“And you dwelled in Kadeish for many years” (Devarim 1:46). Rashi , based on Seder Olam Rabbah (8), tells us that of the 40 years spent in the wilderness, 19 of them were spent living in Kadeish. This works out to be the same amount of years as their “wandering,” i.e. traveling just to fill out the full 40 years decreed upon them (Bamidbar 14:33-34). The decree was made after their “crying” on Tisha B’Av, the fifth month of the second year, and much of the 40th year was spent traveling around Edom, past Moav, conquering Sichon/Og, and reviewing the Torah with Moshe at Arvos Moav, leaving 38 years of “wandering” just for the sake of “wandering.” Dwelling in Kadeish for 19 years means there were “only” 19 years of true “wandering.”
Which years were spent “wandering” and which years were spent “dwelling in Kadeish” depends on a number of factors, including which “Kadeish” these 19 years were spent at. This issue was raised several years ago by Rabbi Menachem Leibtag (www.Tanach.org), and despite also working on a deadline, I would like to expand upon some of his thoughts.
The context of the verse indicating that the Children of Israel stayed at Kadeish “the same amount of days that you dwelled” during the rest of the wanderings (see Rashi on Devarim 1:46) indicates that this occurred before the wandering started, as it comes immediately after Moshe reminds them of the sin of the spies (1:22-45) and before they “turned and traveled to the desert by way of the Sea of Reeds (2:1) and, after being told they’ve wandered enough (2:3), going north past Eisav (2:-3-8) and Moav (2:8-18), and conquering Sichon (2:24-36). However, there are other indications that they left right after the decree, and didn’t hang around for years after the decree was made.
The Torah tells us explicitly (2:14) that it took 38 years from the time they traveled from Kadeish Barnaya (the “Kadeish” that the spies were sent from) until they crossed the Zered Stream (east of Moav, almost parallel to the bottom of the Dead Sea). If the 38 years started from when they “traveled from Kaseh Barneya,” they obviously must have left right away, not 19 years later. Nevertheless, the Chizkuni addresses this issue by telling us that “it doesn’t means only [years of] travel, but [the years it took] between [both] standing (i.e. staying put) and traveling.” Once the decree was made and they knew that they wouldn’t be able to enter the Promised Land for more than 38 years (and wouldn’t enter from where they were, but would have to travel to a different point of entry), the fact that they hadn’t physically left yet didn’t change the fact that they hadn’t yet reached their final destination, and it was considered as if they were “traveling” for the whole 38 years.
After telling them that they weren’t going to enter the Promised Land now, G-d told them they would have to travel away from there (the original point of entry, Kadeish Barneya) “tomorrow” (Bamidbar 14:25). It would seem difficult to say that they stayed in Kadeish Barneya for 19 years if G-d told them to leave “tomorrow.” However, several commentators (i.e. Chizkuni) point out that “tomorrow” doesn’t have to mean literally “the next day;” it sometimes means “some time in the future.” The Netziv and the Panim Yafos (in Devarim) suggest that originally they were going to have to “wander” for the full 38 years (starting “tomorrow”), but their prayers not to have to “wander” helped cut that part of the decree in half, so they only had to “wander” for 19 years, and the “tomorrow” part was nullified. (It could be suggested that this addresses the previous issue as well, as since their prayers nullified 19 years of the “wandering,” it was still considered as if they “traveled” for all 38 years.)
Although Rashi does tell us (Bamidbar 32:8) that there were two cities with the name “Kadeish,” the implication (see Gur Aryeh) is that the place the spies were sent from is referred to as “Kadeish Barneya,” while the city “by the edge of the border of Edom” (Bamidbar 20:16), where Miryam died and Moshe hit the rock, is referred to as just plain “Kadeish.” If so, it was not at Kadeish Barneya that they stayed for 19 years, but at Kadeish. Nevertheless, the overwhelming majority of commentators understand it to be Kadeish Barneya where they stayed for 19 years, before the “wandering” started, perhaps because the spies did return “to Moshe and to Aharon and to the entire congregation of the Children of Israel to the Paran Desert, at Kadeish” (13:26).
Despite saying explicitly in Devarim that the Kadeish they stayed at for a long time was Kadeish Barneya, in Bamidbar (20:1) Ibn Ezra says that it was at the Kadeish where Miryam died that they stayed for a long time. However, Ibn Ezra doesn’t follow Chazal’s approach that the “long time” was 19 (or 18, see Midrash HaGadol) years, as he says explicitly that they arrived at Kadeish, where they stayed for a long time, in the 40th year. Rabbeinu Bachye also says (in Bamidbar) that it was the Kadeish where Miryam died that they stayed for a long time, but in Devarim he follows Chazal and says that the “long time” was in fact 19 years. This would explain why the Torah doesn’t tell us that they arrived at Kadeish in the 40th year, as they really arrived in the 21st year. [Even though the Torah doesn’t tell us that Miryam died in the 40th year either, Rabbeinu Bachye does say it was in the 40th year, with all three of the generation’s leaders (Miryam, Aharon and Moshe, at the ages of 127, 123 and 120 respectively) passing away in that final year before the nation entered the Promised land. That Miryam died in the 40th year seems to be accepted by all; see Seder Olam Rabbah 9.] According to Rabbeinu Bachye they did leave right away (“tomorrow”) from Kadeish Barneya, and it took 38 years (even if they stayed for 19 of them in Kadeish) until they crossed The Zered Stream. The only real difficulty in the verses is the one we started with, as the context indicates that the long stay in “Kadeish” occurred right after the decree, before they left the place where the decree was issued. Based on the Netziv and Panim Yafos, it could be suggested that since the initial decree was that they couldn’t enter the Promised Land for 39 more years and that they would “wander” for 38 of them, and it was their prayers that allowed them to stay in one place for 19 of those years, Moshe mentioned the 19 year stay here because having to wait those 19 years was still part of the decree, as “G-d did not answer your cries” to reverse the decree (Devarim 1:45), although he did cut the years of “wandering” in half, “enabling you to stay in Kadeish,” 19 years later, for 19 years.
It is interesting to note that one of the differences between the way Rashi quotes Seder Olam Rabbah and the way our version reads relates directly to whether the 19 years in Kadeish occurred right after the decree or 19 years after the decree; Rashi has the 38 years as “19 of them in Kadeish and 19 years traveling and being harried,” while our version has the 19 years traveling and being harried first. Rather than ascribing each version to the two opinions cited above, however, both versions are problematic. Our version of Seder Olam Rabbah is problematic because the 19 years were spent at “Kadeish Barneya,” not at “Kadeish;” if the 19 years of staying in one place occurred after the 19 years of “wandering,” they had to have been at “Kadeish, “ not at “Kadeish Barneya.” Rashi’s version adds one additional thought, “and they returned to Kadeish,” strongly implying that they returned to the same place they had stayed for 19 years after their 19 years of wandering. Yet, Rashi had told us (Bamidbar 32:8) that there were two different places called “Kadeish,” so how could he say that “Kadeish Barneya” and “Kadeish” were the same place?
Sefer Eileh Masay (pgs. 94-96; published in 2000 by Dun Schwartz) suggests that the two words that add this thought (“v’chuzru l’Kadeish”) must be a mistake (even though he cites a manuscript that includes them, and acknowledges that the Raavad had this version of Seder Olam Rabbah). Midrash Esfa (Batei Midrashos I, pg. 213, quoted by Torah Shelaimah, Bamidbar 20:9) says that the nation was thrilled to return to Kadeish, the same place they had dwelled peacefully for 19 years, after having wandered for 19 years. Therefore, no matter how we address the contradiction in Rashi (and it’s clear from his commentary on Bamidbar 34:4 that he had in inaccurate map of the area, with “Kadeish” being south of Edom rather than on the eastern side close to the north), we have to address a third opinion, that “Kadeish Barneya” and “Kadeish” are really one and the same (see Mizrachi on Beraishis 14:7, also see Or Hachayim on Bamidbar 13:26).
Although there are numerous “deserts” that the Children of Israel traveled through (or near), such as the Paran Desert (from where the spies were sent), the Tzin Desert (where the southern border of Israel passes through, and where “Kadeish” is) and the Sinai Desert, the Talmud (Shabbos 89a) indicates that they are all one desert. Tosfos (ibid) explains that it is one very large desert that encompasses the Sinai Peninsula (although, like Rashi, Tosfos didn’t realize it was a peninsula, which is why they said that the nation didn’t “cross” the split sea leaving Egypt, but came out on the same side they came in) and goes all the way up north (on the eastern side of the peninsula) until just below the Dead Sea. A similar thought is put forth by the Maharal (Gur Aryeh on Bereishis 14:7). It is therefore not problematic if “Kadeish Barneya” is described as being in the Paran Desert while “Kadeish” is in the Tzin Desert, as they are really the same (large) desert. (Atlas Daas Mikre, in its map on pg. 101, has the two deserts overlapping, with the two names criss-crossing each other!) Although from the maps I’ve seen “Kadesh Barneya” and “Kadeish” are over 100km apart from each other, it should be noted that the nation never (or probably never) camped at either location. Kadeish Barneya is mentioned when the southern border of Israel is described (Bamidbar 34:4), but the border is south of it, meaning that Kadeish Barneya is inside the Land of Israel. Since Moshe never stepped foot into Israel (nor did the rest of the nation, except the spies), they must not have camped at Kadeish Barneya, but near it (see Sefornu on Bamidbar 13:26). Similarly, Kadeish, if it was a “city,” was within the borders of Edom (which is how most maps have it); how could Moshe have asked permission to pass through Edom if they were already there? The Israelite camp was quite large, and likely couldn’t fit in any already inhabited city; it is much more likely that they camped near Kadeish, not in Kadeish, and that Moshe was telling Edom that we are near one of your northern-most cities, and won’t need to pass through much of your land. (See Gittin 6a, where Rekem, the Aramaic translation of Kadeish, is considered the border of Israel but not part of Israel.) It is therefore possible that both times, before sending out the spies and before asking Edom permission to pass through to Moav (if they wanted to go into Israel from there, Edom is in the wrong direction), they camped in the same area, southeast of Kadeish Barneya and southwest of Kadeish. When they were planning to enter Israel from the south, the nearby location of Kadeish Barneya is mentioned; when asking permission from Edom, the nearby city of Kadeish is mentioned. They are two different locations, but the nation returned to the same basic area 19 years after having left it. There would therefore be no problem if Moshe called it “Kadeish,” not “Kadeish Barneya” even when discussing events that occurred right after the spies were sent.
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