Numbers continues apace, and with it, new and exciting ways for G-d to get angry at the Israelites.
As you may recall, last week concluded with G-d decreeing that the Israelites would wander for 40 years in the wilderness, until everyone who was counted in the census died. This week, a group of Levites attempted to stage a coup on Moses and Aaron. They wanted to depose them and to take control of the tabernacle sacrifices, and in attempting to do so, got into a sacrifice off with Aaron.
Anyways, this led to G-d causing the earth to swallow the entire households of the three ringleaders and consuming the other 250 who offered incense to the altar in fire. The people were understandably further upset by this, leading to G-d announcing yet again their interest in annihilating them, a plague coming loose, and Moses directing Aaron to run around with an offering of incense to stop the plague, leading to a death toll of merely 14,000.
Not the most encouraging two chapters.
This is all followed by the episode with Aaron's staff blooming to affirm the Levite's position, and then G-d goes back over the various offerings they're given, closing out the parsha.
We had a lot of discussion about how this episode was kinda fucked up, but also in unpacking the sort of... reason it happened? With the sort of precedents we already have for how G-d and the divine are, some of the sociopolitical rationale, and how this forms a pattern since Sinai of the Israelites disappointing G-d starting with the people as a whole, then the Levites, and eventually culminating with Moses himself before they finally gain entry into the promised land. Lots to think about about the relationship of G-d and the people writ large versus individuals as well.
Fewer excerpts from the commentary today due to a strange technical glitch that broke the commentaries for two of the three chapters of this parsha in Sefaria.
Anyways, Moses has taken not one ass
During the episode with the plague and Aaron running around to stop its spread, Rashi supposes a bit of yaoi occurred between Aaron and the Angel of Death
Thanks Rashi
There was also brief discussion of Aaron and the red mortal blade.