NassoBamidbar (numbers)

The Clan of Gershon
GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

“Take a census of the clan of Gershon, too, according to their fathers’ houses, by their families.

You must count them from the age of 30 to the age of 50, all who are strong enough to lift heavy things and are thus eligible for the troop, to perform service in the Tent of Meeting.

This is the service of the families of the clan of Gershon in transporting the Tabernacle, to serve and to carry:

They must carry the bottom cover of tapestries draped over the Tabernacle, the middle cover of goat-skins draped over the Tent of Meeting, the upper covering of red-dyed ram-skins and the tachash-skin covering overlaid upon it, the Screen for the entrance to the Tent of Meeting,

This is the service of the families of the clan of Gershon in the Tent of Meeting, and their charge, which was under the direction of Itamar son of Aaron the priest.

The Clan of Merari
You must count the clan of Merari by their families, according to their fathers’ houses.

You must count them from the age of 30 to the age of 50, all who are strong enough to lift heavy things and are thus eligible for the troop, to perform service in the Tent of Meeting.

This is the charge of their burden for all their service in transporting the Tent of Meeting: they will transport the planks of the Tabernacle, its bars, its pillars, and its sockets,

This is the service of the families of the clan of Merari for all their service in the Tent of Meeting, which, like that of the clan of Gershon, was under the supervision of Itamar son of Aaron the priest.”

The Tally of the Clan of Kehat
After God finished commanding Moses to count the three Levite clans, Moses did so, in the order God mentioned them: Moses, Aaron, and the princes of the community first counted the clan of Kehat by their families and according to their fathers’ houses

from the age of 30 to the age of 50, all who were eligible for the troop, for service in the Tent of Meeting.

Their tally, according to their families, was 2,750.

These were the tallies of the families of the clan of Kehat, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, who were counted by Moses and Aaron as directed by GOD to Moses.

The Tally of the Clan of Gershon
This was the tally of the clan of Gershon, by their families and according to their fathers’ houses,

from the age of 30 to the age of 50, all who were eligible for the troop, for service in the Tent of Meeting.

Their tally, by their families and according to their fathers’ houses, was 2,630.

These are the tallies of the families of the clan of Gershon, all who served in the Tent of Meeting, whom Moses and Aaron counted as directed by GOD.

The Tally of the Clan of Merari
This was the tally of the families of the clan of Merari, by their families and according to their fathers’ houses,

from the age of 30 to the age of 50, all who were eligible for the troop, for service in the Tent of Meeting.

Their tally by their families was 3,200.

from the age of 30 to the age of 50, all who were fit, i.e., strong enough both to perform the service of playing heavy musical instruments, such as cymbals and harps – which was part of the musical accompaniment to the priests’ service of offering up sacrifices – and to do the work of carrying the parts of the Tabernacle in transporting the Tent of Meeting.

Their tally was 8,580.

As directed by GOD, they were appointed by Moses, each man to his service and his burden; those appointed were only those whom GOD had commanded Moses to count, i.e., those between the ages of 30 and 50.

Having completed its account of the census, the Torah now returns to the events of 1 Nisan 2449, when the Tabernacle was erected. GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

You must banish both male and female; you must send them outside the camp so they not defile their camps in which I dwell among them. And just as you must maintain ritual purity, so must you maintain proper hygiene by setting up latrines outside the camp.”

The Israelites did so: they sent them outside the camp; the Israelites did exactly as GOD had spoken to Moses.

The Laws of Theft
The following laws were given on 1 Iyar. The Torah stated the laws of thievery earlier, but repeats them now in order to add two new details: (a) the thief is only liable to pay a surcharge and bring a guilt-offering if he confesses on his own, but not if he is convicted by a court, and (b) if the victim was a convert with no heirs and he has died since the crime, the thief must pay the priests instead. GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

“Tell the Israelites: When a man or woman commits any of the following sins of man: he denies having received a deposit, having entered into a partnership, having taken a loan, having robbed, having withheld an employee’s wages, or having found a lost article, and by denying this acts treacherously against GOD, and then he swears falsely to this effect, and that person later feels guilty

and confesses the sin he committed, he must make restitution for the principal amount of his guilt, add its fifth to it, and give it to the one against whom he was guilty.

But if the wronged man has died, the thief must give the restitution and the additional fifth to his closest relative. If, however, the wronged man has no kinsman to whom to make restitution – i.e., he was a convert to Judaism, who is ‘reborn’ when he converts and is no longer legally tied to any of his former kin, and he did not become legally tied to any new kin after his conversion – the debt, i.e., the principal, and the additional amount that should be restored to him is to be given instead to GOD, by being given to any priest whose division is serving in the Temple at that time. The thief must pay this restitution besides offering up the atonement ram mentioned previously, through which expiation is made for him.”

GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

The Suspected Adulteress
“Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Should any man’s wife stray from the norms of modest behavior, and should he see her behaving immodestly with another man, he must warn her to refrain from being in this man’s company. Under the following circumstances, he must further suspect that she was unfaithful both to him and to God

All of this applies only if a spirit of suspicion had come upon the husband prior to the seclusion and, as we said, he had warned his wife in front of witnesses not to seclude herself with this man, and she might have been defiled, or such a spirit of suspicion had come upon the husband prior to the seclusion and he had warned his wife in this way and she might not have been defiled – for as we said, there is no witness one way or the other.

If all these conditions are met, the man must bring his wife to the priest and bring her offering for her, one-tenth of an ephah of coarse barley flour. Grain-offerings are usually fine wheat flour, but since the woman is suspected of performing a bestial sin, she brings an offering of animal food. Furthermore, he must neither pour oil over it, which would beautify it and associate it with light (since oil is used to fuel lamps, whereas she acted in the darkness of secrecy), nor put frankincense on it, which would associate it with the deeds of the matriarchs, for it is a grain-offering expressing both God’s and her husband’s jealousies, a grain-offering of remembrance, recalling iniquity.

The priest must bring her forth and present her before GOD, i.e., at the entrance to the Courtyard, so that all may see her.

Preparing the Solution
The priest must take holy water, i.e., water from the Laver, in an earthen vessel, and the priest must take some earth from the Tabernacle floor and put it into the water. The woman is tried with water from the Laver because the Laver was made out of the mirrors that the Jewish women in Egypt had used to arouse their husbands’ marital passions, and this woman is suspected of marital infidelity. She is served bitter water in an earthenware cup in order to contrast it with the fine wine in a fine goblet she is suspected of serving her paramour.

The Oath
The priest must then place her under oath, and say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you and you have not gone astray to become defiled by another man in place of your husband, you will be absolved through this bitter, fatal water.

But as for you, if you have gone astray with another man instead of your husband and have become defiled, and another man besides your husband has lain with you, you will perish from the water.”

The priest must then adjure the woman with the oath of the curse. The priest must say to the woman, “May GOD make you into a curse and an oath among your people, i.e., when people want to curse each other they will say, ‘May what happened to so-and-so happen to you,’ and when they want to swear they will say, ‘If I am not telling the truth, may what happened to so-and-so happen to me.’ You will become the subject of the people’s curses and oaths when they see GOD punish the organs you used to sin, i.e., when He causes your thigh to rupture and your belly to swell.” The priest mentions the limbs in the order in which they were used to sin.

“For this fatal water will enter your innards, causing also the paramour’s belly to swell and his thigh to rupture” – here the priest mentions the limbs in the order in which the water reaches them. The woman must accept the oath of the curse by saying “Amen” to the oath and “amen” to the curse. Her double acceptance also implies that she accepts the consequences even if she committed adultery with a different paramour or before her marriage, while only betrothed to her husband.

Then the priest must write these curses – including God’s Name – on a scroll and erase it in the bitter water.

Administering the Solution
The priest will then offer up the woman’s grain-offering, as will be described presently. Afterwards, he must give the bitter, fatal water to the woman to drink, and this fatal water will enter her entire body, becoming bitter for her (if she is indeed guilty) by causing her whole body – not only her thigh and belly – to rupture.

The Grain-Offering
But first, the priest must take the grain-offering of jealousies from the woman’s hand, and then, with her hand in between his and the offering, wave the grain-offering before GOD horizontally and vertically. He will then bring it to the south-west corner of the Altar, as is done with all grain-offerings.

The priest must scoop out from the grain-offering its memorial portion, i.e., a handful of it, and burn it up upon the Altar, and then he must give the woman the water to drink.

Even if she refuses to drink the solution, the priest must make her drink it once God’s Name has been blotted out by the water – unless she explicitly admits her guilt, for then we need not proceed with the test. And if she had been defiled and was unfaithful to her husband, the fatal water will enter her to become bitter, and her belly will swell, and her thigh will rupture. At the same instant, the paramour will die in the same way she does, wherever he may be. The woman will be a curse among her people.

But if the woman had not become defiled when she secluded herself with this man and she is guiltless with regard to other men, as well, she will be exempted from the effect of the solution, and moreover, it will cause her to bear children better than before: if she formerly experienced pain in childbirth, she will be relieved of this from now on; if she formerly had ugly children, she will have beautiful ones from now on.

This is the law of suspicions, which is applied when a woman strays from the norms of modest behavior with someone other than her husband and is suspected of having been defiled,

Even if the woman dies because of this, the husband will be absolved of iniquity, and the woman will bear her iniquity herself. And if she is proved innocent, the husband may resume married life with her – and in doing so he will be absolved of the iniquity of engaging in marital relations with a woman forbidden to him, for once he suspected her of adultery he was forbidden to engage in marital relations with her until she would be proven innocent.’”

The Nazirite
Having illustrated the gravity of adultery, the Torah now discusses one of the ways of preventing it: being careful about drinking wine, since drinking can lead to impropriety, which in turn can lead to adultery. Someone who senses that he needs to strengthen his control over alcohol is advised to become a Nazirite (“abstainer”) for a period of time. GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

“Speak to the Israelites, and you must say to them: ‘If a man or woman utters a Nazirite vow to abstain from wine for the sake of GOD, i.e., in order to be a more Godly person,

Grape Products
he must abstain from new wine and aged wine; he must not drink even vinegar made from new or aged wine, nor may he drink anything in which grapes have been steeped, and he must eat neither fresh grapes nor dried ones.

For the entire duration of his abstinence, he must not eat any product of the grape vine, from seeds to skins.

Growing Hair
In addition, all the days of his vow of abstinence, no razor may pass over his head; until the completion of the term that he abstains for the sake of GOD, his hair must be sacred, i.e., off limits, and he must therefore allow the growth of the hair of his head to grow for at least 30 days. Thus, 30 days is the minimum amount of time a person can be a Nazirite.

Defilement
Finally, all the days that he abstains for GOD, he must not come into contact with the dead.

Even for his father, his mother, his brother, or his sister, he must not defile himself if they die, for the crown of abstinence for his God, i.e., his uncut hair, is upon his head.

For the entire duration of his abstinence, his body is to be considered holy to GOD by being forbidden to come in contact with the dead.

Accidental Defilement
If someone in the same room dies unexpectedly or suddenly, and thereby causes his Nazirite head to become defiled, the Nazirite must shave off the hair of his head on the day of his purification, i.e., he must shave it off on the seventh day after he was defiled, when the water containing the ashes of the red cow are dashed on him for the second time.

On the eighth day or later, he must bring two turtledoves or two young pigeons to the priest, i.e., into the Courtyard outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

The priest must prepare one as a sin-offering and one as an ascent-offering and atone on his behalf for sinning by both coming into contact with the dead and by abstaining from wine in the first place. For although it may have been necessary for the individual to abstain from wine, it is still an affront to God to exceed the Torah’s prohibitions and to abstain from permitted pleasures. In any case, he must sanctify his head anew on that day and resume growing his hair.

Completing Naziritehood
This is the law of how the Nazirite completes his period of abstinence: On the day his period of Naziritehood is completed, he must present himself in the Courtyard of the Tabernacle, outside the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

He must bring his offering to GOD: one unblemished male lamb in its first year as an ascent-offering, one unblemished ewe lamb in its first year as a sin-offering, one unblemished ram as a peace-offering,

The priest must present it before GOD, and offer up the Nazirite’s sin-offering and his ascent-offering.

He must then offer up the ram as a peace-promoting feast-offering to GOD, intending while slaughtering it to also sanctify the basket of unleavened bread, and the priest must then offer up the grain-offering accompanying the ram as well as its libation.

After it is slaughtered, the ram must be cooked while still in the Courtyard. After the priest slaughters the peace-offering, the Nazirite must shave the hair off the head of his Naziritehood outside the entrance to the Courtyard of the Tent of Meeting. He must then take the hair of the head of his Naziritehood and place it upon the fire that is under the pot in which the peace-promoting feast-offering is being cooked.

The priest must then take the cooked foreleg of the ram, one unleavened loaf from the basket, and one unleavened cake, and place them in the hands of the Nazirite after he has shaven off his Nazirite head.

The priest must wave them as a waving before GOD; this wave-offering – i.e., the foreleg, the loaf, and the wafer – is consecrated to the priest, along with the breast of the wave-offering and the right hind midleg of the raised-offering that are the priest’s regular portion of every peace-offering. The ram must be eaten by the morning following the day it is offered up, but nevertheless it remains a sacrifice of lesser holiness. Whatever is left over on the second day must be burned. After this procedure, the Nazirite may once again drink wine.

GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

The Priestly Blessings
“I have already promised the people that if they obey My commandments I will reward them with material prosperity in order to make it easier for them to continue to do what I require of them. In addition to this, however, My presence in their midst – ensured by the Tabernacle – will make them abundantly prosperous, beyond their minimal needs. The vehicle for this beneficence will be the priestly blessing. Therefore, speak to Aaron and his sons, saying: ‘This is how you must bless the Israelites after you offer up the daily morning sacrifice (and on certain other occasions). Say the following words to them:

“May GOD bless you with wealth, making you extraordinarily prosperous, and watch over you, protecting this wealth entirely from theft.

May GOD shine His face to you in friendship and endow you with grace so that you will be liked and esteemed by others.

As for your shortcomings, may GOD be partial toward you, i.e., show you discriminatory favor by overlooking them, and thereby grant you peace.”’

When reciting this blessing, the priests must bestow My Name upon the Israelites, i.e., pronounce My proper Name (the Name Havayah) as it is written, and I will bless the Israelites through the priests’ benediction and also bless the priests themselves.”

The princes of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ houses, presented their offerings. They were the same princes of the tribes who had been appointed by the Egyptian taskmasters as foremen to oversee the slaves’ work. They had been beaten on account of their mercy on the people, and this earned them the right to be their princes. They were also the ones who would be present to assist Moses and Aaron during the counting that would take place at the beginning of the following month.

So GOD spoke to Moses, saying:

So Moses took the wagons and the cattle and gave them to the Levites.

He gave two wagons and four oxen to the clan of Gershon, according to their work.

And he gave four wagons and eight oxen – twice as much – to the clan of Merari, according to their work under the direction of Itamar son of Aaron the priest, for their burden – the planks, the columns, and the sockets – was much heavier than that of the clan of Gershon.

But to the clan of Kehat he did not give any wagons, for incumbent upon them was the work involving the holy objects – the furnishings of the Tabernacle – which they were to carry on their shoulders.

After they presented their personal offerings, the princes brought offerings on behalf of their respective tribes for the dedication of the Altar on the day it was anointed. The suggestion to bring this offering, what its components should be, and the allegorical intentions behind each of these components was given by the prince of the tribe of Issachar, Netan’eil son of Tzu’ar. The princes suggested presenting their offerings all together in front of the Altar, but again, Moses would not accept them until God told him to.

So GOD said to Moses, “Accept them, but not all at once. True, the princes are giving these offerings all with the same general intention in mind, but they also have specific intentions unique to their respective tribes. Therefore, let one prince each day present his offering for the dedication of the Altar, and let them do so in the order in which their respective tribes will be organized as an army at the beginning of next month. But even though they will be organized into four camps of three tribes each and set out on their journeys three tribes at a time, they will offer their sacrifices now one prince each day.”

Judah
Thus, the one who brought his offering on Sunday, the first day of Nisan, was Nachshon son of Aminadav of the tribe of Judah. He paid for his offering himself, as did all the princes; they did not collect any money from their respective tribes, even though the offering was made on behalf of the whole tribe.

the choicest young bull in his herd, the choicest ram in his flock, and the choicest lamb in its first year in his flock as an ascent-offering,

one young he-goat as a sin-offering in case anyone from his tribe had walked over an unknown grave and had thereby unwittingly become defiled and incurred guilt by entering the Sanctuary grounds or eating sacrificial meat,

His offering was one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels, one silver dashing basin weighing 70 shekels according to the value of the sacred shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil as a voluntary grain-offering,

the choicest young bull in his herd, the choicest ram in his flock, and the choicest lamb in its first year in his flock as an ascent-offering,

one young he-goat as a sin-offering,

Gad
On the sixth day of Nisan, the prince who brought his offering was of the tribe of Gad: Elyasaf son of De’u’eil.

His offering was one silver bowl weighing 130 shekels, one silver dashing basin weighing 70 shekels according to the value of the sacred shekel, both filled with fine flour mixed with olive oil as a voluntary grain-offering,

the choicest young bull in his herd, the choicest ram in his flock, and the choicest lamb in its first year in his flock as an ascent-offering,

one young he-goat as a sin-offering,

and for the peace-promoting feast-offering: two bulls, five rams, five he-goats, and five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Pagi’eil son of Ochran.

Naphtali
On the 12th day of Nisan, the prince who brought his offering was of the tribe of Naphtali: Achira son of Einan.

one gold spoon weighing 10 shekels filled with incense,

the choicest young bull in his herd, the choicest ram in his flock, and the choicest lamb in its first year in his flock as an ascent-offering,

one young he-goat as a sin-offering,

and for the peace-promoting feast-offering: two bulls, five rams, five he-goats, and five lambs in their first year. This was the offering of Achira son of Einan.

All the above was the dedication-offering of the Altar presented by the princes of Israel on the day the Altar was anointed, 1 Nisan, even though they brought their offerings over a period of 12 days. The Torah now repeats the tally to indicate that nothing happened to disqualify these items from use between 1 Nisan and the specific day on which they were offered. There were 12 silver bowls, 12 silver basins, and 12 gold spoons.

The weight of each silver bowl was 130 shekels, and that of each basin was 70 shekels; all the silver of the vessels weighed in total exactly 2,400 shekels according to the value of the sacred shekel.

The Torah now continues to describe how God spoke to Moses in the Tabernacle once it was erected. When Moses would come into the Tent of Meeting so God could speak with him, he would hear His voice as loud as it was heard on Mount Sinai, but the sound miraculously stopped at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting, so no one heard it outside. Even though the voice was this loud, it sounded to Moses as if it were speaking to itself and he was simply overhearing it. God’s voice issued from between the two cherubim above the covering that was over the Ark of the Testimony in the Holy of Holies, and Moses heard it while standing in the outer chamber of the Tent of Meeting. God spoke only to Moses and not to Aaron, except when it is explicitly stated otherwise.