Comentários de Citação sobre Números 27:23

According to the plain meaning this legislation dealing with valuations is a further aspect of the legislation concerning the Yovel year. In fact the word יובל is specifically mentioned in verse 23 in connection with the return of ancestral land which had been “donated” under the heading of “sanctifying it” for the Temple Treasury.
Basically speaking, the term ערך describes a valuation in monetary terms. When somebody, for instance, promises to give to the Temple Treasury, the equivalent of a certain vital part of his body, such as the head or the heart, he has to pay to the Temple Treasury the amount fixed by the Torah for his entire body (depending on his age-group and sex) seeing that he would not be able to continue living if he lacked the part of his body he had “donated,” or “sanctified” for the Temple Treasury.
When setting the amounts for such valuations, the Torah does not distinguish between rich and poor, socially prominent or socially insignificant individuals, but assesses everyone strictly on the basis of age and sex.

סמיכת זקנים – on the head of a bullock over a matter that escaped the notice of the community. And there is in the implication of these things also the appointment of a judge, for the greatest one who is ordained, needs to combine with him two [others] when he wants to ordain a Sage in order in order that he will be called “Rabbi” and will adjudicate laws of fines. And we use the language of סמיכה / laying of hands/ordination because it is written (Numbers 27:23): “He laid his hands upon him [and commissioned him – as the LORD had spoken through Moses].” And not that one requires the ordaining with his hands upon him, but by name, as they call him “Rabbi.” But there is no ordination outside of the Land of Israel, but it is necessary that the one who ordains and the ordainee are all together in the Land of Israel, for then he will have permission to adjudicate the laws of fines, and even outside of the Land, for the [authority of the] Sanhedrin applies both in the Land [of Israel] and outside of the Land [of Israel], after they have been ordained in the Land [of Israel]. And Maimonides wrote that it appeared to him that since we no longer have men ordained by the mouth of other men [going back] until the time of Moses our Teacher, if all the Sages in the Land of Israel would each ordain one individual or many, it would be that they would be ordained and able to adjudicate the laws of fines and they would be able to ordain others. And this matter requires a verdict by a majority of one.

And so we find in the portion of Pinchas (Numbers 27:18) regarding Joshua, that the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: Take for yourself Joshua son of Nun, a man who has spirit within him, and you shall lay your hand upon him — implying one hand. But in practice it is stated (Numbers 27:23): And he laid his hands upon him — implying two hands. Similarly here, in the command it says and he shall lay his hand, but in practice it is written: and Aaron shall lay both his hands. And likewise in the portion of Pinchas, the passage about the daily burnt offering is placed next to Joshua’s appointment, to tell you that just as the regular offerings bear the guilt of the people — for the morning daily offering atones for sins committed at night, and the afternoon daily offering atones for sins committed throughout the day — and this is the reason for the laying of hands, to place the taint and blemish of all Israel upon the offering, so too the leaders of Israel are a guilt offering for the people, as our Sages learned (Sifrei, Deuteronomy 1:13) from the verse and I will make them heads over you — that the guilt of the people is dependent on their leaders. And this is the reason for the laying of hands upon Joshua, saying: “Behold, the guilt of the people is dependent upon you, both sins of action and sins of thought.” And this specifically applies to “a man who has spirit within him” like Joshua, who knows how to go against the spirit of each and every person, for he is able to see through the holy spirit that is upon him all that comes upon the spirit of each and every person. And when he sees in someone that a spirit of confusion has been drawn into them, not the spirit of God (1 Kings 19:11), then it is incumbent upon him to turn them from their way, to rebuke them, and to chastise them. And if he does not rebuke them, then the sin is dependent on him. But a person who does not have spirit within him and cannot go against the spirit of each and every person is not held accountable for the sins of thought of their fellow, for the hidden things belong to the Lord our God (Deuteronomy 29:28), and none of us knows the extent of our fellow’s spirit and thoughts.