English translation — במדבר ב

A.

After the narration of the details regarding the counting of the children of Israel and the arrangement of the flags etc.,

the verse explains the matter of the tribe¹

Levi*¹

: "Bring the tribe of Levi near and present him before Aaron the priest, and they shall serve him.

And they shall keep his charge and the charge of the whole congregation etc."

And it explains the details of the service of the tribe of Levi etc.

And behold, in this portion we find several matters that appear to contradict each other,

and several matters that are incomprehensible:

a)

On the verse²

"And they shall serve him" Rashi explains: "And what is the service,

And they shall keep his charge,

because the guarding of the Temple is upon him that a stranger should not approach etc. and these Levites assist them,

This is the service.

Therefore, one can say simply that the simple meaning of the words "and they shall keep his charge" is as its simple meaning,

from the language of guarding - that a stranger should not approach - and the meaning of the verse is that this guarding, which is primarily incumbent upon the priests, also includes the Levites as "assistants."

And if so, it is difficult to understand: Why did Rashi strain to explain,

in the discourse that follows,

on the words "and they shall keep his charge": "Any appointment that a person is appointed over and is incumbent upon him to do is called 'charge' throughout the entire Scripture,

and in the language of the Mishnah, etc.,"

meaning that "charge" here means "appointment" - and he did not explain it according to its simple meaning,

from the language of guarding?

2)

According to what is understood from Rashi in the second comment,

that "mishmeret" said regarding the Levites means "appointment",

why did Rashi not explain this when this word is mentioned

(in our parshah)

for the first time³

: "And the Levites shall keep the charge of the Tabernacle of Testimony"?

3)

From Rashi on the verse "and they shall serve him" it appears that the work of the Levites,

mentioned in our parshah,

its matter is assistance to the priests in guarding the Temple,

as above,

but in the verse after this,

on the words⁴

"and the charge of the children of Israel",

Rashi [says] "that all

(all the children of Israel)

were required for the needs of the Temple except that the Levites come in their place as their emissaries" — that is, the work of the Levites is in place of and as emissaries of all the children of Israel in the needs of the Temple.

4)

In simple terms, it appears,

that in his commentary on

the words "and the charge of the children of Israel" Rashi's intention is to explain what is said "and they shall keep etc. and the charge of the children of Israel to perform the service of the Mishkan" - for at first glance,

what is the involvement of the children of Israel in the service of the Mishkan,

that there can be regarding this the command to the Levites "and they shall keep etc. and the charge of the children of Israel"?

And to this Rashi explained that the intention of the verse is to say "that all of them were needed for the needs of the Temple except that the Levites come in their stead in their agency",

and this is what the verse says "and they shall keep ..

the charge of the children of Israel".

However, according to this it is not understood at all: For also in the verse before this it says, "And they shall keep his charge and the charge of all the congregation... to do the service of the Tabernacle,"

And it is simple that also there the same question arises: Is it that all the congregation should do the service of the Tabernacle?

- And why did Rashi refrain from explaining this until he reached the second verse?

5)

On the verse⁵

"From the children of Israel" Rashi explains: "Like from among the children of Israel,

that is, from the rest of all the congregation they were set apart for this by the decree of the Place, etc.,"

And one must understand: What compelled him to explain that "from the children of Israel" is "like from among the children of Israel",

that "they were set apart" from the rest of the congregation - and behold, according to what Rashi said before this,

"the Levites come in their stead in their agency" of all the children of Israel,

this word would be explained simply: "Given, given they are to him from the children of Israel" - from the children of Israel,

that the children of Israel "give" the Levites as their agents,

for the service of the Tabernacle

(And like the language of people: "a gift from so-and-so",

who is the giver of the gift,

and not that it is separated from within him)

- And what pressed him to explain

"M'eis" this in a different way⁶?

6)

On the other hand,

on the verse⁷

"And I, behold I have taken the Levites" in which it is stated explicitly "from among B'nei Yisrael",

which implies simply that they were separated from among them,

Rashi [explains] the opposite: "from among B'nei Yisrael - that Yisrael would hire them for My service",

namely that the word "mitoch" means like "m'eis": the Holy One, blessed be He, "took them" from the hand of B'nei Yisrael who hire

(and give)

them for the "service" of the Holy One, blessed be He.

And here it is a reversal of things - the verse says "mitoch" and Rashi explained it as the language of "m'eis"?

7)

What is Rashi's intention in what he said on the words "given they are to him" — "for assistance" — behold this is already known from his commentary earlier "and the Levites these assist them"<sup>8</sup>?

8)

Why does Rashi copy also the words "given they are

(to him)

and behold he explains only the meaning of the word "to him" — "for assistance"?

9)

below in parshas Beha'aloscha on the verse⁹

"For

"Given, given they are to Me from among Bnei Yisrael" Rashi explained the reason for the doubled language: "Given, given — given for carrying, given for song,"

And why did he not explain this in the verse in our parshah

(which is earlier)

where also it is stated "Given, given"?

2.

And all this will be understood by prefacing a puzzling thing in the sequence of the aforementioned verses,

And it is that one verse is repeated a second time¹⁰

: After the verse said "And they shall keep his charge and the charge of all the congregation before the Tent of Meeting to perform the service of the Tabernacle",

Immediately comes a second verse which ostensibly has the exact same content: "And they shall keep all the vessels of the Tent of Meeting and the charge of the children of Israel to perform the service of the Tabernacle"¹¹

(For ostensibly there is between them only a change in the style of language of the thing being guarded: instead of "his charge" in the first verse,

it is written in the second "all the vessels of the Tent of Meeting"¹²).

Therefore it stands to reason to say that the verses here speak of two types of the Levites' service in the Tabernacle,

and both of them are the charge of the children of Israel¹³

; and by means of this assumption all the above difficulties and contradictions will be resolved

(as follows).

3.

And the explanation of the matter:

The service of the Levites in the Mishkan is divided into various details: the work of dismantling,

the carrying and the setting up,

the work of song,

and the work of guarding¹⁴

- that a stranger should not enter the Mishkan¹⁵.

And in their entirety they are two*¹⁵

types of service: a)

The service in the Mishkan in a positive manner,

namely the needs of the Mishkan that were incumbent upon them to perform,

And in

(the matters of)

the Mishkan itself; b)

the service expressed in a negative manner — guarding against the entry of strangers,

and it is not in the Mishkan itself,

but rather for the benefit of Bnei Yisrael that they not stumble in it¹⁶.

And as it is explicit¹⁷

"And Bnei Yisrael said etc. 'Whoever approaches the Mishkan of Hashem will die etc.',"

this is the claim of Bnei Yisrael that "we cannot be careful in this etc."¹⁸

— and in response to this came the command: "And Hashem said to Aharon: You and your sons and your father's house with you shall bear the iniquity of the Sanctuary etc. And also your brothers the tribe of Levi etc. bring near with you, and they shall be joined to you and serve you etc.,"

meaning that upon the Kohanim,

with the assistance of the Levi'im, to stand and guard that Bnei Yisrael not approach the Mishkan.

And a fundamental difference between the two types of service of the Levi'im: their positive service for the needs of the Mishkan is the obligation of the Levi'im and is not as assistance to the Kohanim —

(and the Kohanim were commanded only to appoint each man over his service¹⁹)

And likewise regarding the service of song²⁰

; but not so

Guarding of the Mishkan,

which is explained in the aforementioned verse that Aharon and his sons are the appointees and responsible for this,

and the Leviim are in the category of "and they shall be joined to you and serve you"²¹.

D.

And behold, since in our parshah the verse comes to explain the totality of the service of the Leviim,

it is understood that the two types of their aforementioned service must be explained — and this is Rashi's explanation on the verse:

"Bring near the tribe of Levi and stand him before Aaron the priest and they shall serve him.

And they shall keep his charge and the charge of all the congregation etc." - behold it is proven from it that this verse speaks about work that is service and assistance to the priest,

therefore Rashi explains that this is "guarding the Sanctuary so that a stranger should not approach",

because only this part of the work of the Levites

(in its essence)

belongs to the priests,

as above.

And for this reason Rashi brings here the verse "And you and your sons and your father's house shall bear the iniquity of the Sanctuary",

in which it is explicit that guarding the Sanctuary is the duty of the priests with the assistance of the Levites.

And consequently it is understood that what is said "and the charge of all the congregation" is to be explained simply: the guarding that belongs and pertains to "all the congregation",

that no stranger from it should enter the Tabernacle.

And since the verse repeats and says “the aforementioned”

And they shall keep “all the vessels of the Tent of Meeting etc.”,

it is evident that his intention now is for a different type

(the second)

in the service of the Levites.

And also from the wording of the verse “all the vessels of the Tent of Meeting” - it implies that this is a service directed to the vessels of the Mishkan

(and without any hint that it is as assistance and service to the priests).

And simply, the intention in this is for the carrying of the vessels and for the song

(for we do not find for the Levites any service with the vessels of the Tent of Meeting besides their carrying and their song).

But based on this, what is written afterwards "and the charge of the children of Israel" has no explanation: what is the relevance of the children of Israel to this work of the Levites which is imposed only on the Levites?

And Rashi explains that the explanation is: "that all of them were needed for the needs of the Temple except that the Levites came in their stead" - meaning that "the needs of the Temple,"

that is, the obligatory work which this second verse speaks of,

is actually work imposed on all of Israel - and this is the explanation of "the charge of the children of Israel" - and the Levites do it as their agents.

And since this is seemingly a novelty,

therefore Rashi brings a proof to this from what is written later, "for it is a reward for you in exchange for your service",

namely that the tithe that the children of Israel give to the Levites is "reward" for their service that they serve in exchange for

(on behalf of)

the children of Israel.

5.

Based on this, it is impossible to interpret "charge" in this verse from the term "guarding",

since here it does not speak about guarding the Sanctuary,

but rather about a positive service for "the needs of the Temple" — therefore one must say that its meaning is from the term "appointment": "and they shall keep" the Levites

(to fulfill)

"the charge",

the appointment incumbent upon "the children of Israel".

And since in the verse before this it is written in this exact language: "and the guard of the entire congregation",

it is logical that there too it is from the term "appointment"

(for there it discusses the guarding of the Mishkan)],

since the two verses come in one continuation.

And therefore on the verse "and they shall guard his guard" Rashi explains that it is from the term "appointment" - in order to exclude from the term "guarding" which is understood simply - because there is no logic to explain it differently from what we are compelled to explain it immediately in the adjacent verse.

And therefore on the verse "and the Levites shall guard the guard of the Tent of Testimony" Rashi does not explain anything,

because there there is no compulsion to take it out of the term "guarding" - which the verse speaks of - as it says "and there will not be wrath upon the congregation of the children of Israel" and Rashi explains: "And if not,

that strangers will enter into their service, this will be wrath" - and that "the guard of the Tent of Testimony" is according to its simple meaning - from the term "guarding".

But not so in this portion that from the juxtaposition of the verses we must explain every "guard" in it from the term "appointment",

as above

as above.

6.

And according to this,

what is written later "and you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; given, given they are to him from the children of Israel",

it speaks about the matter of guarding the Temple,

that the Levites are not agents of the children of Israel in its service,

and if so, what is written in it "from the children of Israel" it is impossible to explain it simply,

that those the children of Israel gave

(as agents)

as above - for it is not so - and it is well understood what Rashi explains on this: "like from within the children of Israel,

meaning from the rest of the entire congregation they were separated for this".

However, what is written afterwards "and I, behold I have taken the Levites from within the children of Israel instead of every firstborn etc.",

this is the taking of the Levites in a direct manner from within the children of Israel

(and not that the priests were taken and afterwards they joined the Levites to them)

therefore Rashi explains "that Israel would hire them for My service etc.",

meaning that "from within" is in the sense of "from" -

And in particular, that this verse is at the beginning of a new section,

after the conclusion of the preceding section, "And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons; they are given, given to him from the children of Israel,"

thus it is proven that the previous matter was concluded — and what is said afterward, "And I, behold, I have taken the Levites etc." is not a continuation of the matter of their being given to Aaron and his sons etc. for guarding the Sanctuary — which is the service of Aaron, "and these Levites

(only)

assist them" — but rather the discussion is about the service of the Mishkan that is specific to the Levites themselves,

in which they fulfill the role from the Holy One, blessed be He.

And this is what Rashi explains

(and note this also from the implication of the verse)

: "And I, behold, I have taken — And I, from where did I merit them?"

that the intention of the verse is regarding the merit of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the Levites — and this corresponds to their own service in the Mishkan,

which is entirely "service of Mine,"

of the Holy One, blessed be He,

and not to their service of guarding in the Mishkan,

in which they are in the category of "and they shall serve him,"

the priest.

Therefore Rashi explains, "from among the children of Israel — that the Israelites would hire them for My service etc." — since from the wording "And I, behold, I have taken the Levites" it implies that it refers to their primary service in the Mishkan,

and the verse explains "from where" He merited them, the Holy One, blessed be He,

it must be said that what is said "from among the children of Israel" does not mean to say only that they were separated from among the children of Israel,

but rather that in this it is explained

Also this itself that it discusses about the particular in this "Israel hires them for My service."

7.

Based on this it is also understood that in the verse "And you shall give the Levites to Aaron and to his sons, given given etc." it is impossible to interpret "given given - given for song given for burden,"

since it is explicit in the text²²

that it speaks of their service that belongs to Aaron and his sons,

and this is only in guarding the Temple - and it must therefore be that the doubling "given given" is for strengthening and emphasizing the matter²³.

And nevertheless Rashi explains "they are given to him - for assistance",

that at first glance this is explained at the beginning of the verse: "And you shall give the Levites,

for assistance" - because the main intention of Rashi in this is

(not to explain the content of the giving,

but)

to resolve how it fits regarding the guarding of the Temple "from

(agency)

the children of Israel".

And two entries "comes" in one sequence

(or it should say one entry)

: they are given to him for assistance²⁴

from

the children of Israel,

as from etc.

8.

The lesson from the above:

The Rambam writes²⁵

: "And not only the tribe of Levi, but every single person from all who come into the world whose spirit moved him and whose intellect understood him to separate to stand before God to serve Him and to worship Him etc., behold this one is sanctified as holy of holies²⁶

etc.'"

- for it could enter someone's mind that since he has not yet reached this level of "his spirit inspired him and he understood his knowledge",

he is not included among those who can become sanctified and be in the aspect of a Levite in the service of G-d,

On this comes the instruction in Rashi's commentary said also to a five-year-old

(for Scripture),

and consequently also to one who stands on the level of "five-year-old" in the service of G-d - "for all of them were needed for the needs of the Temple, except that the Levites come in their stead as their emissaries",

and behold "is there something that we cannot do and they

(the emissaries)

can do"?<sup>27</sup>,

therefore certainly each one

("all of them")

is connected to the work of the Levites "to separate themselves to stand before G-d to serve Him and to worship Him",

and to fulfill his mission in this world and to make for Him a dwelling place in the lower realms.

(From the talk of Shabbat Parshat Bamidbar 5727)