Bamidbar Chapter 7: The Gifts of the Nesiim for the Dedication of the Mishkan

Introduction: The Structure and Placement of Chapter 7

Today we are reading Bamidbar, chapter 7. As is well known, this chapter is a very long chapter in text, but the content seems to be not very long because it's mostly repetitive. It mostly divides into two major parts.

The story of this chapter, to return to our structure of the narrative, is the final part which is really missing, in some sense, from the previous narratives, mostly in Sefer Vayikra, of the *Chanukah* [dedication] of the Mishkan. We had three different times we've discussed the specific processes of the dedication of the Mishkan:

1. In Sefer Shemot and in the Mitzvah, and then the action of the Mitzvah in Sefer Vayikra, we had the *Korbanos* called the *Miloim* [inauguration offerings], which sanctified the Mishkan by that.

2. We had in Sefer Shemot before that, the finishing of the building of the Mishkan.

3. And now in Sefer Bamidbar, we have the gifts, or the specific *Korbanos* structured as gifts, given not by Moshe and the Kohanim, but by the *Nesiim* [princes/leaders] of all the other tribes—the gifts that they brought for the celebration of the dedication of the Mishkan.

And that's the final part of the dedication of the Mishkan, which is set here, so it belongs to finishing this narrative of the dedication of the Mishkan, to which, in a certain sense, all of the censuses, and all of the appointments, and all of the Mitzvot that we've discussed here are appended.

How This Fits the Thesis of Sefer Bamidbar

We could also see very nicely that this matches with my thesis that I've been working with all of this time, that Sefer Bamidbar specifically discusses how the Mishkan and its *Kedushah* [holiness] spreads out throughout all the camp, throughout all the tribes.

So just like we had the laws that belong to the Kohanim in Sefer Vayikra, and the laws belonging more to the organization of the *Machaneh* [camp] around them in Sefer Bamidbar, in the same way we'll have in the next chapter, the dedication of the Leviyim, which is again more outer level, so to speak, of the Kohanim. In the same way, the dedication of the Mishkan—the *Korbanos* that were brought for that sanctification and dedication belonging to the Kohanim—was in Sefer Vayikra, and the *Korbanos* brought by the *Nesiim* of the rest of the tribes to celebrate the dedication of the Mishkan are in Sefer Bamidbar, which matches to this theory of Sefer Bamidbar discussing how all the other tribes are also organized surrounding the Mishkan.

The First Gift: Wagons and Oxen for the Leviyim

Now there were two different kinds of gifts that the *Nesiim* of the rest of the tribes brought. And we'll read them.

The Opening: Connecting Back to the End of Sefer Shemot

So the first story starts: Vayehi bayom kalot Moshe l'hakim et ha-Mishkan, vayimshach oto, vayekadesh oto [And it was on the day that Moshe finished setting up the Mishkan, and he anointed it, and he sanctified it]. And it goes on, v'et kol keilav, v'et ha-mizbeach, v'et kol keilav [and all its vessels, and the altar, and all its vessels].

In other words, on the day that Moshe finished setting up the Mishkan—so this really brings us all the way back to the end of Sefer Shemot, which is where it describes the setting up, the *hakamah* [erection] of the Mishkan. And it's sort of not saying, not saying, *Vayehi bayom hekrav Aharon et ha-Miloim* [And it was on the day that Aharon brought the Miloim], right? It's the day that the Mishkan was set up. Of course, that's the same day in which the *Miloim* happened. But this is referring all the way back to that.

The Identity of the Nesiim

Vayakrivu Nesiʾei Yisrael [And the princes of Israel brought]—Vayehi bayom kalot Moshe l'hakim Mishkan, vayekadesh oto [And it was on the day Moshe finished setting up the Mishkan, and he sanctified it]—brought. And the *pasuk* [verse] says, these are also the *Nesiim*: Rashei beit avotam, hem Nesiʾei ha-matot, hem ha-omdim al ha-pekudim [heads of their fathers' houses, they are the princes of the tribes, they are the ones who stood over the census].

So it's connecting us to the censuses that we had here. We see that these *Nesiim*, their job is both to be *Nesiim* of the tribes, managing all of the appointments, all of the management of the tribe—this is their job. And they're also the ones appointed on the census, *hem ha-omdim al ha-pekudim* [they are the ones who stood over the census].

What They Brought

Now they bring a *korban* [offering]. What do they bring? And they bring a combined *korban* all together. Six carriages—so carriages, which nobody knows exactly what it means, but some kind of good carriages, *agalot tzav* [covered wagons]. And 12 *bakar* [cattle]. 12 *bakar* just means cattle. But apparently here, I would assume it means oxen. And as the *pasuk* explains, so this means that each *Nasi* brings one carriage [shared with another] and each one brings one ox. So that's how I know that *bakar* is one ox.

The Authorization to Accept the Gift

And they bring it. And now, as all the stories here, they have an explicit command that it should work. So Hashem tells Moshe: Kach me'itam, v'hayu la'avod et avodat Ohel Moed, v'natata otam el ha-Leviyim, ish k'fi avodato [Take it from them, and they shall be for the work of the Tent of Meeting, and you shall give them to the Leviyim, each according to his work].

In other words, it seems like it wasn't simple—should I accept it? Remember all the gifts given here, all the way back to Parshat Terumah, which happens to be the *parsha* of this week. There was a specific command for every kind of thing to be brought there. And the *Nesiim*, they just thought of something themselves to bring. So how does it work? How does it get authorized? So Hashem explicitly gives an authorization to this. And therefore Moshe follows the command—he takes and gives it to the Leviyim.

The Purpose: For Carrying the Mishkan

Now this is a gift, not to the building of the Mishkan, but to the carrying of the Mishkan. So it's very interesting if we think about the hierarchy here. So we have the building of the Mishkan and all of the things that belong to it, the *avodah* [service] that belongs to the Kohen. Then we have the Leviyim whose job includes the carrying of the Mishkan. Now after that we have the *Nesiim* bringing gifts to the Leviyim, so to speak, to help them with their carrying of the Mishkan. That's how all the *Nesiim* are participating in the Mishkan, also specifically in this carrying of the Mishkan, which is like one step before their place, so to speak. And that's what they do.

Distribution According to Need

And Moshe distributes the carriages to the Leviyim according to need. So he gives two carriages to Bnei Gershon—they carry, as we've seen earlier, the lighter things, the fabrics and things like that—and four carriages, each with two oxen to carry it, so eight *bakar* [oxen] he gives to Merari who carries the *kerashim* [boards], all the heavier parts of the Mishkan.

Led by *Itamar ben Aharon*. The third one [Bnei Kehat] they don't get because they carry the internal vessels of the *Kodesh Hakodashim* [Holy of Holies] and that is carried, as we've studied before, because if it's carried on the shoulder it's not carried on the wagon, so part of the honor of the Mishkan is that the most important parts are not carried by these carriages, they're carried by humans. Maybe there's also a basic protection in this, you know, they could break, they're fragile, so we don't put them on the carriages, but also it's a question of respect, so they're not carried by animals, they're carried by humans.

So that's the first gift, and as we said, the gift of the *Nesiim* to the *avodah* of the Leviyim.

The Second Gift: Korbanos for the Chanukat HaMizbeach

Now there's a gift that they bring for the Mishkan itself, and also this gift, it's described in the same way: the *Nesiim* bring it, and then Hashem has to authorize Moshe to accept it, and He also gives them the way to distribute it. So these same two things, the same exact structure is for both of these gifts.

The Nature of These Korbanos

It says the *Nesiim* bring the *Chanukat ha-Mizbeach* [dedication of the altar]. If you read the story, for example, of Shlomo, and also later, how they celebrated the dedication of the Temple, you'll remember that part of it is bringing a lot of *Korbanos*. So those *Korbanos* are not the *Miloim*, right? It's not a question of the *Miloim* or the *Korbanos* that specifically their *tafkid* [function], their function is to sanctify the *Mikdash* and so on. These are *Korbanos* that are not sanctificatory, they're not ones that are being *mekadesh* [sanctifying] the Mishkan, like connected to the *meshicha* [anointing] and all of that. They're ones that are celebrating the grand opening of the Mishkan.

Hashem's Instructions: One Nasi Per Day

And Hashem tells Moshe, you should accept it, and you should let one *Nasi* bring his *Korbanos* every day, so they're spreading out the celebration to many days by giving each *Nasi* one day to bring his celebratory *Korbanos*.

The Repetitive Style as Celebration

And here we have the very lengthy recounting of their *Korbanos*, each day. Again, they all bring the same exact *Korbanos*, and we describe each day which *Nasi* brought it, and what his *Korbanos* was, and each one of them has repeated the same thing.

The Meaning of the Repetition

And I'm pretty sure that this is meant to be a celebratory thing to read, and we see that we read it on Chanukah, every year, on the days of Chanukah. Although there's only 8 days of Chanukah—there should have been 12 days according to this, but there's only the 8 days of Chanukah—and we somehow push that in. On the last day we read 5, so we should push it all in. But we read each day, and I'm pretty sure that this is the meaning of it being written.

So just as—we could say, just as the celebration was spread out into 12 days, to make the celebration bigger, right? They could have—it's not like the Mishkan is very hungry, it needs all this *Korbanos*, so we're bringing all of these, you know, just so it should exist. No, it was explicitly spread out in order to make the celebration longer, in order to make it bigger by being spread out. In the same way, it's explicitly spread out, the recounting of it in the text, so that it's more celebratory.

The Literary Principle: Joy Expressed Through Length

It's nicer. When a person is happy, that's another thing we're starting to describe this other today—when a person is happy, he tends to speak at length. That's one of the attributes of happiness. When a person is sad, he tends to be silent, so even if he speaks, he would speak very, very silently, or very shortly, like very elliptically. When a person is happy, he speaks a lot.

That's why we can see Megillat Esther is the longest, has the longest style in Tanach, because it's meant to be read when people are very happy, and therefore, it's made in that way. In the same way, when a person—the Torah is very happy, it's trying to express the happiness, the great *simcha* [joy] of the *Chanukah*, it repeats the same thing 12 times, because it's not like we have to go anywhere, it's not like we have to make it shorter, because like we're slaves, because like we're stuck. No, we're all happy, and we can do everything again and again.

The Korban of Each Nasi: Day One

And therefore, I will read—I cannot read every time the same thing again 12 times, we can read that in the Torah, when it's time to do that, in the *parsha*. But I can tell you each day who the *Nasi* was, and for the first one, I will tell you what his *korban* was.

Nachshon ben Aminadav of Shevet Yehuda

So the first day, the *makriv* [one who brings], the *korban* was Nachshon ben Aminadav, the *Nasi* of Shevet Yehuda.

The Components of the Korban

And his *korban* was like this. So the *korban* is always divided into these three parts, we could say.

The Mincha in Beautiful Vessels

So this first is a *mincha* [meal offering]. Now the *mincha* is brought in beautiful dishes, so he brings a *mincha* in a silver dish, a silver *ka'arah* [bowl], along with a *mizrak* [sprinkling basin], some kind of dish or some kind of utensil which we spray the blood with, or some other things, also gold.

Now it gives the weight for these: the *ka'arah* weighs 130 *shekel*—the *shekel* is a weight—the *mizrak* weighs 70 *shekel*, and both of these come along first with a *solet* [fine flour] for a *mincha*. So that's a normal way when you bring a *mincha*, you bring a silver dish.

The Structure of Each Nasi's Korban

So the first day, the Makrev, the Korban was Nachshon ben Amminadav, the Nasi of Shevet Yehuda, and this Korban was like this. So the Korban is always divided into these three parts, we could say.

So the first is a Mincha. Now the Mincha is brought in beautiful dishes, so it brings a Mincha in a silver dish, a silver Ke'ara, along with a Mizrak — some kind of dish or some kind of utensil with which we spray the blood with, or some other things — also gold. Each now, it gives the nouns, it gives the weights for these, right? The Ke'ara weighs 130 Shekel. The Shekel is a weight, right? The Mizrak weighs 70 Shekel. And both of these come along first with a pearl of Solet for a Mincha. So that's a normal way when you bring a Mincha — you're bringing a Kli [vessel]. They donated both the Mincha and the Kli.

And also a Kaf now, that's number one. Also besides that, they bring a Kaf again weighing 10 — something of gold — 10 Shekalim of gold, full of Ketoret [incense].

The Three Categories of Korbanot

And then there's Korbanot. They bring Olah, Chatat, and Shelamim as the three kinds of main Korbanot. So they bring a Par [bull] for Olah, a Sa'ir [goat] for Chatat — as most Chatat are, at least — and for Shelamim they bring a big Shelamim. So they bring two Bakar [cattle], five Eilim [rams], five Atudim [he-goats], and five Kevasim [lambs]. That's the great Shelamim. Of course, Shelamim is the big celebration, the party, as we always discussed. There's a lot of those. That's the Korban of Nachshon.

The Twelve Days and Their Nesiim

And the second day, Netanel ben Tzuar, Yissachar. And the third day, Eliav ben Cheilon. And the fourth day, Elitzur ben Shedeur. And the fifth day, Shelumiel ben Tzurishaddai. And the sixth day, Eliasaph ben Deuel. And the seventh day, Elishama ben Ammihud. And the eighth day, Gamliel ben Pedahtzur. And the ninth day, Avidan ben Gideoni. And the tenth day, Achiezer ben Ammishaddai. And the eleventh day, Pagiel ben Ochran. And the twelfth day, Achira ben Enan, the Nasi of Naftali.

The Final Tally: Zot Chanukat HaMizbeach

And then we have the final recount, the final march, so to speak, of this whole celebration. It gives us a total tally of all of these gifts, and it gives us זאת חנכת המזבח [Zot Chanukat HaMizbeach — This is the dedication of the altar]. So in total, this is how much was donated to the Mizbeach, to the dedication on the Mizbeach, and the day that it was Nimshach [anointed], on the day that it was anointed with oil from the [Nesiim].

The Vessels: Silver and Gold

And it turns out, all in total, they all had together 12 — 12 plates, 12 trays of silver, 12 Mizrakim of silver, 12 gold spoons. Each one is 130, each one of each. Now if you think about the silver, now we could count how much silver and how much gold we got. Each silver Ke'ara was 130, each Mizrak was 70 — all together is 2,400 Shekalim was donated along all this time. The 12 Kappot [spoons] turns out to be, since each is worth 10 gold or weighs 10 gold, so it's a total 120.

The Animals: Olah, Chatat, and Shelamim

So since they each brought one Bakar for Olah, it turns out to be 12 Parim for Olah. Since they each picked one Ayil for Olah, we have 12 Eilim. Since they each brought one Keves for Olah, they have 12 Kevasim. Since they each brought one Sa'ir for a Chatat, we have 12 Se'irim. Since they each brought two Parim for a Shelamim, we have 24 Parim. Since they all each brought five Eilim for the Shelamim, we have 60 Eilim. Since they each brought five Atudim, we have 60 Atudim. Since they each brought five Kevasim, we have 60 Kevasim — that's 12 times 5. That's the total. That's what Mizbeach had for its dedication.

The Concluding Verse: Moshe Hears the Voice

And now the final end. This is really — there's something very similar in the end of Sefer Shemot, and this teaches us that this is explicitly meant to be the end of this part of the story, the end of the story which finishes with Moshe entering into the Mishkan after it was finished. So after it was finished in Sefer Shemot, he had something of this. And after it's finished in Sefer Vayikra, we do not entirely have something like this — we had something similar or close to similar to this in Beshas Shemini Achar [at the time of the eighth day]. And now we have, in the final finishing of it, we have: and Moshe came to the Ohel Moed, and he hears this — the voice speaking to him from on top of the Kaporet which is on the Aron, between the [Keruvim]. It speaks to him.

The Fulfillment of the Promise

So that's as we've started in the beginning of Parashat Terumah — the whole point of this is [that God will speak to Moshe from between the Keruvim], and here that promise is fulfilled as Hashem speaks to Moshe. We had that, as we said, in the beginning of Shemot, at one version of the end. And now in the second or third or final version of the end, we have the same thing, telling us that after all this was done, Moshe had heard the voice speaking to him from between the two [Keruvim].

The Voice Encompasses Everything

Maybe we could understand this — there's like two versions or two stories of this voice. We could understand this as something like this: this is the voice also because all of the Mishkan, all of the Avodah, all of the setting up — this sort of creates the space or the ability to hear the voice. In the same way, if we include all the Nesiim into the Chanukat HaMishkan, so in some sense that means that the voice is also includes all of that.