Ki Seitzei
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha the command to keep the military camp holy and free from evil. The pasuk says (Chapter 23, Pasuk 10), Ki Seitzei Machaneh al Oyvecha, V’Nishmarta M’Kol Davar Ra. When you set up camp against your enemy, you shall guard yourself from all evil matters. Rashi explains that during a time of danger there is a particularly strong impulse for evil, therefore the Torah warns us to be careful. And the pasuk in the end of this section reminds us that Hashem is found in the camp, and therefore the camp must be kept holy.
In the second pasuk of this section (pasuk 11) the Torah teaches the laws of the Ba’al Keri, one who has a nocturnal emission, that he must he leave the camp. He returns after nightfall, only after immersing himself in the Mikveh.
Why does the Torah bring this law here? The Ba’al Keri leaves both the Machaneh Shechinah and the Machanehl Leviyah and is not connected to the issue of setting up a military camp and guarding from danger!
The Meshech Chachmah in explaining the words V’Nishmarta M’Kol Davar Ra, teaches that it’s a reference to Lashon Hara. He bases himself on the Sifre which teaches M’Kol Davar Ra, af Lashon Hara. He explains that the simple explanation of the pasuk is that when one is encamped against the enemy, no one should leave the camp. For upon leaving the camp there is the fear of being captured by the enemy and being forced to reveal secrets. And this is the command of V’Nishmarta M’Kol Davar Ra. And I would think that even if one becomes a Ba’al Keri, even though he is commanded to leave even Machaneh Leviyah, perhaps in a time of war he should stay in the camp and not endanger himself to reveal secrets and speak Lashon Hara. Therefore the Torah teaches that the normal laws of the holiness of the camp are maintained despite the potential danger.
From this the Meshech Chachmah expounds that there are two types of Lashon Hara. One is among the members of Clal Yisrael themselves. The prohibition for this is (Vayikra, Chapter 19, Pasuk 16) Lo Seleich Rachil B’Amecha, Do not go around gossiping among your people. And the second one is when members of Clal Yisrael reveal secrets or speak negatively about their people to the outside nations. This prohibition is from our pasuk V’Nishmarta M’Kol Davar Ra. And this second one causes exile. We see this by Moshe Rabbeinu, who said (Shmos, Chapter 2, Pasuk 14) Achein Noda Hadavar, the matter has become known; now I understand the reason for the galus is that they speak Lashon Hara. And in the very next pasuk we read in Rashi that Dasan and Aviram reported Moshe to Pharaoh. And the Gemara in Gittin 55B teaches that the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed because of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza where there was Lashon Hara spoken to the Roman Emperor that the Jews were rebelling.
The Gemara in Zevachim 88B teaches that the Ketores, the incense brought in the Beis Hamikdash, atones for the sin of Lashon Hara. The Meshech Chachmah explains that the daily Ketores atones for the Lashon Hara among the members of Bnei Yisrael. Just as Chazal teach in Baba Basra 164B that every day one is likely to violate at least Avak Lashon Hara, so too the daily Ketores atones for the usual gossiping among neighbors.
The second Lashon Hara, speaking to the outside nations, is atoned for by the Ketores brought once a year on Yom Kippur in the Kodesh Hakadashim. This is because speaking to enemies is usually a secret, unknown to all other people. Similarly, on Yom Kippur when the Kohen Gadol walks into the Kodesh Hakadashim, he is all alone; no one else is there except for Hashem. The Ketores on Yom Kippur atones for those private sins, even those which are sins of the heart, since the Avodah is such a private Avodah.
The Shlah Hakadosh brings in the name of the Zohar that when it says in our parsha, V’Hayah Machanechah Kadosh it is a reference to the limbs of one’s body. He adds that just as there are three camps, Machaneh Shechinah, Leviyah, and Yisrael, they correspond to the brain, heart, and the more physical organs (Habeten V’Keilav). This is consistent with the Meshech Chachmah’s idea that the Ketores of Yom Kippur atones for the private sins, even sins of thought, as the Yerushalmi teaches that the Kohen Gadol can’t wear gold for the Avodah of Yom Kippur since it leads to feelings of false pride. The brain and thought process of the Jew corresponds to Machaneh Shechinah, and it is precisely in this chamber where no human enters save for the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur, that the most private and intimate sins are atoned for.
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