ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף במדבר 3:12

Before the Tabernacle was set up bamot (local were permitted and the service was performed by the firstborn. Before the Israelites set up the Tabernacle in the desert it was permitted to offer a sacrifice anywhere. This was the way that sacrifices were performed from the time of Adam until the Tabernacle was set up in the desert. In addition, the Temple service was performed by the firstborns. This is hinted at in several places. First of all, Numbers 3:12 states, “I hereby take the Levites from among the Israelites in place of all the first-born.” This seems to state that at some earlier point in Israelite history, the firstborns performed the worship that the Levites (which here includes priests) used to perform. Second, in Exodus 24:5 Moses designates “some young men among the Israelites” to offer sacrifices. The rabbis understand these “young men” to be firstborns.

בוקר ויודע ה' את אשר לו, “in the morning Hashem will make known the one who is His own, etc.” Moses referred to the fact that clear proof would be forthcoming if the Levites were performing their service with G’d’s consent or if the firstborn were still acceptable to Him as the ones chosen to represent the people as His servants in the Tabernacle. He would prove by the rejection of the 250 people offering incense that when G’d had said in Numbers 3,12 and 8,14 that the Levites had been chosen by Him, that it was not Moses who had chosen to replace the firstborn. In adding the words: ואת הקדוש והקריב אליו, “and who is holy, and He will draw him close to Himself,” Moses referred to Aaron’s position as High Priest. It is also possible that Moses meant that the firstborn must not consider themselves as having been rejected by G’d as we know from Numbers 3,13 and 8,17 כי לי כל בכור בבני ישראל, “for every firstborn among the Children of Israel has a special relationship to Me, etc.” On the other hand, the קדוש, “the priests,” would be confirmed as such by an act of Hashem on the morrow. It is their task to perform service in the Tabernacle/Temple as we read in Chronicles I 23,13 ויבדל אהרן להקדיש קודש קדשים הוא ובניו עד עולם, “Aaron and his sons were sanctified for the Holy of Holies, he and his sons throughout the generations.”

קח את הלוים, “take the Levites;” this line was said on the day that the Tabernacle had been erected; (Talmud, tractate Gittin 60) seeing that the laws pertaining to the Levites were recorded in writing on that day, as on that day they commenced the part of their service that involved their daily songs of praise. The paragraph was written in chronological order, and the two previous paragraphs, one of which commenced with הקרב את מטה לוי, (Numbers 3,6) and the other which commenced with the words: ואני הנה לקחתי את הלוים, (Numbers 3,12) these paragraphs referred to the position where the Levies encamped around the Tabernacle. After the Tabernacle had been erected and the positioning of the flags had been arranged and the lights of the menorah had been kindled, G-d ordered Moses to command the Levites to commence their daily service. The paragraph dealing with the Levites’ service was written next to that of the kindling of the lights in order to tell us that the priests were to busy themselves with that at the same time as when the Levites were performing their service. Apart from that the Levites will assist the Kohanim in their service.