Wagons
Parsha Pages | June 10, 2024
Print This Article
View Original PDF

Wagons

Parsha Pages | June 27, 2025

(במדבר ז, ג ) וַיָבִיאוּ אֶת־קָרְ בָנָם לִפְנֵי יְהֹּוָה שֵׁשׁ־עֶגְלֹת צָב וּשְׁנֵי־עָשָר בָקָר עֲגָלָה עַל־שְׁנֵי הַנְשִאִים וְשׁוֹר לְאֶחָד וַיַקְרִ יבוּ אוֹתָם לִפְנֵי הַמִשְׁכָן:

We have numerous translations for the word TZAV.

  1. COVERED wagons. This is explained as the same source word "m'tzupah," Tzadi- Beis - Tzadi-Pei, as the Beis and Pei are interchangeable (Rashi VaYikra 19:16) since their sound is produced by the same part of the mouth. Rabbi S.R. Hirsch explains that they were covered out of respect for their contents. Although the Mishkan's vessels were covered by "bigdei srod," the beams of the Mishkan and other Mishkan components were not, thus the need for covered wagons. (Rashi as per M.R. according to the opinion of Rebbi)
  2. HANDSOME appearance, as in Shmuel 2:1:19, "haTZVI Yisroel." (variant text in Rashi)
  3. STRONG calves that are especially suited to pull wagons. Perhaps the word source is "tzovo," - army. People who are active in army duty are usually very strong. (Ibn Ezra, Rada"k, and Rabbeinu Bachyei)
  4. FULL and BULGING, as in Bmidbar 5:21, "bitneich TZOVOH." Some say that the source is "tzov," a rodent that has a bulging round cover, perhaps a turtle. (Ramban and Ibn Ezra)
  5. PAIRED calves. The source is the Aramaic "tzavso," meaning a pair. (Targum Yerushalmi and M.R.)
  6. COLOURFULLY PAINTED. The source word is "tzeva," paint. (M.R. according to Rabbi Yishmo'eil)
  7. WHOSE CONTENTS ARE ORDERLY. This is a second opinion into the words of Rabbi Yishmael who says both "tz'vu'os" and "m'tukosos." (Haksav V'hakaboloh) Perhaps the source word is similar to "nitzav," - standing erect and orderly.
  8. Wagons to which the animals are TIED. The source word is the same as "tzvasim" - tied bundles of grain (Rus 2:16). (Haksav V'hakabalah)
  9. ARMY wagons. The structure of these wagons was similar to that which people who are in the army use to carry their supplies with them. (Rabbi Yitzchak ben R’ Shimshon Katz, son-in-law of the Mahara"l)
  10. DURABLE wagons. In spite of the great weight that they carried they were durable. The source word is similar to "mutzov" or "nitzov." ((Rabbi Chaim Paltiel and Paa'nei'ach Raza)
  11. SLOW MOVING. Because of their great size and the tremendous weight of their cargo, they could only proceed slowly. This is the nature of the rodent called "tzov," perhaps a turtle, which moves slowly. This fits very well with Yeshayahu 66:20, "U'vaTZAVIM u'vaprodim u'vakirkoros." The "tzavim" were large heavy slow moving wagons, while the wagons called "kirkoros" where light-weight, small, and fast moving, from the source word "m'charkeir" (Shmuel 2:6:14), describing King Dovid's dancing in a quick and light-footed manner. (Ramban and Rivosh)

In general in the Mishkan everything was done in a manner of abundance; yet, the 12 Nesiim brought a total of only 6 wagons. Why? To use each wagon to its full capacity, then only six wagons were needed. In the actual service of HaShem, every detail must be put to use, that each wagon functioned to its maximum potential. A person must ensure all of one’s talents are used in the study of Torah and in the doing of Mitzvos; one cannot relax at the last moment prior to completion. (Lubavitcher Rebbe)

The Wagons Used to Transport the Boards of the Mishkan

Shabbos 99a: Rav states: The area beneath, between, and to the side of the wagons was public domain. Abaye states: The space between the wagons was five amos, the same as the length of a wagon. Rava explains how the five amos of the wagon was distributed and why it was distributed in that way. The Gemara explains how we derive the requirement that a public domain must be sixteen amos wide.

The wagons that carried the Kerashim would travel in pairs with a space the size of the length of a wagon (5 amos) in between the two wagons. The width of the main body of the wagon was two and one-half amah and the wheels protrude another amah and a quarter on each side for a total of five-amos width per wagon. The width of the main body of the wagon needed to be two and a half amos because anything less would have too narrow a base resulting in a wobbling of the kerashim (boards) and possibly tipping over to one side during transport. If the two wagons were 5-amos width each and the space between was 5 amos, then where is the 16-amos halacha of a reshus harabim? There was an extra half-amah at each outer edge where a Levi (who walked near by) could run in to fix any boards that may start to slide off.

Dafhachaim.org

QUESTION:

The Mishnah says that one is forbidden to pass an object from a Reshus ha'Yachid to another Reshus ha'Yachid via Reshus ha'Rabim ("Moshit"). Rashi explains that this is derived from the way in which the wagons were loaded when the Mishkan was dismantled in preparation for the Jewish people to continue their travels in the desert. Two wagons were stationed next to each other, and in front of them was another pair of wagons. The Leviyim would pass the boards (Kerashim) of the Mishkan to the first pair of wagons, and Leviyim on those wagons would take the boards and pass them on to the second pair of wagons to be loaded there.

Why did they load the wagons in such an unusual way? Logically they should have loaded only two wagons at a time, since they traveled in the desert with two wagons next to each other. However, they should have simply filled up the first two wagons, then moved them out of the way, brought the other two wagons into position and loaded them with boards. Why did they pass the boards to the first wagon and then to the second?

ANSWERS:

(a) Perhaps it was not respectful to require the second set of boards to wait while the wagons moved out of the way with the first set.

(b) Whenever the Mishkan and the Jewish people traveled, they had to follow the lead of the Ananei ha'Kavod, the Clouds of Glory, and the call of the Shofaros. If the first set of wagons would be loaded with boards and then moved in order to bring the second set of wagons into the loading position, then when they would start to move it out of the way, that movement would be considered the start of their journey. Since it was forbidden to begin traveling until the Ananei ha'Kavod started to move and the Shofaros sounded, they could not move the wagons. They had to pass the boards over the first wagon and into the second.

Transportation of The Parts of the Mishkan - The Summary

After everything was said and done, and all of the parts of the Mishkan were packed inside the wagons, the result would look like on the image below. Please note, that individual parts of the Mishkan were probably wrapped into some sort of fabric before they were placed inside the Wagons: it would help to protect the parts from hitting each other, etc. We are not showing it for illustrative and convenience reasons.

(במדבר ז, ג ) וַיָבִיאוּ אֶת־קָרְ בָנָם לִפְנֵי יְהֹּוָה שֵׁשׁ־עֶגְלֹת צָב וּשְׁנֵי־עָשָר בָקָר עֲגָלָה עַל־שְׁנֵי הַנְשִאִים וְשׁוֹר לְאֶחָד וַיַקְרִ יבוּ אוֹתָם לִפְנֵי הַמִשְׁכָן:

We have numerous translations for the word TZAV.

  1. COVERED wagons. This is explained as the same source word "m'tzupah," Tzadi- Beis - Tzadi-Pei, as the Beis and Pei are interchangeable (Rashi VaYikra 19:16) since their sound is produced by the same part of the mouth. Rabbi S.R. Hirsch explains that they were covered out of respect for their contents. Although the Mishkan's vessels were covered by "bigdei srod," the beams of the Mishkan and other Mishkan components were not, thus the need for covered wagons. (Rashi as per M.R. according to the opinion of Rebbi)
  2. HANDSOME appearance, as in Shmuel 2:1:19, "haTZVI Yisroel." (variant text in Rashi)
  3. STRONG calves that are especially suited to pull wagons. Perhaps the word source is "tzovo," - army. People who are active in army duty are usually very strong. (Ibn Ezra, Rada"k, and Rabbeinu Bachyei)
  4. FULL and BULGING, as in Bmidbar 5:21, "bitneich TZOVOH." Some say that the source is "tzov," a rodent that has a bulging round cover, perhaps a turtle. (Ramban and Ibn Ezra)
  5. PAIRED calves. The source is the Aramaic "tzavso," meaning a pair. (Targum Yerushalmi and M.R.)
  6. COLOURFULLY PAINTED. The source word is "tzeva," paint. (M.R. according to Rabbi Yishmo'eil)
  7. WHOSE CONTENTS ARE ORDERLY. This is a second opinion into the words of Rabbi Yishmael who says both "tz'vu'os" and "m'tukosos." (Haksav V'hakaboloh) Perhaps the source word is similar to "nitzav," - standing erect and orderly.
  8. Wagons to which the animals are TIED. The source word is the same as "tzvasim" - tied bundles of grain (Rus 2:16). (Haksav V'hakabalah)
  9. ARMY wagons. The structure of these wagons was similar to that which people who are in the army use to carry their supplies with them. (Rabbi Yitzchak ben R’ Shimshon Katz, son-in-law of the Mahara"l)
  10. DURABLE wagons. In spite of the great weight that they carried they were durable. The source word is similar to "mutzov" or "nitzov." ((Rabbi Chaim Paltiel and Paa'nei'ach Raza)
  11. SLOW MOVING. Because of their great size and the tremendous weight of their cargo, they could only proceed slowly. This is the nature of the rodent called "tzov," perhaps a turtle, which moves slowly. This fits very well with Yeshayahu 66:20, "U'vaTZAVIM u'vaprodim u'vakirkoros." The "tzavim" were large heavy slow moving wagons, while the wagons called "kirkoros" where light-weight, small, and fast moving, from the source word "m'charkeir" (Shmuel 2:6:14), describing King Dovid's dancing in a quick and light-footed manner. (Ramban and Rivosh)

In general in the Mishkan everything was done in a manner of abundance; yet, the 12 Nesiim brought a total of only 6 wagons. Why? To use each wagon to its full capacity, then only six wagons were needed. In the actual service of HaShem, every detail must be put to use, that each wagon functioned to its maximum potential. A person must ensure all of one’s talents are used in the study of Torah and in the doing of Mitzvos; one cannot relax at the last moment prior to completion. (Lubavitcher Rebbe)

The Wagons Used to Transport the Boards of the Mishkan

Shabbos 99a: Rav states: The area beneath, between, and to the side of the wagons was public domain. Abaye states: The space between the wagons was five amos, the same as the length of a wagon. Rava explains how the five amos of the wagon was distributed and why it was distributed in that way. The Gemara explains how we derive the requirement that a public domain must be sixteen amos wide.

The wagons that carried the Kerashim would travel in pairs with a space the size of the length of a wagon (5 amos) in between the two wagons. The width of the main body of the wagon was two and one-half amah and the wheels protrude another amah and a quarter on each side for a total of five-amos width per wagon. The width of the main body of the wagon needed to be two and a half amos because anything less would have too narrow a base resulting in a wobbling of the kerashim (boards) and possibly tipping over to one side during transport. If the two wagons were 5-amos width each and the space between was 5 amos, then where is the 16-amos halacha of a reshus harabim? There was an extra half-amah at each outer edge where a Levi (who walked near by) could run in to fix any boards that may start to slide off.

Dafhachaim.org

QUESTION:

The Mishnah says that one is forbidden to pass an object from a Reshus ha'Yachid to another Reshus ha'Yachid via Reshus ha'Rabim ("Moshit"). Rashi explains that this is derived from the way in which the wagons were loaded when the Mishkan was dismantled in preparation for the Jewish people to continue their travels in the desert. Two wagons were stationed next to each other, and in front of them was another pair of wagons. The Leviyim would pass the boards (Kerashim) of the Mishkan to the first pair of wagons, and Leviyim on those wagons would take the boards and pass them on to the second pair of wagons to be loaded there.

Why did they load the wagons in such an unusual way? Logically they should have loaded only two wagons at a time, since they traveled in the desert with two wagons next to each other. However, they should have simply filled up the first two wagons, then moved them out of the way, brought the other two wagons into position and loaded them with boards. Why did they pass the boards to the first wagon and then to the second?

ANSWERS:

(a) Perhaps it was not respectful to require the second set of boards to wait while the wagons moved out of the way with the first set.

(b) Whenever the Mishkan and the Jewish people traveled, they had to follow the lead of the Ananei ha'Kavod, the Clouds of Glory, and the call of the Shofaros. If the first set of wagons would be loaded with boards and then moved in order to bring the second set of wagons into the loading position, then when they would start to move it out of the way, that movement would be considered the start of their journey. Since it was forbidden to begin traveling until the Ananei ha'Kavod started to move and the Shofaros sounded, they could not move the wagons. They had to pass the boards over the first wagon and into the second.

Transportation of The Parts of the Mishkan - The Summary

After everything was said and done, and all of the parts of the Mishkan were packed inside the wagons, the result would look like on the image below. Please note, that individual parts of the Mishkan were probably wrapped into some sort of fabric before they were placed inside the Wagons: it would help to protect the parts from hitting each other, etc. We are not showing it for illustrative and convenience reasons.

PDF Preview
View The Full Article (PDF)
Parsha Pages | June 10, 2024