Parashat Naso describes the census taken among the Tribe of Levi, together with the various responsibilities incumbent on each of the Levite families. The family of Kehat (whose census and job description appear at the end of Parashat Bemidbar) is responsible to carry the holy vessels, the family of Gershon carry the cloths of the Mishkan, its coverings, and the screen for its entrance, the family of Merari carry the planks, the bars, the posts, and the sockets of the Mishkan. According to the rabbinic sages, these jobs were divided up based on their importance. Carrying the vessels from the Mishkan was perceived as the most important job, carrying the cloths was less significant, and the least important job was to carry the planks and posts. From this description of the division of labor, it appears that while the Mishkan was being taken apart or put together, different families were involved in the various stages. When it was being taken apart, the Kehat family began while the Merari family finished, and when it was being put together, the opposite took place.
The kohanim were put in charge of these activities, but it is important to note how the Torah expresses that responsibility – differently for different families.
Regarding the work performed by the Merari family we find:
“Those are the duties of the Merarite clans, pertaining to their various duties in the Tent of Meeting under the direction of Itamar son of Aaron the priest” (Bemidbar 4:33).
Regarding the work performed by the Gershon family we find some level of repetition:
“All the duties of the Gershonites, all their porterage and all their service, shall be performed on orders from Aaron and his sons; you shall make them responsible for attending to all their porterage.
Those are the duties of the Gershonite clans for the Tent of Meeting; they shall attend to them under the direction of Itamar son of Aaron the priest.” (Bemidbar 4:27-28).
When it comes to the work performed by the Kehat family, we find more specific instructions. Aharon and his sons are commanded to first cover all of the holy vessels, and only afterwards do the members of the Kehat family come to carry them. In addition, we find: “Responsibility shall rest with Elazar son of Aaron the priest for the lighting oil, the aromatic incense, the regular meal offering, and the anointing oil—responsibility for the whole Tabernacle and for everything consecrated that is in it or in its vessels” (Bemidbar 4:16). Furthermore it says: “Do this with them, that they may live and not die when they approach the most sacred objects: let Aaron and his sons go in and assign each of them to his duties and to his porterage” (Bemidbar 4:19).
The Maharal comments on the differences between the supervisory role that the kohanim were commanded to play:
It appears that there were three separate responsibilities –
The work of the Kehat family, whose job it was to carry the Holy vessels (v. 15), and because of its importance, Aharon’s son, Elazar, was appointed to supervise them (v. 16);
The work of the Merari family was last. They carried the planks that made up the Mishkan (v. 31), and Aharon’s son, Itamar, was appointed to supervise them (v. 33);
Gershon’s work fell in between the other two, which is why the Torah appoints general supervision over that work by Aharon and his sons, since the middle always is a general type of thing, since it wavers between the two sides.
Since the work of the Gershon family was in the middle, between the jobs of the Kehat family and the Merari family, that work was general work, since it wavers between the two. This is why Aharon and his sons supervised.
(Gur Aryeh, Naso)
The Maharal’s approach suggests that the level of supervision diminished when dealing with carrying things of lesser importance. This is why Elazar was responsible for supervising the work of the Kehat family, while Itamar supervised the work of the Merari family, with shared responsibility over the work of the Gershon family.
An alternative approach would be to distinguish between the role of Elazar who served as “Interior Minister” and Itamar who served as “Exterior Minister.” Responsibility for the cloths and coverings – which serve as the bridge between inside and outside – was shared. According to this, the distinction should not be made between “more important” and “less important” jobs, but jobs that require different strengths and abilities. The people given responsibility for the holy vessels must pay close attention to beauty and aesthetics, while those responsible for the planks, the bars and the posts must focus on the strength of the various components. Both may be responsible for a job of “porterage,” but that is where the similarity ends. In practice, just as there is a huge difference between the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of the Exterior in terms of the tools that must be mobilized for the purposes of their work, so, too, is the gap between the supervision of these two responsibilities. We know that when dealing with internal matters one must use kid gloves and consider issues of stability and social cohesion – sometimes even at the expense of security considerations – and that when focusing on external threats we do the opposite. It is the same story regarding the responsibilities of the Levites and the kohanim when it comes to carrying the Mishkan.
On its most basic level, the purpose of supervising workers is to create a work situation that is organized and orderly, in an attempt to create ideal coordination between workers, arrange set schedules for the workers, etc. Hassidic thought understands supervisory responsibilities in another way. The kohanim, who descend from Aharon, are viewed as symbolizing hesed – mercy. It was understood that Itamar followed his father, Aharon’s footsteps and was known as someone who loved and pursued peace. The Levites represent the quality of justice, of judgment. Elazar’s job obligated him to instill fear and reverence for the holy vessels; Itamar’s job was to soften the laws, and to ensure that the work of carrying did not become perceived as a technical task that required certain things to be done. His job was to transform this work into an experience of Holy service and of standing before God (Ohev Yisrael).