Kommentar zu Bamidbar 8:25

ולא יעבד עוד [AND FROM THE AGE OF FIFTY YEARS HE SHALL CEASE WAITING UPON THE SERVICE] AND SHALL DO NO MORE SERVICE — the service of bearing loads on the shoulder, but he still returns (i. e. may be called upon) for closing the Temple gates, for the service of singing and for loading sacred articles upon the wagons; for this is the meaning of (v. 26) “But he shall serve את אחיו” i. e. together with his brethren, just as the Targum renders it (not, “he shall serve his brethren, i. e. wait upon them) (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 63).

AND FROM THE AGE OF FIFTY YEARS HE SHALL RETURN FROM THE SERVICE OF THE WORK, AND HE SHALL SERVE NO MORE — “the service of carrying loads upon the shoulders, but he returns [i.e., he may still serve] to close the gates, or to sing, or to load the wagons.” This is Rashi’s language. But in the Sifre⁴⁸Sifre Beha’alothcha 63. the Rabbis mentioned only that “he returns to close the gates or to the work of the sons of Gershon”⁴⁹The reference is also to the work of the sons of Merari, since the work of both of them [the sons of Gershon and Merari] consisted only of loading the wagons during transport, and serving as gate-keepers when the Tabernacle was in its place. The Sifre, however, speaks only of “the sons of Gershon” since they are mentioned (above, in Chapter 4, where the work was assigned to each of the three main families of the Levites) next to the sons of Kohath, whose work consisted of carrying the loads on their shoulders. [but they did not say that he may return to the service of singing]! And this indeed appears correct [that a Levite above the age of fifty was not allowed to take part in the singing] — for if it were as the Rabbi [Rashi] has written, why were the twenty-year old Levites not appointed to sing, to close the gates and to load the wagons until they reached the required age,⁵⁰In other words, since the maximum age of fifty applied to the bearing of burdens, which was the specific work of the Kohathites — see above, Chapter 4 — but not to the service of singing, the minimum age of twenty-five likewise does not refer to the service of singing, and the same reasoning applies to serving as gate-keepers and loading the wagons. If so, why were the Levites [including the Kohathites] not counted from the age of twenty, and with no upper age limit? and why were they counted from thirty to fifty years old and only for the work of bearing burdens [since both before and after these two age-limits they could still serve by singing etc., therefore they should have been counted from twenty years, with no upper limit]? Moreover, why were the sons of Gershon and Merari counted in this way [from thirty to fifty] since all their work [i.e., singing, closing the gates and loading the wagons] could be done when they were older?
We must rather say that since they were appointed to carry the ark at the age from thirty to fifty, they [therefore] were not appointed to sing, which was the main function of the Levites, unless they were also qualified to carry the ark, for all those who were appointed to sing were qualified to perform all the services [including the carrying of the ark]. And since the Kohathites [who were the only ones permitted to carry the ark] were counted from thirty to fifty years old, even for singing, they were all counted in this manner, in order that the sons of Gershon and Merari should not be qualified to sing during these years [i.e., below the age of thirty and above the age of fifty] and the sons of Kohath be disqualified. [Hence the age limits of thirty and fifty applied to the Kohathites’ singing, which was their main function, as well as to their carrying of the parts of the Tabernacle, and therefore these age limits applied to the function of singing of the sons of Gershon and Merari as well, and they could not, as Rashi wrote, return to the singing.] But for closing the gates or loading the wagons all of them were qualified [even after the age of fifty, as quoted in the Sifre above]. Furthermore it is written, from thirty years old and upward even unto fifty years old, every one that entered in to do the work of the service, and the work of bearing burdens in the Tent of Meeting,⁵¹Above, 4:47. “This is the song [of the Levites] accompanied with cymbals and harp, this being ‘the service’ attached to another ‘service’” [i.e., the Service of the Offerings] (Rashi). and the Rabbis interpreted in the Tractate of Shechitath Chullin:⁵²Literally: “The Slaughtering of Ordinary Animals,” now generally called Chullin (Ordinary Animals). The text quoted is found there on 24a. — The name Shechitath Chullin is in contrast to the Tractate Schechitath Kodashim (The Slaughtering of Hallowed Animals), now generally called Zebachim (Offerings). “I might think that in Shiloh and in the Eternal House [at Jerusalem,⁵³See Vol. II, p. 335, Note 598, and Vol. III, p. 123, Note 122. when the services of the Levites were limited to gatekeeping and singing] it was also so [that the Levites were disqualified after the age of fifty]; Scripture therefore says, to do the work of service, and the work of bearing burdens.⁵¹Above, 4:47. “This is the song [of the Levites] accompanied with cymbals and harp, this being ‘the service’ attached to another ‘service’” [i.e., the Service of the Offerings] (Rashi). I have only said so with respect to a time when there is bearing burdens upon the shoulders.” Now [the expression] ‘avodath avodah’⁵¹Above, 4:47. “This is the song [of the Levites] accompanied with cymbals and harp, this being ‘the service’ attached to another ‘service’” [i.e., the Service of the Offerings] (Rashi). [the work of service, but literally “a service of a service”] is a reference to singing, as Rashi has written above in Seder Naso;⁵¹Above, 4:47. “This is the song [of the Levites] accompanied with cymbals and harp, this being ‘the service’ attached to another ‘service’” [i.e., the Service of the Offerings] (Rashi). if so [it is clear that] when there was [the duty of] bearing the burdens upon the shoulders, the Levites were disqualified from singing as well [after the age of fifty]. And so it is said in the words of David, And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward,⁵⁴I Chronicles 23:3. and it is further written there, Of these twenty and four thousand were to oversee the work of the House of the Eternal etc.,⁵⁵Ibid., Verse 4. and four thousand praised the Eternal with the instruments which I made to praise therewith.⁵⁶Ibid., Verse 5. For until the House [of G-d in Jerusalem] was built, when they still had to carry [the ark and the Tabernacle] on their shoulders, they only appointed Levites to sing who were also fit to carry [i.e., from the age of thirty to fifty]; but David counted them again from twenty years old⁵⁷Ibid., Verse 27. to meet the requirements of the House [of G-d] when it was built, as has been explained [above at the end of Verse 4].

ומבן חמשים שנה ישוב מצבא העבודה של משא, as soon as he has attained the age of fifty he will retire from the duties of carrying parts of the Tabernacle.

ולא יעבוד עוד, “and he shall work no longer.” This does not mean that a Levite above the age of 50 will “retire,” but that he will no longer perform the kind of physical labour involving carrying heavy loads either on his shoulders or otherwise. He will, however, participate in such tasks as opening the Temple’s gates, sing in the choir accompanying the priests’ sacrificial service, etc., etc. This is Rashi’s understanding of the words ולא יעבוד עוד. Nachmanides questions Rashi’s interpretation saying that if correct the Torah would not have placed an age limit on the Levites’ participating in the choir, and if so why were the Gersonides and the Merrari-ites counted from the age of thirty and up only to the age of 50 seeing that neither of them had to perform such physically strenuous labour as the Kehatites even when they were younger than 50 years of age? He claims therefore that the Levites above the age of 50 were also excluded from participating in the choir accompanying the Temple service, and this was the reason why the other two groups of Levites are counted only if they were between 30 and 50 years of age. [At this point, at least according to this editor’s understanding of both the versions available to us, Nachmanides and the Sifrey, matters become a bit confusing, and I believe the simplest solution is that in the desert when the functions of the Kehatites were different from that of the other Levites as they had to carry the Holy Ark on their shoulders, etc, they might have completely retired from activities in and around the Tabernacle, whereas once there was a permanent Temple instead of a collapsible structure, there no longer was such a distinction between the members of the Kehatites and the other Levites. Ed.]

On the shoulder. Rashi is answering the question: [Isn’t this phrase redundant, since] it is written afterwards “but he shall serve his brethren” (v. 26)? Therefore one is forced to say that “and he shall no longer work” refers to the [work of] carrying on the shoulder. The subsequent statement “but he shall serve his brethren” means “with his brothers.” However, one should not think that this is like the service of a slave to his master. Rather he shall serve with his brothers, the sons of Merori and Gershon, locking the gates, loading of the wagons and singing.

ומבן חמשים שנה ישוב, “and from fifty years he would retire from whichever part of the service he had been assigned to.”

The words ולא יעבוד עוד בצבא are to be understood as referring both to the ones younger than 30 and the ones above the age of 50, i.e. both groups not having to performing the physically strenuous type of service. What then were they to do with their time? They were to render service in the form of guard duty, i.e. בשמרותם. The words ככה תעשה ללוים במשמרותם are to be understood as referring to the “training” period of 5 years between their reaching the age of 25 and their attaining the age of 30 when they would assume “active” duties.

ולא יעבוד עוד “and he would no longer perform service.” According to Rashi, this refers only to service involving carrying with his shoulder, but he would still perform such tasks as opening and closing the gates. According to Rashi, these verses were not addressed to the members of the families of Gershon and Merari, for if they were, how could he have said that they were still performing the tasks of loading and unloading? We must therefore conclude that the over fifty year old members of the families of Gershon and Merari also retired from their specific duties at that age. Perhaps Rashi had in mind the 369 years that the Tabernacle stood in Shiloh, when these tasks did not have to be performed as the Tabernacle was no longer a prefab to be moved from time to time. The words: “to load the wagons,” in Rashi would then have applied only to the periods when the Jewish people were in the desert.