יהוה spoke further to Aaron: I hereby give you charge of My gifts, all the sacred donations of the Israelites; I grant them to you and to your sons as a perquisite, a due for all time.

(19) All the sacred gifts that the Israelites set aside for יהוה I give to you, to your sons, and to the daughters that are with you, as a due for all time. It shall be an everlasting covenant of salt*covenant of salt See Lev. 2.13. before יהוה for you and for your offspring as well.(20) And יהוה said to Aaron: You shall, however, have no territorial share among them or own any portion in their midst; I am your portion and your share among the Israelites.

(3) ברית מלח A COVENANT OF SALT — Another explanation is that ברית מלח is equivalent to כברית מלח, and the meaning is: like the covenant that was made with salt that it will never decay.

ואני הנה נתתי לך AND I, BEHOLD, I HAVE ALSO GIVEN THEE [THE CHARGE OF MINE HEAVE OFFERING] with pleasure. This is suggested by the word “Behold”, for this is an expression used when something is done with pleasure, just as in, (Exodus 4:14) “Behold, he goeth forth to meet thee and when he will see thee he will rejoice in his heart!” A parable! This may be compared to a king who presented a field to his friend, but he did not write or seal a deed of gift nor did he record it in the court. When a man came and laid claim to the field, the king said to him, “It seems that anyone who wishes to do so may come and claim against you; behold, I will write and seal a deed of gift to you, and record it in the court! So here, too, because Korah came and made a claim against Aaron to the Priesthood, Scripture (God) came and gave him the twenty-four “gifts” of the priesthood as an everlasting covenant of salt (i.e. an enduring covenant). For this reason is this section recording the gifts of the priests placed here after that which narrates Korah’s rebellion (Sifrei Bamidbar 117:1).

Speak to the Levites and say to them: When you receive from the Israelites their tithes, which I have assigned to you as your share, you shall set aside from them one-tenth of the tithe as a gift to יהוה.

The verse speaks of two terumot; one is standard teruma and one is teruma of the tithe. Since they are mentioned together, they can be compared: Just as standard teruma is taken by estimate, as there is no requirement for the amount separated to be measured precisely, and it can be taken by thought, as one is not required to physically separate it before consuming the remaining produce, so too, teruma of the tithe may be taken by estimate and by thought. And this comparison also teaches that just as the homeowner has permission, i.e., the right, to separate standard teruma, so too, the homeowner has permission to separate teruma of the tithe.

“The giants were on the earth in those days, and also thereafter, when the children of the great ones consorted with the daughters of man, and they bore them children; they are the mighty who were from ancient times, the men of renown” (Genesis 6:4).
“The giants were on the earth in those days.” They were called by seven names: Eimim, Refa’im, Giborim, Zamzumim, Anakim, Avim, Nefilim. Eimim – as anyone who saw them, fear of them [eimatan] would descend upon them. Refa’im – as anyone who saw them, his heart would become soft [rafeh] like wax. Giborim – Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said, in the name of Rabbi Yoḥanan: The marrow of the femur of one of them measured eighteen cubits. Zamzumim – Rabbi Yosei bar Ḥanina said: Intimidating military commanders. Anakim – the Rabbis and Rabbi Aḥa, the Rabbis say: They would wear numerous necklaces upon necklaces [anakim]. Rabbi Aḥa said: It was as though they wore the sun as a necklace, and said: ‘[Go away and] let the rain fall upon us.’ Avim – as they brought annihilation upon the world and were themselves annihilated from the world, as they caused the world to be annihilated, just as it says: “A ruin, a ruin, a ruin [ava] I will render it” (Ezekiel 21:32). Rabbi Elazar ben Rabbi Shimon said: Because they were as expert in soil as snakes, as in the Galilee they call snakes avya. Nefilim – as they toppled [hipilu] the world, fell from the world, and filled the world with stillborns [nefalim] with their immorality.
“And also thereafter,” Yehuda bar Rav Ami said: The later [generations] did not learn from the earlier ones; the generation of the Flood did not learn from the generation of Enosh, and the generation of the Dispersion did not learn from the generation of the Flood.
“And also thereafter, when the children of the great ones consorted with the daughters of man,” Rabbi Berekhya said: A woman would go out to the marketplace and would see a young man and desire him. She would go and engage in intercourse and would produce a young man like him.
“The men of renown [shem]” – Rabbi Aḥa said: [Job said, of the wicked:] “They are loathsome people and also people without name ” (Job 30:8), and here you say, [of the generation of the Flood:] “The men of name”? However, it is because they brought desolation [hishimu] to the world, they were annihilated [hushamu] from the world, and they caused the world to become desolate [yishom]. Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥman said: Men whose names were articulated above. It is as Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said; all these names are expressions of rebellion: “Irad” (Genesis 4:18) – ‘I will expel [ored] them from the world’; “Meḥuyael” (Genesis 4:18) – ‘I will eradicate [moḥeh] them from the world’; “Metushael” (Genesis 4:18) – ‘I will uproot [matish] them from the world’; [“Lemekh” (Genesis 4:18)] – ‘What do I have to do with Lemekh and his offspring?’
Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “They are the mighty who were from ancient times, the men of renown” – who detailed their actions? It was [Job’s friends,] Elifaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Tzofar the Naamatite. Rabbi says: Had the book of Job come to the world only to detail for us the deeds of the [generation of the] Flood, it would have been sufficient. Rabbi Ḥanin said: Had Elihu come to the world only to explain to us the process of rainfall, it would have been sufficient, as Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Every time “ora” is mentioned by Elihu it refers only to rainfall. Rabbi Hoshaya Rabba said: It refers only to the giving of the Torah, just as it says: “For the commandment is a lamp and the Torah is light [or]” (Proverbs 6:23).
Rabbi Aḥa said in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi: Contention is as troublesome as the generation of the Flood. Here “men of renown” is stated, and elsewhere [concerning Koraḥ’s rebellion]: “Distinguished of the convocation, men of renown” (Numbers 16:2) is stated. Just as “men of renown” stated there refers to contention, so, too, “men of renown” stated here refers to contention.