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(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר יְהֹוָ֧ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר סִינַ֖י בְּאֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד בְּאֶחָד֩ לַחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֜י בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשֵּׁנִ֗ית לְצֵאתָ֛ם מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם לֵאמֹֽר׃
(1) On the first day of the second month, in the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt, יהוה spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying:
Dr. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, Bewilderments, location 63, Kindle edition
Between Egypt and the Holy Land, the wilderness intervenes.
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 769
What must it have been like to experience the transition from the grand events of Sinai and the Sea of Reeds to the daily routine of the wilderness? The answer might lead us to the lesson that life is lived, not so much in the grand moments as in uncelebrated ordinary times. In Numbers, the focus of leadership passes from the prophet Moses to the priest Aaron, perhaps because the prophet issues great demands from the mountaintop, whereas the priest is involved with the people in teh complexities and routines of daily life.
Rabbi Shefa Gold, Torah Journeys, p. 136
The harsh inner reality of the wilderness purifies whatever traces of enslavement we still carry. This wilderness is the midwife of our new life, after long and hard labor. The wilderness forces us to face the resistance, ambivalence and self-delusion that has kept us from whole-heartedly receiving our birthright: the promised flow of milk and honey that is given to us, and through us, with each moment of life...In the wilderness we are stripped of disguises. Defenses fall away. Each part within us is forced to show its true face.
Richard Elliott Friedman, Commentary on the Torah, p. 1908
The book of Numbers is the story of a journey. Against the backdrop of the book of Leviticus, with its absence of movement, Numbers is entirely about movement...It reflects real experience, it is a ready metaphor for human lives, and it is a connector between the world of literature and the world of dreams, in which experiences of journeys are common. The journey in literature can be the experience of an individual or a group. In the book of Numbers it is both. It is the people of Israel’s journey from Sinai to the border of Canaan, from the site of the establishment of the covenant to the place where it is to be fulfilled. And it is Moses’ journey from Mount Sinai to Mount Abarim, from the place where he has seen God to the place of his death.
Rabbi Dr. Bradley Shavit Artson, The Everyday Torah, p. 216
Wilderness is not tailored to human standards and does not contour its character to fit human foibles. Returning to real wilderness means returning to a place in which people are visitors and guests, where our will and arrogance don't parade as the measure of all things. In the wilderness, the world reflects the grandeur of the God who made it. The wilds still pulsate with the novelty of creation, with the unbounded energy of life and of living things. There, the richness of life is sufficient purpose for the myriad creatures and the indifferent majesty of forest, desert, and swamp. They neither need nor seek a human purpose or benefit to justify their existence. Returning to the wilderness reminds us to consider value not simply in terms of our own gratification, but by the standards of how well creation continues to demonstrate the power, wisdom, and goodness of God. The wilderness reminds us of the true source of all values, our own included. That may be why God's voice is heard in the wilderness. That may be why Torah was given on a stormy mountaintop and why we need to look beyond the tops of our books more than occasionally. The Torah, you see, is wild.
George Robinson, Essential Torah, p. 450-451
But there are other ways of reading the Wilderness experience. The philosopher Philo says that the desert is a place that is devoid of the temptations and corruptions of Egypt and its cities, that one can only receive Torah in a place that is far from vice. The Noam Elimelekh, a Hasidic sage, says that Torah was given in the desert so that we will maintain a state of humility, much as God chose a lowly mountain, Sinai, rather than a taller, more majestic peak, as the location for the Revelation. In Tractate Nedarim, the Talmud says that the Torah was given in the Wilderness as a reminder that we must be like the desert itself, open on all sides, open to learning. Similarly, others say that one must be as free as the desert to receive Torah. Finally, midbar belongs to no one. No one can say, “My nation is so great that God gave Torah to the world on our soil.” And no one can say, “Well, God gave Torah to the world in the land of the Midianites, so it can’t possibly apply to me.” On the contrary, the Torah and its teachings are for all humanity.
Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Numbers: The Wilderness Years, loc. 334, Kindle edition
Freedom is a journey across the wilderness that always takes longer than you thought it would, and the route lies midway between the twin temptations of never and immediately, resistance and revolution.
Rabbi Mark Borovitz, Finding Recovery and Yourself in Torah, p. 233
The Torah is teaching us that no matter what we think, no matter what our socioeconomic status is, all of us live both in the desert/wilderness and in the Promised Land. We all need to find our way out of the wilderness at times, and Torah is the path that helps us find our way out. Often we are damaged by our time in the desert, and Torah helps us repair our inner wounds. This is one of the reasons that Torah is the original recovery book. From it, we learn how to recover from the brokenness inherent in being human.
Rabbi Shai Held, The Heart of Torah, loc 2131, Kindle edition
It takes fully forty-six verses for the Torah to get to its final tally of 603,550 military-age Israelite men. Why the slow, creeping pace? ... it actually conveys one of the core truths of Jewish theology and ethics: Individuals matter. One of Jewish theology’s most fundamental claims is that God loves us. As R. Akiva, one of the greatest of the talmudic sages, teaches, “Beloved is the human being, for he was created in the image of God. Even more beloved is he, for it was made known to him that he was created in the image of God, as it says, ‘For in the image of God, God made the human being’ (Gen. 9:6)” (Mishnah, Avot 3:14). God loves us, in other words, not because of anything we do, but simply by dint of who we are: human beings created in God’s image. But Judaism goes much further. Jewish sources insist that God cherishes human beings not as faceless representatives of a privileged species but as individuals: God loves us in all our singularity and uniqueness. A mishnah teaches: “Adam was created singly . . . to proclaim the greatness of the Blessed Holy One, for a human being stamps many coins with one die and they are all alike one with the other, but the King of the kings of kings, the Blessed Holy One, has stamped all of humanity with the die of the first man, and yet not one of them is like his fellow” (Sanhedrin 4:5).
Dr. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, Bewilderments, p. 3-4
TWO PERSPECTIVES The book of Numbers is the narrative of a great failure. That is, at least, one view of the book. What should have been a brief journey from Mount Sinai to the Holy Land becomes a forty-year death march. The story of the Spies brings down God’s anger upon the people; this divine anger, even when mitigated by Moses’ prayer, is expressed in the decree of an endless journey: for this generation, its only end will be in the sands. Both before and after the catastrophe, the narratives of the book of Numbers center on the people’s desire to return to Egypt, to undo the miraculous work of the Exodus. At their heart are speeches of complaint and lament, expressing a profound existential skepticism. In direct contrast to this narrative is the narrative found in mystical and Hasidic sources. Here, the generation of the wilderness emerges as the generation of extraordinary spiritual experience, receivers of the Torah to the fullest extent, fed on miracles and nurtured directly by God: a generation of ecstatic faith. They are known as dor de’ah—a generation of special knowledge. The nineteenth-century Hasidic master Sefat Emet,1 for instance, writes of the book of Numbers as a “celebration of Israel.” Its true subject is the greatness of a people impassioned by God, human partners in an unprecedented conversation with Him. Where other books of the Torah are concerned primarily with God’s acts or Moses’ speeches or the lives of heroic individuals, this book gives voice to Israel herself. Drawing on kabbalistic sources, the Hasidic master ignores the manifest narrative of the book—what we have called the “great failure.” He depicts a people who transcend prudential considerations in order to follow God into the wilderness, and whose spiritual yearning comes to full expression in this book. This view of the wilderness history may seem idealized, to say the least. But, I suggest, it invites us to a different kind of listening to the notorious misspeakings of the people, the many cries of distrust, lament, resentment, that issue from them throughout this book. It is these words that anger God: not rebellious actions but restless language. Is there a way to integrate this narrative of dark murmurings, of obsessive fantasies of return to Egypt, with Sefat Emet’s celebration of a love-intoxicated wilderness discourse? The question touches not only on the language the Israelites speak but on the very nature of human utterance. Who are these people? Who are we who listen to them? What effect does the cumulative trauma of slavery, of the miracles of Exodus, of the Revelation at Sinai, have on a nation that is beginning to speak?
Rambam on Numbers 1:1, cited by Carasik in The Commentator's Bible, p. 3
Now this book [of Numbers] is made up entirely of commandments that were relevant specifically to the Israelites' situation while they were traveling through the wilderness...There are no commandments in this book that apply outside the wilderness situation..."
Richard Elliott Friedman, Commentary on the Torah, p. 1910-1911
The wilderness depiction conveys two quite different qualities. On the one hand, the wilderness years constitute a kind of ideal. The people’s life is orderly, protected, close to God. It is a period of incubation, of nurturing. All is provided: food, water, direction. The miraculous is the norm. At the same time, though, the wilderness is depicted as terrible. Conditions are bad. The environment is hostile. There is rebellion from within and fighting with peoples whom they encounter on the way. There are power struggles and fear.
Nedarim 55a
What is the meaning of that which is written: “And from the wilderness Mattana and from Mattana Nahaliel, and from Nahaliel Bamot” (Numbers 21:18–19)? Rava said to him that it means: Once a person renders himself like a wilderness, deserted before all, the Torah is given to him as a gift [mattana], as it is stated: “And from the wilderness Mattana.” And once it is given to him as a gift, God bequeaths [naḥalo] it to him, as it is stated: “And from Mattana Nahaliel.” And once God bequeaths it to him, he rises to greatness, as it is stated: And from Nahaliel, Bamot, which are elevated places. And if he elevates himself and is arrogant about his Torah, the Holy One, Blessed be He, degrades him, as it is stated: “And from Bamot the valley” (Numbers 21:20). And not only is he degraded, but one lowers him into the ground, as it is stated: “And looking over [nishkafa] the face of the wasteland” (Numbers 21:20), like a threshold [iskopa] that is sunken into the ground. And if he reverses his arrogance and becomes humble, the Holy One, Blessed be He, elevates him,
Lord Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, Numbers: The Wildnerness Years, loc. 885, Kindle edition
How exactly is Torah essentially connected to the idea of wilderness? One interpretation is psychological: “Anyone who does not make himself open to all [hefker, literally ‘ownerless’] like a wilderness cannot acquire wisdom and Torah.”(Numbers Rabbah 1:&) To receive the word of God, we must make ourselves open, the way a desert is. We have to engage in active listening. If we bring to the Torah our own presuppositions and preoccupations, we will hear only what we expect to hear. We will never encounter the voice of God, the radically Other, the transformative presence, within the text. We need an open mind and a receptive heart.
Rachel Havrelock, in The Torah: A Women's Commentary, p. 1957
Although the scrupulous detail of this parashah and other parts of the book may not immediately grip the reader, the underlying idea is that the ordering of the community—and by extension, one’s life—creates the space for encounters with the Divine.
Bamidbar Rabbah 4:2
(2) Another interpretation: "Number all the first-born males..." (Numbers 3:40) This is what is written (Song of Songs 6:8-9): "There are threescore queens ... My dove, my undefiled, is but one ..." Compare in parable to a person who had a sales-bundle of glass stones and would bring them them to the market, but would not notice their number, since he would not bring them out by number. He would go in to put them away and would not put them away by number, since he would not care about them, as they were glass. But he had one sales-bundle of precious pearls, and he would take it and bring it out by number and put it away by number.
George Robinson, Essential Torah, p. 448-449
B’midbar, then, presents us with the story of a people in transition, a passage that must be completed before they can achieve a long-desired goal. Now this wandering rabble of former slaves must shape itself into a nation, complete with the means to defend itself against hostile neighbors. Consequently, it is at this point that God orders a new census, organizing the Hebrews on a war footing.
Rabbi Shefa Gold, Torah Journeys, p. 136
Bamidbar begins with the taking of the census. On the spiritual journey it is necessary to look within in order to know, recognize and fully understand the myriad aspects that make up the self, 'the parliament of personality.'...As we take the inner census of the personality, as we list the aspects which comprise the force of our egos, we do so to place their power in service to the soul, to our true essence, to the spark of God within us. Our Levite is the part of us who must guard that essence.
(מז) וְהַלְוִיִּ֖ם לְמַטֵּ֣ה אֲבֹתָ֑ם לֹ֥א הׇתְפָּקְד֖וּ בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ {פ} (מח) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (מט) אַ֣ךְ אֶת־מַטֵּ֤ה לֵוִי֙ לֹ֣א תִפְקֹ֔ד וְאֶת־רֹאשָׁ֖ם לֹ֣א תִשָּׂ֑א בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ (נ) וְאַתָּ֡ה הַפְקֵ֣ד אֶת־הַלְוִיִּם֩ עַל־מִשְׁכַּ֨ן הָעֵדֻ֜ת וְעַ֣ל כׇּל־כֵּלָיו֮ וְעַ֣ל כׇּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ֒ הֵ֜מָּה יִשְׂא֤וּ אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ וְאֶת־כׇּל־כֵּלָ֔יו וְהֵ֖ם יְשָׁרְתֻ֑הוּ וְסָבִ֥יב לַמִּשְׁכָּ֖ן יַחֲנֽוּ׃ (נא) וּבִנְסֹ֣עַ הַמִּשְׁכָּ֗ן יוֹרִ֤ידוּ אֹתוֹ֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם וּבַחֲנֹת֙ הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן יָקִ֥ימוּ אֹת֖וֹ הַלְוִיִּ֑ם וְהַזָּ֥ר הַקָּרֵ֖ב יוּמָֽת׃ (נב) וְחָנ֖וּ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל אִ֧ישׁ עַֽל־מַחֲנֵ֛הוּ וְאִ֥ישׁ עַל־דִּגְל֖וֹ לְצִבְאֹתָֽם׃ (נג) וְהַלְוִיִּ֞ם יַחֲנ֤וּ סָבִיב֙ לְמִשְׁכַּ֣ן הָעֵדֻ֔ת וְלֹֽא־יִהְיֶ֣ה קֶ֔צֶף עַל־עֲדַ֖ת בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְשָׁמְרוּ֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם אֶת־מִשְׁמֶ֖רֶת מִשְׁכַּ֥ן הָעֵדֽוּת׃
(47) The Levites, however, were not recorded among them by their ancestral tribe. (48) For יהוה had spoken to Moses, saying: (49) Do not on any account enroll the tribe of Levi or take a census of them with the Israelites. (50) You shall put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Pact, all its furnishings, and everything that pertains to it: they shall carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings, and they shall tend it; and they shall camp around the Tabernacle. (51) When the Tabernacle is to set out, the Levites shall take it down, and when the Tabernacle is to be pitched, the Levites shall set it up; any outsider who encroaches shall be put to death. (52) The Israelites shall encamp troop by troop, each man with his division and each under his standard. (53) The Levites, however, shall camp around the Tabernacle of the Pact, that wrath may not strike the Israelite community; the Levites shall stand guard around the Tabernacle of the Pact.
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 774
The key to physical deployment of the Israelites as they camped and as they marched was the setting of the Ark at the center of camp. Every individual Isralite was located in relation to the Ark and the tabernacle. The tabernacle was the first thing one saw on leaving home and the first thing one looked for on returning home. Gradually, this physical centrality must have led to the Ark's gaining a central place in the Israelite soul. A tradition has it that the tribe of Judah, situated at the eastern edge of the camp, marched backward when the Israelites broke camp and traveled eastward, to avoid turning their backs on the ark. Thus they found their path to the future by orienting themselves to their past.
Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Bamidbar, p. 6
It quite clearly emerges that the Tabernacle that went in the midst of the camp of the Levites was the center of the camp of Israel just as the heart is the centre of the body.
Rabbi Shefa Gold, Torah Journeys, p. 137
The blessing of Bamidbar places my soul at the center of the Mishkan, guarded and surrounded by the part of me that is mindful of holiness. And that circle is surrounded by the circle of my personality, which places itself in service to the soul. Each aspect stands in its place, knowing that it is the God-spark at the center that is in charge.
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 774
2. Each with his standard A person's identity consists of three elements: the self (the standard), the family (the ancestral banners), and the community (the Tent of Meeting).
Rabbi David Kasher, ParshaNut, p. 268-269
The flags, God assures, will not only help the tribes locate themselves in an orderly fashion out on the desert plain, but will also provide them with a deep and meaningful sense of belonging in the world. As they raise their banners, they remind themselves of where they come from, and connect themselves to their ancestors. Remember that the Torah called the flags “a sign of their father’s house.”
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 776
17. As they camp, so shall they march The verse is interpreted homiletically to teach that one should be the same person at home as away from home, in private as in public.
(א) וְאֵ֛לֶּה תּוֹלְדֹ֥ת אַהֲרֹ֖ן וּמֹשֶׁ֑ה בְּי֗וֹם דִּבֶּ֧ר יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶת־מֹשֶׁ֖ה בְּהַ֥ר סִינָֽי׃ (ב) וְאֵ֛לֶּה שְׁמ֥וֹת בְּֽנֵי־אַהֲרֹ֖ן הַבְּכֹ֣ר ׀ נָדָ֑ב וַאֲבִיה֕וּא אֶלְעָזָ֖ר וְאִיתָמָֽר׃ (ג) אֵ֗לֶּה שְׁמוֹת֙ בְּנֵ֣י אַהֲרֹ֔ן הַכֹּהֲנִ֖ים הַמְּשֻׁחִ֑ים אֲשֶׁר־מִלֵּ֥א יָדָ֖ם לְכַהֵֽן׃ (ד) וַיָּ֣מׇת נָדָ֣ב וַאֲבִיה֣וּא לִפְנֵ֣י יְהֹוָ֡ה בְּֽהַקְרִבָם֩ אֵ֨שׁ זָרָ֜ה לִפְנֵ֤י יְהֹוָה֙ בְּמִדְבַּ֣ר סִינַ֔י וּבָנִ֖ים לֹא־הָי֣וּ לָהֶ֑ם וַיְכַהֵ֤ן אֶלְעָזָר֙ וְאִ֣יתָמָ֔ר עַל־פְּנֵ֖י אַהֲרֹ֥ן אֲבִיהֶֽם׃ {פ}
(1) This is the line of Aaron and Moses at the time that יהוה spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. (2) These were the names of Aaron’s sons: Nadab, the first-born, and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar; (3) those were the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests who were ordained for priesthood. (4) But Nadab and Abihu died by the will of יהוה, when they offered alien fire before יהוה in the wilderness of Sinai; and they left no sons. So it was Eleazar and Ithamar who served as priests in the lifetime of their father Aaron.
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 778
4. Nadab and Abihu died by the will of the Lord They died, literally, 'before the Lord, in God's presence' (i.e. within the sanctuary) as well as 'in the lifetime of their father.' This prompted the comment in the Midrash that 'God grieves for the death of the young as deeply as their parents do' (Numbers Rabbah 2:24). The Torah mentions the death of these two young kohanim several times after it occurs (e.g. Lev 16:1; Num 26:61), as if to hint that God too was having difficulty accepting their tragic death.
Louis Ginzberg, Legends of the Jews, p. 1088-1089, citing various sources
Before the Sons of Moses lay a tract of land bordered by the sea on three sides. For their complete protection God made the river Sambation to flow on the fourth side...In the land of the Sons of Moses there are none but clean animals, an in every respect the inhabitants lead a holy and pure life, worthy of their ancestor Moses...The Sons of Moses live peaceably and enjoy prosperity as equals through their common Jewish faith. They have need of neither prince nor judge, for they know not strife and litigation. Each works for the welfare of the community, and each takes from the common store only what will satisfy his needs. Their houses are built of equal height, that non one may deem himself above his neighbor...Even at night their doors stand wide open, for they have naught to fear from thieves, nor are wild animals known in their land. They all attain a good old age. The son never dies before the father. When a death occurs, there is rejoicing, because the departed is known to have entered into life everlasting in loyalty to his faith. The birth of a child, on the other hand, calls forth mourning, for who can tell whether the being ushered into the world will be pious and faithful?*
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 779
15. From the age of one month For purposes of military readiness, Israelites were counted only from the age of 20. Spiritual training, however, must begin virtually at birth.
(טז) וַיִּפְקֹ֥ד אֹתָ֛ם מֹשֶׁ֖ה עַל־פִּ֣י יְהֹוָ֑ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֖ר צֻוָּֽה׃ (יז) וַיִּֽהְיוּ־אֵ֥לֶּה בְנֵֽי־לֵוִ֖י בִּשְׁמֹתָ֑ם גֵּרְשׁ֕וֹן וּקְהָ֖ת וּמְרָרִֽי׃ (יח) וְאֵ֛לֶּה שְׁמ֥וֹת בְּֽנֵי־גֵרְשׁ֖וֹן לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֑ם לִבְנִ֖י וְשִׁמְעִֽי׃ (יט) וּבְנֵ֥י קְהָ֖ת לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֑ם עַמְרָ֣ם וְיִצְהָ֔ר חֶבְר֖וֹן וְעֻזִּיאֵֽל׃ (כ) וּבְנֵ֧י מְרָרִ֛י לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם מַחְלִ֣י וּמוּשִׁ֑י אֵ֥לֶּה הֵ֛ם מִשְׁפְּחֹ֥ת הַלֵּוִ֖י לְבֵ֥ית אֲבֹתָֽם׃
(16) So Moses recorded them at the command of יהוה, as he was bidden. (17) These were the sons of Levi by name: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. (18) These were the names of the sons of Gershon by clan: Libni and Shimei. (19) The sons of Kohath by clan: Amram and Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. (20) The sons of Merari by clan: Mahli and Mushi. These were the clans of the Levites within their ancestral houses:
(טו) וְכִלָּ֣ה אַֽהֲרֹן־וּ֠בָנָ֠יו לְכַסֹּ֨ת אֶת־הַקֹּ֜דֶשׁ וְאֶת־כׇּל־כְּלֵ֣י הַקֹּ֘דֶשׁ֮ בִּנְסֹ֣עַ הַֽמַּחֲנֶה֒ וְאַחֲרֵי־כֵ֗ן יָבֹ֤אוּ בְנֵי־קְהָת֙ לָשֵׂ֔את וְלֹֽא־יִגְּע֥וּ אֶל־הַקֹּ֖דֶשׁ וָמֵ֑תוּ אֵ֛לֶּה מַשָּׂ֥א בְנֵֽי־קְהָ֖ת בְּאֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד׃ (טז) וּפְקֻדַּ֞ת אֶלְעָזָ֣ר ׀ בֶּן־אַהֲרֹ֣ן הַכֹּהֵ֗ן שֶׁ֤מֶן הַמָּאוֹר֙ וּקְטֹ֣רֶת הַסַּמִּ֔ים וּמִנְחַ֥ת הַתָּמִ֖יד וְשֶׁ֣מֶן הַמִּשְׁחָ֑ה פְּקֻדַּ֗ת כׇּל־הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ וְכׇל־אֲשֶׁר־בּ֔וֹ בְּקֹ֖דֶשׁ וּבְכֵלָֽיו׃ {פ}
(יז) וַיְדַבֵּ֣ר יְהֹוָ֔ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹ֖ן לֵאמֹֽר׃ (יח) אַל־תַּכְרִ֕יתוּ אֶת־שֵׁ֖בֶט מִשְׁפְּחֹ֣ת הַקְּהָתִ֑י מִתּ֖וֹךְ הַלְוִיִּֽם׃ (יט) וְזֹ֣את ׀ עֲשׂ֣וּ לָהֶ֗ם וְחָיוּ֙ וְלֹ֣א יָמֻ֔תוּ בְּגִשְׁתָּ֖ם אֶת־קֹ֣דֶשׁ הַקֳּדָשִׁ֑ים אַהֲרֹ֤ן וּבָנָיו֙ יָבֹ֔אוּ וְשָׂמ֣וּ אוֹתָ֗ם אִ֥ישׁ אִ֛ישׁ עַל־עֲבֹדָת֖וֹ וְאֶל־מַשָּׂאֽוֹ׃ (כ) וְלֹא־יָבֹ֧אוּ לִרְא֛וֹת כְּבַלַּ֥ע אֶת־הַקֹּ֖דֶשׁ וָמֵֽתוּ׃ {פ}
(15) When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sacred objects and all the furnishings of the sacred objects at the breaking of camp, only then shall the Kohathites come and lift them, so that they do not come in contact with the sacred objects and die. These things in the Tent of Meeting shall be the porterage of the Kohathites. (16) Responsibility shall rest with Eleazar son of Aaron the priest for the lighting oil, the aromatic incense, the regular meal offering, and the anointing oil—responsibility for the whole Tabernacle and for everything consecrated that is in it or in its vessels. (17) יהוה spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (18) Do not let the group of Kohathite clans be cut off from the Levites. (19) Do this with them, that they may live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects: let Aaron and his sons go in and assign each of them to his duties and to his porterage. (20) But let not [the Kohathites] go inside and witness the dismantling of the sanctuary, lest they die.
Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Bamidbar, p. 26
...the danger here would be that they would all prefer the responsible task, which carried with it more prestige and honour, and neglect the less responsible and more humdrum ones...It was the duty of each individual to carry out, to the best of his ability, the task assigned to him. No one else could act as a substitute.
(1) AND THE CHARGE OF ELEAZAR THE SON OF AARON THE PRIEST SHALL BE THE OIL FOR THE LIGHT, AND THE SWEET INCENSE, AND THE CONTINUAL MEAL-OFFERING, AND THE ANOINTING OIL: HE SHALL HAVE THE CHARGE OF ALL THE TABERNACLE, AND OF ALL THAT THEREIN IS, IN THE SANCTUARY, AND IN THE VESSELS THEREOF. Scripture is stating that Eleazar was in charge of all these things, and the meaning of [the end of the verse] is that “he was in charge of all the Tabernacle and in charge of all that therein is.” And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained that it means that “Eleazar’s charge extended also to the Tabernacle and to all its vessels, together with his brother Ithamar, and that due to Eleazar’s great distinction, he alone was in charge of the oil [for the light], and the incense.” But this is not correct, since Scripture states [that the services of the sons of Gershon and Merari were] under the hand of Ithamar [which thus indicates that Eleazar had no share in it]! And [Scripture] explained here [that Eleazar’s charge was] in the Sanctuary and in the vessels thereof, and similarly it stated above, And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, was prince over the princes of the Levites and had the oversight of them that keep the charge of the Sanctuary meaning to say that he was the prince [who supervised] the charge of those that guarded the Sanctuary, which was in the hands of the Kohathites [i.e., he supervised the most holy things — the ark, the table, candelabrum, altars, Veils and the vessels used in the Divine Service]. But the meaning of the charge of all the Tabernacle is that “the charge of … the oil for the light, and the incense, and the meal-offering, and the anointing oil, and the charge of all the Tabernacle — in the Sanctuary, and of all that therein is of the holy vessels — they were all under the hand of Eleazar,” and they are those mentioned here when He stated, And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the Sanctuary and all the vessels of the Sanctuary. Eleazar was thus officer over the three princes [of the Levites], and [also] overseer of the charge of the Kohathites, and Ithamar was overseer of [the charges of the families of] Gershon and Merari. Now since Scripture does not say that Eleazar “shall bear” [the oil for the light etc.] as is said of the Levites, it would appear that Eleazar did not carry them, but was in charge over them and would give them from hand to hand to those Kohathites whom he chose because of their zeal and piety. It was they who carried them, and they returned them to his control when the Tabernacle was set up. This also [is the meaning of the verse which says that Eleazar was the prince over the princes of the Levites,] having the oversight of them that keep the charge of the Sanctuary, and the verse stating, and by name ye shall appoint the vessels of the charge of their burden [conveying the same thought, that the individual families of the Levites were to be told by the overseer what their particular kind of work would be, and Eleazar, as the prince over the princes, was the overseer of all the service of the Levites].
But according to the opinion of the Yerushalmi mentioned in the commentaries of Rashi that he [Eleazar himself] carried them [all the objects enumerated], it would be a heavy load! For the incense consisted of three hundred and sixty-eight manehs, arid [surely] Moses our teacher would not have prepared [only] half of the required quantity, and the oil for the light for a whole year was a large amount, namely one hundred and eighty-three logs, and as for [the ingredients required for] the continual meal-offering, we do not know how many days’ supply he carried! But [we would have to say that] Eleazar was very strong and powerful, as was our patriarch Jacob, and so also were Moses our teacher and his brother Aaron, and they that wait for the Eternal shall renew their strength.
RA & USCJ, Etz Hayim: Torah and Commentary, p. 785
20. There were special considerations on the Levites who would handle the most sacred articles. Abravanel understood this were to express concern lest the clans of Kohath become so fascinated by staring at the sacred objects that they would fall into a mystic trance, unable to do their work. Hirsch offers an opposite view; for him, the Torah's concern is that the Kohathites might become too accustomesd to the routine of seeing the sacred objects packed and unpacked: 'lest they die spiritually, losing their capacity to see the tabernacle as holy.
Moshe Hefez (16th c., Italy), cited in Nehama Leibowitz, Studies in Bamidbar, p. 28
I believe that the text contains a warning against the temptation of high office and the cure - humility. Pride and the feeling of success come before a fall. True contentment and happiness can only be achieved by the feeling of reverence and humility. The sons of Kohath were in danger of becoming victims of pride and vanity as a result of the privilege of carrying the ark which had been bestowed on them. The Holy One, blessed be He, therefore withhend from them one important detail. They were not allowed to carry the ark until Aaron and his sons had covered the holy things...this was designed to disinflate their pride.
Dr. Avivah Gottlieb Zornberg, Bewilderments, pp. 28-29
The real subject of this Book of the Wilderness, I suggest, is the longing of the people of Israel to learn directly from God, by learning something new about the Torah, about the world and themselves. What they are developing in their skeptical discourse is a language of imaginative truth, in which the fantasies of return to Egypt will be brought into connection with the miracles of Exodus. In them, traumatic suffering and traumatic revelation seek some subjective expression. The achievement of personal utterance, in a reality of bewilderment, is the contribution of Israel to the Torah. This book, unlike all other parts of the Torah, is made of the people’s utterances, its longing to converse, however obliquely, with God.