Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Sforno · Torah
Sforno on Deuteronomy 10:6/ספורנו על דברים י׳:ו׳
אוּבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל נָסְעוּ. אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁרָאוּ שֶׁתְּפִלַּת הַצַּדִּיק מְגִנָּה עַל דּוֹרוֹ וְשֶׁרָאוּי לְהִתְאוֹנֵן עַל מִיתָתוֹ, הִנֵּה קְצָתָם אוֹ רֻבָּם שֶׁהָיוּ רוֹעִים בַּמִּדְבָּר נָסְעוּ לְמוֹסֵרָה לִמְצֹא מַיִם וּמִרְעֶה לַצֹּאן, וּבְעוֹדָם שָׁם מֵת אַהֲרֹן וַיִּקָּבֵר וַיְכַהֵן אֶלְעָזָר, וְלֹא בָאוּ לְהִתְאוֹנֵן עַל הַמִּיתָה וְלֹא לְהִתְאַבֵּל עַל הַקְּבוּרָה, וְלֹא חָשְׁשוּ לְכַבֵּד אֶלְעָזָר שֶׁכִּהֵן תַּחְתָּיו, אֲבָל מִשָּׁם נָסְעוּ הַגֻּדְגֹּדָה לִרְעוֹת צֹאן.
1ובני ישראל נסעו , even though they had seen that the prayer of a righteous person may prove a protection for the members of his generation so that it is most appropriate to mourn his death, in this instance we find that the Israelites in their search for water journeyed on without delay, not a word being said about their taking time out to mourn the passing of Aaron. This is the meaning of the construction: “there Aaron died, was buried…and Eleazar became High Priest in his stead.” They neither took time out to mourn Aaron nor did they celebrate the appointment of a new High Priest, a position which made that person the interlocutor on their behalf. Rather, משם נסעו הגדגודה, to graze their sheep;
בוּמִן הַגֻּדְגֹּדָה יָטְבָתָה אֶרֶץ נַחֲלֵי מָיִם. שֶׁכָּל אוֹתָם הַמְּקוֹמוֹת הַנִּזְכָּרִים עַתָּה הָיוּ אֶרֶץ נְחָלִים נְכוֹנִים לְמִרְעֵה הַצֹּאן, וְלֹא שָׂתוּ לִבָּם לְהֵיזֵק שֶׁקָּרָה בְּמוֹת הַצַּדִּיק, וְלֹא לִכְבוֹדוֹ וְלִכְבוֹד בְּנוֹ.
2ומן הגדגודה יטבת, ארץ נחלי מים, for all the locations mentioned had water which was adequate for the needs of their livestock. Still, they paid no heed to the damage they had incurred by the death of a righteous man such as Aaron, neither to his honour, nor to the dishonour they had caused themselves by allowing the passing of a man of such caliber to go by unnoticed. [Numbers 20,28-29 reports Aaron’s death as well as the fact that the entire community of Israel bewailed his death for thirty days. Ed.]