In the middle of Moshe’s retelling of the sin of the Golden Calf—which occurred in the first year after the Exodus—he includes two verses (Devarim 20:6-7) regarding Aharon’s death, which occurred in the 40th year. Besides the contextual issue (why Aharon’s death is inserted here), there are geographical issues as well.
The most obvious issue is that Moshe says Aharon died in Moseira, even though the Torah says he died on Hor HaHar (Bamidbar 20:22-29, 33:37-39). The travel itinerary seems to be wrong as well, as Moshe says they traveled “from the wells of B’nei Yaakan to Moseira,” whereas in the list of their travels (Bamidbar 33:31) they went in the opposite direction, “from Moseiros to B’nei Yaakan.” The commentators suggest several approaches to explain these issues; the most straightforward is the one found in the major midrashim, quoted by Rashi: “When Aharon died on Hor HaHar at the end of the 40 years, and the clouds of glory departed, you were afraid of the war with the King of Arad, so you appointed a leader to return to Egypt, and you went back eight encampments, to B’nei Yaakan [the seventh encampment] and from there to Moseira [the eighth encampment], and there the sons of Levi fought with you, and they killed some of you and you killed some of them, until they made you return the way you had gone back… and in Moseira you mourned greatly over Aharon’s death, which caused all of this to happen, so it seemed to you as if he died there.”
There are details that deserve further discussion (such as some of the sources, e.g.Yerushalmi Yoma 1:1, having the nation attribute the deaths that resulted from the civil war to not mourning enough for Aharon rather than his death causing a series of events that led to the civil war), but the main takeaway is that the reverse itinerary was the result of the nation retracing their steps, traveling in the opposite direction in an attempt to return to Egypt rather than fighting against Canaan. This, along with why they considered Moseira to be where Aharon died, seems to address the geographical issues. But does it really? A closer look leaves us wondering about some of the details.
For one thing, did the entire nation take part in the more significant mourning for Aharon in Moseira, or only those who had tried to return to Egypt? Did Moshe join the other “sons of Levi” who chased after the rest of the nation to try to bring them back? If he did, did he have the Levi’im pack up the Mishkan and bring it with them, or was it still at Hor HaHar? If he didn’t, how could the “full mourning” for Aharon take place without Moshe? Secondly, if they returned to Hor HaHar anyway, why did they mourn in Moseira rather than going back to where Aharon actually died (and was buried), and do the appropriate mourning there? From a geographical perspective, the trip from Hor HaHar to Moseira and back doesn’t make much sense either. One of the eight encampments was Etzion Gever, just north of the eastern fork of the Yam Suf (the Gulf of Aqaba), while Hor HaHar, which is near Kadesh on the border of Edom (see Bamidbar 20:17 and 20:23), is close to the southern boundary of Eretz Yisroel. Did they travel from Etzion Gever all the way north to Kadesh and Hor HaHar (Bamidbar 33:36-37), then retreat south via Etzion Gever to Moseira (as Rashi and his Midrashic sources understand Devarim 10:6), then return to Hor HaHar after the Levi’im overpowered them before going back south to go around Edom, passing Etzion Gever yet again (Devarim 2:8)?
I would therefore suggest that before the nation started mourning for Aharon in Moseira, they sent word back to Moshe, who was still at Hor HaHar (with the Mishkan, and those who didn’t join the attempted return to Egypt), asking whether they should do the full mourning in Moseira, or come back to Hor HaHar. Knowing that they were going to go back south anyway to go around Edom, Moshe told them to wait there, as the rest of the nation would join them in Moseira to mourn for Aharon properly before continuing around Edom. In the end, they didn’t go back and forth and back and forth; instead of everyone going south just to go around Edom, some went south trying to go back to Egypt, while others joined them in Moseira to mourn for Aharon. From there, everyone continued past Etzion Gever to circumvent Edom. This scenario helps explain several nuances:
1) Aharon’s death and Arad’s attack is the only narrative inserted in the list of the encampments (Bamidbar 33:38-40). Not only that, but only the fact that Arad attacked is mentioned; there is no mention of the captives taken or the eventual victory over Arad. Because Aharon’s death and Arad’s attack affected how the nation traveled—with some traveling south in a thwarted attempt to return to Egypt and the “official” camp eventually joining them to mourn for Aharon properly—we can understand why these events were inserted in the travel itinerary. If, however, after mourning in Moseira everyone returned to Hor HaHar, Aharon’s death and Arad’s attack wouldn’t have impacted the official itinerary, and their inclusion remains puzzling.
2) Elazar became Kohein Gadol at Hor HaHar, right after Aharon died, joining Moshe and Aharon on top of the mountain to put on Aharon’s priestly garments when he took them off for the last time (Bamidbar 20:28). Yet the verse in Devarim (10:6) presents it as if Elazar became Kohein Gadol in Moseira. The simplest way to explain this is that only Aharon’s death is connected to Moseira, and just as Aharon’s burial was at Hor HaHar even though it’s presented as if it was at Moseira, Elazar taking over is presented as if it was at Moseira even though it was really at Hor HaHar. Nevertheless, presenting Aharon’s burial being “there” fits with presenting his death being “there” (with his burial likely mentioned to point out that, unlike Yosef, Aharon’s body wasn’t brought to the Promised Land), whereas presenting Elazar as becoming Kohen Gadol in Moseira doesn’t seem necessary. If, however, the rest of the nation, including Moshe and the Mishkan, joined them in Moseira, and there was no closure about Aharon’s death until after the more complete eulogy, we can understand why, to some extent, it was only after Elazar performed the Mishkan service in Moseira that he was considered to have become the Kohen Gadol.
3) After Aharon’s “death” at Moseira, the nation traveled to Goodgoad and then to Yutvusa (Devarim 10:7), which matches the direction they traveled going to Kadesh and Hor HaHar the first time (Bamidbar 33:33). And these are the next two stops after B’nei Yaakan (which was apparently skipped on the way back). But there were three other stops before Hor HaHar, and it seems somewhat awkward that Moshe only tells us about this leg of the trip back. If, however, they didn’t return to Hor HaHar, staying parallel to Eilat and Etzion Gever rather than going back north before coming back south—without stopping before they passed Eilat and Etzion Gever (Devarim 2:8)—we can understand why only some locations are mentioned.
Because God was upset at Aharon for his role in the Golden Calf, Moshe had to pray on his behalf too (Devarim 9:20). Numerous commentators (e.g. Rav Saadya Gaon, Ibn Ezra and Rashbam) say that Moshe included Aharon’s death in the Golden Calf narrative to show that his prayer was at least somewhat effective, delaying it until the 40th year. I would add that he was also reminding them how important it was that Aharon didn’t die until the 40th year—by referencing the civil war that erupted after his death and the much larger eulogy and second mourning that took place in Moseira, which reflected how vital his presence was for all those years.
Rabbi Dov Kramer tries to avoid going out of the way unnecessarily, but recognizes that he often gets in the way instead.
