“These are the reckonings of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Testimony, as they were reckoned at the directive of Moses: the service of the Levites was by means of Itamar, son of Aaron the priest” (Exodus 38:21). “These are the reckonings of the Tabernacle.” Rabbi Tanḥuma bar Abba began as follows: “A man of trust will abound with blessings” (Proverbs 28:20) – you find that anyone who is trustworthy, the Holy One blessed be He brings blessings through him.
Of one who is not trustworthy it is stated: “But one who hastens to become rich will not be absolved” (Proverbs 28:20). “A man of trust” – this is Moses, who is the trusted one of the Holy One blessed be He, as it is stated: “Not so is My servant Moses; in My entire house he is trusted” (Numbers 12:7). That is, “a man of trust will abound with blessings,” as all the matters over which he was appointed executor would be blessed, because he was trustworthy.
“But one who hastens to become rich will not be absolved” – this is Koraḥ, who was a Levite and sought to take the high priesthood. What was his end? “The earth opened its mouth [and swallowed them up]” (Numbers 16:32). Another matter: “A man of trust” (Proverbs 28:20) – this is Moses, who became the executor for the labor of the Tabernacle.
Our Rabbis taught: One does not appoint an authority over the public in monetary matters that is fewer than two [people],1Mishna Shekalim 5:2. but you find that Moses was executor himself, and yet you say: One does not appoint fewer than two? Rather, even though Moses was executor himself, he would call others and calculate with them, as it is stated: “These are the reckonings of the Tabernacle.” It is not written here, “as Moses reckoned,” but rather, “as they were reckoned at the directive of Moses” – by means of Moses, “by means of Itamar.”