In '25 I asked 1,2,5,10,11, and 12.
1. What is the lower and upper age to be included in the census of the Leviim? What is the lower and upper age to be included in the census of Bnei Yisrael?
2. Which was the largest shevet? Which was the smallest shevet? Why is the last answer really a half truth?
3. Can someone sleep over at a friend’s house in the Midbar?
4. What was the order of travel.
5. What is the correct percentage of Klei Kodesh, of people who are dedicated exclusively to avodas Hashem?
6. Which uncle of Moshe had the same name as a city.
7. In a seven member family, six had names beginning with aleph.
8. Who covered the Keilim of the Mishkan before travel?
9 Besides the ones in charge of the covering, who watched them being covered?
10. Why by Klal Yisrael does it say kol yotzei latzava, but by Kehas it says kol habo latzava.
11. Who carried the kevesh, the ramp of the mizbei’ach.
12. Can a Kohen become tamei for his Rebbi?
1. What is the lower and upper age to be included in the census of the Leviim? What is the lower and upper age to be included in the census of Bnei Yisrael?
The Leviim, open passuk in 4:39,
מבן שלשים שנה ומעלה ועד בן חמשים שנה כל הבא לצבא לעבדה באהל מועד
As for Bnei Yisrael, no passuk says an upper age limit explicitly. But the Sforno here, the Ramban in Bamidbar 26:64, the Shita in BB 117b dh Mikan, and is the pashtus of the Gemara in BB 121b that there the phrase esrim shana va’maala is a gzeira shava those words in Erchin, where above sixty is strictly separate from below sixty, and so here, too, the upper age was 60 years. Tosfos in BB 117b says not like this, but as I said, the Shita there brings from Gilyon Tosfos like the Ramban/Seforno.
See שקל הקדש-ר חיים קניבסקי,דף ד ציון הלכה עז ,
Even though it stands to reason that you wouldn't fight in the army if you were over sixty, there were plenty of jobs to be done besides fighting.
2. Which was the largest shevet? Which was the smallest shevet? Why is the last answer really a half truth?
Largest, Yehuda. Smallest, Menashe. Not really true because Yehuda was 74,600, Menashe and Ephraim were the sons of Yosef, and together totaled 72,700, more than any other shevet except Yehuda.
3. Can someone sleep over at a friend’s house in the Midbar?
Not if the friend is from another shevet. 2:2
איש על דגלו באתת לבית אבתם יחנו בני ישראל מנגד סביב לאהל מועד יחנו
4. What was the order of travel.
Counterclockwise, starting from the east. Yehuda’s group, Reuven, Levi and the Mishkan, Ephraim, and Dan.
5. What is the correct percentage of Klei Kodesh, of people who are dedicated exclusively to avodas Hashem?
3.7, 22,300 out of 603,550.
6. Which uncle of Moshe had the same name as a city.
Chevron, brother of Amram.
7. In a seven member family, six had names beginning with aleph.
Aharon, Elisheva, Avihu, Elazar, and Isamar.
8. Who covered the Keilim of the Mishkan before travel?
The Kohanim.
9. Besides the ones in charge of the covering, who watched them being covered?
Nobody. It was prohibited for anyone to watch, and whoever watched would die. 4:15
וכלה אהרן ובניו לכסת את הקדש ואת כל כלי הקדש בנסע המחנה ואחרי כן יבאו בני קהת
4:20
ולא יבאו לראות כבלע את הקדש ומתו
10. Why by Klal Yisrael does it say kol yotzei latzava, but by the Leviim (in the beginning of next week’s parsha) it says kol habo latzava.
The tzava by Yisrael is the army, and it involved leaving the machaneh. The tzava by the Leviim is working in the Mishkan, or in any case while surrounded by Machaneh Yisrael.
11. Who carried the kevesh, the ramp of the mizbei’ach.
Nobody. The Torah says nothing about carrying the kevesh. I think this is because the Kevesh was a dirt or stone ramp, just like the inside of the Mizbeiach, and was built anew whenever they camped.
It seems obvious, and I have it only because a mechutan of mine, Harav Yitzchok Noble, in his Imrei Yitzchok, asks it for a question and says probably it was included in the job of carrying the Mizbeiach, because the kevesh has certain dinim of the mizbeiach.
UPDATE:
I have an amazing nephew, Harav Yitzchak Buchalter of Lakewood, a gadol baTorah. I mentioned this to him, and he said:
See the Keren Orah in Zevachim 63a dh kol kivehi as follows:
He says he has no clue as to what kind of kevesh there was, and whether there was a kevesh at all.
And the Panim Yafos in Vayikra 1:7:
אבל במשכן שבמדבר שלא היה שם כבש שהרי לא נזכר במעשה משכן וגם לא היה אפשר לעשות כבש של ל"ב אמה שהרי לא היה מן המזבח לקלעים שבדרום אלא פחות מכ"ה אמה
and, he continues, even if there was one, it had no kedusha, as it is not mentioned at all.
All of which is very puzzling, because of Rashi in Teruma 27:5,
וכבש שהיו עולין בו אע"פ שלא פירשו בענין זה כבר שמענו בפרשת מזבח אדמה תעשה לי לא תעלה במעלות לא תעשה לו מעלות בכבש שלו אלא כבש חלק למדנו שהיה לו כבש כך שנינו במכילתא
This Rash is brought down by the Gri'z in the beginning of Beis Habechira. So what is going on with the Keren Orah and the Panim Yafos, they missed a Rashi???
I hope this is compatible with the Gemara in Zevachim 87a
תנו רבנן (שמות כט, לז) "הנוגע במזבח" - אין לי אלא מזבח; כבש מנין? ת"ל 'את המזבח
Rashi
את המזבח - ומשחת את המזבח לרבות את הכבש:
12. Can a Kohen become tamei for his Rebbi?
Maybe. See Sanhedrin 19b
תניא, א"ר שמואל בר נחמני א"ר יונתן, כל המלמד את בן חבירו תורה מעלה עליו הכתוב כאלו ילדו, שנאמר ואלה תולדת אהרן ומשה, וסמיך ליה ואלה שמות בני אהרן , לומר לך, אהרן ילד ומשה לימד, לפיכך נקראו על שמו
>>>I think this is because the Kevesh was a dirt or stone ramp, just like the inside of the Mizbeiach, and was built anew whenever they camped.
ReplyDeleteI have not looked into this topic, but what you wrote about the kevesh holds true of the mizbeiach itself as well, see shu"t sheiveit ha'levi vol 1 # 200 bottom of second column here
https://hebrewbooks.org/pdfpager.aspx?req=1411&st=&pgnum=263
thank you thank you. very useful. Shvuos grist.
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