Various Torah commentaries' opinions on the reason the tribe of Levi had a different status.
In our Parasha, Moshe is commanded to take a census of the tribes of Israel, except for the tribe of Levi, as we read:(1:44- 50) ‘These are the countings..of the Children of Israel..from twenty years and up, everyone who goes out to the legion in Israel. All their countings were six hundred and three thousand, five hundred and fifty.
‘The Levites..were not counted among them.
Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying:’But you shall not count the tribe of Levi, and you shall not take a census of them among the Children of Israel. Now you shall appoint the Levites over the Tabernacle of the Testimony and all of its utensils.’
The Abarbanel comments:’After the census of the tribes, Hashem said to Moshe:’But you shall not count the tribe of Levi’, because Moshe Rabbeinu, when Hashem commanded him to take a census of each tribe, commanded that a prince of each of the tribes be with him, and nominated them by name.
‘Therefore Moshe deemed, since Hashem did not designate a prince for the tribe of Levi, that it was not the Will of Hashem that he count the Leviim.
‘At the same time, he was uncertain whether he had deemed correctly, or not.
‘Therefore came the command to him, in the language of ‘but’:’But you shall not count the tribe of Levi’, to appoint over them a leader to go to war, nor for the purpose of the division of the Land: ‘And you shall not take a census of them among the Children of Israel’, because you are later to take a count of them - not for the purpose of going to battle, but because they are to be the guardians of the Mishkan, and will not go to war, and also not for purpose of the division of the Land, because they will not inherit a share in it among their brethren.’
Rav Zalman Sorotzkin expounds similarly:’’But you shall not count..’ - to know their number for the purpose of going to battle, or for the division of the Land, because they will not go to battle with the rest of the tribes, nor will they share with them in the Land:’And you shall not take a census of them among the Children of Israel’, because their status is greater than that of the rest of the tribes, and of a different type.’
The Kli Yakar comments on thess two commandments:’if ‘you shall not count’ them, obviously you will not have ‘a census of them’, so what does the Torah come to teach, when saying:ואת ראשם לר תשא:’and you shall not take a census of them among the Children of Israel’?
‘What would have been lacking, if it simply said:’But you shall not count the tribe of Levi among Bnei Israel’?.
‘According to the commentary of Rashi, this count was by the command of Hashem, the Shechina preceding Moshe, and a בת קול:heavenly voice emerging from each tent, and saying:’There are so many babies in this tent’, we can say that ‘among the Children of Israel, here is related to ‘you shall not take a census of them’ by yourself, but together with the Shechina and the heavenly voice, you shall take a census.
‘Therefore, when we read later:(3:15)’Take a census of Bnei Levi’, this was by the Shechina, but not Moshe by himself.
‘From the juxtaposition of these sentences, with the commandment:((1:50)’Now you appoint the Leviim over the Tabernacle of the Testimony, over all of its vessels and over everything that belongs to it’, we can conclude that whenever the word נשא appears’, which here literally refers to a census, ‘it denotes a higher level, above the others, because every thing of importance has a number - this, in addition to they having a loftier status, by the holy task entrusted to them, they being the legion of the King.’
The Siftei Cohen also focuses on the lofty status of the Leviim, to answer our query:’Before you count them, so that they should not be embarrassed on seeing that they their number is less than that of any of the tribes, they should see the lofty status that they have, that they are the guardians of the Mishkan, and its bearers, and the appointed custodians of all connected with it, and that any one else who nears it will die.
‘This will comfort them, and they will not feel inferior, seeing that, whilst they are few in quantity, they are great in quality, and especially as they surround the sanctuary, whilst the others are distant from it, and, after this reassurance, ‘take a census of Bnei Levi.’
Rav David Hofsteder offers an opposite interpretation to our query, from these psukim.
He expounds:’We read ( Ki Tavo 29:3): that Moshe Rabbeinu said:’And Hashem did not give you a wise heart to know, and eyes to see, until this day’.
‘Rashi comments on this:’I heard that that day on which Moshe gave the Torah to Bnei Levi, as it says:( Vayelech 31:16)’And I gave it to the Kohanim the sons of Levi’, all of Bnei Israel came before Moshe Rabbeinu, and said:’Moshe Rabbeinu, we also stood at Har Sinai and received the Torah, which was given to all of us; why then do you know place your tribe over us, so that they will one day say to us: it was not given to you!
‘Moshe Rabbeinu rejoiced when he heard their words, and said to them:’( Ki Tavo 27:9)’Today you became לעם: a people’, as today I understood your cleaving and desirous of Hamakom’.’
Asks the Rav:’ Why were the people concerned that the tribe of Levi should say: the Torah was not given to you? It was a simple fact that they all received the Torah at Sinai?
‘Further, what led Moshe Rabbeinu to reply to them, in the manner he did, that ‘Today you became a people’?
‘The answer may be, that just as in our Parasha, Rashi expounded that the tribe of Levi was not counted among the tribes, so as’, as we shall bring later in this dvar Torah, ‘to exclude them from the punishment which had been decreed on Bnei Israel, they - the tribe of Levi - could be considered as a separate people, and as the ‘chosen’ people from then on - the people to whom the Torah was given.
‘When Moshe Rabbeinu saw the yearning of the people for the Torah, he said: ’Today you have become a people’: meaning: ALL of you today are deemed one people, and your share in the Torah is no less than the share of the tribe of Levi.’
Rav Eliyahu Shlezinger adds: ’Clearly the census in our Parasha was a preparation for the arrangement of the tribes by their flags, as we find that the tribes were not grouped according to their births.
‘The arrangement by the flags was not merely for external purposes alone, but was based on lofty spiritual considerations, as the early commentators teach, alluding to them being in the nature, as it were, of the Divine Chariot.
‘Hashem’s command to count the tribes was not simply to know their number - though some of the commentators posit that it was to know the number who would do battle, before their entry into the Land.
‘If this be the case, might it not show a lack of bitachon in Hashem’s providence, in which case the result of the count would cause greater damage than good?
‘If, on the other hand, this would not be in the minds of the people, but they would see the census as purely performing the Will of Hashem, and that, when they do battle with their enemies, it is not purely a physical battle, but that the flags precede them and show them the way, that the battle is, as it were, that of the Chariot of Hashem.
‘Indeed, this erroneous understanding of their battles was the downfall of the meraglim, who reported back to the people, that the ‘inhabitants were stronger even than Him’, thereby expressing their lack of bitachon in the salvation of Hashem.
‘The transgression of the people in the sin of the golden calf also arose from this defect, as, on seeing that Moshe was absent, instead of trusting in Hashem, they began to worry about their future, leading to the making of the golden calf.
‘We can now understand why Hashem commanded not to count the tribe of Levi among the people, as they did not participate in the transgression of the golden calf, and did not have the defect of a lack of bitachon.
‘They therefore also did not participate in the sin of the meraglim, and therefore were not counted amongst the other tribes, who saw it as necessary to reassure them before entering battle, lacking bitachon in Hashem - but merited to be counted by themselves, a census solely for the lofty purpose leshem shamayim, and without any other extraneous considerations.’
The Rav bases his exposition on the drasha of Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky, who, in summary, posits that, since the other tribes transgressed in both of the incidents of the golden calf, and of the meraglim, because of their lack of bitachon, must therefore have also faulted in their perception of the count, instead of understanding that it alluded to the Divine Chariot, perceived it as being for the purpose of determining their numbers, for physical battle, overlooking that, on that measure, there was no way that they could defeat the stronger inhabitants.’
To complete our enquiry, let us bring the two commentaries that Rashi brings, as to why ‘only the tribe of Levi you shall not number’: The legion of the king deserves to be counted on its own. Another explanation: Hakadosh-Baruch-Hu foresaw that a decree was destined to be enacted against all those counted from twenty years and upward, to die in the desert. He said:’Let these not be counted, for they are Mine, since they did not err in the golden calf.’
The Alshich Hakadosh expands on the first commentary: The Torah wanted to give a good reason as to why, after saying: ‘You shall not count the tribe of Levi’, it says:’לא תשא אל ראשם בתוך בני ישראל: You shall not take a census of them among the Children of Israel’, to teach that their count is not like that of the other tribes, as their sanctity is of a different level.
‘The proof is their appointment over the tabernacle, they being the bearers of the Seat of the Shechina and its attendants.
‘Not only on their travels, but also when they encamped, their role was different, as these camped around the Tabernacle, so that they are the closest to Hashem, as befits the Legion of the king, and are not counted like the rest of the tribes.’
The Midrash Rabba expands on the second explanation:’It was for the benefit of the tribe of Levi, that they were not counted with the others, as we find that those who departed from Egypt did not enter the Land - and had Bnei Levi been counted with them, they, too, would have been subject to the decree.
‘Therefore, Hashem said to Moshe: As Bnei israel are not going to enter the Land, and the tribe of Levi, are, when you come to count them, differentiate between them: ‘But you shall not count the tribe of Levi..’: you are not to count them with the rest of Bnei Israel, but count them on their own, as we read later ( 3:14 ).’
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