Appoint the Leviim
במדבר א,נ: וְאַתָּה הַפְקֵד אֶת-הַלְוִיִּם עַל-מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת וְעַל כָּל-כֵּלָיו וְעַל כָּל-אֲשֶׁר-לוֹ הֵמָּה יִשְׂאוּ אֶת-הַמִּשְׁכָּן וְאֶת-כָּל-כֵּלָיו וְהֵם יְשָׁרְתֻהוּ וְסָבִיב לַמִּשְׁכָּן יַחֲנוּ:
Baal HaTurim: This word הפקד (appoint) appears twice in Tanach: once here and once in Tehilim (109,6) “Appoint a wicked man over him.” This alludes to the teaching (Sanhedrin 103b) that no one becomes an officer (law enforcement) below unless he is made (naasah) a Rasha (wicked person) above. Hence the Leviim were made officers over the Mishkan.
This certainly can not be taken literally. Follows are a few interpretations.
- When a person is elevated to a position of prominence there is a fear of his becoming haughty. He must behave externally as a leader, but internally he must fight this natural tendency. Thus when a person is appointed to a position of authority below, he must act with stature BELOW, i.e. in the eyes of the people. But internally, which only HaShem ABOVE knows, he must look at his faults and shortcomings so that he not become inflated. The Gemara (Nidah 30b) teaches that before a baby is born his soul takes an oath, “Even if the whole world tells you that you’re a Tzaddik, view yourself as if you are a Rasha.” (B'eir Moshe)
- When one person is deserving of being elevated there is a spiritual upsurge that requires a counter-balance, based on the verse "Zeh l'umas zeh assah hoElokim" (Koheles). When one person goes up, another who is a "rasha" is given a position of authority as well, downward, as he would pursue persecution of the bnei Yisroel. "Naasah" (being made) does not refer to the same person. (B'eir Moshe)
- The Gemara (Sukoh 52) says that whoever is greater than his friend correspondingly has a greater evil inclination. Thus if a person is elevated, likewise, the "rasha" inclination is also elevated. The gemara Kidushin 30b says that one's evil inclination is called "rasha," based on the verse "tzo'feh rasha latzadik" (Tehilim 37). (Ksav Sofer)
- The Yerushalmi (Bikurim 3:3) says that he who is elevated to a high position has all his sins forgiven. Thus his mitzvos weigh down heavily on one side of a balance scale, since there are no counter-weight sins on the other side. Thus when one is elevated, he goes "l'matoh," downward, while the "rasha," the other side of the scale, which is now empty, goes "l'maloh," upward. (Ma'yanah Shel Torah)
The Tribe of Zevulun
במדבר ב,ז: מַטֵּה זְבוּלֻן וְנָשִׂיא לִבְנֵי זְבוּלֻן אֱלִיאָב בֶּן-חֵלֹן
Baal HaTurim: By the other three times that the third tribe is mentioned (verses 14,22,29) there is a conjunctive letter Vov added as a prefix (this is logical since the third tribe joins the first two). However, by Zevulun there is no Vov. This is due to the unique relationship between the tribe of Yissochar (which is mentioned immediately prior) which devoted itself to Torah study, while the tribe of Zevulun was involved in commerce to support both of them. Thus, the two tribes are considered as one tribe to share equally the reward of the Torah study.
The Torah left off the letter “vav” so that we realize that Zevulun was no regulated to a secondary rank. Even more, the Gemara (Bava Basra 9a) stated that “greater is the enabler that the actual doer.”
The Sefer “Growth Through Torah” comments that just as those who support Torah financially share the merit of the Torah study, so too anyone who influences another person to study Torah shares in the merits of that person.