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Our Parashah this week begins with the counting of Gershon and Merari, two families in Shevet Levi. Last week ended off with the counting of the last family in Levi, Kehat. Regarding the countings of both Kehat and Gershon, the Pasuk says “Nasso Et Rosh Bnei Kehat/Gershon,” “Raise the heads of the children of Kehat/Gershon” (BeMidbar 4:2, 22), but in the case of Merrari, the Torah states, “Bnei Merrari LeMishpechotam LeVeit Avotam Tifkod Otam,” “The children of Merrari, according to their families, to the house of their fathers, you should count them” (BeMidbar 4:29). Why switch from the term of ‘Nasso’ to the Lashon (language) of ‘Tifkod’ for Merrari?

Ohr HaChaim simply writes that Kehat and Gershon merited to be counted with ‘Nesi’at Rosh’ because Kehat carried the holiest Keilim and Gershon was the Bechor. The Malbim says similarly, yet makes the distinction that the Lashon of ‘Nasso’ is not used by Gershon because he is the Bechor. It is because he carries the holier Keilim, which in turn happens because he is the Bechor. A subtle yet important difference! This is why there is another textual distinction. Malbim continues that regarding Kehat and Merrari, Moshe and Aharon are told to count them “LeMishpechotam LeVeit Avotam,” “According to their families and the houses of their fathers,” (BeMidbar 4:2, 29), yet by Gershon it says “LeVeit Avotam LeMishpechotam,” “According to the the houses of their father and their families” (4:22). The order is flipped because the Bechorah comes from the father. The Kli Yakar adds to this idea. In regards to the first count of Levi in Parashat BeMidbar, when they are about to take the place of the Bechorim in the context of Avodah, it also says “LeVeit Avotam LeMishpechotam,” to show that even though the Bechorim lost their special status, that doesn’t mean the Levi Bechorim lost their status. They did not need a Pidyon but were still the new workers for the Mishkan. The Kli Yakar also points out yet another nuance in the text of the count. Moshe is told to count “Et Rosh Bnei Gershon Gam Heim,” “The heads of the children of Gershon, ‘also them’” (ibid). The “Gam Heim” shows that Gershon “also” has a reason to be “Nosei Rosh,” i.e. their primogeniture. Finally, the Rosh adds two more discrepancies. In the context of Gershon and Merrari, the Lashon of “Kol HaBa LaTzava,” is used, while with Kehat it says “Kol Ba”. Why is there a missing Heh? Kehat could not just go and do their work, they had to wait for Aharon and the Kohani to cover the Keilim before taking them. Gershon and Merrari, however, had full control of their jobs. Whenever they wanted, they could go take the Keilim. This Heh shows that they are the ones who come to get the Keilim, while Kehat must wait for the Kohanim to ‘bring’ the Keilim to them. The Torah also describes Gershon and Merari’s tasks as “La’avod Avodah,” while Kehat does “La’asot Melachah”. This is because Kehat does not have  ‘Avodah’, hard work. He has normal ‘Melachah’, normal work, like weekday Melachah not being allowed on Shabbat. One can’t have too much work when handling something like the Aron for fear of dropping it. 

All of these subtleties in the text of these seemingly mundane Pesukim teach us something very important about Shevet Levi. Bottom line - Shevet Levi is the GOAT.