דבר אל אהרן, speak to Aaron, etc.; the commandment about lighting the lamps on menorah appears immediately following the consecration rites of the altar because we have heard about twelve tribal leaders each offering a sacrifice on that occasion, while the tribe of Levi, i.e. its representative, Aaron, has not been allocated any role in that important event. The Levites had started to grumble about having been excluded from these festivities. They wanted to know the reason why they had been excluded. As a result, G-d immediately told Aaron and his sons that what the representatives of the other tribes had done was only in the nature of something preparatory, whereas it had been reserved for them to do the actual consecration of the Temple/altar. The reader is referred by our author to Nachmanides’ lengthy and comprehensive commentary on this paragraph. Aaron is initially to involve his sons in these activities and subsequently also other members of the tribe of Levi.

בהעלותך את הנרות, “when you light the lamps, etc.;” this command was issued on the day that the Tabernacle had been erected (and stayed up) because they started to light the lamps in order to teach that these lamps burned throughout the night, also. The light in the Tabernacle was like an eternal flame (Ibn Ezra) We find something similar in connection with the prophet Samuel, (Samuel I 3-4) 'ונר אלוקים טרם יכבה״״ויקרא ה אל שמואל“the lamp of G-d had not yet gone out, and Samuel was sleeping in the Temple, when G-d called to Samuel.” (Chavell directs the reader to the commentary known as karney or, to follow up on this subject) בהעלותך את הנרות אל מול פני המנורה, “when you kindle the lamps towards the front of the menorah;” the priest or High Priest performing this procedure was to take up position facing the seven lamps on the menorah. As a result, the lights would all illuminate. The words: אל מול פני המנורה, do not refer to the words that follow: יאירו שבעת הנרות, as understood by Rashi, but as is clear from what Aaron actually did as reported in the verse following, אל מול פני המנורה העלה נרותיה, “he had lit the lamps while facing them.”A different interpretation: the words בהעלותך את הנרות, are to be understood literally. i.e. “when you raise the lamps;” you will then place the wicks in their positions. They are not considered as fixtures in their respective positions, seeing that we have read in Exodus 37,17: ויעש את המנורה, “he constructed the candlestick,” and subsequently we read: (Exodus 37,23) ויעש את נרותיה שבעה ומלקחיה, “and he made the lamps thereof, seven, and their tongs;”“ ,אל מול פני המנורה יאירו שבעת הנרות He turned the seven mouths for the wicks towards the center shaft of the front of the candlestick, which faced the dividing curtain in the Sanctuary which was hung between the Sanctuary and the innermost holies housing the Ark. This would make sense according to the sage who claims that the position of the menorah was in a north-south direction i.e. its broadside was facing the dividing curtain, in one direction whereas the opposite broadside faced the entrance of the Sanctuary. According to the sage who claims that the menorah was positioned in an east-west direction, it would have faced the Table in the Sanctuary. This is how we can interpret what is written in Exodus 4,24: וישם את המנורה נוכח השולחן, “he placed the menorah opposite the Table.”

יאירו שבעת הנרות, “the seven lamps shall provide illumination. This would refer to the six lamps, three on either side of the center shaft of the candlestick. According to our author this would be the correct text in Rashi, but the scribes of Rashi’s manuscripts have omitted a word by mistake, i.e. the word האמצעי, “the centre shaft” (the lamp on it)

וזה מעשה המנורה, “and this was the work of the candlestick;” this verse is one of three verses with which Moses had difficulty, according to our sages. This is hinted at by the word: וזה. (Compare Talmud tractate Menachot folio 29) According to Sifri here the three were: our verse, the second one the verse in Exodus 12 about the position of the moon at new moon, and the third was the verse dealing with creeping animals. The reason that the Sifri did not include the word זה in זה יתנו, “this they shall give” (the half shekel coin in Exodus 30,13) is that Moses had no problem imagining the size and shape of a coin.

קח את הלוים, “take the Levites;” this line was said on the day that the Tabernacle had been erected; (Talmud, tractate Gittin 60) seeing that the laws pertaining to the Levites were recorded in writing on that day, as on that day they commenced the part of their service that involved their daily songs of praise. The paragraph was written in chronological order, and the two previous paragraphs, one of which commenced with הקרב את מטה לוי, (Numbers 3,6) and the other which commenced with the words: ואני הנה לקחתי את הלוים, (Numbers 3,12) these paragraphs referred to the position where the Levies encamped around the Tabernacle. After the Tabernacle had been erected and the positioning of the flags had been arranged and the lights of the menorah had been kindled, G-d ordered Moses to command the Levites to commence their daily service. The paragraph dealing with the Levites’ service was written next to that of the kindling of the lights in order to tell us that the priests were to busy themselves with that at the same time as when the Levites were performing their service. Apart from that the Levites will assist the Kohanim in their service.

מתוך בני ישראל, “from among the Children of Israel.” Up until that time they had been part of the ordinary Israelites. (Ibn Ezra).

הזה עליהם מי חטאת, “sprinkle the water of purification on them;” it is impossible to say that this command was issued on the day when this paragraph was revealed, as on the day when the Tabernacle had been erected the procedure of burning the red heifer had not yet been performed. (Jerusalem Talmud tractate Megillah 3,3, and quoted by Rashi on Gittin folio 60) The red heifer was burned on the day following. We therefore have to understand the sequence as being as follows: it is taken for granted that the sprinkling of the purification waters took place after the procedure with the red heifer had been performed. (Numbers chapter 19) Even though the Levites were obligated to purify themselves in anticipation of performing their service as otherwise they could not have sung their songs, since the day when the Tabernacle had been erected, we must assume that they used the oil with which they had been anointed in lieu of the waters containing the ash of the red heifer. Commencing with that day, it became the task of the Levites to dismantle the Tabernacle and to reassemble it as the progress of the Israelites’ journeys demanded this. Prior to that, when they needed to become purified they used either blood from the altar or some of the oil of anointment. The Talmud in tractate Yuma folio 4 states that the water of the red heifer took the place of blood which had been used previously in the procedure of purification.

הזה עליהם מי חטאת, “sprinkle water of purification on them” Seeing that from that day on they were charged with the dismantling and reassembling the Tabernacle, they would have to undergo this sprinkling on the third and seventh day of a seven day period. [This editor finds it difficult to reconcile this with the Torah’s statement that on occasion the Tabernacle was put up only for a single day, as the Israelites moved on again as soon as the cloud above it moved. (Numbers 9,18-23) Ed.] The reason that this was needed was that it was impossible for the Levites not to have been in contact with dead bodies while the people were encamped, especially after the sin of the spies when dying had to have become a daily occurrence.

והעבירו תער על כל בשרם, “and let the cause a razor to pass over all their flesh;” they had to do this prior to the sprinkling of the ash in the water of the red heifer on the third and seventh day of their purification ritual. Rashi mentions in his commentary here that he found in the writings of Rabbi Moshe hadarshan, that seeing that the Levites had functioned as the instruments of atonement for the firstborn who had been guilty during the episode of the golden calf, and that was called a זבחי מתים, “offering of the dead,” and the “leprous” (מצורעים) people also referred to as “dead,” [compare Numbers 12,1113. Ed.] the Levites required shaving of all body hair as required from “leprous” people during their purification process after the priest has declared them as healed. (Leviticus chapter 14)

They must immerse their clothing, as well as themselves as is required in every case of purification after contact with a dead person.

ולקחו פר בן בקר, “then let them take a young bullock, etc,” this was to serve as a consecration rite for the services they would perform henceforth. An alternate interpretation: they have to take a young bullock seeing that the firstborn whom they replaced had served the golden calf at the instruction of others, at that time. We derive this from the line in Exodus 32,4: אלה אלוהיך ישראל, “these are your gods, Israel.” In other words: someone, the mixed multitude seduced the Israelites. We find in Numbers 15,24: “then it shall be, if it be done in error by the congregation, it having been hidden from their eyes, that all the congregation shall offer one young bullock for a burnt offering, etc,” The subject there is the person who had inadvertently committed the sin of idolatry

ופר שני, “and a second bullock, etc.;” in commenting on the word שני, second, Rashi points out that the sin offering when applicable, must precede the offering of a burnt offering. [How could a burnt offering be welcome before the Lord as long as the person guilty of bringing a sin offering for his atonement has not first done so? Ed.] The point of the Torah using this sequence therefore is to teach us that just as no parts of a burnt offering may be eaten by the donor or the priest, so in this instance, no part of the sin offering may be eaten either. Our author, in elaborating on that Rashi, adds that the Levites used this bullock as their consecration offering as is clear from Leviticus 9,11,where it is spelled out specifically, and it was a sin offering.

תקח לחטאת, “you shall take as a sin offering.” When it came to “taking,” i.e. sanctifying and setting the offering aside for its purpose, the Torah mentions the burnt offering first. The reason is that the more valuable one of these two bullocks was the one used for the burnt offering. Nonetheless, when it came to the sequence of which of these two animals would be offered on the altar first, the sin offering took precedence. The Torah paid the Levites a compliment, by not requiring them to offer a male goat as a sin offering, for if it had insisted on this, the impression could have been created that the Levites had to atone for the inadvertently committed sin of idolatry. They had not been guilty of that. (B’chor shor)

.והקרבת את הלוים לפני אהל מועד , “you shall present the Levites at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting;” we find a similar construction in Leviticus 14,11, where the priest is presenting the person to be purified at the entrance of the Tabernacle, i.e. “before the Lord.”

וסמכו בני ישראל את ידיהם “and the Children of Israel shall place their hands, etc;” the “Children of Israel” referred to here are the firstborn for whom the Levites had served as atonement. Every firstborn Israelite would place his hands on the Levite who was to perform that service for him.

וסמכו בני ישראל את ידיהם על הלוים, we find this kind of procedure also in Numbers 27,18, where G-d tells Moses to appoint Joshua as his successor, i.e. וסמכת ידך עליו, “you are to place your hand upon him.” Whenever this procedure is mentioned in the Bible it means that authority is being transferred by the person placing his hand or hands on the person to be appointed. The first person to do so was Yaakov in Genesis 48,14, where he placed his right had on Joseph’s younger son Ephrayim, indicating that he should be treated as his firstborn.

והניף אהרן את הלוים מאת בני ישראל, “and Aaron is to wave the Levites (as an offering) from the Children of Israel;” Aaron was chosen to do this as he was the agent appointed for this by the nation.

על ראש הפרים, “on the heads of the bullocks;” on the head of each one of them.

והעמדת את הלוים לפני אהרן ולפני בניו, “and you shall position the Levites in front of Aaron and his sons;” this was to show the people that the Levites were under the authority of the priests, as we explained already.

וטהרת אותם, “you will purify them;” you will sprinkle ash from the red heifer on them on the third and seventh day of the purification rites.

כי נתונים נתונים המה לי, “for they are wholly given to Me;” the Levites are viewed as a gift given by the Jewish people to G-d, Who, in turn, passed this gift on to Aaron.

לקחתי אותם לי, “I have taken them unto Me.” G-d is saying: “I have accepted this gift from the people.”

ביום הכותי כל בכור, “on the day when I smote every firstborn. On a different occasion, in Exodus 12,29, the smiting of the firstborn was not described as having occurred on “a day,” but as having occurred at midnight. We see from here that every time the Torah uses the term: יום, “day,” it speaks of a 24 hour period, i.e. night and day.

ואקח את הלוים תחת כל בכור, “I have taken the Levites instead of the firstborn.” If all the firstborn were to perform service in the Temple, this would lead to the people suffering a plague, as there was no guarantee that the father of the firstborn performing that service had also been a firstborn, neither his grandfather. As a result, that family had not had an opportunity to become thoroughly familiar with all the intricacies of Temple service. Failure to perform the service properly would result in G-d’s killing such a person as we know from what happened to the two older sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu. Once the Levites had been appointed and the status had become a hereditary one, each member of each family made a point of being thoroughly familiar with all their duties. This is why the Torah writes: 'לא יהיה ללוי חלק ונחלה וגו, “the Levite is not to own ancestral land in the land of Israel;” (Deuteronomy 18,1) by not owning land and growing crops they were free to concentrate on their tasks as Levites. They should not acquire too much familiarity with the tools used by farmers and artisans, so that they would not be diverted from their principal vocation, service in the Temple. If the Levite were to devote himself to those mundane activities, his fingers would become too coarse to play the musical instruments efficiently to accompany the choir of Levites during the time when Temple service was in progress.

לעבוד את עבודת בני ישראל, “to perform the service of the Children of Israel (collectively), which basically had been the task of the firstborn of each family in each tribe.

ולא יהיה בבני ישראל נגף, “and the there will not be a plague among the Children of Israel,” even a single one of them. We can find similar constructions in Exodus 21,11: ואם שלש אלה לא יעשה לה, “and if (her master) does not do one of these three economically constructive actions for her, etc.” (Exodus 21,11) Compare also Judges 12,7, “he was buried in one of the towns of the region of Gilead.” [All the people of surrounding towns took part in Yiftach’s burial. Ed.]

כן עשו להם בני ישראל, “so did the Children of Israel.” They placed their weight with their hands upon them.

ויתחטאו הלוים, “the Levites purified themselves.” They did so by means of sprinkling the waters containing the ash of the red heifer upon themselves.

כן עשו להם, “so they did unto them.” The Levites did so to the priests. An alternate interpretation: “so did Aaron and his sons to the Levites.” This interpretation is based on Numbers 4,19: וזאת עשו להם וחיו, “this is what you are to do unto them so that they will live.”

זאת אשר ללוים, ”this is what pertains to the Levites:” Levites are disqualified from performing their tasks if either too young or too old. They are not disqualified if afflicted by physical blemishes as are the priests. (Talmud, tractate Chulin, folio 24.) Priests are not disqualified by age limitations, (if otherwise healthy and fit.) This paragraph was only written (or taught) for use in the desert, as we learned on that same folio in the Talmud. We read there as follows: “a Levite from the age of thirty until the age of fifty, is fit to perform all the tasks that he is designated to perform. After that he is unfit regardless of his physical condition.”Under what circumstances does this rule apply? During the period of the Tabernacle in the desert, seeing that as long as the people had not yet settled, parts of the service that had to be performed involved carrying the furnishings of the Tabernacle on their shoulders, like the Kehatites who had to carry the Holy Ark on their shoulders. This could only be done by people who had attained the age of thirty, which is generally understood as the age of maximum physical strength. Once the Tabernacle was stationary (for 369 years) at Shiloh and subsequently at the Temples in Jerusalem, and the people were settled, according to the opinion of Rabbi Yossi, the Levites would become disqualified only if their voices revealed that they had aged. Wherefrom did he derive such a rule? He quoted Chronicles II 5,13, where we read: ויהי כאחד למחצצרים ומשוררים להשמיע קול אחד, “their singing became as if they all sang with one voice (choir) as the sound of the trumpets and the cymbals; which sounded as if of one voice.” In other words, if the voice of a Levite had changed due to aging, he was no longer capable of being part of this choir. This is how Rashi explains the text in the chapter called הכל שוחטים in the first chapter of the Talmud, tractate Chulin.

מבן חמש ועשרים שנה, “from twenty five years of age and up;” this appears to contradict the statement in Numbers 4,3, where the Torah speaks of “from thirty years and up;” according to the plain meaning all the Levites were mobilised from the age of 25 years and up, at which time they began to perform tasks, such as standing guard and to sing in the choir; in other words, to perform the relatively easy tasks. By the time they reached the age of thirty, they were also required to perform the physically difficult tasks. The Kehatites began then to carry the Ark on their shoulders, and the members of the family of Gersonides and Merari then began to load the wagons with the parts of the Tabernacle each had been assigned to, and to the dismantling and reerecting the structure.

ומבן חמשים שנה ישוב, “and from fifty years he would retire from whichever part of the service he had been assigned to.” The Kehatites retired from carrying the Ark on their shoulders, and the family of the Gersonides and Merari retired from loading the wagons with the parts of the Tabernacle and from dismantling and re-erecting the structure. But they continued to sing and to guard so that no stranger would enter the Sanctuary.

ולא יעבוד עוד “and he would no longer perform service.” According to Rashi, this refers only to service involving carrying with his shoulder, but he would still perform such tasks as opening and closing the gates. According to Rashi, these verses were not addressed to the members of the families of Gershon and Merari, for if they were, how could he have said that they were still performing the tasks of loading and unloading? We must therefore conclude that the over fifty year old members of the families of Gershon and Merari also retired from their specific duties at that age. Perhaps Rashi had in mind the years that the Sanctuary stood in Shiloh and Jerusalem, when these tasks did not have to be performed as the Tabernacle was no longer a prefab to be moved from time to time. The words: “to load the wagons,” in Rashi would then have applied only to the periods when the Jewish people were in the desert.

ושרת את אחיו, “but shall minister with their brethren;” when this Levite turns fifty, he shall minister with the other Levites who have already turned fifty. This is based on Numbers 1,50: “they are to encamp immediately around the Tabernacle.”

ועבודה לא יעבוד עוד, “he is no longer to perform physical tasks.”