Where Have All the Levi’im Gone?

By Rabbi Joshua (absently known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

Parshas Bemidbar begins with a census of the Jewish people, as commanded by God to Moshe. The tribe of Levi was not included in this count, but was rather counted separately. The total number of Levi’im was twenty-two thousand, much smaller, as the Ramban points out, than the next smallest tribe. Why was this so? The Ramban suggests that this is a proof to the midrash, which says that the Levi’im were not enslaved in Egypt. The other tribes, who were subjected to labor and a decree to kill all of their male children, received a divine blessing to propagate at a large rate, giving birth to six children at a time. The Levi’im, who were not enslaved, did not receive that blessing, and, therefore, had a much smaller population.

The Ohr HaChaim offers a different explanation, which is, in fact, quite puzzling. He says that Amram, who would eventually give birth to Moshe, separated from his wife after Pharaoh’s decree to slay all the Hebrew males. Why, he said, should I give birth to children who will be slain in infancy? All of the other men followed suit, and left their wives, as well. Miriam, Amram’s daughter, told him that she had a prophecy that he would give birth to a son who would redeem the Hebrews, and, therefore, he returned to his wife and had more children. The other men also returned to their wives, with the exception of the Levi’im. The Ohr HaChaim says that this is because, not being enslaved, they had a sense of self-worth, and did not want to give birth to children who would be slain. The other tribes, who were enslaved, suffered from a sense of worthlessness, and did not take into consideration Pharoah’s evil decree, but continued having marital relations and giving birth to children, and thereby received a divine blessing as well.

I recently listened to the tape of a shiur in which this comment of the Ohr HaChaim is used to show the great value of a sense of self-esteem. However, this is very difficult to comprehend. Self-esteem is, indeed, important, but it has its limits. Rav Mordechai Gifter, in his Pirkei Torah, points out that if the Levi’im remained separated from their wives because, as we learn from Yosef’s conduct during the years of famine, one should not engage in marital relations at a time of communal distress (See Ta’anis 11a, as well as Da’as Zekainim to parshas Vayeishev), then they should have taught the rest of the tribes to abstain as well. Rather, he says, the endangered slaves felt it was there obligation to propagate, in opposition to the decree to wipe them out.

Later in the parsha, God tells Moshe and Aharon, “Do not cut off the tribe of the Kehasim families from among the Levi’im” (Bemidbar 4:18). They are then given instructions on how to arrange the service that the Kehasim did in the mishkan. The Seforno explains that the Kehasim carried the holy vessels of the mishkan, and it was important not to let them carry those vessels in a disorderly fashion, with whoever gets to the vessel first being the one who carries it. Otherwise, the Kehasim might push each other in the meantime, and profane the holy vessels, which would in turn lead to tragedy. He mentions that this indeed happened during the time of the second Beis HaMikdash, as the Talmud records (Yoma 22a), in connection with the service of clearing the ashes from the altar. The Ramban notes that the aron, when not treated properly, would cause the death of its handlers, which may have contributed to the continued small population of the Levi’im. Rav Moshe Sternbuch, in his Ta’am VaDa’as, points out that violence often breaks out in regard to the distribution of aliyos, kaddish, and other honors performed in memory of loved ones, and that Rav Yisroel Salanter taught his students not to engage in such controversies, but to cede the honor to the other person. After all, he said, these customs are meant to honor the deceased, and it is a greater honor for them to have peace maintained among the Jewish people than to recite a kaddish or receive an Aliyah in their memory.

On a wider scale, the order and safeguards built around the duties of the Levi’im, by which, for example, a gate keeper could not serve as a singer, and vice versa, highlight the importance of order in the mishkan, and the wider encampment around it, which is the theme of the entire parsha, as brought out at length by Rav Aharon Kotler in his Mishnas Rav Aharon. This reflects the order that was present at Mt. Sinai when the Torah was given, with borders set for the various levels of people among the nation. The midrash (Bereishis Rabbah 1:1) teaches us that the Torah is the blueprint of the world, so that, just as in the universe, each component must carry out its appropriate role, or chaos may ensue, so, too, in regard to Torah and mitzvos, a specific order must be followed, with each person observing those mitzvos applicable to him, not trying to appropriate someone else’s role. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that the reading of parshas Bemidbar precedes the holiday of Shavu’os, when we commemorate the giving of the Torah in order to teach us this important principle.