Parashah 36: Be-Ha’alotekha – 8:1-12:16

8:1 (i) And ADONAI (יהוה) spoke to Moshe, saying:

8:2 “Speak to Aharon, and say to him, ‘When you arrange the nerot (lamps), the seven nerot (lamps) shall give light in front of the Menorah.’ “

8:3 And Aharon did so; he lighted the lamps thereof over against the menorah, as ADONAI (יהוה) commanded Moshe.

8:4 And this work of the menorah [was of] beaten gold, to the shaft thereof, to the flowers thereof, [was] beaten work: according to the pattern which ADONAI (יהוה) had shewed Moshe, so he made the menorah.

8:5 And ADONAI (יהוה) spoke to Moshe, saying,

8:6 Take the Leviim from among benai Yisrael, and cleanse them.

8:7 And thus shall you do to them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them wash their clothes, and [so] make themselves clean.

8:8 Then let them take a young bullock with his Minchah, [even] fine flour mingled with oil, and another young bullock shall you take for a Chatat.

8:9 And you shall bring the Leviim before the Ohel Moed: and you shall gather the whole assembly of benai Yisrael together:

8:10 And you shall bring the Leviim before ADONAI (יהוה): and benai Yisrael shall put their hands upon the Leviim:

8:11 And Aharon shall offer the Leviim before ADONAI (יהוה) [for] an offering of benai Yisrael, that they may execute the service of ADONAI (יהוה).

8:12 And the Leviim shall lay their hands upon the heads of the bullocks: and you shall offer the one [for] a Chattat, and the other [for] a Olah, to ADONAI (יהוה), to make an atonement for the Leviim.

8:13 And you shall set the Leviim before Aharon, and before his Banim, and offer them [for] an offering to ADONAI (יהוה).

8:14 Thus shall you separate the Leviim from among benai Yisrael: and the Leviim shall be mine.

8:15 (ii)

And after that shall the Leviim go in to do the service of the Ohel Moed: and you shall cleanse them, and offer them [for] an offering.

8:16 For they [are] wholly given to me from among benai Yisrael; instead of such as open every womb, [even instead of] the bachor of all benai Yisrael, have I taken them to me.

8:17 For all the bachor of benai Yisrael [are] mine, [both] man and beast: on the day that I smote every bachor in the Eretz Mitzrayim I sanctified them for myself.

8:18 And I have taken the Leviim for all the bachor of benai Yisrael.

8:19 And I have given the Leviim [as] a gift to Aharon and to his Banim from among benai Yisrael, to do the service of benai Yisrael in the Ohel Moed, and to make an atonement for benai Yisrael: that there be no plague among benai Yisrael, when benai Yisrael come nigh to the sanctuary.

8:20 And Moshe, and Aharon, and all the congregation of benai Yisrael, did to the Leviim according to all that ADONAI (יהוה) commanded Moshe concerning the Leviim, so did benai Yisrael to them.

8:21 And the Leviim were purified, and they washed their clothes; and Aharon offered them [as] an offering before ADONAI (יהוה); and Aharon made an atonement for them to cleanse them.

8:22 And after that went the Leviim in to do their service in the Ohel Moed before Aharon, and before his banim: as ADONAI (יהוה) had commanded Moshe concerning the Leviim, so did they to them.

8:23 And ADONAI (יהוה) spoke to Moshe, saying,

8:24 This [is it] that [belongs] to the Leviim: from twenty and five years old and upward they shall go in to wait upon the service of the Ohel Moed:

8:25 And from the age of fifty years they shall cease waiting upon the service [thereof], and shall serve no more:

8:26 But shall minister with their brethren in the Ohel Moed, to keep the charge, and shall do no service. Thus shall you do to the Leviim touching their charge.

There are three rules which applied to the Menorah in the Sanctuary and the Temple.

Firstly, even a person who was not a kohen could light the lamps.
Secondly, only a kohen could prepare the lamps, setting the wicks and the oil.
Thirdly, the Menorah could only be lit in the Temple Sanctuary.