ציטירנדיקער פּירוש אויף במדבר 1:51

ויאמר ה' אל אהרן “The Lord said to Aaron, etc.;” Rashi comments that we must understand this line as meaning that G-d spoke to Moses, to tell what follows to Aaron. To the question of what forced Rashi to ignore the text as written, i.e. that G-d addressed Aaron directly, we must understand what transpired as follows: The Torah, i.e. G-d, wishes the people to know that they were wrong in thinking that anyone daring to come into the vicinity of the Tabernacle would either be killed by G-d, or by a human tribunal, seeing that G-d had already said concerning Aaron: “you and your sons and your fathers, (all the priests) shall bear the iniquity of the Sanctuary;” in other words, it was the task of the priests to ensure that the boundaries would not be crossed by people who had no authority to enter the Sanctuary. G-d had said the following to Moses to convey to Aaron: “you and your sons, etc,”In other words, what Rashi was saying here is that G-d had already told Moses to tell Aaron what follows;He had done so in the portion of Bamidbar chapter 1, verse 51, etc. These instructions have been repeated here in verse 7, because a new element has been added, i.e. אתה ובניך ובית אביך, “you, your sons, and the house of your father;”Seeing that this paragraph has been written close to the people’s, especially Korach’s, complaints about the priests and the institution of hereditary priesthood, it has been positioned as a sort of introduction to the people’s gifts to the priests, seeing that these people were not landowners and depended for their livelihood on the willingness of the people to carry out all these instructions. Our author adds as his own commentary concerning Rashi’s words, that seeing that we have learned from the Sifri on 18,8 where the author quotes our verse, i.e. G-d, as speaking directly to Aaron, and in verse 8 of our chapter where we have the Torah writing again that G-d spoke to Aaron, and it certainly sounds very direct, that he had already stated on a previous occasion that every time we have the Torah writing: “G-d spoke to Aaron,” this refers to something that had first been told to Moses and he had been instructed to relay it to Aaron. In this instance also, the substance of the message was to be ultimately relayed to the Jewish people to avoid tragedy through misunderstanding. [Leviticus 10,8 also has G-d speaking (apparently) directly to Aaron, as well a verse 20 in our chapter. Ed.]

באהל מועד, “in the Tent of Meeting, etc.;” this is the Tabernacle. Once G’d called Moses from the Tabernacle, i.e. from Leviticus 1,1 on where the words “He called to Moses from the Tent of Meeting” occurred for the first time, G’d always spoke to Moses out of the Tent of Meeting seeing that the attribute כבוד which had addressed Moses at the Mountain had moved to the Tabernacle as soon as it had been inaugurated. This is why at this time the instructions had to be issued to the Levites whose camp was around the Tabernacle not to trespass and enter the Sanctuary as any non-priest who entered the Sanctuary was bound to die (verse 51). The warning not to enter the Sanctuary was of the same type as the warning before the revelation not to step beyond the fenced off section of Mount Sinai (Exodus 19,13). The warning is spelled out in detail in Numbers 18,5 after the rebellion of Korach and parts of the senior members of the tribe of Levite. At that time even the priests were included in the warning (Exodus 19,24), and in Numbers 4,20 the Torah warns the Kehatites, the senior group of Levites, not to “look” when the “holy” is inserted or they would die. Even though they carried these “holy” items such as the Ark, they were not to look at it until the Ark had been covered.
Furthermore, the Torah does command that the 22,000 Levites encamp around the Tabernacle (compare Numbers 3,43) seeing that their numbers corresponded to that of the angels who had accompanied G’d when He took up residence in the Tabernacle. We have this information from Psalms 68,18 where the psalmist speaks about רכב אלוהים רבותים, “G’d’s entourage amounting to 22.000.” The Israelites’ camp was composed of four flags, corresponding to their having observed at Mount Sinai that the angels grouped themselves into four camps with a flag each. [Some say each angel had a flag of his own, compare Rabbi Avdimi in Pesikta Rabbati on Asseret Hadibrot. Ed.]

‘B’MIDBAR SINAI’ (IN THE WILDERNESS OF SINAI). After having explained the laws of the offerings in the third book, He now began to set forth in this book the commandments which they [the children of Israel] were told with reference to the Tent of Meeting. Now He had already given a warning for all times about [the prohibition of] impurity relating to the Sanctuary and its holy things.¹Leviticus 5:2-3. See Ramban there (Vol. III pp. 52-54). Here He defined the boundaries of the Tabernacle whilst it was in the wilderness, just as He had set bounds for Mount Sinai when the [Divine] Glory was there,²Exodus 19:12. Ramban here, in stressing the parallels between the Tent of Meeting and Mount Sinai, is developing the idea that he mentions in Exodus at the beginning of Seder Terumah, that the Tent of Meeting was, as it were, a continuation of Mount Sinai. See Vol. II p. 435. and He commanded that the common man that draweth nigh shall be put to death,³Further, 1:51. just as He had said there, no hand shall touch him [i.e., the mountain], but he shall surely be stoned.⁴Exodus 19:13. He also commanded [here], And they shall not go in to see the holy things as they are being covered, lest they die⁵Further, 4:20. just as He warned there [at Sinai], lest they break through unto the Eternal to gaze, and many of them perish.⁶Exodus 19:21. He commanded here. And ye shall keep the charge of the holy things and the charge of the altar, [that there be wrath no more upon the children of Israel],⁷Further, 18:5. just as He said there, And let the priests also, that come near to the Eternal, sanctify themselves, lest the Eternal break forth upon them;⁸Exodus 19:22. and let not the priests and the people break through to come up unto the Eternal, lest He break forth upon them.⁹Ibid., Verse 24. Thus He commanded [here] how the Tabernacle and its vessels are to be guarded, and how they [the people] are to pitch round about it and how the people are to stand afar off, and how the priests that come near the Eternal⁸Exodus 19:22. are to treat it [the Tabernacle] when it is resting and when it is being carried [during the journeyings], and how they are to guard it. Now these are all [signs of] distinction and honor for the Sanctuary, just as the Rabbis of blessed memory have said,¹⁰Sifre Zuta Korach 18:4. “A King’s palace¹¹“And it is known that the term ‘palace’ is a reference to the Sanctuary” (“The Commandments,” Vol. I, p. 31). — It is possible, on first thought, to explain Ramban’s expression “and how they are to pitch round about it” that the pronoun “they” refers to all the Levites, and in that case the continuing expression “and how the people are to stand afar off” would thus complete the thought by contrast: the Levites are to encamp round about the Tabernacle, while the people are to stand afar off. But see in Chapter 2, Verse 2, that Scripture speaks clearly of the children of Israel encamping round about the Tabernacle. Hence the words of Ramban are to be understood as follows: the people are to pitch round about the Tabernacle, and when they approach it they are to stand afar off. This interpretation is fully borne out in the following chapters of this book of the Torah. that has guards over it cannot be compared to a palace that has no such guards.”