Shabbat Parashat Naso - 5782

Shabbat Parashat Naso - 5782

Rabbi Hal Miller

This is the work of the sons of the Gershonite in the Tent of Meeting, and their

charge shall be under the authority of Itamar, the son of Aharon the Kohen.

[Bamidbar 4:28]

Our verse refers to the previous few that describe the portion of the Levite work

assigned to the sons of Gershon. The verse is followed by a description of what

is assigned to Merari, and then in 33, virtually identical wording to ours regarding

the authority of Itamar. To this point, things are clear, but now we can ask a few

questions that are less so. Why only Itamar and not his older brother Elazar? Why

only Gershon and Merari, and not their middle brother Kohat?

The verse prior to ours, 27, says, "According to the word of Aharon and his sons

shall be all the work of the sons of the Gershonite." If the assignment is to be by

Aharon and his sons Elazar and Itamar, why do we have Itamar named separately

here for both Gershon and Merari?

Rashi says that the work of all three Levite families was assigned by "Aharon and his

sons", but it does not mean that each of them had a direct hand in each assignment.

We saw last week in 4:16, "The charge of Elazar son of Aharon the Kohen is the oil

of illumination, the incense spices, the meal offering of the continual offering, and the

anointment oil", etc. This verse applied to the Levite family of Kohat, the ones who

dealt with those holy objects. Numerous commentators explain that this was given to

Elazar as the oldest surviving brother, son of Aharon. They also explain why Kohat,

who was the middle Levite brother, behind Gershon and ahead of Merari, received

this assignment, and how Gershon received various other firstborn honors. This

answers our question about Kohat--he was discussed previously. It also gives us an

understanding as to why Elazar is not discussed this week in the same way as Itamar

but it does not explain why Itamar (or for that matter Elazar last week) is mentioned in

this context in the first place.

Ramban differs with Rashi, asking why Aharon was mentioned here at all. He cites 4:27,

"According to the word of Aharon and his sons shall be all the work", meaning that we

cannot ignore the mention of Aharon. He and his sons worked together on the list of

assignments, then the two sons were each given an administrative role to follow up.

Rav Hirsch appears to agree with Ramban, and the plain meaning of the verse supports

this interpretation. Read this way, nobody was left out.