Commentaire sur Les Nombres 8:11

והניף אהרן את הלוים תנופה AND AARON SHALL MAKE A WAVING WITH THE LEVITES — just as the guilt offering of the leper (to whom the Levites are compared in some respect; cf. Rashi on v. 7) required waving whilst alive. — Three times is the command of waving the Levites mentioned in this section (vv. 11, 13, 15): the first refers to the sons of Kohath; therefore (because it is they who are referred to) Scripture adds with regard to them, “that they may execute the service of the Lord” — for it was upon them (the sons of Kohath) that the service of the most holy objects: the Ark, the table, etc., devolved. The second refers to the sons of Gershon, and therefore Scripture adds with regard to them, “a waving for the Lord”, for upon them devolved the service of the holy (though not the most holy) objects: the hangings and the catches which were visible in the Holy of Holies. The third refers to the sons of Merari.

והניף אהרן את הלוים תנופה, “Aaron shall wave the Levites as a wave-service.” The word תנופה, “waving,” appears three times in this paragraph It appears in verse 11 as “Aaron shall wave the Levites...in the presence of the Lord.” It appears again in verse 15 ”you shall perform a wave-service with them.” It appears a third time in verse 13 in a similar connotation. According to Rashi the reason it appears three times is once each for the Kehatites, once for the Gershonites and once for the Merarites. This is the reason why the Torah varies the job-description of the Levites each time, once speaking of עבודת ה', i.e. the Kehatites who carried the Sanctuary (literally), i.e. the sacred vessels including the Holy Ark. When the Torah justified the other wave-offering describing the Levites in question as (כי עבודת הקדש עליהם (7,9, this was a job description of the Kehatites. Concerning the Gershonites the Torah merely writes 'תנופה לה, “a wave-offering for the Lord,” seeing that they too carried the woven materials of the roof and the courtyard. The third group of Levites, the Merarites who transported the beams, the sockets, etc., are referred to simply as undergoing a תנופה waving, but there is no mention of the word לה', “for the Lord,” seeing that this group was furthest from the center of sanctity. At the end of the whole paragraph (verse 21) we find once more that “Aaron waved (all) the Levites as a wave-offering in the presence of the Lord,” in order to show that all the Levites had qualified. As to the meaning of the words נתונים נתונים המה לי, “for presented, presented they are to Me,” in verse 16, this means that they have been presented to the Lord to perform either the song and music or the work of transportation, as the case may be at different times. Alternatively, these words are a justification for the appointment of the Levites to these sacred tasks in recognition of when they had presented themselves as totally dedicated to G’d during the golden calf episode.

Requires waving. A leper is termed “dead” as it says at the end of the Parshah “please, let her not be like the dead” (12:12) and the Levites were as an atonement for the firstborn who worshiped idols, which is termed “sacrifices of the dead.” Therefore, the Levites required “live waving” like the guilt-offering of a leper. Furthermore, the waving of the Levites would only be possible while they were alive.

V. 11. והניף אהרן וגו׳. Dreimal kommt in diesem Akt, der Levitenweihe תנופה vor: Verse 11, 13 und 15. Die Bedeutung der תנופה-Handlung als Ausdruck der "Widmung" eines Objektes, des Zuwendens, ist bekannt. Die Weihe der Leviten vollzieht sich nun in einer dreifachen Widmung, wie diese in Versen 16-19 erläutert wird: Israel widmet sie Gott, Gott widmet sie Aharon und seinen Söhnen, Aharon und seine Söhne widmen sie dem Dienste des Heiligtums. Es ist daher im Namen Gottes, im Namen der Nation und im Namen Aharons, dass die Leviten ihre Stellung innenehmen und ihren Beruf zu erfüllen haben, und diese drei Beziehungen ihres künftigen Berufes werden durch die drei תנופות zum Bewusstsein gebracht. Hier zuerst die Übergabe der Leviten von Israel an Gott: והניף וגו׳ לפני ד׳ מאת בני ישראל והיו לעבד את עבדת ד׳.

והניף אהרן את הלוים מאת בני ישראל, “and Aaron is to wave the Levites (as an offering) from the Children of Israel;” Aaron was chosen to do this as he was the agent appointed for this by the nation.

Three wavings. Rashi does not ask why the verse states three wavings, because one may answer that it is a decree of the Torah that he had to wave them three times. However, now that Rashi explained “just as the leper’s guilt-offering requires waving…” and the guilt-offering of a leper only requires one waving, he asks why are three wavings required here?