נשא את ראש בני קהת, "take the sum of the members of the Kehatites, etc." We have already explained in Parshat Ki Tissa that the act of elevating the Israelites, i.e. numbering them (Exodus 30,12) was performed through their handing over the half shekel which formed their ransom money for the sin of the golden calf and that this is the reason the Torah used the term כי תשא את ראש when you "lift the head" when describing their being counted. This is in contrast with the members of the tribe of Levi who had no need to pay a ransom for their soul seeing they had not been guilty of that sin. This is why the Torah introduced the instruction to count the Levites (3,15) with the words: פקד את בני לוי, "count the members of the tribe of Levi." If all this is correct, why did the Torah change its wording when it came to counting the Kehatites and employ the same term נשא when instructing Moses and Aaron to count them?

Perhaps the fact that the Kehatites were entrusted with a task such as carrying the Holy Ark and the Table which required them to enter the Tabernacle was a special elevation for them and this is why the Torah wanted us to know this and wrote the term נשא. It is a relative term and shows that their function was more highly rated than that of the family of the clan of Gershon although Gershon was the older of Levi's sons. The reason that G'd chose the Kehatites for this task was that they provided "light for the world" in that Moses and Aaron were descended from them. It was no more than fair that the branch of the Levites who had produced Moses and Aaron should be the ones entrusted with carrying the Torah which Moses had communicated to the people.

Our verse is careful to say מתוך בני ישראל, "from the midst of the children of Israel," seeing that Kehat was the middle son of Levi's three sons Gershon, Kehat and Merari.

לעשות מלאכה, to perform work, etc. The Torah describes the task of the Kehatites differently from that of the sons of Gershon and that of the sons of Merari where the Torah uses the term לעבוד עבודה. The Torah was anxious to make it plain that though the Kehatites entered the Tabernacle what they did there did not qualify as עבודה, as priestly service. On the contrary, the ark is reputed to have carried its carriers as we know from Bamidbar Rabbah 4. What the Kehatites did was simply מלאכה, ordinary work. Furthermore, because the Kehatites had to carry the Holy Ark on their shoulders, i.e. perform physical labour as part of their assigned tasks, the Torah used the appropriate word מלאכה to describe their function. The tasks to be performed by the clan of Gershon and Merari respectively did not entail physical work of any major kind.

וזאת עשו להם, "and this is what you are to do for them, etc." This means that the Kehatites were not to consider themselves as performing their task on their own authority. If they would do so there was a danger that anyone who loved the sacred vessels would arrogate to themselves a part in the service of the Tabernacle. Rather, all the Kehatites did was to be under the supervision of Aaron and his sons and at their direction. This would ensure that every member of the Kehatites knew his place. This is the deeper meaning of the words אותם איש. When the Torah continues ולא יבואו לראות, "so that they will not come and take a (unauthorised) look at the Sanctuary when the vessels are being covered," this tells us that even looking at something that was not their place to see could prove deadly. The words ושמו אותם stress that it was not enough for each Kehatite to know his place but that they had to wait before putting their hands on the vessels they were to carry until instructed to do so by Aaron. This was different from what the clan of Gershon did; although in that connection the Torah also writes that their task was performed על פי אהרון, at the command of Aaron, the Torah did not add the cautionary words ושמו אותם as they did not face death if they acted prematurely (compare 4,27).

וחיו ולא ימותו, "so that they may live and not die, etc." The Torah means that carrying the Holy Ark whose contents, the Torah (and the Tablets), is a dispenser of life will ensure that the Kehatites carrying same would enjoy long life. Seeing that some Kehatites might be afraid that unauthorised touching or viewing would cause them to die, the Torah adds the words ולא ימותו, "so that they will not die," to put at rest such fears of the Kehatites that they would die by accidentally touching or viewing what they were not supposed to view or touch.

-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.

על פי ה׳ פקד אותם, He counted them at the command of G'd, etc. The actual command to appoint the Kehatites to their respective tasks, the Gershonides to their respective tasks, etc., was given only to Moses. Aaron had no hand in these appointments. Once Moses had counted them Aaron allocated the various tasks to each of the Levites who had been counted. When the Torah writes ופקודיו, "and his appointees," this is a reference to the appointments Aaron and his sons had made. This too, however, was only in compliance with instructions given by G'd to Moses.