The Weekly Shtikle - Naso

    This week's parsha begins with the counting of the descendants of Gershon and the listing of their responsibilities with regard to the carrying of the Mishkan as B'nei Yisroel traveled, followed by the same for Merari. This is in fact a continuation of a process that began in parshas Bemidbar with the counting of the descendants of Kehas. The obvious question is why are the three sons of Levi split up? Why are they not all together in the same parsha?

 

    I found the identical answer in the Abarbanel and Ta'ama D'kra. First, it should be noted that Gershon is in fact older than Kehas. Nevertheless, since Aharon and Moshe came from Kehas, his descendants were given the honour of handling the holiest of the Mishkan's vessels - the Aron, the Shulchan and the Menorah. Therefore, it was fitting that they be listed before Gershon. However, the Torah did not want to deny Gershon the honour of the first-born.Therefore, instead of being listed first among Levi's three sons Gershon was given the beginning of a parsha. Obviously, the only way to that is to split them up.

 

Have a good Shabbos.

Eliezer Bulka
WeeklyShtikle@weeklyshtikle.com

Shtikle Blog Weekly Roundup:

Dikdukian: Aleph's and Ayin's

Please visit the new portal for all Shtikle-related sites, www.weeklyshtikle.com

The Weekly Shtikle and related content are now featured on BaltimoreJewishLife.com