Musar sur Les Nombres 1:2

שאו את ראש בני ישראל . The purpose of the count was to enable the שכינה to take up residence among the Jewish people. Everyone should become aware of his personal value by having been counted. He was encouraged to think that everything depended on his personal activity and contribution. This is why the sages have said that a person should always consider himself as if mankind's merits and demerits were in perfect balance, and his very next action would tilt the scales giving him a chance to determine the world's fate. A single good deed by him would enable the world to endure (Kidushin 40).

שאו את ראש . The word את is difficult, as well as other apparently superfluous words. Even if we allow for the fact that Shimon Ha'Amsuni explained every את in the Torah and when he was stymied by one particular את in the verse "et hashem elokecha tira,” he abandoned his attempt altogether (compare Pesachim 22b). The fact remains that we have to explain whatever we can. Rabbi Akiva explained also the one et that had stymied Shimon Ha-amsuni by saying that not only G–d but also Torah scholars must be shown reverence (Bechorot 6). Another difficulty is that when counting the Israelites, the word את appears in front of the word כל, i.e. Numbers 1,2, שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל, thereby joining the Israelites to the previous "אהל מועד", whereas when the Levites are counted in 3,15, the word כל appears after the object of the count, the בני לוי. It says viz: פקוד את בני לוי לבית אבותם למשפחותם, כל זכר וגו', instead of as in 1,2, שאו את ראש כל עדת בני ישראל. Still another unusual inconsistency is found when we compare the respective counts of the Kehatites, Gersonides and Merarites. The Torah writes in 4,2: "נשא את ראש בני קהת," and in 4,21 we read: "נשא את ראש בני גרשון," whereas in 4,29, we read: בני מררי למשפחותם, לבית אבום תפקוד אותם, without the word את. Why this change in the wording? Nonetheless, the word את, is mentioned also with מררי, in 4,30: כל הבא לצבא לעבוד את עבודת אהל מועד. On the other hand when the Torah describes the function of the Kehatites in 4,3, it says: כל בא לצבא לעשות מלאכה באהל מועד." Strangely, the word את is missing here. When the function of the Gersonides is discussed in 4,23, the word את is also missing.

Eve was the reason that death came into our world, as we know. Vayikra Rabbah 20,2 on Psalms 75,5 states: "I said to wanton men: 'do not be wanton.'" Elisheva, daughter of Aminadav, did not rejoice in spite of five joyous events on the same day: The appointment of her husband as High Priest, the appointment of her brother-in-law Moses as king, her brother Nachshon as prince, her sons Eleazar and Itamar as deputy High Priests, and her nephew's Pinchas elevation to the priesthood. In spite of all this, her sons Nadav and Avihu entered the Sanctuary with אש זרה resulting in their death and turning her joy into mourning. This is why David warns us in the Psalm not to indulge in excessive joys. It is not given to the righteous to experience so much joy in this life. The Midrash mentions that G–d does not rejoice anymore in this world since He had to withdraw His שכינה due to Eve's sin but will rejoice only in the World to Come as we know from ישמח ה' במעשיו, that "G–d will once again rejoice in His accomplishments" (Psalms 104,31) [as He did when He completed the universe. Ed.]. In this world only the wicked experience true joy. There are several difficulties in this Midrash. Why does the author speak about Elisheva's having seen five joyous events on that day instead of the same joyous events "seen" by her husband Aaron? Did not her husband experience even greater joy on that day when he personally was elevated to the position of High Priest? He saw his brother crowned as king, his sons installed as deserving children, as mentioned in the Torah by the words למשפחותם לבית אבותם, "belonging to their families because they are descended from the house of their respective fathers," meaning that his sons are compared to him even more than to their mother? His sons became his deputies which demonstrated how closely they resembled their father in character traits. Some people want to answer our question by referring to the Talmud in Avodah Zarah 31 which regards the wife of a חבר, a pious person, as being equal to her husband. This means that she experienced that her sons regarded themselves as related to their mother as intimately as to their father. This is in line with the advice of our sages (Baba Batra 110a) who counsel a person to examine the brothers of a prospective bride to see what character traits he may expect to find in his bride. When the Torah reports the marriage of Aaron to Elisheva in Exodus 6,23, it stresses that Elisheva was Nachshon's sister. This proves that he was influenced by the character qualities of Nachshon. Still, I regard this answer as somewhat forced.