they themselves are forbidden to eat, for the Lord withholds due
recompense from none of His creatures. [4] Indeed, the dogs
received a double reward, for their excrements are used in tanning
the hides from which the Torah scrolls are made, as well as the
Mezuzot and the phylacteries. [5]

Joseph's coffin in the possession of Moses, the march of the
Israelites could begin. The Egyptians put no manner of obstacle in
their way. Pharaoh himself accompanied them, to make sure that
they were actually leaving the land, [6] and now he was so angry at
his counselors for having advised against letting the Israelites
depart that he slew them. [7]

For several reasons God did not permit the Israelites to travel
along the straight route to the promised land. He desired them to
go to Sinai first and take the law upon themselves there, and,
besides, the time divinely appointed for the occupation of the land
by the Gentiles had not yet elapsed. Over and above all this, the
long sojourn in the wilderness was fraught with profit for the
Israelites, spiritually and materially. If they had reached Palestine
directly after leaving Egypt, they would have devoted themselves
entirely each to the cultivation of his allotted parcel of ground, and
no time would have been left for the study of the Torah. In the
wilderness they were relieved of the necessity of providing for
their daily wants, and they would give all their efforts to acquiring
the law. On the whole, it would not have been advantageous to
process at once to the Holy Land and take possession thereof, for
when the Canaanites heard that the Israelites were making for
Palestine, they burnt the crops, felled the trees, destroyed the
buildings, and choked the water springs, all in order to render the