“The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Take from them, and they shall be to perform the service of the Tent of Meeting, and you shall give them to the Levites, each according to his service” (Numbers 7:4–5). “They brought their offering before the Lord” (Numbers 7:3) – it teaches that they brought them and gave them to the congregation. They came and stood before the Tabernacle, but he did not accept it from them, until it was stated to him from the mouth of the Almighty: “Take from them.”
That is what is written: “The Lord spoke to Moses saying [lemor]: Take from them….” What is lemor? Rav Hoshaya taught: The Holy One blessed be He said to Moses: Go out and say to them words of conciliation and words of comfort. “Take from them” – at that moment Moses was concerned, and said: Say that, perhaps, the Divine Spirit has departed from me and rested upon the princes.
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: Moses, had I wished to tell them that they should bring, I would have said it to you so you would say it to them. Rather, “take from them” – this matter was from them, and their thought accorded with the thought on High. Moses was concerned, and said: Say that, perhaps, one of the carts broke or one of the oxen died, the result being that the offering of the princes would be disqualified.
The Holy One blessed be He said to him: “They shall be to perform the service of the Tent of Meeting.” He granted them existence so that they would exist forever. Until when were they alive? Rabbi Yuda in the name of Rabbi Shmuel ben Rabbi Naḥman and Rabbi Ḥoneya in the name of bar Kappara said: It was until “at Gilgal they slaughtered bulls” (Hosea 12:12).
Where did they sacrifice them?66The midrash is now presenting a different opinion. They sacrificed them at Nov. Rabbi Abbahu said: They sacrificed them at Givon. Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina said: They sacrificed them in the eternal Temple.
Rabbi Levi said: The source of Rabbi Ḥama bar Ḥanina is, as it is written: “King Solomon slaughtered an offering of…[bulls [habakar]]” (II Chronicles 7:5).67The use of the definite article in the word habakar indicates that the reference is also to bulls, of which we have previous knowledge. It is taught in the name of Rabbi Meir: Until now the carts and the oxen are in existence. They have not been blemished, have not aged, have not been mauled, and have not been broken.
Can these matters not be inferred a fortiori? If the carts that were associated with the labor of the Tent of Meeting were granted existence to the extent that they exist forever, Israel, who cleave to the Holy One blessed be He, all the more so, as it is stated: “But you, who cleave to the Lord your God, [all of you are alive today]” (Deuteronomy 4:4). “You shall give them to the Levites, each according to his service” – in accordance with the exertion that his burden demanded; allot more carts to ease his burden.