Bámidbár / sochén tov

The clans of the Kohathites were to camp along the south side of the Tabernacle.

משפחת בני קהת יוחנו … תימנה THE FAMILY OF THE SONS OF KOHATH SHALL ENCAMP … SOUTHWARD — and next to them was the division of Reuben who, too, were encamped in the South (cf. Numbers 2:10) — “Woe to the wicked, woe to his neighbour!” It was on this account (on account of the friendship caused by this proximity) that some of them (the Reubenites) — Dathan and Abiram and 250 men (who were also mostly Reubenites, cf. Rashi on Numbers 16:1) — were punished together with Korah and his congregation, (cf. Numbers 16:32 ff.), because they were dragged into the quarrel with them (cf. Midrash Tanchuma, Vayera 12).

(Hail the righteous, for they shall fare well;
They shall eat the fruit of their works.

Woe to the wicked, for they shall fare ill;As their hands have dealt, so shall it be done to them.)

[The priest] must not go into his own house to isolate it, nor may he stand within the house in which there is a nega. Rather, he must stand at the door of the house in which is there is a nega, and isolate it from there, as it is said, "The priest shall come out of the house to the entrance of the house, and close up the house for seven days" (Leviticus 14:38). He comes again at the end of the week and inspects the sign to see if it spread. "The priest shall order the stones with the plague in them to be pulled out and cast outside the city into an unclean place" (v.. "They shall take other stones and replace those stones with them, and take other dirt and plaster the house" (v.. He must not take stones from the one side and bring them to the other; nor earth from the one side and bring it to the other; nor lime from anywhere. He must not bring one stone to replace two, nor two to replace one. But he can bring two to replace two or to replace three or to replace four. From here they have said: Woe to the wicked, woe to his neighbor. Both must take out the stones, both must scrape the walls, and both must bring the new stones. He alone, however, brings the earth, as it is said, "And he shall take other coating and plaster the house." His neighbor need not join with him in the plastering.

Continuing to extol communal prayer, Reish Lakish said: One who has a synagogue nearby in his city but does not enter to pray there is called an evil neighbor, as it is stated: “Thus said the Lord: As for all My evil neighbors who touch My inheritance which I have caused My people Israel to inherit, behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck the house of Judah up from among them” (Jeremiah 12:14). One who only touches, but does not enter the place of prayer, My inheritance, is considered an evil neighbor. And furthermore, he is punished in that he causes himself and his children to go into exile, as it is stated: “Behold, I will pluck them up from off their land, and will pluck the house of Judah up from among them.”

Thus said GOD: As for My wicked neighbors who encroach on the heritage that I gave to My people Israel—I am going to uproot them from their soil, and I will uproot the House of Judah out of the midst of them.

Then, after I have uprooted them, I will take them back into favor, and restore them all to their own inheritance and their own land.

My wicked neighbors Egypt, Ammon and Moab, Tyre and Sidon, who were neighbors of Eretz Israel and were inflicting harm upon them.

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One who has a synagogue in their city and does not enter it to pray is called a bad neighbor and causes exile for himself and his children.

A person should make an effort to pray in the synagogue with a congregation, and if he is unable to due to an extenuating circumstance [such] that he is not able to come to the synagogue, he should intend to pray at the time that the congregation is praying [This also applies to people living in small settlements, that do not have a minyan - nevertheless, they should pray Shacharit and Aravit during the time that the congregation is praying - Sefer Mitzvot haGadol] And similarly if one had an extenuating circumstance and did not pray at the time when the community prayed, and he is praying alone, despite this, he should pray in the synagogue.

He [Rabban Yohanan] said unto them: go forth and observe which is the right way to which a man should cleave? Rabbi Eliezer said, a good eye; Rabbi Joshua said, a good companion; Rabbi Yose said, a good neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said, foresight. Rabbi Elazar said, a good heart. He [Rabban Yohanan] said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words your words are included. He [Rabban Yohanan] said unto them: go forth and observe which is the evil way which a man should shun? Rabbi Eliezer said, an evil eye; Rabbi Joshua said, an evil companion; Rabbi Yose said, an evil neighbor; Rabbi Shimon said, one who borrows and does not repay for he that borrows from man is as one who borrows from God, blessed be He, as it is said, “the wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous deal graciously and give” (Psalms 37:21). Rabbi Elazar said, an evil heart. He [Rabban Yohanan] said to them: I prefer the words of Elazar ben Arach, for in his words your words are included.

The standard procedure was that the members of the incoming watch divide the shewbread in the north section of the courtyard, and the outgoing watch in the south. However, there was one exception: The watch of Bilga, due to a penalty imposed upon it, always divides the shewbread to its members in the south, even when it is the incoming watch. And its ring used to facilitate slaughter of the animals was fixed in place, rendering it useless, and its niche among the niches in the wall of the Chamber of Knives, where the priests would store their knives and other vessels, was sealed.

The Gemara clarifies: Granted, according to the one who said that Bilga was penalized because members of his watch tarried in arriving at the Temple; that is why the entire watch is penalized. However, according to the one who said it is due to Miriam, daughter of Bilga, who apostatized, do we penalize the entire watch of Bilga because of his daughter? Abaye said: Yes, as people say, the speech of a child in the marketplace is learned either from that of his father or from that of his mother. Miriam would never have said such things had she not heard talk of that kind in her parents’ home.

The Gemara asks: And due to Miriam’s father and mother, do we penalize an entire watch? Abaye said: Woe unto the wicked, woe unto his neighbor. To conclude the tractate on a positive note, the Gemara says: Good for the righteous, good for his neighbor, as it is stated: “Say you of the righteous that it shall be good for him, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings” (Isaiah 3:10); the neighbors of a righteous man who witness and acknowledge the good that befalls him will benefit from their proximity to him.

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