When is it time to move on?

(17) In accord with the cloud being taken up from over the Tent, thereafter that the children of Israel journeyed; and in the place where the cloud abode, there the children of Israel encamped. (18) The children of Israel journeyed according to the ETERNAL’s word, and according to the ETERNAL’s word they encamped: as long as the cloud abode upon the tabernacle they remained encamped. (19) And when the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle many days, then the children of Israel kept the charge of the ETERNAL, and journeyed not. (20) And sometimes the cloud was a few days upon the tabernacle; they remained encamped according to the ETERNAL’s word, and according to the word of the ETERNAL they journeyed. (21) And sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning; and when the cloud was taken up in the morning, they journeyed; or if it continued by day and by night, when the cloud was taken up, they journeyed. (22) Whether it were two days, or a month, or a year, that the cloud tarried upon the tabernacle, abiding thereon, the children of Israel remained encamped, and journeyed not; but when it was taken up, they journeyed. (23) According to the word of the ETERNAL they encamped, and according the word of the ETERNAL they journeyed; they kept the charge of the ETERNAL, according to the word of the ETERNAL in Moses’ hand.

"At the commandment of the Lord the children of Israel journeyed, and at the commandment of the Lord they pitched" (Num. 9:18), would suffice as a simple statement of facts; and the reader might at first sight consider as unnecessary additions all the details which follow, viz., "And when the cloud tarried long. . . And so it was when the cloud was a few days. . . . Or whether it were two days," etc. (ibid. 9:19-22). But I will show you the reason why all these details are added. For they serve to confirm the account, and to contradict the opinion of the nations, both of ancient and modern times, that the Israelites lost their way, and did not know where to go; that "they were entangled in the land" (Exod. 14:3); wherefore the Arabs unto this day call that desert Al-tih, "the desert of going astray," imagining that the Israelites erred about, and did not know the way. Scripture, therefore, clearly states and emphatically declares that it was by God's command that the journeyings were irregular, that the Israelites returned to the same places several times, and that the duration of the stay was different in each station; whilst the stay in one place continued for eighteen years, in another place it lasted one day, and in another one night. There was no going astray, but the journey was regulated by "the rising of the pillar of cloud" (Num. 9:17). Therefore all these details are given.

AND WHEN THE CLOUD TARRIED. This means that if the cloud tarried upon the Tabernacle many days, and the place [where they happened to be camped] was not good in their eyes, so that they very much desired and wanted to journey away from there, they were nonetheless not to transgress the will of G-d; this being the meaning of the verse, and the children of Israel kept the charge of the Eternal, and journeyed not, namely that [it was only] because of their fear of G-d and because they kept the charge of His command that they did not journey.

The Torah only had to write the words: “the Children of Israel would journey or make camp at the command of the Lord.” The additional words "they would make camp at the command of the Lord" appear quite superfluous. Seeing that we know all this from Exodus 13,21 where the Torah wrote that “God walked ahead of them by day in a pillar of cloud etc.,” the meaning of our verse here has to be that the words "they would journey at the command of the Lord" are a reference to the attribute of Justice. The very word [journey] has a connotation of the attribute of Justice seeing the word is always used in connection with going to war. By contrast then, the words "they would make camp at the command of the Lord" is reminiscent of the attribute of Mercy, the very word "make camp - yahanu", reminding us of m'nuhah- rest, calm, quiet, the opposite of war and warfare. ... At any rate, we must not perceive of these two attributes as separate and independent entities, rather they are bound up with each other, sometimes one attribute predominating, sometimes the other. ... There is a constant interchange of references to the attribute of Mercy and the attribute of Justice, each appearing at the most unexpected times and places. All this demonstrates that both forces are constantly on the alert and circumstances determine which force asserts itself as dominant. At the very moment when the attribute of Mercy appeared at its most near, when God took up residence in the Tabernacle, Moses could not enter, as if rebuffed by the attribute of Justice. Having appreciated all this, we must not be surprised when the words 'על פי ה' are understood as the attribute of Mercy instead of as the attribute of Justice.

"And sometimes the cloud was from evening until morning": This is the fourth time that the manner in which the cloud operated is being mentioned, to show that it was impossible to predict with any degree of probability how long they would stay in one location.

According to the Kabbalists the reason why the Israelites did not break camp at regular intervals was that the purpose of traversing these various areas was to locate and rescue stray sparks of sanctity which had been "captured" by forces resident in this unfriendly desert environment. Only G'd Himself was able to determine which time frame was sufficient for this task to be accomplished in the various locations.

Since it is written: “At the commandment of the Lord they encamped” (Numbers 9:23). The time and place of their travels and their encampments were not determined by them but rather by the word of God. Consequently, when they took down the Tabernacle it was tantamount to demolishing in order to build in the same place. Since the demolition and the construction were both accomplished at the command of God, there was never a case of destruction without a constructive purpose.

"According to the word of the ETERNAL they encamped, and according the word of the ETERNAL they journeyed; they kept the charge of the ETERNAL, according to the word of the ETERNAL in Moses’ hand." The withdrawal of the cloud and the Shechinah is visible not only to Our Teacher Moses, peace be upon him; Indeed, in each and every generation, the Tzaddik of the generations sees blessed Hashem's will, as it is written (Proverbs 10:32): "The lips of the righteous know the will [or: "what is acceptable.]" And the Holy Yehudi (may his memory be a blessing of life in the world to come) saw blessed God's will in his generation in making the time of prayer later, and he relied on Scripture's statement (Deuteronomy 12:4): "Do not act similarly with the ETERNAL, your God" [using idols etc. as the Canaanites had]. This hints at a fixedness without life. And when he saw God's will in this matter, he therefore made prayer times later....