[Avodah] How were Levi'I'm Counted?

[T613K at aol.com]

From: rabbirichwolpoe at gmail.com

Rashi Bamidbar 3:16 
Levi'I'm  were counted "al pi Hashem"

Does this imply that they did not use  Mahatzis Hasheqel?

Do any Midrashim or Mefarshim elaborate upon this  method?




>>>>>
 

It certainly does imply, as you say, that they did not use machatzis  
hashekel to count the Levi'im, but I'm not sure what your question is.  The  
Rashi you cite says that Moshe stood at the door of each Levi's tent and a  bas 
kol announced how many Levi'im were inside.  Rashi says "how many  babies" 
but clearly means babies plus.  
 
This is probably not an answer to your question but Eliyahu Kitov in his  
Sefer Haparshios says that after the bas kol announced how many children were 
in  each tent, Moshe added up the total and announced how many Levi'im 
there were,  and then the bas kol repeated the number that Moshe had said, 
confirmed Moshe's  count.  He says the reason for this was so that all would know 
that Moshe  had counted accurately and had not purposely undercounted the 
number of Levi'im  in order to gain more silver for his shevet (because each 
of the "extra"  first-borns who did not have a corresponding Levi had to pay 
silver, if you  recall).
 
(Kitov gives sources in his chapter endnotes but I can't make sense of all  
the abbreviations.)
 
 

--Toby  Katz
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