Moses Feared the Chieftains' Wagons Would Break in the Desert

"Covered" (Numbers 7:3): they were like litters; "covered" means marked out; "covered" means adorned. It was taught in the name of Rabbi Nehemiah: they were like a vaulted canopy. "And twelve oxen, a wagon for two of the chieftains" (ibid.): this teaches that two chieftains brought one wagon, and each and every tribe brought an ox. "And they brought them before the Tabernacle" (ibid.): this teaches that they assessed their value in money and sold them to the community. "And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying" (ibid.). What is the meaning of "saying"? It was taught by Rabbi Hoshaiah: the Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses, "Go out and say to Israel words of praise, words of consolation." And Moses was afraid and said: "Perhaps the holy spirit has departed from me and rested upon the chieftains?" The Holy One said to him: "Moses, had it been to them that I had said to bring their offering, then I would say to you that you should say it to them; but rather, 'Take it from them' (ibid. v. 5)" — from them did the matter come. And who gave them the counsel? The tribe of Issachar gave them the counsel, as it is written: "And of the children of Issachar, men who had understanding of the times" (1 Chronicles 12:33). What is the meaning of "of the times"? Rabbi Tanhuma said: of the festival-seasons; and Rabbi Yose bar Ketzeri said: of the intercalations of the calendar. "Their heads were two hundred" (ibid.): these are the two hundred heads of courts that Issachar would set up. "And all their brethren were at their command" (ibid.): this teaches that they would establish the law by their word. They said to them: "This Tent of Meeting that you are making flies in the air; rather, make for it wagons, and they shall carry it upon them." And Moses was afraid and said: "Perhaps one of the wagons will break or one of the oxen will die, and the offering of the chieftains will be found unfit?" The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: "'And they shall be for the service of the Tent of Meeting' (Numbers 7:5)" — enduring being was granted to them, that they should exist forever. Until when did they endure? Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahman, and Rabbi Hunia in the name of Bar Kappara: until "In Gilgal they sacrificed oxen" (Hosea 12:12). And where did they offer them? Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: in Nob they offered them. Rabbi Abbahu said: in Gibeon they offered them. Rabbi Hama bar Hanina said: in the Eternal House [the Temple] they offered them. Rabbi Levi said: the reason of Rabbi Hama bar Hanina is, "And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offerings, which he sacrificed to the LORD, twenty-two thousand oxen," etc. (1 Kings 8:63). It was taught in the name of Rabbi Meir: until now they endure, and they have not become foul, nor aged, nor turned defective. And the matter is an inference from minor to major: if the wagons, which clung to the work of the Tent of Meeting, were granted enduring being to exist forever, then Israel, who cleave to the Holy One, blessed be He, how much more so! "And you who cleave to the LORD your God are alive, every one of you, this day" (Deuteronomy 4:4). Finished.