘they arrived in the desert, why - in the next sentence, do we read that ‘they journeyed from Rephidim and arrived in the desert’?
‘It appear to me, that this is because there are two types of arrival in the Sinai desert.
‘One is in thought, as since their departure from Egypt they were yearning to arrive there, where they were to receive the Torah.
‘The second ‘arrival’ was the actual arrival there as described in our parsha.’
לרפואת נועם עליזה בת זהבה רבקה ונחום אלימלך רפאל בן זהבה רבקה, בתוך שאר חולי עמנו.