We’re going to do Yisro, Shishi—I mean, not Beshalach. But I first want to mention something from yesterday’s shiur.
Regarding tevilah, we find that before Matan Torah they were instructed to wash their garments. We also find an explicit reference to tevilah for the women, where it says “אַל תִּגְּשׁוּ אֶל אִשָּׁה”, and Rashi explains:
“כָּל שְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים הַלָּלוּ כְּדֵי שֶׁיִּהְיוּ הַנָּשִׁים טוֹבְלוֹת לְיוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי וְתִהְיֶינָה טְהוֹרוֹת.”
However, we do not find explicitly that the men were instructed to go to the mikvah before Matan Torah. Still, it is a kal vachomer: if their garments needed to be washed, certainly the men themselves would need to be tovel as well.
The pasuk says “וְקִדַּשְׁתָּם”, and Rashi explains it as “וְזִמַּנְתָּם שֶׁיָּכִינוּ עַצְמָם הַיּוֹם וּמָחָר.” One could interpret “וְקִדַּשְׁתָּם” as referring to immersion in the mikvah—meaning tevilah today and tomorrow. But Rashi translates it as preparation. Still, what does preparation mean if not purification through tevilah?
The pasuk itself does not state explicitly that the men went to the mikvah. It speaks about “נְכֹנִים לַיּוֹם” and “וְהָיוּ נְכֹנִים לַיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי.” The phrase “וְהָיוּ” refers to the men—that they should be מֻבְדָּלִים from the women.
Rashi explains on “נְכֹנִים לִשְׁלֹשֶׁת יָמִים” (on פסוק ט״ו) that “שֶׁיִּהְיוּ הַנָּשִׁים טוֹבְלוֹת לְיוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי”, so the women could immerse on the third day. It seems that the men could immerse on either day, but the Torah does not spell this out explicitly.
Perhaps this is included in “וְקִדַּשְׁתָּם”, and later when it says “וַיֵּרֶד מֹשֶׁה… וַיְקַדֵּשׁ אֶת הָעָם”, the meaning is that they went to the mikvah. Even though Rashi explains “וַיְקַדֵּשׁ” as preparation, that preparation itself would include tevilah.
Another question I want to explore is how the מַעְיָן, the water for the mikvah or tevilah, actually worked in the desert, where there seemingly was no water. Was it from the rock altogether? How did the water come from the סֶּלַע that Moshe Rabbeinu struck? Was there a reservoir of water inside it? Did it draw water from the ground? Was the water newly created?
How exactly did this work? How did the water flow, how did they collect it, and how would they immerse in it? Was it like a faucet, or was it flowing water—a river that ran continuously? The rock is described as traveling with them, a rock that Moshe Rabbeinu split.
This is something worth looking into in the מְפָרְשִׁים to understand how they explain this phenomenon.
Anyway, we’ll continue.