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BEGIN WITH A GRIN

I’ve lost control.

There is no end in sight.

No chance of escape.

I don’t even have a home anymore.

I guess it’s time for a new keyboard…

LOSS OF PRIVILEGE

This week, we begin to read and learn the fourth of the five books of the Torah, Sefer Bamidbar. In parshas Bamidbar there is a list of the census of the Jewish people as they are divided into tribes, along with the selection of the Levites to serve in the Mishkan/Mikdash.

At first, the special honor of serving in the Mikdash was reserved for the firstborn, but this was taken from them and given to the Levites. (3:12) “As for Me I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel in place of all firstborns among the children of Israel who have opened the womb, and the Levites shall be Mine.” The reason for this was because the firstborn had sinned with the golden calf. The Levites had not sinned.

The question is, is that it?! One mistake and they’re out? All firstborn (including myself) need to suffer forever because of a one-time error? Some compassion, please!

The holy Ohr HaChaim on our parsha gives the firstborn some hope and light at the end of the tunnel. He quotes the Sages who say, “In the future, the service will return to the firstborn.” It makes sense; it’s true that the sin of the golden calf caused the firstborn to be exchanged for the Levites, however when Moshiach comes and the sin will be fully rectified, there will no longer be a reason that the original ones to serve Hashem shouldn’t return to their jobs. And we firstborn will get to serve in the third Beis HaMikdash!

But what will happen with the tribe of Levi? Will they lose their position? Will the family of “Cohen” and “Levi” revert to being ordinary Jews? No more exclusive aliyos and privileges for them? That doesn’t sound right either; after all, they didn’t sin and why should they lose out?

The Ohr HaChaim addresses this question elsewhere (Bereishis 29:28) and explains, “Although the avoda was given to the Levites, they are equals and both will come to serve in the holy service, because one ascends in holiness and does not descend.” That means, that the avoda will be divided equally between the firstborn and the kohanim and they will serve together because they are equal. He finds a textual source for this wondrous chiddush in a verse in our parsha. On the words, “and the Levites will be to Me, I am G-d,” he explains “just as My name is forever, so will the Levites be to Me forever.” In other words, although the avoda will revert to the firstborn, the spiritual status of the tribe of Levi, and the family of kehuna in particular, will not be lessened. They will perpetually be servants of G-d, chosen to serve in the Mikdash.

FINDING THE LIGHT

Chassidus always has a deeper perspective on all dimensions of life, including this subject. What is the inner spiritual meaning behind the exchange between the firstborn and the tribe of Levi? Why now, in exile, is the tribe of Levi the driving force in our divine service while in the Geula, the firstborn will represent the apex of holiness? And what can we learn from this in our personal service of G-d in connection with bringing the Geula?

The Tzemach Tzedek explains at length the spiritual difference between the two types. He says it all depends on what establishes the standing of the child. Meaning to say, there is a difference between what establishes the status of who is the firstborn and what establishes the status of who belongs to the tribe of Levi. A firstborn is a “petter rechem,” his mother’s first, while belonging to a tribe has to do with the father. A Levite is someone whose father is a Levite and it makes no difference which tribe his mother belongs to.

This difference takes on great spiritual significance when we appreciate the spiritual difference between “ish” (man) and “isha” (woman) and the kabbalistic significance therein. Man and woman as they are in this world represent the supernal “man” and “woman,” in the world of Atzilus. “Ish” is the aspect of the emotive faculties of the world of Atzilus within which the G-dly light shines forth, openly and powerfully. In contrast, “isha” represents the sefira of malchus which is the last and lowest on the ladder of the sefiros. It receives all its power from the sefiros preceding it and higher than it.

The “isha” also represents the “Eishes Chayil” (Woman of Valor) who descends from her place in the world of Atzilus and gives life to lower worlds where G-d’s light is hidden (as alluded to in the wording of the verse, “and she gives food to her household”). At the same time, she is the one who refines the lower worlds and the lower created beings in them, so that the G-dly light which is hidden within them, will become revealed.

Based on this, the tribe of Levi which goes according to the father, “ish,” represents the supernal middos, while the firstborn, who follow the mother, “isha,” represents the sefira of malchus. If so, it’s understandable why each of them has a special advantage over the other, and this advantage is revealed in each of them at a certain time.

In exile, Levi (middos= “ish”) is higher than the firstborn (malchus= “isha”), because the middos are what give the sefira of malchus its power for, after all, malchus is what deals with the lower realms in which there are also undesirable entities. Therefore, only a limited G-dly power is revealed in it so that the forces of impurity won’t, G-d forbid, receive additional strength from this light.

Only in the future, when “the spirit of impurity I will remove from the earth,” and there will no longer be a concern about negative forces receiving additional energy from “malchus of Atzilus,” will the lofty light shine within it. Then the special advantage contained within it and its work in refining the lower worlds will be revealed. Then, “the advantage of light from the darkness” will be revealed, i.e. the advantage of light that comes specifically through the refinement of the darkness of the world.

This is also the reason for the elevated status of women in the time of the Geula as the prophet (Yirmiyahu 31:21) says, “a female will encircle a male” and (Mishlei 12:4) “a woman of valor is the crown of her husband,” because then will be revealed the loftiness of the status of “isha”, i.e. the avoda of birurim and the advantage of light from the darkness over “ish,” open service in matters of holiness and light.

This is also the reason that right after Mattan Torah, the firstborn were the distinguished ones because then was fully revealed the ultimate intent of creation, making the world into a dwelling for G-d, through refining the light from the darkness.

After the sin of the golden calf, when the spiritual filth clung to the Jewish people, things changed. In a situation where there is the possibility of empowering the forces of impurity, we need to exercise heightened caution in dealing with the refinement of kelipa. Therefore, the firstborn descended from their status and the Levites took their place for they are all goodness and revealed G-dly light.

However, in the future, the service will revert to the firstborn because, on the one hand, at that time it will once again be revealed the greater quality that exists in refining the darkness. On the other hand, there will be no reason to worry about the darkness since the spirit of impurity will leave the world and no evil will exist at all, which is why the supernal light will shine specifically within “malchus of Atzilus” and the firstborn which represent it and they will be restored to their importance.

As for us, “they are equal and both will come.” We need to be involved in the service of refining the darkness along with the service of revealing the light. We need to be involved in refining the material world along with bringing spirituality into the world, i.e. G-dly service which combines physical action with the spiritual; Torah study and avodas ha’tefilla along with eating for the sake of heaven and using the things of the world for holy purposes. Only in this way, through a winning combination of the service of the Levites with the service of the firstborn, can we bring the Geula.

TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY

We will end with a chilling story about the power of the kehuna as told by Rabbi Shabtai Slavatitzky about a shliach in the United States who has a large shul where most congregants are modern. The shliach was surprised to see that before the Priestly Blessing, one of the men always left. He assumed he was going home and he decided to convince him to stay for the blessing.

One Yom Tov, he went over to him before the davening and invited him to the Yom Tov meal so he would stay until the end of the davening. The man accepted but shortly before the Priestly Blessing he folded his tallis and left. The shliach thought he was went home but at the end of the davening he was surprised to find the man waiting for him outside.

They walked to the shliach’s house and sat down to the meal. When things became comfortable, the shliach asked, “Why do you leave the shul before the Priestly Blessing?”

The man turned pale and said, “I’ll tell something I’ve never told anyone,” and this is what he said:

“During the Holocaust I was in Auschwitz. We were 800 people in a barrack, with eight of us crowded into one wooden bunk, with no regular bathrooms and showers, 300 grams of dry bread a day and sometimes soup made of potato peels.

“One of the inmates was a special person whom everyone called ‘the rabbi of the camp.’ One night, the rabbi came in and said, ‘It will be Pesach in another two weeks and we need to celebrate the Seder. We need to get shemura matza.’

“One of the inmates, who cleaned the camp commander’s home, offered his help. He said that in the afternoon, the commander went to sleep and then he could use the oven in the kitchen to bake matza. The rav was excited by this and told him how to kasher the oven and bake the matzos. The man was terrified by the dangerous plan but finally agreed. A few days later he came to the barrack with two kosher matzos!

“The night of Pesach, after evening roll call we all sat on the floor and began a Seder. The rabbi recited the Haggada by heart and we joined in. Then the rabbi gave out a small piece of matza to each of the 800 inmates. Everyone was very inspired. Marror we had in abundance all the time. We did not have four cups of wine but plenty of tears. But that night we were able to eat matza in Auschwitz.

“Suddenly, the door of the barrack burst open and the cursed Nazis came in and saw 800 Jews sitting on the floor together. Within a second we had all jumped up and stood next to the bunks. The head Nazi took out a gun, grabbed the first Jew near him, held the gun to his head and yelled, ‘Who organized all this? If you don’t tell me immediately, I will kill you!’

“This Jew refused to tattle and the Nazi continued shrieking, ‘I’m going to kill all of you, one by one, until you tell me who is responsible for this!’

“The rav stood in the row between the bunks, facing the Nazi. He ripped his shirt and said to the Nazi, ‘Here is my heart. I arranged it all. I am to blame. Kill me.’

“The Nazi stalked over to him, aiming the gun at the rabbi’s heart and in the second before he pulled the trigger he stopped and began to smile an evil smile. He said, ‘I won’t kill you just like that. Tomorrow we will gather the entire camp and set up a platform and I will tell everyone what you did and then I will kill you.’

“The next day, he did just that. The Nazi announced the ‘crime’ and put his gun to the rabbi’s forehead. In the final seconds of his life, the rabbi raised his hand and asked for one thing before he was killed.

“‘A request? What do you want?’ asked the Nazi mockingly. ‘Bread? Soup? Meat?’

“‘No. I don’t want any of that. I want to give something to my thousands of brothers. I love them. I am a priest. And I want to give them the Priestly Blessing.’

“The rabbi raised his hands and began to recite the Priestly Blessing. You could have cut the utter silence with a knife. It was an awesome and terrifying sight. Thousands of Jews stood there as a river of tears fell. It was a soundless cry. The blood-soaked earth was now wet with tears.

“After being liberated from Auschwitz I went to America. I left Judaism completely. I sought to escape from it all. I wanted to assimilate, to marry a non-Jew, but the sight of that Priestly Blessing was always with me and I just couldn’t do it. I married a Jewish woman and we had children. I wanted to send them to a non-Jewish school but the image of that Jew, the rabbi of Auschwitz stood before me and I just couldn’t do it. I sent them to a Jewish school.

“Do you understand why I go out at the Priestly Blessing? I don’t want to lose the memory of that Priestly Blessing in Auschwitz. I don’t want to forget it; I want it to be engraved in my heart forever. I don’t want to exchange it for any other Priestly Blessing.”

Good Shabbos!

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