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Torah
Stories By Hannah Parasha Nasso |
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In
this week’s Parasha, Moshe is commanded to take a census of the Gershonites, also by
their ancestral house and by their clans. He was commanded to record them from
the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who are subject to service
in the performance of tasks for the Tent of Meeting; these are the duties of the
Gershonite clans as to labour and porterage: they shall carry the cloths of the
Tabernacle, the Tent of Meeting with its covering, the covering of dolphin skin
that is on top of it, and the screen for the entrance of the Tent of Meeting;
the hangings of the enclosure, the screen at the entrance of the gate of the
enclosure, that surrounds the tabernacle, the cords and the altar, and all
their service equipment and all their accessories; and they shall perform the
service. All the duties of the Gershonites, all their porterage and all their
service are to be performed on orders from Aharon and his sons; they shall be
responsible for attending to all their porterage. Those are the duties of the Gershonite clans
for the Tent of Meeting; they shall attend to them under direction of Ithamar
son of Aharon the priest.
As
for the Merarites, you shall record them by the clans of their ancestral house;
you shall record them from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty: All
who are subject to service in the performance of the duties of the Tent of
Meeting. These are their porterage tasks, in connection with their various
duties for the Tent of Meeting:
The
planks, the bars, the posts and the sockets of the Tabernacle; the posts around
the enclosure and their sockets pegs and cords – all these furnishings and
their service: you shall list by name the objects that are their porterage
tasks. Those are the duties of the Merarite clans pertaining to the various
duties in the Tent of Meeting under the direction of Ithamar son of Aharon the
priest.
So
Moshe, Aharon and the chieftain of the community recorded the Kohathites, by
the clans of their ancestral house, from the age of thirty years up to the age
of fifty; all who were subject for service for work relating to the Tent of
Meeting. Those recorded by their clans came to 2750. That was the enrolment of
the Kohathite clans, all those who performed duties relating to the Tent of
Meeting, who Moshe and Aharon recorded at the command of HaShem through Moshe.
The
Gershonites who were recorded by their clans of their
ancestral house, from the age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who
were subject to service for work relating to the Tent of Meeting – those
recorded by the clans of their ancestral house came to 2630. That was the
enrolment of the Gershonite clans. All those performing duties relating to the Tent of Meeting who
Moshe and Aharon recorded at the command of HaShem.
The
enrolment of the Merarite clans by the clans of their ancestral house, from the
age of thirty years up to the age of fifty, all who were subject to service for
work related to the Tent of Meeting – those recorded by their clans came to
3200. That was the enrolment of the
Merarite clans which Moshe and Aharon recorded at the command of HaShem.
All
the Levites who Moshe, Aharon and the chieftains of Israel recorded by the
clans of their ancestral houses from the age of thirty years up to the age of
fifty, all who were subject to duties of service and porterage relating to the
Tent of Meeting – those recorded came to 8580. Each one was given
responsibility for his service and porterage at the command of HaShem through
Moshe. And each was recorded as HaShem had commanded Moshe.
Moshe
was then commanded to instruct the Yisraelites to remove from camp anyone with
an eruption or discharge, and anyone defiled by a corpse. He had to remove male
and female alike; put them outside the camp, so that they do not defile the
camp in whose midst HaShem dwell. The Yisraelites did so, putting them outside
the camp. As HaShem had commanded Moshe, so they did.
Moshe
was then commanded to speak thus to the Yisraelites: When a man or a woman
commits any wrong toward a fellow man thus breaking faith with HaShem, and that
person realises his guilt, he shall confess the wrong that he has done, he
shall make restitution in the principal amount and add one fifth to it, giving
it to him whom he has wronged. If the man has no kinsman to whom restitution
can be made, the amount repaid shall go to HaShem for the priest - In addition
to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made on his behalf. So too, any gift among the sacred donations that the Yisraelites
offer shall be the priest’s and each shall retain his sacred donations. Each priest shall keep what is given him.
Moshe was then
commanded to speak to the Yisraelite people and say to them: If any man’s wife
have gone astray and broken faith with him, in that a man has had carnal relations
with her unbeknown to her husband, and she keeps secret the fact that she has
defiled herself without being forced, and there is no witness against her, but
a fit of jealousy comes over him and he is wrought up about the wife who has
defiled herself, or if a fit of jealousy comes over one and he is wrought up
about his wife, although she has not defiled herself, the man shall bring his
wife to the priest, and he shall bring as an offering for her, one tenth of an
ephah of barley flour, no oil shall be poured on it, and no frankincense shall
be laid on it for it is a meal offering of jealousy; a meal offering of
remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.
The
priest shall bring her forward, and have her stand before HaShem. The priest
shall take sacral water in an earthen vessel and taking some of the earth that
is on the floor of the Tabernacle, the priest shall put it into the water.
After he has made the woman stand before HaShem, the priest shall bear the
woman’s head and place on her hands the meal offering of remembrance which is a
meal offering of jealousy. And in the priest’s hands shall be the water of
bitterness that induces the spell. The priest shall adjure the woman saying to
her: “If no man has lain with you, if you have not gone astray in defilement
while married to your husband, be immune to harm from this water of bitterness
that induces the spell. But if you have gone astray while married to your
husband, and have defiled yourself. If a man other than your husband have had
carnal relations with you.” – Here the priest shall administer the curse to the
woman as the priest shall go on to say to the woman: “May HaShem make you a
curse and an imprecation among your people. As HaShem causes your thigh to sag
and your belly to distend may this water that induces
the spell enter your body causing the belly to distend and the thigh to sag.”
And the woman shall say: “Amen, amen.” The priest shall put these curses down
in writing and rub it off into the water of bitterness. He is to make the woman
drink the water of bitterness that induces the spell so that the spell-inducing
water may enter into her to bring on bitterness. Then the priest shall take
from the woman’s hand the meal offering of jealousy, elevate the meal offering
before HaShem and present it on the altar. The priest shall scoop out of the
meal offering a token part of it and turn it into smoke on the altar. Last he
shall make the woman drink the water.
Once
he has made her drink the water – if she has defiled herself by breaking faith with
her husband, the spell inducing water shall enter into her to bring on
bitterness so that her belly shall distend and her thigh shall sag; and the
woman shall become a curse among her people. But if the woman has not defiled
herself and is pure, she shall be unharmed and able to retain seed.
This
is the ritual in cases of jealousy when a woman goes astray while married to
her husband and defiles herself or when a fit of
jealousy comes over a man and he is wrought up over his wife: The woman shall
be made to stand before HaShem and the priest shall carry out all this ritual
with her. The man shall be clear of guilt but that woman shall suffer for her
guilt.
Then Moshe was
commanded by HaShem to speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: If anyone,
man or woman explicitly utters a Nazrite vow, to set himself apart for HaShem,
he shall abstain from wine and any other strong drink: he shall not drink
vinegar or wine, or any other strong drink, neither shall he drink anything in
which grapes had been steeped, nor eat grapes fresh or dried. Throughout his
term as a Nazrite he shall not eat anything that is obtained from the
grape-vine, even seeds or skin.
Throughout
the term of his vow as a Nazrite no razor shall touch his head; it shall remain
consecrated until the completion of his term as a Nazrite to HaShem, he shall
be holy, he shall let the hair of his head grow long.
Throughout
the term that he has set himself apart for HaShem he shall not come near to a
dead body. Even if his father, or his mother, or his brother, or his sister
should die; he must not defile himself for them because his consecration to
HaShem is on his head. And throughout his term as a Nazrite he is holy to
HaShem. And if a person dies suddenly near him, and he defile his consecrated
hair, then he shall shave his head on the day that he becomes clean, he shall
shave it on the seventh day. On the eighth day he shall bring two turtledoves,
or two young pigeons, to the priest, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
The priest shall offer one as a sin-offering, and the other as a
burnt-offering, and make atonement for him, for the guilt he incurred for the
corpse; and that same day he shall re-consecrate his head and re-dedicate to
HaShem his term as a Nazrite. And he shall bring a lamb of the first year for a
guilt-offering; the previous period shall be void, because his consecrated hair
was defiled.
And
this is the ritual for the Nazrite; on the day that his term as a Nazrite is
completed: he shall be brought to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting; and he shall present his offering to HaShem,
one male lamb in its first year without blemish for a burnt-offering, and one
ewe lamb in its first year without blemish for a sin-offering, and one ram
without blemish for an offering of wellbeing, a basket of unleavened
bread, of choice flour with oil mixed
in, and unleavened wafers spread with oil, and the proper meal offerings, and
their drink-offerings.
The
priest shall present them before HaShem, and shall offer the sin-offering, and
the burnt-offering. He shall offer the ram as a sacrifice of wellbeing to
HaShem, with the basket of unleavened cakes; the priest shall also offer the
meal-offering, and the drink-offering. The Nazrite shall then shave his
consecrated hair at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and take the hair of
his consecrated head, and put it on the fire which is under the sacrifice of
wellbeing.
The
priest shall take the shoulder of the ram when it has been boiled, and one
unleavened cake from the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and place them on
the hands of the Nazrite, after he has shaved his consecrated head. The priest
shall wave them for a wave-offering before HaShem; this shall be a sacred
donation for the priest, in addition to the breast of the elevation offering
and the thigh of gift offering; after that the Nazrite may drink wine.
This
is the obligation of a Nazrite except that he who vows an offering to HaShem of
what he can afford beyond his Nazrite requirements must do exactly according to
the vow that he has made beyond his obligation as a Nazrite.
Moshe was then commanded to speak to Aharon
and to his sons, and say to him: So shall you bless the children of
May
HaShem shine His countenance on you, and give you peace. So shall they put My name on the children of
On
the day that Moshe finished setting up the Tabernacle, he anointed it and
sanctified it, and all the furniture, and the altar and all its utensils, and
had anointed and consecrated them; the chieftains of Israel, the heads of their
fathers' houses, drew near and brought their offering before HaShem: six
covered carts, and twelve oxen: a wagon for every two the chieftains, and an ox
for each one. When they presented them before the tabernacle, HaShem said to
Moshe: “Accept these from them, for use in the service of the Tent of Meeting;
and give them to the Levites, according to their respective service.
Moshe
took the carts and the oxen, and gave them to the Levites. Two carts and four
oxen he gave to the Gershonites, as required for their service, and four carts
and eight oxen he gave to the Merarites, as required for their service - under
the direction of Ithamar son of Aharon the priest. But to the sons of Kohath he
did not give any, since theirs was the service of the most sacred objects: they
bore them on their shoulders.
The chieftains also
brought the dedication-offering of the altar in the day that it was anointed.
As the chieftains brought their offering before the altar, HaShem said to
Moshe: “Let them present their offering for the dedication of the altar: One
chieftain each day.” The one that presented his offering the first day was
Nahshon the son of Amminadab, of the tribe of Judah; On the second day Nethanel
the son of Zuar, chieftain of Issachar; On the third day it was the chieftain
of the Zebulunites, Eliab son of Helon; On the fourth day it was the chieftain
of the Reubenites, Elizur the son of Shedeur; On the fifth day it was the
chieftain of the Simeonites, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai; On the sixth day
it was the chieftain of the Gadites, Eliasaph the son of Deuel; On the seventh
day it was the chieftain of the Ephraimites, Elishama the son of Ammihud; On
the eighth day it was the chieftain of the Manassites, Gamaliel the son of
Pedahzur; On the ninth day it was the chieftain of the Benjaminites, Abidan the
son of Gideoni; On the tenth day it was the chieftain of the Danites, Ahiezer
the son of Ammishaddai; On the eleventh day it was the chieftain of the
Asherites, Pagiel the son of Ochran; On the twelfth day it was the chieftain of
the Naphtalites, Ahira the son of Enan; Each of them offered one silver bowl,
weighing a hundred and thirty shekels, one silver basin of seventy shekels, by
the sanctuary weight, both filled with choice flour with oil mixed in for a
meal-offering; one golden ladle of ten shekels, filled with incense; one young
bull of the herd, one ram, one lamb in its first year, for a burnt-offering;
one goat for a sin-offering; and for the sacrifice of wellbeing, two oxen, five
rams, five he-goats, five yearling lambs. In the Tanakh each chieftain is named
with his offering that he brought beside his name.
This was the
dedication offering for the altar from the chieftains of Yisrael at its
anointing: twelve silver bowls, twelve silver basins twelve gold ladles, Silver
per bowl: 130, per basin, 70. Total silver
of vessels: 2400 sanctuary shekels. The twelve gold ladles filled with incense
– 10 sanctuary shekels per ladle – total gold of the ladles, 120.
The total of herd animals for burnt offerings that
were brought; twelve bulls, twelve rams, twelve yearling lambs, twelve goats
for sin offerings, with their drink offerings. Total of herd animals for
sacrifices of wellbeing; 24 bulls, 60 rams, 60 he-goats, 60 yearling lambs,
That was the dedication offering for the altar after its anointing.
When
Moshe went into the Tent of Meeting to speak with Him, he would hear the Voice
addressing him from above the cover that was on top of the Ark of the Covenant
between the two cherubim; so He spoke to him.
