פלס ומאזני משפט לה' מעשהו כל אבני כיס, “Honest scales and weights are the Lord’s; all the weights in the bag (pocket) are His work” (Proverbs 16,11).

Solomon wanted to tell us in this verse that all of man’s deeds are carefully weighed and that all the weights (by which they are evaluated) belong to G’d. The single most heavy weight is called פלס; also, a much smaller weight of which there are two are called מאזנים. The word is derived from אזן, i.e. when there are two weights each called אזן, the scale is called מאזנים to indicate that equal weights are on opposite sides. There are many words in Scripture which appear in the plural, especially when in order to make full use of what these words represent one requires two of them. Examples are נעלים, shoes, רחים, millstones, etc. G’d is described as “weighing” each of our actions using small weights known as “pocket weights, weights small enough to be carried in one’s pocket. The largest weight known in the Torah is called ככר, whereas the smaller weights known as אונקיה are usually divided into אונקיה, and half or quarter “ounces.” [This is not the “ounce” we are familiar with but a weight of about 4 regular shekalim or about 29 grams]. Solomon only wanted to illustrate that when “weighing” our sins in the scales of merits and demerits respectively, even the smallest sin (or merit) is taken into account. Reward and punishment is meted out according to G’d’s yardsticks as to the relative “weight” of such deeds we have performed. If you need proof that after G’d has first weighed the “heavy” sins He proceeds to also weigh the “light” sins look at Jeremiah 16,16 where the prophet says: הנני שולח לדיגים רבים נאום ה' ודיגום ואחרי כן אשלח לרבים צידים וצדום, “Lo, I am sending for many fishermen--declares the Lord--and they shall haul them out; and after that I shall send the hunters and they shall hunt them.” The prophet employed the verb צידה, hunt, after the expression “fishing.” It is similar to a person who moves out of a house and first removes the larger pieces of furniture, returning to pick up the smaller items he has left behind. The meaning of the whole verse quoted above is: the large weight stone called peles, the smaller ones, i.e. moznayim, as well as weights carried in one’s pocket; all of them are at the disposal of the Lord and He makes use of them.” In other words, the justice dispensed by the Lord will be true justice having taken into account all factors relevant to arriving at a verdict. The reason Solomon refers to small weights as אבני כיס is because people are in the habit of carrying them in a pocket, a small bag. This is in order to keep them clean and not exposed to erosion.

It is possible that an additional dimension contained in the expression אבני כיס is an allusion to the fact that G’d’s verdict remains hidden from us similar to these little weights a person carries in his pocket being concealed from others. Man’s intelligence and knowledge is very limited and it is impossible for us to have access to all the factors which combine to make G’d arrive at a fair verdict concerning man’s deeds. This is why, when describing G’d’s superior way of judging, David says in Psalms 36,7: “Your beneficence is like high mountains; Your justice like the great deep;” David means that G’d’s righteousness and His deeds of loving kindness are so far above us as are high mountains and the bottom of the deep sea; both are inaccessible to us. However, there is a difference between the high mountains and the depth of the ocean. High mountains can be seen though they may be inaccessible, where the bottom of the deep is something we cannot even see. Similarly, G’d’s righteousness is well known throughout the world though we may not be able to explore it; the justice of G’d, however, is totally beyond our ability to assess. Let me illustrate what I mean. Jerusalem was destroyed on the ninth day of the month of Av. When Ezekiel was told of this G’d is described as having sent a messenger who arrived on the tenth day of the fifth month. (Ezekiel 33,21 describes the arrival of an escaped citizen of Jerusalem as having occurred on the fifth of the tenth month). Examination of the verse in Ezekiel both in chapter 33 and chapter 24 poses obvious contradictions. We are forced to conclude that G’d wanted to conceal the true dates and that therefore incomplete information is recorded in the Book of Ezekiel. You may contrast this with extremely precise information given by the Torah in the opening chapter of the Book of Bamidbar, (when the subject was not destruction, i.e. meting out of justice). Here the Torah gives a) the day of the month; b) the name of the month; 3) the year in which this occurred; 4) in relation to which previous event, i.e. the Exodus from Egypt.

וידבר ה' אל משה במדבר סיני באהל מועד באחד לחודש השני בשנה השנית לצאתם מארץ מצרים, לאמור, “The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month of the second year after the Exodus from Egypt, saying:” The wilderness of Sinai (so called for in it) Mount Sinai is located.

Bamidbar Rabbah 1,6 comments that the reference to the “wilderness of Sinai” is to remind us that the giving of the Torah comprised three elements: 1) fire; 2) water; 3) the desert. We know that fire was a factor in the giving of the Torah from Exodus 19,18: “the whole Mountain of Sinai was smoking on account of the Lord having descended upon it in fire.” We know that water was also a crucial factor from Judges 5,4 (Devorah’s song) “O Lord when You came forth from Seir, advanced from the country of Edom, the earth trembled, the heavens dripped, yea, the clouds of water, the mountains quaked before the Lord, Him of Sinai, before the Lord G’d of Israel.” Finally, we know that the desert was a factor in the giving of the Torah from the reference to the desert of Sinai in our verse.” Why were these three elements an integral part of the giving of the Torah? To tell you that just as three basic phenomena on earth are available for free to everyone, so Torah is to be taught without charge. Isaiah 55,1 spelled this out clearly when he proclaimed: “Ho, all who are thirsty, come for water!” Why was it important to give the Torah in the desert? To teach that one cannot truly acquire Torah except after one has made oneself הפקר, “ownerless like the desert.” [One must not allow oneself to be dominated by other philosophies or the evil urge if one wants to absorb Torah in its undiluted form. Ed.]

באהל מועד, “in the Tent of Meeting, etc.;” this is the Tabernacle. Once G’d called Moses from the Tabernacle, i.e. from Leviticus 1,1 on where the words “He called to Moses from the Tent of Meeting” occurred for the first time, G’d always spoke to Moses out of the Tent of Meeting seeing that the attribute כבוד which had addressed Moses at the Mountain had moved to the Tabernacle as soon as it had been inaugurated. This is why at this time the instructions had to be issued to the Levites whose camp was around the Tabernacle not to trespass and enter the Sanctuary as any non-priest who entered the Sanctuary was bound to die (verse 51). The warning not to enter the Sanctuary was of the same type as the warning before the revelation not to step beyond the fenced off section of Mount Sinai (Exodus 19,13). The warning is spelled out in detail in Numbers 18,5 after the rebellion of Korach and parts of the senior members of the tribe of Levite. At that time even the priests were included in the warning (Exodus 19,24), and in Numbers 4,20 the Torah warns the Kehatites, the senior group of Levites, not to “look” when the “holy” is inserted or they would die. Even though they carried these “holy” items such as the Ark, they were not to look at it until the Ark had been covered. Furthermore, the Torah does command that the 22,000 Levites encamp around the Tabernacle (compare Numbers 3,43) seeing that their numbers corresponded to that of the angels who had accompanied G’d when He took up residence in the Tabernacle. We have this information from Psalms 68,18 where the psalmist speaks about רכב אלוהים רבותים, “G’d’s entourage amounting to 22.000.” The Israelites’ camp was composed of four flags, corresponding to their having observed at Mount Sinai that the angels grouped themselves into four camps with a flag each. [Some say each angel had a flag of his own, compare Rabbi Avdimi in Pesikta Rabbati on Asseret Hadibrot. Ed.]

Another Midrashic comment in Tanchuma 3 remarks on the words באהל מועד, that previously G’d had spoken to Moses at the burning bush, as we know from Exodus 3,4. Later He spoke to him in Midian (Exodus 4,19). Subsequently, He had spoken to him in Egypt (compare Exodus 12,1). Still later He spoke to him at Sinai (Leviticus 25,1). As soon as the Tabernacle had been erected G’d changed the venue, preferring the privacy of the Tabernacle to any of the other locations from which He had addressed Moses previously. This concept is reflected in the words of Micah 6,8 that the Lord desires that we relate to Him “by walking modestly with your G’d.” As of now, G’d began to converse with Moses in the Tent of Meeting. When David said in Psalms 45,14 that “the honour and glory of a king’s daughter is observed only within the home,” he merely used a metaphor to describe that matters between the Lord and man are to be conducted in private. The fancy garments worn by the princess are not meant for show. In that verse the בת מלך is a reference to Moses as we know from Isaiah 19,4: “I will place the Egyptians at the mercy of a harsh master.” This was a reference to the Ten Plagues they were to endure. Isaiah continues: “and a ruthless king shall rule them.” This refers to Moses who represented the Kingdom of Torah known as עוז, the same word used by Isaiah in that verse. We know that Torah is called עוז, from ה' עוז לעמו יתן “the Lord gives עוז to His people” (Psalms 29,11). It is also written in Proverbs 8,15: “Kings reign through Me.” He who realizes that all mortal authority is dependent on G’d’s approval will be modest. Our sages (Tanchuma Bamidbar 3) say that any woman who practices modesty is entitled to marry a High Priest even if she is not of priestly or Levitic descent; she is fit to bear children who in turn will become High Priests. They base this on the end of the verse in Psalms 45,14 where the psalmist says: “her dress is embroidered with golden mountings.” The words “golden mountings” are also used in the garments of the High Priest (compare Exodus 28,11). It is the mark of the modest woman not to display her fancy garments outside her home. When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak to G’d he would hear the heavenly voice (Numbers 7,89). Rabbi Joshua son of Levi said: “if the Gentiles would realise how much benefit they derive from the existence of the Temple (ours) they would place armed guards around it in order to protect it. In fact it is of greater benefit to them than it is to the Jewish people. Even Solomon included the importance to the Gentiles of his Temple when he prayed to G’d to respond favourably to the prayers offered by them in the Jewish Temple (Kings I 8, 41-42). He asked for outright acceptance of the prayers of the Gentiles whereas he asked only for qualified acceptance of prayers offered by Jews, i.e. deserving Jews only. As a result of this it is clear that seeing a Jew is aware of G’d and His power, he will search his heart for sins he may have committed when he finds that G’d did not respond to his prayer. A Gentile, who does not know G’d, would react angrily if he finds his prayer rejected. He would point to the fact that after having taken all the trouble to cross the seas in order to pray at such a world-famous shrine, he had wasted his time and money. As a result he would cause G’d’s image to become tarnished among other human beings. Not only is the Temple (of the Jews) more beneficial to them than to the Jews, but even the Jewish people’s existence is of great importance to them. Were it not for the Jewish people they would not be the beneficiaries of rain and dew at the appropriate times of the year. Even the sun dispenses its light and warmth only for the sake of the Jewish people as we know from Jeremiah 33,25: “Were it not for My covenant day and night, I would not have set the statutes of heaven and earth”. The message is that destruction of the Jewish people would make the continued existence of mankind pointless. In the future the Gentiles will see that the Lord G’d speaks to the Jewish people and as a result of this they will come and flock to establish close ties with Israel. This is what Zecharyah 8,23 spoke about when he said (the Gentiles speaking) “let us go with you for we have heard that G’d is with you.”

באחד לחודש השני, “on the first of the second month.” The subject matter of G’d’s conversation with Moses at that time was the details of the encampment, the positioning of the flags, in which order the people should break camp and in which order they should make camp. (this needs elaboration as a) our portion does not contain any of the 613 commandments, b) the Jewish people did not start journeying until the twenty-second of that month). The reason why this portion follows the chapter dealing with the laws about exchanging the objects of vows made (Leviticus 27), is to remind us that G’d is One, is Unique, and there are no substitutes for Him. Just as there are no substitutes for G’d, so there is no substitute for the unique Jewish people and He will never exchange us for any other nation. We have this on the authority of Song of Songs 2,16 דודי לי ואני לו, “My beloved belongs to me and I to Him.” We also have a verse spelling out the other half of this relationship when we read in Samuel I 2,3 (Chanah speaking) אין קדוש כה' ואין בלתך, “there is none as holy as G’d and there is none beside You.” Furthermore, we find that the Jewish people are referred to as G’d’s “flock” in Ezekiel 34,31. Just as we learned in the last chapter of Leviticus that no member of the flock once it has been sanctified must be exchanged, so we may rest assured that G’d will never exchange His flock, i.e. the Jewish people.

שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל, “take a census of the entire assembly of the Jewish people, etc.” The Jewish people do not experience an ascent of a spiritual kind unless they perform the laws of the Torah. When the counting of the Jewish people is described here by the word שאו instead of say, פקדו, this indicates that being counted at the command of G’d is a spiritual ascent. The word שאו combines within it two meanings, one the direct opposite of the other. It may mean that one’s head is being elevated in the sense of someone being promoted; on the other hand, the same word is also employed as depicting that someone is being beheaded, such as in the case of the chief baker of Pharaoh’s court whose execution Joseph foretold in Genesis 40,19. We find a similar approach in Tanchuma Bamidbar 8 where the author paraphrases our verse as G’d saying: “I have not been as fond of any nation as I am of you, therefore I have elevated you to be the head just as I am the ‘head’ of all phenomena in this world.” We know the latter from Chronicles I 19,11: “Yours, Lord, are greatness, might, splendour, triumph, and majesty-yes all that is in heaven and earth; to You, Lord, belong kingship and preeminence over all.” G’d says that because of your relationship to Me, I have made you vis-a-vis the nations something similar to My position vis-a-vis all the creatures in the universe.” This is what the psalmist spoke about in Psalms 148,15: וירם קרן לעמו, “He has exalted the horn of His people.” When Moses speaks of G’d making the Jewish people supreme over all the nations of the earth, he has the same thought in mind. When the meaning of the word שאו is “to decapitate,” this is what we read in Genesis 40,19. The Torah deliberately uses a word which may have either of these two meanings in order to warn the people that if they deserve it the census will be beneficial for them; if not, it may have fatal consequences.

The reason that the Torah adds the words למשפחותם לבית אבותם, “according to their families, their father’s households,” is to tell us that the relatives of the mother are not called “family.”

במספר שמות, “according to the number of names, etc.;” the Torah did not write: “according to their names,” as it did in 3,40 in connection with the count of the firstborn. Perhaps we may explain this in terms of the angels who had come to earth at the time of the revelation. At that time the number of the camps, flags, etc., corresponded to the number of those angels; possibly by not referring to the individual names of the people to be counted, the Torah wanted to allude to the comparison with the angels at Mount Sinai [who have no fixed names but receive names in accordance with the missions they are asked to perform. Ed.]. During the revelation each individual Israelite was on a spiritual par with the angels except that he was like an angel equipped with a body. This may be the reason why at that time the Torah wrote: תפקדו אותם לצבאותם, “count them according to their hosts” (verse 3). The “hosts” referred to are the angels who were at Mount Sinai. They are the ones commonly known as מלאכי השרת, “the ministering angels.” G’d Himself had referred to the Jewish people as “My hosts” in Exodus 7,4 when He told Moses that Pharaoh would refuse His request to take His hosts (the Jewish people) out of Egypt.

We need to analyze the wording of the Torah in Exodus 12,41 that יצאו כל צבאות ה' מארץ מצרים, that “all the hosts of the Lord departed from the land of Egypt.” We would have expected the Torah to write that “all the hosts of Israel departed from Egypt.” The reason the Torah wrote that verse as it did was to tell us that when the Israelites left their exile so did the angels, the divine representatives assigned to them. Whenever Israel is in exile or is experiencing pain, a similar experience is shared in the celestial regions. Seeing that this is so, mention has to be made of the hosts of the heaven when the Israelites are redeemed from physical exile on terrestrial earth. Further proof of this whole concept may be derived from the words in verse 46: “all the numbered ones amounted to, etc.” The Torah refers to the corresponding heavenly hosts which matched the number of Israelites who were counted. This is the reason that we do not find the word ישראל mentioned in verse 46.

If you will take a closer look at chapter 2,32 you will suddenly find the name Israel mentioned. This strongly suggests that seeing the total number is identical to the number in chapter 1,46 where the name Israel is not mentioned, that the former refers to the number of angels corresponding to the number of Israelites who had been counted and whose number is reported in chapter 2,32.

מבן עשרים שנה ולמעלה, “from twenty years old and up.” The reason that the under twenty-year olds were not included in the census was because they were not yet strong enough physically to be recruited for army duty. This is reflected in the statement by our sages in Avot, 5 (near end) that at twenty one is strong enough to engage in pursuit (of an enemy).

כל יוצא צבא, “all those able to bear arms.”

The Torah adds the word בישראל, “among the Israelites,” to exclude members of the recent converts to Judaism, the mixed multitude (Ibn Ezra).

תפקדו אותם, “you are to count them.” The reason that the Torah did not use the word תספרו for counting here is that this was not a head count. The term פקידה implies (divine) supervision. The Israelites were commanded to find out how many of them there were, but they did not arrive at the number through counting heads but through counting the half-shekel each one of these men had to contribute.

לצבאותם, “according to their hosts.” There were many different hosts (armies). Every single tribe had a substantial army.

A Midrashic approach based on Tanchuma Bamidbar 19: the words “count them according to their hosts,” are reminiscent of Isaiah 43,4: “because you are precious to Me, and honoured, and I love you, I have given men in exchange for you and peoples in your stead.” G’d said to Yaakov: “you are so precious in My eyes that I have engraved your facial features on My throne, and the angels praise Me by employing your name, saying: ‘blessed be the name of the G’d of Israel from one end of time to the ultimate end of time.’” The Midrash breaks down these compliments into its constituent parts. “You are precious to Me,” because although I did not bother to count any of the other nations I counted you, giving you an importance expressed in numbers.“ This can be better understood in terms of a parable. A king had many barns most of which were filled with straw and other relatively worthless matters. He did not bother to count the precise contents of each of these barns. He had one barn, however, which was filled with wheat. He told his manager: “count for me how many measures of wheat are stored in that barn.” The king in the parable is a metaphor for G’d; the wheat is a metaphor for the Jewish people. We have a verse in Isaiah 21,10 comparing the Jewish people to grain when the prophet exclaims: “My threshing, the product of My threshing floor.” The harvest the prophet speaks about are the Jewish people as Jeremiah 2,3 described the Jewish people as “Israel is sacred to G’d, it is the first of His harvest.” The “manager” mentioned in the parable is a metaphor for Moses, of whom G’d Himself said in Numbers 17,7 that in “My entire house he is trusted.” Similarly, the barns filled with straw in the parable are metaphors for the Gentile nations concerning whom we have been told in Job 21,18: (Job speaking about the wicked) “Let them become like straw in the wind, like chaff carried off by a storm.” we also have a verse in Ovadiah 18 expressing similar sentiments, i.e. “and the house of Esau shall be straw; they shall burn it and devour it.” The Jewish people by way of contrast are compared to wheat, are described as righteous as per Isaiah 60,21: “and Your people, all of them righteous, shall possess the land for all time; “ this is why G’d was so concerned with each one of them that He ordered each one to be counted.

לבני יוסף לאפרים, “For the children of Joseph,- for Ephrayim;” after the Torah had first enumerated all the sons of Leah it now turns to the sons of Rachel, mentioning Ephrayim ahead of Menashe the older seeing Yaakov had blessed Ephrayim first on is deathbed (compare Genesis 48,20). Afterwards the Torah mentioned the descendants of Binyamin. Although born last, the Torah honoured the memory of Rachel by mentioning him ahead of the sons of the maidservants. When listing the four sons of the maidservants, the Torah begins with Dan who was the senior of those four sons, whereas the Torah lists Asher next seeing that he was encamped next to Dan (compare 2,27). Next the Torah lists Gad who was the older of the sons of Zilpah. Next to him was Naftali.

ואת כל העדה הקהילו באחד לחדש השני, “They gathered together the entire assembly on the first of the second month;” On the very day G’d spoke to Moses, Moses and Aaron assembled the entire people and began to organise and count them; however, the count was not completed in a single day. This is why the Torah had to write: “he numbered them in the desert of Sinai“ (verse 19). He completed the count in the same spot though not on the same date. This is the view of Nachmanides.

ויתילדו על משפחותם, “they proved their genealogy according to their families.” They had to ask their parents when exactly they had been born in order to know if they had reached the age of twenty. Alternatively, the Torah means that each one recorded their genealogy in writing proving which tribe he belonged to. This is the view of Ibn Ezra.

ויהיו בני ראובן בכור ישראל, “The members of the tribe of Reuven, Yaakov’s firstborn were, etc.” The Torah gave the number of members of the tribe of Reuven first, although in the list of encampments it listed Yehudah first, (2,3) seeing that Reuven was the biological firstborn. Shimon was listed next, in accordance with seniority of birth. Gad was listed next as he was the firstborn of Leah’s maidservant. Next the Torah lists the tribes which were grouped around the flag of Yehudah. Issachar and Zevulun who formed part of the army group are listed in that order as part of the camp of Yehudah. Subsequently the Torah lists Ephrayim followed by the tribes who were part of his camp, i.e. Menashe and Binyamin. Finally, the Torah lists Dan followed by Asher and Naftali who were part of his camp and flag. The tribes’ camps (Dan, Asher, Naftali last) are listed in the same order as here when the offerings on the occasion of the inauguration of the Altar in the Tabernacle are recorded in Numbers chapter 7. The number of tribes listed and counted here are 12, seeing Levi is not included and two separate tribes are counted as Joseph. They were encamped facing the four directions East, South, West, North. Each army group comprised three tribes. Among the twelve tribes the tribe of Yehudah and Dan were the ones best known for their bravery; this is why they traveled at the head and at the rear of the Israelites respectively. Both of these tribes have been described at different times as גור אריה, “lion cub” (Genesis 49,9 and Deut. 33,22). The word לגלגלותם, “according to their heads,” an expression used by the Torah only in connection with the tribes of Reuven and Shimon (verse 20 and 22), is one that applied to all the tribes. The reason that it was spelled out only with these two tribes may be that both of these tribes required atonement for sins committed by their respective founding fathers against Yaakov, and this is why the word פקודיו, “its numbered ones,” is also repeated in Shimon’s case, indicating that by now they were on a par with all the other tribes. Perhaps in the case of Shimon that word may not mean “numbered,” but may be a reference to the use of the word in the Ten Commandments, where G’d speaks about “remembering the sins of the fathers to the later generations” (Exodus 20,5). Verse 22 then ought to be translated as follows: “The matters remembered for the tribe of Shimon and his offspring according to their families and their fathers’ houses were, etc.” The words במספר שמות, “according to the number of names,” belong to what follows, to the word פקודיהם. The Torah wished to convey that actually the descendants of Shimon carried the burden of the sin of their founding-father and his part in the sale of Joseph (instigator) and by rights they should have paid for that unatoned for crime. Proof that Shimon had been the instigator of the violence committed against Joseph at the time is the fact that he was the only one detained by Joseph in Egypt after he permitted the other brothers to return and to bring Binyamin to Egypt on their next trip. (Compare Genesis 37,24, 42,24, Bereshit Rabbah 84,16).

The number of males counted in the tribe of Shimon, i.e. 59,300 was in itself an allusion to the fact that Satan had some control over their number and that at the time when their leader Zimri committed his famous indiscretion with Kosbi bat Tzur, the princess of Midian, publicly cohabiting with her, (Numbers 25,14) the decree which had long been held in suspense was finalized and their number was reduced to 22,200 as we find at the next count (Numbers 26,14). The reason why in the case of Naftali the Torah writes בני נפתלי instead of לבני נפתלי as it did in the case of all the other tribes may be due to the fact that Naftali was different from all the other tribes having more daughters than sons. This was already hinted at in Yaakov’s blessing who phrased his blessing in the feminine gender, i.e. אילה שלוחה instead of איל שלוח (compare Genesis 49,21). By writing בני נפתלי, the Torah singles out the males among a preponderance of females.

ויהיו כל פקודי בני ישראל לבית אבותם מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה, “All the people of the Children of Israel who were numbered according to their fathers’ households and who were over twenty years old, amounted to, etc.” Some people use this verse to prove that the twenty-year olds were not included in the census and that only people over twenty were included in the census (Ibn Ezra).

Why did the Torah repeat the words 'ויהיו כל הפקודים וגו' once more in verse 46 before proceeding to inform us of the total number? It is possible that the first time the word ויהיו occurs it refers to the number, whereas the second time the word refers to the קיום of these people, i.e. that they all remained alive (did not die except at the command of G’d). There was a need for this blessing as the evil eye exerts its influence on all matters which have undergone counting. This is also why, during the Torah’s report of the six days of creation, the word ויהי is used again and again to act as a counterweight to the power of the evil eye. The word ויהי in connection with what G’d created during those days means that He decreed that it should endure and not become extinct. When you look at Jeremiah 31,34-35 you will find that the prophet uses the word מהיות, to indicate the eternal existence of the Jewish people as comparable to the eternal existence of the universe G’d had created during those six days.

ואתה הפקד את הלוים על משכן העדות, “and you are to appoint the Levites as in charge of the Tabernacle of Testimony, etc.” This whole verse is the explanation of verse 49 in which Moses had been told not to include the Levites in the census for the army. G’d now explains that the reason why the Levites were not to be counted with the other twelve tribes was not their ineligibility but on the contrary, it was their superior position which required them to be counted separately. Seeing it was going to be their function to perform all manner of service connected with the Tabernacle, they would be counted separately and would form a separate camp.

A Midrashic approach based on Bamidbar Rabbah 1,12: The words ואתה הפקד את הלוים teach that anyone who demonstrates a certain degree of readiness to sacrifice his personal interests in favor of Divine interests, thereby coming closer to G’d, will be rewarded by being brought a great deal closer at His initiative. At the time when Moses had asked for volunteers to carry out the death sentence on the people who had actively engaged in worship of the golden calf, the members of the tribe of Levi had responded to his call, endangering their own lives in the process (Exodus 32,26-28). In appreciation of the Levites’ loyalty and dedication during the episode of the golden calf G’d now rewards them by assigning to them sacred duties. The reason the Torah uses the term משכן העדות, “Tabernacle of Testimony,” here is because the tasks of the Levites included transporting the Holy Ark which contained the two Tablets of Testimony, together with all the other furnishings of the Tabernacle as well as its components.

ובנסוע המשכן יורידו אותו הלוים ובחנות המשכן יקימו אותו הלוים והזר הקרב יומת, “When the Tabernacle journeys, the Levites shall dismantle it ; when the Tabernacle comes to rest the Levites shall erect it; any alien who approaches shall die.” I have already told you [Genesis 11,9] that whenever the four-lettered name of G’d, י-ה-ו-ה, appears with the letters in reverse order, this is an allusion to the attribute of Justice being at work. For instance, when Haman said וכל זה איננו שוה לי, in Esther 5,13 the spelling is an indication that at that point [the zenith of his power, after Esther had wined and dined him with the King, Ed.] the attribute of Justice reversed his rise to power and set in motion his downfall. Here in our paragraph, dealing with the tasks of the Levites, the Torah first refers to the concealed name of G’d whereas afterwards it uses the revealed name of G’d twice in a row with the letters in reversed order to show that the element of the attribute of Justice was very much involved. Levites became the victim of that attribute, such as Uzzah in Samuel II 6,7 who trespassed against the rules for transporting the Holy Ark.

In each instance the allusion to the name of the Lord commences with the letter ה in the word הלוים. We know that the characteristic of the tribe of Levi is the attribute of Justice (they acted as the executioners not only against the idolaters of the golden calf, but the founding father acted as executioner against the people of Shechem). The meaning of the words יורידו אותו is “they shall dismantle it by removing the staves holding together the pillars serving as the walls.” When it came time to make camp, the Levites were to erect the structure again. The words והזר הקרב, “any stranger that approaches,” mean that a stranger who wants to perform the service not assigned to him is guilty of death at the hands of the Lord (compare Sanhedrin 84).

על עדת ”on the assembly of the Children of Israel;” against each one individually (Ibn Ezra).

כן עשו, “so they did.” They were warned never to touch the Tabernacle.