Organized Labor

Weekly Torah Lesson

Parasha:  Nasso “Elevate the Head”
Torah: B’midbar (Numbers) 4:21 – 7:89

The maintenance and moving of the “Tent of Meeting” was a huge task. What we find in this week’s Torah portion is the depth of detail in that organization. 

There are three sons of Levi.  Kohat, Gershon and Merari.  Moshe and Aharon were the grandsons of Kohat. All the priests that served in the Tent of Meeting and the later Temple were direct descendants of Aharon. These  priests not only served in the rituals, they also were responsible to supervise the sons of the other two families in the maintenance and moving of the structure. 

Here is how Avinu taught Moshe to execute His instructions.

21 Then Avinu spoke to Moshe, saying: 22  “Also take a census of the sons of Gershon, by their fathers’ house, by their families. 23  “From thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, you shall number them, all who enter to perform the service, to do the work in the tabernacle of meeting. (Nu 4:21-23)

**  The first instruction is that the specific tasks of each person must follow their family line.  The member of a different family line may not engage in any way with the tasks of another family line. 

The second instruction sets an age limit to the participation of the tasks.  The family member began training for his position at age twenty five.  After five years of training, he assumed the role that he was assigned and served on a rotating schedule for the next twenty years. 

45  These are the ones who were numbered of the families of the sons of Merari, whom Moshe and Aaron numbered according to the word of Avinu by the hand of Moshe. 46  All who were numbered of the Levites, whom Moshe, Aaron, and the leaders of Israel numbered, by their families and by their fathers’ houses, 47  from thirty years old and above, even to fifty years old, everyone who came to do the work of service and the work of bearing burdens in the tabernacle of meeting —  48  those who were numbered were eight thousand five hundred and eighty. (Nu 4:45-48) 

** The entire eligible work force was 8580 persons.  This included the priests who executed the daily rituals  and the men who would come twice a year for one week to work on cleaning and maintaining the hardware of the operation. Three times a year the entire work force would come to the site and participate in the operation of the annual festivals. 

What can we learn from these instructions? 

Avinu wants order in His worship service.

**  How disciplined are we in our worship of Avinu? Do we pay attention and carefully execute every detail? Do we allow this discipline to permeate our homes and our work place? 

Ask ourselves, “Is the life that I live an act of worship to Avinu?”