Midrash su Numeri 3:38

How were they encamped? The Levites camped around the Tabernacle of Witness, with Moses, Aaron, and his children on the east.⁷⁶Tanh., 1:12, cont.; see Numb. R. 2:10. It is so stated (in Numb. 3:38): THOSE WHO CAMPED BEFORE THE TABERNACLE, IN FRONT BEFORE THE TENT OF MEETING TO THE EAST, WERE MOSES, AARON, AND HIS CHILDREN. And adjacent to them were Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. Hence they said: Blessed is the righteous person and blessed are his neighbors.⁷⁷Suk. 56b. See below, Numb. 5:8. This refers to the three tribes (rt.: ShBT) which were adjacent to Moses and Aaron.⁷⁸Gen. R. 3:13; Numb. R. 3:12. They became great in the Torah, as stated (in Gen. 49:10): THE SCEPTER (ShBT) SHALL NOT DEPART FROM JUDAH […. In the case of Issachar it is written] (in I Chron. 12:33 [32]): AND FROM THE CHILDREN OF ISSACHAR, THOSE WHO HAD AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIMES,⁷⁹The midrash regards UNDERSTANDING as synonymous with Torah. TO KNOW WHAT ISRAEL SHOULD DO; THEIR HEADS NUMBERED TWO HUNDRED. These were two hundred heads of <tribal> sanhedria⁸⁰Gk.: synedria. that would come out of Issachar. [(Ibid., cont.:) AND ALL THEIR KINDRED UNDER THEIR COMMAND ('al pihem), <i.e., because they harmonize law (halakhah) at their command ('al pihem). Of Zebulun it is written] (in Jud. 5:14): AND FROM ZEBULUN THOSE WHO WIELD THE SCRIBAL PEN. Because they were neighbors of Torah, they all became children of Torah (i.e., Torah scholars). Now on the south were the children of Kohath (ben Levi), and adjacent to them were Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. Hence they say: Woe to the wicked person; and woe to his neighbor.⁸¹Suk. 56b; Numb. R. 18:5; ARN, A, 9:1; see Avot 1:7. These are the three tribes which were neighbors of Korah (the grandson of Kohath) and his community in the South. These were destroyed with him in his dissension (as stated in Numb. 16:32): AND THE EARTH OPENED ITS MOUTH AND SWALLOWED THEM, THEIR HOUSEHOLDS, <EVERY PERSON THAT BELONGED TO KORAH, AND THEIR PROPERTY>…. On the west were the children of Gershom (i.e., Gershon ben Levi), with Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin being adjacent to them; and on the North also were the children of Merari (ben Levi), with Dan, Naphtali, and Asher being adjacent to them. [Seven] clouds of glory were surrounding them, and this was their <method> of travel. There was a sign⁸²Gk.: semeion. for Moses in the cloud when it departed. When it departed, he would say (in Numb. 10:35): RISE UP, O LORD, AND MAY YOUR ENEMIES BE SCATTERED. Then the cloud would depart. When the cloud departed, they all prepared to travel and put away their implements. Whoever had a domestic beast <put them on it>⁸³The bracketed words are from the parallel in Tanh., Numb. 1:12.; and if <a person> had none, the cloud took the remainder. When they were settled, they blew the trumpets. Then Judah and its standard moved out, first its prince and his tribe after him.⁸⁴CF. Numb. R. 2:7. And as signs for each and every prince there was a flag.⁸⁵Lat. (from the Punic): mappa. [And from them the empire learned to make a flag.] <There was> also a color for each and every flag, like the color of the precious stones which were on the heart of Aaron. Each and every tribe had its flag dyed like the color of its stone. Then over them were the clouds. {Until they were settled, they blew the trumpets. They traveled, and likewise <the clouds> traveled over them.} Moreover, something like a kind of beam came out of the cloud, so that they would know in which direction they would be traveling. So was the journey of each and every standard. <When> they finished going to where it wanted them to camp, <since> that cloud which appeared like a kind of beam had, as it were, been traveling independently, they knew that they would camp in that place. <When> clouds of glory stood still for them, they began putting <things> away in their tents where they were to rest. Then the cloud which was over the Tabernacle, moved over the camp of the Levites in the middle of the camps. First it stood still. When it stood still, the children of Kohath and the children of Levi set up the Tabernacle in the presence of all the camps before they came, as stated (in Numb. 10:21): AND THEY WOULD SET UP THE TABERNACLE BEFORE THEY CAME. When they had set up the Tabernacle, each and every one set up <camp> in his <proper> place. Then the clouds of glory stood over them. This was grandeur in the hands of Moses, for the cloud of the glorious Divine Presence did not come down to the Tabernacle, until Moses had said (in Numb. 10:36): RETURN, O LORD, TO THE MYRIAD THOUSANDS OF ISRAEL. Then the clouds of glory encompassed them. Moreover, the Holy Spirit says through Solomon (in Cant. 6:4): YOU ARE AS BEAUTIFUL, MY DARLING, AS TIRZAH. What is the meaning of AS TIRZAH (KTRTsH, rt.: RTsH)? That I am pleasing (MTRTsH, rt.: RTsH) to you.⁸⁶Numb. R. 2:5.

(Numb. 2:2:) EACH WITH HIS STANDARD, UNDER THE BANNERS [….<THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SHALL CAMP,> SHALL CAMP AROUND THE TENT OF MEETING AT A DISTANCE.] What is the meaning of AT A DISTANCE?⁹⁰Tanh., Numb. 1:14; cf. Numb. R. 2:9. R. Isaac said: At a distance of a mile.⁹¹Lat.: mille. The Holy One said: Israel shall be at a distance of two thousand cubits from the ark, as stated (in Josh. 3:4): YET THERE SHALL BE A DISTANCE BETWEEN YOU AND IT OF ABOUT TWO THOUSAND CUBITS. But Moses and Aaron shall be near to it, as stated (in Numb. 3:38): THOSE WHO CAMPED BEFORE THE TABERNACLE, [IN FRONT BEFORE THE TENT OF MEETING TO THE EAST, WERE MOSES, AARON, AND HIS CHILDREN….] Why were Moses and Aaron near it? It is simply that the Holy One had said: If I become angry with my children, they will mediate between me and my children. For that reason they are near it, but the tribes (according to Numb. 2:2) SHALL CAMP AROUND THE TENT OF MEETING AT A DISTANCE.

5 (Numb. 16:1) “[Korah who is] the son of Izhar [who is] the son of Kohath [who is] the son of Levi betook himself”: But why is it not written "the son of Jacob" [or] "the son of Israel?"¹³ Cf.Gen. R. 98:5. This text is related (to Gen. 49:6), “Let not my soul come into their council,” i.e., that of the spies; “and let not my glory be joined with their congregation,” i.e., that of Korah. Jacob said to the Holy One, blessed be He, “Master of the world, with reference to the spies and with reference to the dissension of Korah, let not my name be mentioned [in connection with] those evil men, who are going to cause provocation. So when should my name (Israel) be joined upon them? When they are joined together to stand on the dais (as Levitical singers), as stated (I Chron. 6:[17,] 22–23) ‘[These are the ones whom David put in charge of song in the house of the Lord….] The son of Assir [who is] the son of Ebiasaph [who is] the son of Korah [who is] the son of Izhar [who is] the son of Kohath [who is] the son of Levi [who is] the son of Israel.’” (Numb. 16:1, cont.) “Along with Dathan and Abiram”: From here the sages said, “Woe to the wicked one, [and] woe to his neighbor.”¹⁴See Neg. 12:6; Sifra to Lev.14:40 (157: Metsora‘, pereq 4); ARN, A, 9; cf. ARN, B, 16; Numb.R. 3:12; Suk. 56b; above, Numb.1:13. Dathan and Abiram [were destroyed by the dissent of Korah], because they were neighbors of Korah. As he was dwelling to the south (of the tabernacle), as stated (in Numb. 3:29), “The families of the Children of Kohath were to camp along the side of the tabernacle to the south.” The standard of Reuben was near them, as stated (in Numb. 2:10), “The standard of the camp of Reuben shall be to the south.” However, the standard of Judah was in the east, and with him were Issachar and Zebulun, as stated (in Numb. 2:3), “Now these camping in front to the east shall be the standard of the camp of Judah.” And near them were Moses and Aaron, as written (in Numb. 3:38), “Those who camped before the tabernacle, in front before the tent of meeting to the east, were Moses, Aaron, and his children.” Because these were near the Torah, they were therefore worthy to be Torah scholars, as written (in Ps. 60:9), “Judah is my lawgiver.”¹⁵Mehoqeq. Most translations render the word as scepter, since kingship was what Judah actually attained. And it is [also] written (in I Chron. 12:33), “And from the Children of Issachar, those who had an understanding of the times.” And it is [also] written (in Jud. 5:14), “and from Zebulon those who wield the scribal pen.” But Dathan and Abiram, who were neighbors to Korah – the one responsible for the dissent – were struck with him and perished from the world.