Gone But Not Forgotten - Parshat Bamidbar

(1) This is the line of Aaron and Moses at the time that the Eternal spoke with Moses on Mount Sinai. (2) These were the names of Aaron’s sons: Nadav, the first-born, and Avihu, Eleazar and Ithamar; (3) those were the names of Aaron’s sons, the anointed priests who were ordained for priesthood. (4) But Nadav and Avihu died before the Eternal, when they offered a strange fire before the Eternal in the wilderness of Sinai; and they left no sons. So it was Eleazar and Ithamar who served as priests in the lifetime of their father Aaron. (5) The Eternal spoke to Moses, saying: (6) Advance the tribe of Levi and place them in attendance upon Aaron the priest to serve him. (7) They shall perform duties for him and for the whole community before the Tent of Meeting, doing the work of the Tabernacle. (8) They shall take charge of all the furnishings of the Tent of Meeting—a duty on behalf of the Israelites—doing the work of the Tabernacle. (9) You shall assign the Levites to Aaron and to his sons: they are formally assigned to him from among the Israelites. (10) You shall make Aaron and his sons responsible for observing their priestly duties; and any stranger who comes close will die.

(1) Now Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered a strange fire before the Eternal, which had not been commanded upon them. (2) And fire came forth from the Eternal and consumed them; thus they died before The Eternal. (3) Then Moses said to Aaron, “This is what the Eternal meant by saying: Through those who come close to Me, I will be sanctified, and gain glory before all the people.” And Aaron was silent.

(1) The Eternal spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they drew too close to the presence of the Eternal.

(58) These are the clans of Levi: The clan of the Livnites, the clan of the Hevronites, the clan of the Mahlites, the clan of the Mushites, the clan of the Korahites.—Kohath begot Amram. (59) The name of Amram’s wife was Yocheved daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt; she bore to Amram Aaron and Moses and their sister Miriam. (60) To Aaron were born Nadav and Avihu, Eleazar and Ithamar. (61) Nadav and Avihu died when they offered strange fire before the Eternal.

(1) Then [God] said to Moses, “Come up to the Eternal, with Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy elders of Israel, and bow low from afar. (2) Moses alone shall come near the Eternal; but the others shall not come near, nor shall the people come up with him.”...

(9) Then Moses and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy elders of Israel ascended; (10) and they saw the God of Israel—under whose feet was the like a brick of sapphire, like the very sky for purity. (11) And God did not raise a hand against the elect of the Israelites; they beheld God, and they ate and drank.

(12) The Eternal said to Moses, “Come up to Me on the mountain and wait there, and I will give you the stone tablets with the teachings and commandments which I have inscribed to instruct them.” (13) So Moses and his attendant Joshua arose, and Moses ascended the mountain of God. (14) To the elders he had said, “Wait here for us until we return to you. You have Aaron and Hur with you; let anyone who has a legal matter approach them.” (15) When Moses had ascended the mountain, the cloud covered the mountain. (16) The Presence of the Eternal abode on Mount Sinai, and the cloud hid it for six days. On the seventh day [God] called to Moses from the midst of the cloud. (17) Now the Presence of the Eternal appeared in the sight of the Israelites as a consuming fire on the top of the mountain. (18) Moses went inside the cloud and ascended the mountain; and Moses remained on the mountain forty days and forty nights.

(23) The clans of the Gershonites were to camp behind the Tabernacle, to the west....

(29) The clans of the Kohathites were to camp along the south side of the Tabernacle...

(35) The chieftain of the ancestral house of the clans of Merari was Zuriel son of Abihail. They were to camp along the north side of the Tabernacle....

(38) Those who were to camp before the Tabernacle, in front—before the Tent of Meeting, on the east—were Moses and Aaron and his sons, attending to the duties of the sanctuary, as a duty on behalf of the Israelites; and any stranger came close would die.

(15) When Aaron and his sons have finished covering the sacred objects and all the furnishings of the sacred objects at the breaking of camp, only then shall the Kohathites come and lift them, so that they do not come in contact with the sacred objects and die. These things in the Tent of Meeting shall be the porterage of the Kohathites. (16) Responsibility shall rest with Eleazar 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. (17) יהוה spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: (18) Do not let the group of Kohathite clans be cut off from the Levites. (19) 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. (20) But let not [the Kohathites] go inside and witness the dismantling of the sanctuary, lest they die.