And these are the generations of Aaron and Moses, etc. Rashi explains that because Moses taught them Torah, it is as if he begot them and they became his offspring on the day God spoke with him at Mount Sinai. But this is difficult because if that were the case, all of Israel would be his offspring since he taught Torah to everyone. Furthermore, why does the verse repeat and say These are the names of the sons of Aaron without mentioning Moses? It seems to me that this is because it is written And with Aaron, God was very angry, to destroy him (Deuteronomy 9:20). And “destruction” always refers to the loss of children, etc., as Rashi explains in Parashat Eikev (9:20). Moses’ prayer was effective in part, so those two sons that Moses saved through his prayer are considered as if he had begotten them, and they became his offspring on the day God spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, Go down, etc. (Exodus 32:7). Afterward, Moses prayed for them on the mountain, and God answered him there on the mountain. When it says, These are the generations of Aaron and Moses, it mentions Moses because of Eleazar and Ithamar, whom he saved from death. And when it subsequently states, These are the names of the sons of Aaron without mentioning Moses, it is referring to Nadab and Abihu, whom he did not save from death. This explains why the text mentions here the death of Nadab and Abihu and the survival of Eleazar and Ithamar.

And regarding what it says “and they had no children,” and there is an opinion that they died because of the sin of not having children (Yevamot 64), we have already explained in Parshat Shemini (10:11) that with idolatry, this is the measure [of divine justice]: that the Holy One, blessed be He, visits the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth [generations]. That is to say, sometimes the Holy One, blessed be He, waits until the second generation, and sometimes until the third or fourth generation. And if they had had children, then out of respect for Aaron, the Holy One, blessed be He, would have waited another one or two generations. But since they had no children, it was necessary to visit the sin upon them directly.

For all the firstborn are Mine, etc. I ask one question, and this is its form: If God gave to the Levites, through this appointment, a position of prestige and authority, by separating them from the congregation of Israel to stand and serve before Him, then what is meant by For all the firstborn are Mine, on the day I struck, etc.? Was it at that time that God gave this authority to the firstborn? Wasn’t the service [in the Tabernacle] performed by the firstborn even in ancient times? Furthermore, on the day He struck all the firstborn, He did not give the firstborn any authority; on the contrary, He imposed upon them the burden of redemption and obligated them to give five shekels because He saved them from the plague of the firstborn. If so, what is the connection between the sanctification of the firstborn and the sanctification of the Levites? For to the Levites He gave a position of prestige and authority, while on the firstborn He imposed the burden of redemption. And if we say that He imposed servitude upon the Levites by having them stand before Aaron and serve him, and it is written they are given, given to him, then according to this, it is well stated For all the firstborn are Mine, etc. — to say that at that time it would have been justified to impose this servitude upon them [the firstborn]. Nevertheless, it is difficult to understand why God would impose this servitude on the Levites — was it because they did not become disqualified through the [sin of the] golden calf that He imposed this servitude upon them?

However, my heart does not think so, because surely God gave the Levites authority and not servitude, as it is written Is it too small a thing for you that the God of Israel has separated you, etc. (Numbers 16:9). Previously, this service was performed by the firstborn, but they were disqualified because of the [golden] calf, and it was given to the Levites. But it was revealed before Him, blessed be He, that even though every firstborn would be replaced by a Levite, nevertheless, 273 firstborn would remain who could not have Levites stand in their place, and they would need redemption of five shekels per person. And here there is room for the firstborn to complain and say, “Because there is no Levite to replace me, must I give five shekels? Is it not enough that He punished me by disqualifying me from the service? Why should I also give five shekels as my substitution?” To this, He says, For every firstborn is Mine; on the day I struck [all the firstborn in the land of Egypt], etc. Therefore, I have a double claim against them from then and even now to impose upon them a double penalty: one for the old debt I have against them, that I saved them from death, and one because they sinned with the [golden] calf. And this explanation is correct from the perspective of context.

Twenty-two thousand. We have already said that since they are the camp of the Divine Presence, and the Divine Presence does not rest with fewer than 22,000, therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, reduced their number and established them at this count to indicate that the camp of the Divine Presence is not less than 22,000. Ramban wrote that because they were not included in the suffering of Egypt, therefore they were not included in the multiplication, for whoever was included in lest they multiply was included in the blessing of so they shall multiply. Although this is a homiletical interpretation, nevertheless it seems appropriate to add an explanation to it: that God did not multiply them against nature except to thwart the counsel of the nations who sought to diminish them through affliction, and God wanted to prevent them from accomplishing what they had planned to do. On the contrary, He multiplied them beyond nature, for they gave birth to six in a single pregnancy. But the tribe of Levi, who were not included in the affliction, and therefore there was no need to multiply them against nature, were fruitful and multiplied like the rest of the world. This is indeed a correct reason and could be what Ramban meant. Some say that they did not multiply so that it would be easier for Israel to support them, but this reason is far-fetched because there is no limitation for God to save and provide for His servants who do His will. Some say that the Ark consumed them, meaning the coffin of Jacob, which is the view of Ramban that we mentioned and as explained above in Parashat Vayetzei (29:34) on the verse Therefore his name was called Levi. Some say that the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that not all of them would be righteous, therefore He removed many of them from the world, leaving only the pure and refined so that all those engaged with the Ark would be righteous, and this is what is meant by the Ark consumed them.

It seems to me that since we find in Pharaoh’s decree, that Amram divorced his wife and remained for a long time without having children, as Yocheved was 130 years old when he married her a second time. And what our Sages said (Sotah 12), “They all stood up and divorced their wives” — presumably not all of Israel did so, for how could they stand for a long time without a wife? For our Sages said (ibid. 11b), “In the merit of righteous women our forefathers were redeemed, etc.” And it concludes there describing all the good things they did for their husbands during the hard labor, which proves that the husbands could not endure without their wives. Furthermore, it states there that they were fruitful and multiplied in the field, which proves that even during the time of the decree they did not divorce their wives. Rather, certainly what it concludes, “They all stood up and divorced their wives,” refers to all the members of the tribe of Levi, who were not included in the enslavement, but were nevertheless afraid of the decree Every son that is born, you shall cast into the river. For on a single day, Pharaoh commanded this even regarding the sons of the Egyptians. Therefore, they too feared lest this cup pass over them, and most of the tribe of Levi remained for a long time without wives, just as Amram remained for a long time without a wife. This is why the tribe of Levi was few in number, and this is a sound reason that makes more sense than all others. And God chose them because they were few, as we find in many places that the Holy One, blessed be He, chooses the few, as it says (Deuteronomy 7:7), Not because you were more numerous [than other peoples did God desire you]… for you are the fewest. And similarly, among these three families — Gershon, Kohath, and Merari — Merari was the most populous, and therefore was distanced from carrying the holy items, which was given to the less numerous. And this is self-evident.