וידבר ה' אל משה במדבר סיני באהל מועד, ”Hashem spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting.” Nachmanides writes that now that the laws pertaining to sacrificial offerings had been concluded, the Torah moves on to discuss laws governing the Tent of Meeting. G’d had already warned concerning the sin of entering the Tent of Meeting in a state of ritual uncleanness as well as against offering sacrifices which were in a state of ritual unfitness. Now the Torah wishes to restrict the presence of non priests in the Tabernacle and its immediate surroundings in the desert, similar to the restrictions imposed on the Temple and its immediate surroundings on Mount Moriah in the future. Non priests who violate these rules are subject to the death penalty by stoning. The Torah also forbids looking at sacred furnishings normally inside the Tabernacle, but exposed to potential view seeing that the Israelites were so often on the move, and the whole Tabernacle had to be dismantled each time, and the holy objects had to be carefully wrapped before being transported on the shoulders of the Kehatites. All of these precautions were designed to prevent the people from entering sacred grounds en masse and falling victim to the warnings issued. The Torah issues detailed instructions about the wrapping of these furnishings, by whom and where the parts of the Tabernacle were to be guarded. Seeing that the Torah in the Book of Leviticus had interrupted some of these subjects by writing about the sh’mittah and Jubilee years, of which we had been told that these instructions had been issued to Moses while he was on Mount Sinai, the Torah now mentions that the instructions reported here were communicated to him in the Tent of Meeting. There had been no direct communication from G’d to Moses since the time the Tabernacle had been assembled and inaugurated in the first month of the second year. The desert of Sinai is mentioned here again, as the people had not moved from there, since arriving at Mount Sinai on the first day of Sivan in the first year of the Exodus until the 2oth of Iyar of the second year. [Almost an entire lunar year. Ed.]

שאו את ראש, “take a census of the whole community.” Rashi on Numbers 31,26, explains the use of the expression שאו ראש, as “take a count of the heads,” [in the sense of according value to the head of each person so counted. Ed] Nachmanides [who apparently had a different version of Rashi in which the words שאו ראש are compared to the command to an executioner to behead his victim Ed.] who understood these words in a derogatory sense, raises the question why it should be interpreted derogatively. He points out that in Midrash Rabbah on this verse the interpretation is one that is complimentary to the Jewish people, quoting G’d as telling the people that He had given them the highest rank, ראש, among the nations in a number of areas. One example for the admissibility of such an interpretation is when Joseph interprets to the head of the cupbearers of Pharaoh that he will be reinstated to his former position, saying ישא פרעה את ראשך, “Pharaoh will raise your head, etc.” (Genesis 40,13) On the other hand, should the Israelites fail to qualify for G’d’s benevolence, the same words may signal their impending destruction, as in the case of the chief of the bakers who was also told of his impending fate by Joseph employing the same introductory words.

כל יוצא צבא בישראל, “every one who goes to join the army among the Israelites.” Rashi comments that we learn from this verse that no one under the age of twenty is to join the army, something that corresponds to what we learned in Avot, בן עשרים לרדוף, “at the age of twenty one has matured enough to give chase.” (Avot, 5,25) It is possible to interpret the words כל יוצא צבא, as referring to all the men old enough to participate in general assemblies of the people. We know that every such general assembly is described as צבא, as for instance in לצבא צבא לעבודה באהל מועד, “to take part in the assembly around the Tent of Meeting in order to perform service” (Numbers 4,23). Another example of such a meaning of the word צבא would be the well-known term צבא השמים, “heavenly assemblies.” (Deut 4,19 and 15 other examples throughout the Bible) This is the reason why men participating in wars are not just described as חיילים, or אנשים לבושים בדים, “soldiers, or men wearing uniforms, but as יוצאי צבא, similar to יוצאי שער עירו, (Genesis 24,34) “all those assembled in the public square of his town.”

תפקדו אותם, “you are to count them.” Nachmanides writes that the use of the term פקידה instead of ספירה for counting is meant to show that each individual so counted was elevated to a higher status than he had possessed prior to being counted. He was brought to the special attention of G’d’s benevolent supervision of his individual fate. We find an example of the use of the word פקד in this sense when it did not involve counting at all, in Genesis 21,1 וה' פקד את שרה, “Hashem had remembered Sarah specifically, etc.” In our context the term implies that all the men so counted would henceforth enjoy G’d’s special individual protection. This became evident when we do not read about the armies of the Jewish people suffering any casualties with the single exception of the attack by the Canaanites after the death of Aaron, and even then the sole casualty, i.e. a captive, appears to have been a civilian. (Numbers 21,1) Instead of being counted head by head, each soldier tendered a silver coin of the value of half a shekel, as atonement for any sin he might have been guilty of at the time he was counted. When Yoav reluctantly counted part of the Jewish people at the insistence of King David, (Samuel II chapter 24) we find that the prophet describes the result of the census as מספר מפקד, this appears to mean that the total was arrived at after counting the number of silver coins tendered. We believe that the reason why G’d was so angry at the counting was not at the manner in which the census was taken, but was on account of the entire census having been unnecessary as no military threat existed at the time against the Kingdom of David. He wanted to glory in the vast number of subjects he ruled over. It is also possible that the word מספר there is justified as David commanded Yoav also to count men under 20 years of age, i.e. from 13 years and up. Doing this may have been the reason why he was punished, as he had never been permitted to count the people below the age of 20. One of the reasons G’d does not want the entire Jewish population to be counted may be because then the promise that they are as numerous as the stars, i.e. beyond man’s ability to count them, would not be true. When, in the above mentioned chapter when Yoav counted the people, there appears a line saying “the entire Jewish nation numbered one million three hundred thousand (including the men from the tribe of Yehudah) that could handle a sword;” this does not mean that all of these people were fighting in the front line, it merely means that all these people were physically fit and healthy, and in case of need could be mobilized for war. The sick, the elderly, and the handicapped were not included in that count, as no one can boast about being the ruler of such people.

לצבאותם, “according to their legions.” There were numerous legions, the army of each tribe representing one legion.

לראובן, Ibn Ezra writes that the reason why the members of the tribe of Reuven were counted first was because chronologically speaking, he was the first born of Yaakov’s children. Once all the children of Leah had been counted, the Torah switches to Joseph who was Rachel’s first born. Ephrayim was counted first, in accordance with the rank accorded him when Yaakov blessed him on his deathbed, switching hands in order to place his right hand on him. This was followed by counting the tribe of Dan, who was the senior son of the maidservants of Leah and Rachel. Then followed Asher, who was the leading tribe in the camp of Dan. He in turn was by followed by Naftali, who represented the senior son of Leah’s servant maid.

קרואי העדה, “the above named were so described as their importance was such that no decisions were taken unless these men were present.”

ואת כל העדה הקהילו באחד לחודש השנית, “They called together the whole assembly on the first of the second month, etc.” Nachmanides points out with what alacrity Moses went about his task, in taking the princes on the very day he had received the instructions from Hashem; he assembled the whole community and began the task of taking the census. Clearly, the taking of the census was a task that could not be completed on that day, but took considerably longer.

ויתילדו על משפחותם לבית אבותם, “they established their genealogy according to their families, according to their father’s household.” Rashi claims that each of the people concerned submitted a booklet containing the respective family tree. They also supplied witnesses that testified to their true ages, i.e. when each one of them had been born, (as explained by Onkelos) Nachmanides writes that it appears quite unreasonable to suggest that each person had to document his claim to which family he belonged and when he had been born. He claims that the meaning of the words ויתילדו וגו', simply mean that they identified themselves as belonging to certain families in certain tribes, the family being defined in terms of the respective fathers. The entire procedure had been commanded to Moses, more or less to the last detail, i.e. these people all came to the entrance of the Tabernacle to present themselves for the count; the census takers did not make house calls. The only ones who did not present themselves at that time were the members of the ערב רב, the mixed multitude who accompanied the Israelites when they left Egypt, all people who were not natural born Jews. Each person made a verbal declaration in front of Moses and the respective leader of his tribe that he was so-and-so and was of age. Moses deposited the coins according to the respective tribe of the person who tendered it, so that he knew at the end how many men of military age each tribe had contributed to the grand total. Proof that this was the procedure may be seen when at the second count no mention is made in the Torah of the line ויתילדו על משפחותם, neither is the expression במספר שמות לגולגלותם, “according to their headcount” repeated there. (Compare Numbers chapter 26). The reason why there was no need for this at the time of the second census was simply that the division into tribal units had already been made on the occasion of the first census and those records were readily available. When these people were counted as members of individual families, it appears that there was no objection to the “headcount.” They did not then have to present a coin or shard. There also was no need at that time for the respective princes of each tribe to be present during the count. Ibn Ezra says that the word ויתילדו means that each one had to inform Moses and his tribal prince of the date and year of his birth. Some commentators say that the reason why we find here the words במספר שמות, “according to the number of names,” added, was to teach us that none of them had changed the name by which they had been known in Egypt.

לבני יוסף לבני אפרים, Nachmanides writes that Ephrayim, the younger son of Joseph was given precedence over his older brother Menashe and Joseph’s genealogy is linked to him both here and when it came to the “flags,” the groupings of three tribes each around their flags, seeing that he was the one in his group that was the flag bearer, and also because he was numerically a much larger tribe (41.500) than his brother tribe Menashe. (32.500) However, on the occasion of the census in the 40th year in the wilderness of Moav, you will note that the tribe of Menashe (52.700) had in the meantime become more numerous than Ephrayim. (32.500) They also received their ancestral land before Ephrayim, seeing that half the tribe remained on the East bank of the Jordan with the tribes Reuven and Gad. He also took precedence when the Torah reports the names of the tribal heads in charge at the time of the entry of he people into their ancestral land. (Numbers 34, 23-24) On the other hand, although Ephrayim’s representative of the 12 tribes during the mission of the spies is listed first, Joseph himself, in that connection, is linked directly to Menashe. (Numbers 13,8) In trying to understand the various occasions when the respective brothers Ephrayim and Menashe appear in different sequences, perhaps the fact that just as Joseph, who, in his youth was guilty of slandering his brothers, Menashe, i.e. the spy representing the Tribe of Joseph-Menashe, Gad, did join the majority in slandering the land of Israel, as opposed to the representative of his younger brother Ephrayim, i.e. Joshua, who did not. Moses may have listed Ephrayim first, without mentioning that he was part of the tribe of Joseph. (Numbers 13,8) This may serve as a reminder that sometimes the son commits the same type of error as had his father. (Compare daat z’keynim baaley tossaphot Numbers 13,11) Ibn Ezra explains that the army was made up of 12 tribes excluding the tribe of Levi, so that the tribe of Joseph was represented by his two sons Ephrayim and Menashe. There were four army groups of three tribes each placed in the four directions of the surface of the earth. Leah had 6 sons, Seeing that the tribe of Levi, descended from one of Leah’s sons was not included in the men serving in the army, the first camp, (flag) comprised of the tribes Reuven and Shimon, both from the sons of Leah, co-opted a third, Gad, the senior son of Leah’s maid Zilpah. The second camp (flag) was comprised of the tribes of Yehudah, who was joined by tribes descended from his younger brothers Issachar and Zevulun. The third camp contained only tribes descended from Rachel, i.e. Ephrayim, Menashe and Binyamin. The fourth camp was comprised of Dan, Asher and Naftali. Naftali was the younger one of the three tribes comprising that camp. He was listed first in order that the flag of that camp be guarded by the senior son of Rachel’s maidservant Bilhah. The reason why Yehudah’s group was placed at the head and Dan’s at the rear, was that these two tribes excelled in valour and in the art of warfare.

ויהיו כל הפקודים, “the grand total of all the men thus mustered, etc.” Nachmanides, in searching for a reason why the Torah had to tell us the total again, seeing it had already told us the number of men that were counted in each tribe, claims that this is the manner in which kings conduct themselves when they take a census of their subjects. However, he admits that he does not know why G’d commanded Moses to do so. He speculates that possibly the Torah wanted the people to reflect on the fact that a family who had numbered only 70 souls and children included, had grown within the relatively short period of 211 years to comprise at least two and a half million souls when allowing for the people under 20 and all the women. It is also possible that the Torah did proceed here in the manner human kings proceed before going into battle, counting totals in addition to the number and composition of each army group. After all, when the Jewish people left Mount Sinai they were poised to begin the conquest of the land of their forefathers, and if they had not insisted on spying out the land (something that consumed 40 days) they would most likely have found themselves at war within a few days of their departure, Moses himself described the distance to the boundary of that land as only 11 days’ march (Deuteronomy 1,2) Moses, when inviting his father-in-law to join the people had told him that they were about to depart for their ultimate destination. (Numbers 10,29) It was necessary for both Moses and the princes to know the numbers of each tribe and army group in order to be able to account for each soldier after the campaign, and to determine if there had been any casualties and how many there had been. Although, in the event there were none, Judaism, i.e. the Torah, does not base its calculations on supernatural miracles occurring.

והלוים...לא התפקדו בתוכם, “But the Levites’ census was not included in that of the other twelve tribes.” Nachmanides writes, that notwithstanding the fact that up until then no directive had been given to count the Levites separately and according to different criteria, Moses realized on his own that he was not meant to include them as an integral part of that census. One of the reasons was that whereas a leader had been named for each of the other tribes, no one had been appointed as the leader of the tribe of Levi. At any rate, while Moses was in doubt how to proceed, he would not arrogate the decision to himself, and as soon as he had concluded the counting of the other twelve tribes, G’d told him how to proceed with the Levites. He called Aaron, in order to give him the honour, seeing that he was the de facto leader of the tribe. Perhaps this is the reason why we find dots on the word ואהרן (verse 39) i.e. a hint that Aaron was in Moses‘ company when G’d told him how to count the Levites. Subsequently, in 4,46 as well as in 4,36 and 4,45 we are also told about the respective leaders’ presence during these counts, as everything had to be done with the approval of all the notables concerned. The same applied to the division of the tasks to be performed by the various groups of Levites, each group headed by descendants of one of the three sons of Levi, son of Yaakov.

, והלוים יחנו סביב למשכן העדות, “and the Levites shall encamp around the Tabernacle of Testimony.” Nachmanides writes that what the Torah records here as applicable to the Tabernacle, henceforth would become applicable to the Temple, and the division of the Levites into משמרות, guard duty whose components were the same, and who alternated with one another regularly, formed the pattern for the many hundreds of years that the Temple stood in Jerusalem. The words ושמרו את משמרת וגו' refer to night duty performed by the Levites in guarding the Tabernacle. They would walk around the Tabernacle at night ensuring no unauthorised person would attempt to enter it. The priests guarded the inside of the Tabernacle, whereas the Levites guarded it from the outside.