Parsha discussion

Question:  Why are the rules of טומאת מת not mentioned together with the other טומאות in ספר ויקרא? Approach: it bears noting that the presentation of טומאת מת is very different to the presentation of the other טומאות. Specifically , whilst in the other cases there is a discussion of the parameters of the טומאה, and only then the טהרה process, here it is the other way round. Further, the concept of טומאת מת actually appears a number of times before the discussion here (eg prohibitions on כהן & נזיר, the people unable to perform קרבן פסח). So it would seem that the concept of טומאת מת was “assumed knowledge” ahead of time. It therefore appears that the rules of פרה אדומה וטומאת מת are part of the set of מצוות mentioned in the aftermath of the קרח story, whereby a number of rules are given relating to the כהנים, including the procedure of פרה אדומה. We can also perhaps add that the קרח incident saw the highest number of casualties in any one plague that had beset the people (14,7...

Question:  Why does משה mention the test of the קטורת twice? Approach: It seems that there were two camps who challenged the leadership of אהרן. Firstly, there was קרח himself - together with other בני לוי. The other group were the בני ראובן and others of בני ישראל whose challenge was of a different nature. So, although the קטורת was a common "test" to both groups, their background was different.

Question:  13:27 ויספרו לו - who is referred to in the singular? Surely they are addressing the entire nation? Approach: The most obvious answer is that the scouts, whilst having called the nation together, start their speech by addressing משה, who had sent them on their mission in the first place. An alternative approach may be to suggest that the people, as a whole, wanted to hear the report. And could therefore be viewed as a "singularity". This fits in nicely with the retelling of the story in דברים, whereby the nation makes the request for the scouts to be sent.

Question:  Why did the לויים need to go through a process of טהרה if they’d already been exchanged for the בכורים? Approach: It appears that the process of the טהרה was a one-off procedure in order to inaugurate their position and role, in much the same way at the כהנים had to go through the מילואים process. Going forward, since the role of the לוי is auxiliary, there is no requirement for any individual לוי to have a procedure to inaugurate their service; unlike the כהן who is required to bring his מנחת מילואים, who is taking a direct and active role in the service.