Комментарий к Бамидбар 17:25

למשמרת לאות TO BE KEPT AS A SIGN — i.e. as a reminder that I have chosen Aaron to be the priest and that they should therefore not murmur any more against the priesthood.

PUT BACK THE ROD OF AARON BEFORE THE TESTIMONY, TO BE KEPT THERE, FOR A TOKEN. “As a reminder that I have chosen Aaron to be the priest, so that they should no longer murmur about the [right to the] priesthood.” This is Rashi’s language. But this rod was only a sign that the tribe of Levi was chosen from the rest of the tribes, but did not [serve as a sign] that Aaron should have the priesthood [since the people did not dispute his right to it ever since the Heavenly fire had descended on the eighth day of the installation of the priests and consumed Aaron’s offerings, as explained above].¹⁹⁴Above, Verse 6 (towards the end). The correct interpretation is that [the expression] to be kept there, for a token means [that the budding of the rod of the house of Levi was to serve as a reminder to Israel that G-d had chosen] the tribe of Levi in exchange for the firstborn. This is because the burning [of Aaron’s offerings by the Heavenly fire] was a sign [that Aaron had been chosen] for the priesthood, and the budding [of the rod was an indication] that the Levites [had been selected for their functions in the Tabernacle], as I have explained.¹⁹⁴Above, Verse 6 (towards the end). This is the meaning of the expression, and, behold, the rod of Aaron ‘for the house of Levi’ was budded,¹⁹⁵Verse 23. because it budded for [the benefit of] the whole tribe of Levi, and in their merit [to confirm their appointment to do the holy service]. It is possible that since it became known through the [budding of the] rod that G-d did not desire the service of the firstborn, but preferred that of the Levites, the priesthood [automatically could be given] to Aaron without complaint [on the part of the people], since he was the most honored person in the tribe, being the prince thereof, and it was befitting that he should have the authority of that tribe. But this does not appear to me to be correct, since Gershon was the firstborn of Levi.¹⁹⁶Exodus 6:16. Aaron was a grandson of Kohath, who was the second son of Levi. Hence the budding of the rod could only have served as a reminder that G-d had chosen the tribe of Levi to perform the service rather than the firstborn of all tribes, but it could not have confirmed Aaron’s personal position as High Priest and prince of the tribe, since Gershon was the firstborn, and thereby exercised a claim to it. Therefore we must say that Aaron’s personal right to authority was confirmed by the Heavenly fire which consumed his offerings, as explained above.

לאות לבני מרי, as a sign to forestall similar challenges by future generations to the priesthood and its hereditary transfer from father to son.

למשמרת לאות לבני מרי, “as a safekeeping to serve as a sign for the rebellious ones.” Rashi understands this line as “a reminder that I have selected Aaron as My Priest, and that further complaints about the priesthood should cease.” Nachmanides counters that the staff and its blossoming was a sign only that the tribe of Levi enjoys a special status among the other tribes, but it did not signify anything about the priesthood. He therefore understands the word לאות as a reference to the special status of the tribe of Levi. He claims that there was no need at all to furnish a sign that the priesthood belonged to Aaron, seeing that whenever heavenly fire descended on the censer of Aaron and he did not get burned by it this was sufficient proof that G’d approved of him in his capacity as High Priest. This is also the meaning of the words והנה פרח מטה אהרן לבית לוי, “here the staff of Aaron, member of the house of Levi blossomed.” Aaron’s position among the tribe of Levi, which was already special, flowered even further.

As a remembrance that I chose Aharon. The staff of Aharon sprouted for he was the one who gave over the staff, not his son Elozor who was the leader of the tribe of Levi. This was in contrast to the other leaders. With this they would know that Aharon was chosen, because the main dispute was over the kehunah and not over the elevation of the tribe if Levi. Thus a symbol of remembrance was only needed for the kehunah, and the blossoming of Aharon’s staff would be sufficient a symbol for the service of the Levites, given that there was only one staff for the tribe of Levi. This is a summation of the words of Re’m. It appears to me that the blossoming of the staff of Aharon, who was from the tribe of Levi, was testimony that Hashem chose Levi over the other tribes. This was because the blossoming was on Aharon’s name, rather than on another place on the staff, as I wrote, providing testimony that Hashem had chosen Aharon over the rest of the Levites.

V. 25. ויאמר וגו׳. Wie die לוחת העדות das Faktum des göttlichen Ursprungs des Gesetzes bezeugen, so bezeugt der מטה אהרן das Faktum des göttlichen Ursprungs der Wahl der Aharoniden zu Priestern des Heiligtums dieses Gesetzes. In dieser Beiordnung des מטה אהרן zu den לוחת העדות im Heiligtum dürfte sich die Heraushebung der Aharoniden aus den Leviten und dieser aus dem damit vom Gesetzesheiligtum fern gehaltenen Volke als eine Fortsetzung der הגבלה (siehe Schmot 19, 10 — 13) begreifen lassen, durch welche gleich bei der Erteilung des Gesetzes, deren Zeugnis die לוחות verewigen, das Gelangen des Gesetzes an das Volk, im Gegensatz zu einem Entstehen aus dem Volke, vergegenwärtigt werden sollte. Wir haben bereits daselbst entwickelt, welche hohe Bedeutsamkeit dieser Tatsache innewohne; die ganze Unverbrüchlichkeit, Unantastbarkeit und Ewigkeit des Gesetzes beruht auf ihr. Ganz dieselbe הגבלה wird aber durch die Gruppierung der Aharoniden und Leviten um das Gesetzesheiligtum und die Fernhaltung des Volkes von diesem für alle Zeiten fortgesetzt, und damit dieselbe Tatsache des außermenschlichen Ursprungs und der örtlichen und zeitlichen Unbedingtheit des Gesetzes für alle Zeiten festgehalten. Je mehr nämlich gerade das jüdische Volk unterschiedlos in allen seinen Schichten und unabhängig von jeglicher Berufsart zur rückhaltlosen Erkenntnis, Anerkenntnis und Verwirklichung dieses Gesetzes berufen ist, je mehr im Laufe der Zeiten dieses Gesetz seine Sendung an diesem Volke vollbringt und alle Geister, alle Herzen, alle Gedanken, alle Empfindungen, alle Lebensanschauungen und Lebenserfüllungen durchdringt, je mehr somit im Laufe der Zeiten der aus diesem Gesetze sich erzeugende und im Volke sich vererbende Volksgeist dem Geiste dieses Gesetzes nahe und verwandt wird, je mehr endlich die Kluft schwindet zwischen dem Ideale dieses Gesetzes und seiner Verwirklichung im Volke, je mehr im Laufe der Zeiten die korachidische Behauptung: כל העדה כולם קדושים ובתוכם ד׳ an Anmaßung verliert: umsomehr dürfte die Befürchtung Boden gewinnen, es könne sodann der Menschengeist sich gegen die Quelle seiner Erleuchtung wenden und, deren göttlichen Ursprung verleugnend und ihr einen Menschengeist als Erzeuger unterschiebend, aufhören, Schüler, Jünger und Diener dieses Gesetzes zu sein und sich zu dessen kritischer Meisterung erkühnen. Dem tritt die alle Zeiten durchdauernde הגבלה des Volkes von dem עדות und dessen Heiligtum durch die לוים und כהנים mit ernster Mahnung entgegen und zeigt selbst dem Erkenntnishöchsten der jüdischen Geister das Gesetz, das doch den steten Gegenstand seines inneren Lebens und seinen vertrautesten geistigen Umgang bildet, in seiner göttlich gegebenen unnahbaren Objektivität, deren עדות selbst die כהנים nicht in ihrer menschlichen Individualität, sondern nur in der Kleidung seiner Dienstsymbolik und nach קידוש ידים ורגלים zu nahen wagen dürfen, und ruft alle Jahrhunderte hindurch die הגבלה-Warnung vom Sinai her (Schmot 19, 21-22): רד העד פו יהרסו אל ד׳ קראות ונפל ממנו רב וגם הכהנים הנגשים אל ד׳ יתקדשו פו יפרץ בהם ד׳!

ותכל תלונתם. “so that their complaints will cease.” Our author understands the word as if the Torah had written: ותכלה אתה תלונתן של ישראל, “so that you will be able to bring to an end the Israelites’ complaints.” He cites two similar constructions in Deuteronomy 3,28: וצו את יהושע, and Genesis 38,14 ותכס בצעיף.

ותכל תלונתם is the same as וּתְכַלֶּה תלונתם, AND THOU SHALT MAKE AN END OF THEIR MURMURING. This form (תלנֹתם) is a nomen actionis (שם מפעל), singular number, feminine gender, the same as is תלונָתם; in O. F. murmures. But there is a difference in sense between תלנֹתם and תלונָתם. The word תלונָתם denotes a single act of murmuring; תלנתם is a noun with singular meaning although there may be many acts of murmuring.

ותכל תלונותם, in the future such as when king Uziah arrogated to himself to offer incense in the Temple (Chronicles Ii 26,15). The construction of the word ותכל when we would have expected ותכלה, is parallel to the occasions when the Torah writes צו! as an abbreviated imperative instead of צוה, “tzaveh!”

Feminine [verbl noun]. For if not so, it should have said ותכלינה ("[their complaints] will end" in the plural). Rashi did not explain ותכל as a reference to Moshe, meaning that Hashem said to him that with this action you will end their complaining against Me, because to end the complaining was not Moshe’s task, rather it would occur on its own as a result of this action.