Musar for Sotah 66:10
רבי אליעזר ב"י אומר לא בא הכתוב אלא להראות להן דרך בשניה כדרך שהראה להן בראשונה דרך בדרך לכו ולא בשדות וכרמים היושב בישוב לכו ולא במדברות בערבה בערבה לכו ולא בהרים וגבעות
but you gained nothing thereby.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' I.e., your addition of the words was unnecessary. ');"><sup>14</sup></span> You declare that 'the terebinths of Moreh' means Shechem; we too admit that 'the terebinths of Moreh' means Shechem. We learnt this by an inference from analogy;<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' Gezerah shawah (v. Glos.). ');"><sup>15</sup></span>
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
The Parshah mentions only the number of Israelites, and the fact that the Levites from the age of thirty days and over were chosen to replace the firstborn. The number given for the Levites in this Parshah is only that of the Kehatites, since the מחנה שכינה contained the כהנים who came from their ranks. The reason why the כהנים were included in the count of the Kehatites is that we find the Priests carrying the Holy Ark on three occasions, though that assignment was usually reserved for the Levites of the family of the Kehatites. These three occasions were: A) When Israel crossed the Jordan (Joshua 3,3), see the commentary of Kimchi there. B) When they marched around the city of Jericho (Joshua 6,12-13), and C) when the Holy Ark was returned to where it belonged during the uprising of Absalom against David (Samuel II 15,29).
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