Parasha: Naso · Aliyah: First (Chesed)

-22. וידבר ה׳…נשא, G'd said to Moses: "Take the sum, etc." The Torah had to repeat the line וידבר ה׳ אל משה although it had used this introduction when telling Moses to count the Kehatites. The reason is that in this instance the Torah added the instruction to elevate the status of the clan of Gershon in relation to that of the clan of Merari. The elevation of the clan of Gershon was not of the same nature as that of the Kehatites as compared to the clan of Gershon. The former were distinguished in that they carried the Holy Ark. We would not have known that the clan of Gershon were more distinguished than the clan of Merari had the Torah not employed the term נשא in respect to their tasks. The Torah makes this even clearer when it does not preface the instruction detailing the tasks of the clan of Merari by G'd giving Moses a separate command (compare verse 29). The Torah contents itself with telling Moses to count (תפקד) the members of that clan before detailing their tasks.

אל משה, to Moses. Interestingly, when the count is actually being performed (verse 34) the Torah reports that both Moses and Aaron did the counting. This was because already in 4,1 G'd had commanded both Moses and Aaron to do the counting. G'd included Aaron in the commandment to instruct the Kehatites to be very careful so that they would not incur death seeing Aaron himself was liable to death if he entered the Holy of Holies, the site where the Holy Ark was situated in an unauthorised fashion at an unauthorised time. There was no need to include Aaron then in the command to assign the tasks of the clan of Gershon or of Merari.

תפקד אותם, "you will count them." Why did the Torah have to repeat the instruction to count seeing the word נשא already meant "to count?" I have explained this in connection with the instruction to count the Kehatites (4,20).

לצבא צבא, "to perform public service etc." When speaking of the service to be rendered by the Kehatites the Torah described this only as לצבא, without the word צבא. This was because they carried only the holy vessels that formed the interior furnishings of the Tabernacle. The materials carried by the clan of Gershon were only vessels for the vessels so to speak, i.e. לצבא צבא. [The author perceives the furnishings of the Tabernacle as being the "army" of the Tabernacle, so to speak. Ed.]

לעבוד את עבודת אהל מועד, "to perform the service connected with the Tent of Meeting." When describing the parallel task performed by the sons of Gershon the Torah wrote לעבוד עבודה באהל מועד, to perform service inside the Tent of Meeting. The reason is that they had to transport the coverings of the Tabernacle, the curtain, etc., all of which were part of the actual Tabernacle; the sons of Merari, however, transported the outer parts of the Tabernacle, the boards, the bolts, the sockets supporting the boards, etc. This is also why the Torah described the work of the Merarites as לעבד את…הקרשים as this represents the עבודת אהל מועד, i.e. work related to the Tabernacle. The Torah did not fear that by writing only the word לצבא alone instead of לצבא צבא that we would misunderstand its meaning, seeing it had spelled out exactly what the duties of the Merarties were.

ויפקד משה ואהרון ונשיאי העדה, Moses, Aaron and the princes of the congregation counted, etc. Why were three groups of people needed to perform this count? Moses was G'd's agent; Aaron was required as the Levites were subject to his instructions as the Torah made plain in 3,9. The princes of the various tribes had also been appointed to be in charge of the people who were numbered (compare Numbers 7,2). Why were the princes not involved when the Levites were counted who replaced the firstborn, i.e. the Levites from the age of one month and over (3,40-43)? On that occasion the total number was determined by G'd and this is why even babies in a crib had to be included. Bamidbar Rabbah 3,9 describes how Moses asked G'd if he was really expected to enter the tent of every Levite family and examine if there was a male baby of 30 days and over. G'd responded that if Moses were to stand outside He would convey to him the number of Levites who qualified for the count inside that tent. As this information was given only to Moses, neither Aaron nor the princes were involved in that count.

אלפים שבע מאות וחמשים, two thousand seven hundred and fifty. Here, when reporting the number of Kehatites the Torah did not write: "and seven hundred," i.e. ושבע מאות, as it did when reporting the number of the clan of Gershon between thirty and fifty in verse 40. Also, when reporting the number of Merarites in verse 44 the "hundreds" are preceded by the conjunctive letter ו i.e. ומאתים. Perhaps the absence of the letter ו when reporting the number of Kehatites is an allusion to Korach and those who died with him seeing they belonged to the clan of Kehat. Alternatively, the number seven hundred was subject to correction shortly after the time of the count as the uprising of Korach occurred either immediately before the debacle with the spies or shortly thereafter, at any rate during the same summer. While it is true that the Torah mentioned only one Kehatite by name during that uprising, i.e. Korach himself, other relatives may have been inclined to join him; at least they shared part of his guilt by not protesting Korach's conduct.