Commentaire de citation sur L’Exode 32:26

In my previously referenced compilation, [Ha’amek Davar], I explained that this was Moshe’s request after [the sin of the Golden] Calf: “Whoever is for God, [let him come] to me, and all the Levites gathered unto him.”²⁸Ex. 32:26. Moshe’s request was not directed to those who did not worship the Golden Calf, as there were many others [besides the Levites] who did not serve the Golden Calf; there were only three thousand men who had sinned.²⁹Verse 28 states that only three thousand men were killed by the Levites. Rather, [his request was directed to those who were on a high spiritual level] because he wanted to direct them to perform a very dangerous task of going from gate to gate and killing openly the men they were seeking. It was certainly possible that the [sinners’] relatives and friends would fight the Levites, resulting in atrocities from a battle ensuing in the camp. This dangerous task could not be achieved other than by one who was confident that he “is for God” [deeply immersed in God’s service]. This is similar to the way in which the Midrash Rabbah on Mattos³⁰Num., Parasha 22. explains the verse, “He whom you shall serve,”³¹Deut. 10:20. meaning, “You are to dedicate yourself to the Torah and to occupy yourself with the commandments [to the extent] that you have no other service,” i.e., he does not serve himself at all. [Only such a person] could be assured that calamity would not result from his passing [throughout the camp to kill those who served the Golden Calf]. The Levites were so successful that not a single one was harmed, and it was because of this that Moshe blessed them: “Dedicate yourselves [from] this day [forward] to God, for each has opposed his son and his brother, that He may bestow upon you a blessing [from] this day [forward].”³²Ex. 32:29. [Moshe] means that they had utterly forsaken their personal needs to the extent that it would not have been difficult for them to kill his son or brother by his own hand. It is because of this that the Levites were blessed [by Moshe] in the wilderness [so they] could reach this elevated manner of service. This is explained further [in the previously referenced Ha’amek Davar].

Those who fear the Lord These are the Levites, about whom it is written (Exod. 32:26): “Whoever is the Lord’s, let him come to me! And all the sons of Levi gathered around him,” in the episode of the [Golden] Calf, and they fought with Israel when they said (Num. 14:4), “Let us appoint a leader and return to Egypt.”

In peace and equity he went with Me Aaron, Eleazar, and Phinehas and so in the episode of the calf, they brought back all their tribe from iniquity, as it is said (Ex. 32:26), “all the children of Levi gathered to him.”

האמר לאביו ולאמו לא ראיתיו WHO SAID TO HIS FATHER AND TO HIS MOTHER, I HAVE NOT SEEN HIM — When they sinned in the matter of the golden calf and I said, “Who is on the Lord’s side, let him come to me” (Exodus 32:26), all the sons of Levi gathered themselves unto me, and I ordered them each to kill his mother’s father, he being an ordinary Israelite, or his brother on the mother’s side, or the son of his daughter whose husband was an ordinary Israelite, and thus did they do. — It is impossible to explain the term “his father” literally, and “his brothers” as being those on his father's side, and similarly to understand “his sons” literally, for really all these are Levites, and of the tribe of Levi no one sinned., as it is said, “[And there gathered unto me) all the tribe of Levi” (Sifrei Devarim 350:1, Yoma 66b).