פּירוש אויף במדבר 3:39

אשר פקד משה ואהרן [ALL THAT WERE NUMBERED OF THE LEVITES] WHOM MOSES AND AARON NUMBERED — There are dots on the word Aaron to indicate that he was not among the number of the Levites (Bekhorot 4a; Sifrei Bamidbar 69:2 on Numbers 9:10).

Twenty-two thousand. We have already said that since they are the camp of the Divine Presence, and the Divine Presence does not rest with fewer than 22,000, therefore the Holy One, blessed be He, reduced their number and established them at this count to indicate that the camp of the Divine Presence is not less than 22,000. Ramban wrote that because they were not included in the suffering of Egypt, therefore they were not included in the multiplication, for whoever was included in lest they multiply was included in the blessing of so they shall multiply. Although this is a homiletical interpretation, nevertheless it seems appropriate to add an explanation to it: that God did not multiply them against nature except to thwart the counsel of the nations who sought to diminish them through affliction, and God wanted to prevent them from accomplishing what they had planned to do. On the contrary, He multiplied them beyond nature, for they gave birth to six in a single pregnancy. But the tribe of Levi, who were not included in the affliction, and therefore there was no need to multiply them against nature, were fruitful and multiplied like the rest of the world. This is indeed a correct reason and could be what Ramban meant. Some say that they did not multiply so that it would be easier for Israel to support them, but this reason is far-fetched because there is no limitation for God to save and provide for His servants who do His will. Some say that the Ark consumed them, meaning the coffin of Jacob, which is the view of Ramban that we mentioned and as explained above in Parashat Vayetzei (29:34) on the verse Therefore his name was called Levi. Some say that the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that not all of them would be righteous, therefore He removed many of them from the world, leaving only the pure and refined so that all those engaged with the Ark would be righteous, and this is what is meant by the Ark consumed them.

כל פקודי הלוים, all the Levites who were numbered, etc. Nachmanides wonders at the small number of Levites seeing that we are dealing with a tribe who had proved loyal to G'd during the episode of the golden calf and had not sustained losses in their number at that time. Moreover, they were beloved of G'd already while in Egypt. How is it that their number was so small? Although they were counted from the age of one month, as opposed to the other tribes who were counted only from the age of twenty and over, the number of Levites was smaller than the numerically least populous tribe? Nachmanides provides two possible answers. 1) Seeing the phenomenal increase in the population of the Jews in Egypt was due to the cruel oppression of the Israelites by the Egyptians (Exodus 1,12), this blessing did not extend to the Levites who did not have to perform slave labour in Egypt. 2) Jacob's anger at his son Levi. I believe that the second reason cited by Nachmanides is quite difficult to accept. We do not find any source for assuming that the anger of a father caused lack of fertility in his sons. Besides, when you examine Chronicles I 23,3, you will find that the Levites between the ages of thirty and fifty who were numbered at that time (near the end of David's life) comprised 38,000. When we compare this number with the number given in Parshat Nasso, i.e. some 8,500, we certainly do not notice any lack of fertility on the part of that tribe. This means that during the approximately 480 years between our count and the count in Chronicles the Levites increased four-fold. When you compare the numbers given for the other tribes in Israel at that time when they were counted in Chronicles you will find that the other tribes had only doubled in number since being counted by Moses in the desert. In view of this, it is difficult to see how Jacob's anger at his son Levi impeded the development of his descendants.

שנים ועשרים אלף [ALL THE MALES FROM A MONTH OLD AND UPWARDS WERE] TWENTY AND TWO THOUSAND — But in the enumeration of them given above you will find three hundred more — the sons of Gershon 7500 (v. 22). the sons of Kohath 8600 (v. 28), the sons of Merari 6200 (v. 34), making 22,300! Why, then, did Scripture not include them in the sum total together with the others, when they, too, might have redeemed the firstborn of the Israelites (i.e., when each of the 300 might also have served the purpose of replacing a firstborn Israelite, as did the other 22,000; cf. v. 41), and thus the 273 firstborn Israelites who were in excess of the sum total of the Levites as given by Scripture, (the sum total of the firstborn having been 22,273, whilst the Levites, as summed up by Scripture, were only 22,000) would not have required redemption at all (cf. vv. 46—48)!? To this our Rabbis gave the reply in Treatise Bekhorot 5a: those three hundred Levites in question were themselves firstborn, and it was quite sufficient for them to do one thing — that they should free themselves from the necessity of ransom.