Comentario sobre Números 17:2

ואת האש AND THE FIRE — that is in the censers (not, as might be assumed, that of the burning materials — the שרפה just mentioned).

SPEAK UNTO ELEAZAR THE SON OF AARON THE PRIEST, THAT HE TAKE UP THE CENSERS OUT OF THE BURNING, AND SCATTER THOU THE FIRE YONDER; FOR THEY ARE BECOME HOLY. “The censers [have become holy]. And it is prohibited to have any benefit from them, since they had already made them ‘vessels of service.’” This is Rashi’s language. But I do not know the reason for this prohibition, since it was “strange incense” [which was not part of the daily commandment] that they offered, and if a non-priest makes a vessel of service in order to bring an offering in it outside [the prescribed place in the Tabernacle or Sanctuary], that vessel does not become sanctified! However, it is possible to say that since they did so at the command of Moses, the vessels did become holy, because they dedicated them to G-d, thinking that He would answer them through the [Heavenly] fire and that these censers would remain forever in the Tent of Meeting as [sacred] vessels of service. The correct interpretation, [however,], appears to me to be that Scripture is saying, Because they were offered before the Eternal, therefore they are hallowed, and they shall be for a sign unto the children of Israel,¹⁶⁹Verse 3. meaning: “I [the Eternal],¹⁶⁹Verse 3. have sanctified them [so that they may not be used], from the moment that they were offered before Me, in order that they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel.”

ואת האש זרה הלאה, not on the place where the remains of burned offerings were stacked on the altar. The reason was that it was incense that should never have been allowed into the precincts of the Tabernacle.

אמר אל אלעזר, "say to Eleazar, etc." The reason Moses instructed Eleazar to collect these censers rather than Aaron was that he did not think the High Priest should perform such a menial task. It is also possible that seeing that these people had died in order to prove that Aaron was the High Priest, i.e. that Aaron had been a cause of their death, G'd did not want that the act of giving some status to these censers should be performed by Aaron.

כי קדשו, “for they have become holy.” Rashi understands the word “holy” here in the negative sense, meaning that they are out of bounds to the people, that no one is allowed to derive private advantage of these remains as they have attained the same status as holy vessels in the Tabernacle. Nachmanides does not understand why these remains should have become forbidden for private use seeing that the incense offered by these two hundred and fifty men had never become sanctified, was not part of the sacrificial service. When something becomes sanctified for use outside consecrated grounds it is not holy in the true sense of the word. One may answer that when such items have become sanctified at the express command of Moses, they become truly holy as the 250 men had sanctified them for use in the service of heaven, believing that G’d would respond positively by means of heavenly fire consuming their offerings as it expressed their innermost desire to serve Him in the capacity of priests, their censers would all have become sanctified for all times. Personally, (Nachmanides speaking) I believe the Torah itself answers any of our doubts when it testifies that “these 250 men had used the censers to come closer to Hashem so that they had become holy, henceforth serving as a sign for the Children of Israel,” G’d says that He Himself had sanctified these censers.

In the firepans. But not the fire that was on the altar, because if so, what is meant by “for they were sanctified”? How does the fire that was upon the altar affect their sanctification?

אמור אל אלעזר, “say to Elazar, etc.;” G-d did not want that Aaron the High Priest become ritually impure, as he was involved actively in offering sacrifices, that is why He asked Moses to give these instructions to his son Elazar.

זרה הלאה SCATTER YONDER on the ground from off the censers.

כי קדשו, for only the pans had become holy so that they could not be treated with disrespect.

From the firepans. But not at a distance, because if so Scripture should have explained where [it was to be scattered].

וירם את המחתות, and he shall lift up the censers, etc. In view of the fact that this was a totally new commandment why did the Torah write the conjunctive letter ו at the beginning of the word וירם? Perhaps the Torah considered this use of the censers as part of the demise of Korach and associates. G'd wanted the people to see that the Priesthood of Aaron had been His doing and that He would reinforce this decision by reminding the people of it throughout the generations when they would observe that the censers of the people who had challenged Aaron's status were being used by Aaron when he performed the sacrificial service on the altar.

כי קדשו FOR THEY — the censers — ARE HALLOWED, and are therefore forbidden for any profane use, since they have made them into “vessels of service” (כלי שרת) (by using them for offering incense).

The firepans. But not the fire, because if so, it should not have been thrown to the ground. Rashi afterwards explains why they were sanctified and thus prohibited from being used for personal benefit. It is because those who offered the incense had designated them as sacred service utensils and thus they had to be stored away.