When the chieftains of Israel rolled up to the Tabernacle with six covered wagons, the Torah uses a strange word for those wagons — tzav. Pesikta de-Rav Kahana 1:8 turns the word under the light. Some say tzav means colored with dye, like the stripes on a turtle's shell, so that the wagons resembled painted palanquins. Rabbi Nechemiah taught they were arched carriages, kamrasta, with rounded covered tops — Roman-style litters built in the desert.
The Fear of a Leader Who Did Not Give the Order
The deeper drama of this passage, though, is not about the wagons. It is about the anxiety of Moses.
Rabbi Hoshaiah teaches that God said to Moses, "Go out and say to them, to Israel, words of encouragement, words of comfort." But Moses hesitated. He was afraid. Perhaps, he worried, the Holy Spirit had shifted away from him and settled on the tribal chieftains. Perhaps his role was shrinking. Perhaps he was being quietly sidelined.
God answered him with unusual gentleness. "If I had wanted to instruct them to bring offerings, I would have told you to tell them. I did not. The initiative came from them. Your job now is to take what they have brought — 'Take these offerings from them' (Numbers 7:5)."
Who Put This Idea in the Tribes' Heads
Who gave the chieftains the idea to donate wagons? Pesikta de-Rav Kahana credits the tribe of Issachar. First (Chronicles 12:33) praises them as those "who understood the signs of the times" — the changing of the seasons, says Rabbi Tanchuma, or the calibration of the calendar, says Rabbi Yosei bar Katzri. Issachar produced the two hundred heads of the Sanhedrin. Their brothers followed their rulings. And it was they who reasoned aloud, "Does the Tent of Meeting hover in the air? No. Then make wagons to carry it."
What If a Wagon Breaks
Moses feared again. What if a wagon shatters on the desert road? What if one of the twelve oxen dies in harness? Would the chieftains' offerings be disqualified, their gifts ruined?
God's reply is one of the most startling promises in the midrash. "Let them serve for the service of the Tent of Meeting" (Numbers 7:5). Rabbi Meir teaches in the name of earlier masters that those wagons and those oxen endured forever. They never broke down. They never rotted. They never aged. They were never rendered tereifot, ritually unfit. Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman traces them through history — they survived until the days of (Hosea 12:12), when Israel sacrificed bulls at Gilgal. Rabbi Abba bar Kahana says they were finally offered up at Nob. Rabbi Avahu says at Gibeon. Rabbi Chama bar Chanina identifies the final offering in Solomon's day, when the king sacrificed "twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep" at the Temple's dedication (1 Kings 8:63). Those original chieftains' oxen, the sages say, were among them.
The A Fortiori Leap
And then comes the move that makes the whole chapter soar. Kal vachomer — if mere wagons, wooden carts that cleaved to the service of the Tent of Meeting, were granted an existence that outlasted centuries, how much more so Israel, who cleave to the living God. "You who cleave to the Lord your God, all of you are alive today" (Deuteronomy 4:4). If wheels bolted to the Tabernacle could live forever, so can a people bolted to its covenant.
This is the closing teaching of the first chapter of Pesikta de-Rav Kahana, a 5th-6th century CE homiletical midrash built on the special Sabbaths and festivals of the Jewish year. Moses was afraid that the gifts would break. God promised that devotion itself is unbreakable.
Tzav (Num. 7:3).*The verse states that the tribal leaders brought six "tzav" wagons (שש עגלת-צב). The midrash now discusses the meaning of this unusual word, often translated (in conjunction with eglot) as "litter-wagons" (see Jastrow), i.e., luxurious cushioned and covered transport for dignitaries, supported by two horizontal poles and carried by servants. However, tzav is susceptible to other meanings as well, which the midrash also explores.They resembled palanquins -- distinguished with dye (tzeva)*צב מצויינת; alt., צב מצויירות ("colored with dye"), designed like a turtle (tzav) (i.e., with walls and a rounded covering). It was taught in the name of Rabbi Nechemiah, they were like a type of arched carriage (kamrasta)."... And twelve oxen, a wagon for every two chieftains [and an ox for each individual]" (ibid.). It teaches that [every] two chieftains brought one wagon, and each and every tribe brought an ox."And Hashem said to Moses, saying." (Num. 7:4.)What is this "saying"? It was taught by Rabbi Hoshaiah: The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses, "Go out and say to them, to Israel, words of encouragement, words of comfort." And Moses was afraid, and he said, "Say, perhaps, that the Holy Spirit has departed from me and has rested upon the chieftains." The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses, "Had I wished to tell them to bring forth their offerings, I would have told you to tell that to them. Rather, [I told you to] 'take [these offerings] from them' (Num. 7:5)." This matter was "from them." And who gave them this advice? The tribe of Issachar gave them this advice. There it says, "And from the children of Issachar were those who possessed understanding of the signs (iytim)." (1 Chr. 12:33.) What are "iytim"? Rabbi Tanchuma says, [the signs of the changing] of the seasons. And Rabbi Yosei bar Katzri says, [the signs of the] intercalculation of the years. "Their heads were two hundred." (Ibid.) These were the two hundred heads of the Sanhedrin, who Issachar had caused to arise. "...And all their brethren [followed] their command (pihem; lit., 'their mouths')." (Ibid.) This teaches that they were in agreement with the halacha [that issued] from their mouths. They said to them, "Does the Tent of Meeting that you are fashioning hover in the air? Rather, make wagons for it and load it onto them." And Moses was afraid, and he said, "Say, perhaps, that one of the wagons might break, or one of the oxen may die, and that the chieftains' offerings may become disqualified?" The Holy One Blessed be He said to Moses, "And let them serve for the service [of transporting] the Tent of Meeting." (Num. 7:5.) He granted them existence so that they would endure forever. Until what point did they endure? Rabbi Yudan in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman, Rabbi Choneya in the name of Bar Kappara: Until "they sacrificed bulls in Gilgal" (Hos. 12:12). And where did they sacrifice them? Rabbi Abba bar Kahana says, in Nob they sacrificed them. Rabbi Avahu said, in Gibeon they sacrifced them. Said Rabbi Levi, the explanation of Rabbi Chama bar Chanina: "Solomon sacrificed as peace offerings, which were sacrificed for Hashem, twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred twenty thousand sheep, etc." (1 Kings 8:63.) It was taught in the name of Rabbi Meir, they have endured until now, and they have not become filthy, and they have not aged, and they have not become been rendered tereifot. And behold, these matters are derived from a fortiori reasoning: Just as the carts that were connected (nid'vaku) with the labor of the Tent of Meeting were given an existence that they endured forever, all the more so Israel, who cleave (d'vukim) in unity with the Holy One Blessed be He, as it is stated: “But you, who cleave (had'vaykim) to Hashem your God, all of you are alive today” (Deuteronomy 4:4).The end [of the chapter].
