Rashi addresses specific glaring questions in the Torah's text:
- Clarifications (when words, ideas or events are hard to understand, Rashi explains them)
- Contradictions (when verses seem to contradict each other, Rashi aligns them)
- Superfluities (when words or ideas seem extra or repeated, Rashi distinguishes them)
- Juxtapositions (when unrelated themes are next to each other, Rashi relates them)
- Deviations (when the Torah's grammar rules seem to be broken, Rashi rights them)
- Disparities (when the words change from the norm, Rashi reveals their secrets)
The Third Census
(1) On the first day of [Iyar] the second month, in the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt [2449 since Adam], Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying:
רש"י דִיבּוּר הַמַתְחִיל וידבר...במדבר סיני...באחד לחודש וגו
Q: Why does Hashem instruct Moshe to count the people at this point in their history?
A: To demonstrate how precious they are to Him.
Q: Which events precipitated the three biblical censuses?
A: These:
- The Exodus from Egypt, to know how many came out.
- The Golden Calf, to know how many survived.
- The construction of the Mishkan, to show His affection for the Jewish People once as He rested His Presence among them.
Q: What were the dates of the Mishkan's Construction and this third census?
A: The Mishkan was erected on the first of Nissan (in the year 2449 from Adam's creation), and on the first day of Iyar, one month later, 'ה asked that the poeple be counted.
(2) Take a census of the whole Israelite community by the clans of its paternal houses, listing the names, every male, head by head.
רש"י דִיבּוּר הַמַתְחִיל לבית אבותם
Q: What is the practical meaning of the instruction to count by "paternal houses"?
A: Tribal lineage would follow the father, even if the mother was from a different tribe.
רש"י דִיבּוּר הַמַתְחִיל לגלגלתם
Q: How can Hashem command Moshe to counts the heads of the people when we have been taught that this would cause an Ayin Harah?
A: This language of "head by head" reminds us of how Moshe was commanded to count the people after the Golden Calf (Shemos 38:26); by collecting a half shekel from each one, "A Beka coin for each head".
(3) You and Aharon shall record them by their groups, from the age of twenty years up, all those in Israel who are able to bear arms.
רש"י דִיבּוּר הַמַתְחִיל כל יצא צבא
Q: Why does the Torah interrupt its instructions about the census to mention an unrelated fact about readiness to serve in the Jewish army?
A: To teach us a new law along the way. Namely, that men under age 20 are not allowed to serve in the army.
The Torah goes on to delineate the chiefs of each tribe and then their numbers. But when it comes to the tribe of Levi, the Torah says:
רש"י דִיבּוּר הַמַתְחִיל אך את מטה לוי לא תפקד
Q: Why was the tribe of Levi not counted with the rest of the tribes?
Two answers:
- This elite group, "The King's Legion" were worthy to be counted on their own.
- 'ה foresaw that a decree would be issued against all those included in this census. Therefore, He protected them by counting them separately.
Q: Why would Levi deserve to be separated, protected and treated as elite?
A: Because they would not participate at all in the sin of the Golden Calf.
Hashem commands that rather than being counted as potential soldiers in the national army, the tribe of Levi should be appointed as the officers and caretakers of the Mishkan.
רש"י דִיבּוּר הַמַתְחִיל יורידו אתו
Q: What exactly was the role of the Leviim with regards to the Mishkan?
A: Every time the Jewish Encampment moved, they were tasked with dismantling the Mishkan. And every time the Jews set camp, the Leviim were tasked with erecting the Mishkan.
The Jewish Encampment
Hashem then gives instructions as to how the Jewish people would camp and in what formation they would travel, adding that the tribe of Levi would always surround the Mishkan.
(ב) אִ֣ישׁ עַל־דִּגְל֤וֹ בְאֹתֹת֙ לְבֵ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֔ם יַחֲנ֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל מִנֶּ֕גֶד סָבִ֥יב לְאֹֽהֶל־מוֹעֵ֖ד יַחֲנֽוּ׃
(2) The Israelites shall camp each [group of three tribes] with its flag, [each individual tribe] with the sign of their paternal house; they shall camp around the Tent of Meeting at a distance.
רש"י דִיבּוּר הַמַתְחִיל באתת
Q: What were the signs of the paternal houses?
A: Two possibilities:
- A banner that was colored according to the gem or precious stone on the breastplate that held the names of each tribe.
- Each tribe already knew where they were to position themselves, since they all had inherited a tradition (signs) from their fathers that they would camp around the Presence of G-d in the same formation that Yaakov had commanded them to carry his coffin.
רש"י דִיבּוּר הַמַתְחִיל מנגד
Q: Why should the Jews camp at a distance from the Mishkan?
A: As a sign of respect the Jewish people were commanded never to casually walk close to the Aron. This was true even when the Aron was showing them the way to Yericho, in Yehoshua's days.
Q: How far is "At a distance"?
A: The farthest that one can camp and still be able to travel there on Shabbos. That means one Mil, or 2000 Amos.
Q: Did the requirement for distance apply to everyone?
A: Moshe, Aharon, the Kohanim and Leviim were the exception. They camped right around the Mishkan as an honor guard for Hashem's house.
Torah describes how the tribes divided into four groups of three, each taking up a position on one side of the Mishkan.
The were: Yehudah, Yissachar & Zevulun on the east. Reuven Shimon and Gad on the south. Efraim, Menashe and Binyamin on the west. Dan, Asher and Naftali on the North.
רש"י דִיבּוּר הַמַתְחִיל ראשנה יסעו
Q: Did Yehudah's troop lead the way through the desert?
A: No, they were simply the first to start moving. When the Pillar of Cloud would move and the Kohanim had sounded the trumpets, the troop of Yehudah would take the first steps. The rest of the encampment would then move out, keeping their positions: Mishkan in the middle with the tribe of Levi Immediately surrounding it, and the four troops on their designated sides.