Chasidut su Deuteronomio 33:9
הָאֹמֵ֞ר לְאָבִ֤יו וּלְאִמּוֹ֙ לֹ֣א רְאִיתִ֔יו וְאֶת־אֶחָיו֙ לֹ֣א הִכִּ֔יר וְאֶת־בנו [בָּנָ֖יו] לֹ֣א יָדָ֑ע כִּ֤י שָֽׁמְרוּ֙ אִמְרָתֶ֔ךָ וּבְרִֽיתְךָ֖ יִנְצֹֽרוּ׃
Chi disse di suo padre e di sua madre: 'non l'ho visto'; Né riconosceva i suoi fratelli, né sapeva che era suo figlio; Poiché hanno osservato la tua parola e osservano la tua alleanza.
Kedushat Levi
Nonetheless the elders and nobles, etc., had experienced visions, which according to our sages equaled those of Ezekiel and Amos (compare Nachmanides’ commentary on the spot). Our verses try to give us an inkling of the above, the word לבנת “whiteness of,” being an allusion to the closeness to the essence of the Creator in a state when colour had not yet been part of the emanations which commenced at the beginning of the creative process in Genesis. In other words, and in consonance with what the author had described when describing the creation of light, they were close to the essence of G’d, the אין סוף.
According to our author, the word ידו in verse 11 where G’d’s reaction to the conduct of the elders, etc., as a result of their being granted such lofty visions, is described by the words: ואל אצילי בני ישראל לא שלח ידו ויחזו את האלוקים ויאבלו וישתו, “but G’d did not stretch out a punitive hand against the nobles of the Children of Israel who had eaten and drunk while experiencing a vision of G’d,” as G’d did not consider their action as lack of respect for the visions they had been granted, but realized that it was due to their not having attained the necessary level of יראה גדולה, “awe of the first order,” as we described earlier. According to our author, at this juncture the qualitative superiority of the tribe of Levi and the priests that emerged from it began. This paralleled a development that had commenced when Yaakov acquired the additional name of Yisrael, when he surpassed certain spiritual boundaries that both his father and grandfather had not surpassed. Our author quotes Deuteronomy 33,9 where Levi is reported as not having seen his father, as an allusion to the tribe of Levi having attained a superior spiritual status not attained by his forbears or his siblings. The Levites, or some of them at certain times, were able to completely negate the limitations imposed upon mortal man who inhabits this physical part of the universe. As a result of this achievement, an entirely new Jewish nation came into existence, i.e. the 12 tribes that comprise this nation.
According to our author, the word ידו in verse 11 where G’d’s reaction to the conduct of the elders, etc., as a result of their being granted such lofty visions, is described by the words: ואל אצילי בני ישראל לא שלח ידו ויחזו את האלוקים ויאבלו וישתו, “but G’d did not stretch out a punitive hand against the nobles of the Children of Israel who had eaten and drunk while experiencing a vision of G’d,” as G’d did not consider their action as lack of respect for the visions they had been granted, but realized that it was due to their not having attained the necessary level of יראה גדולה, “awe of the first order,” as we described earlier. According to our author, at this juncture the qualitative superiority of the tribe of Levi and the priests that emerged from it began. This paralleled a development that had commenced when Yaakov acquired the additional name of Yisrael, when he surpassed certain spiritual boundaries that both his father and grandfather had not surpassed. Our author quotes Deuteronomy 33,9 where Levi is reported as not having seen his father, as an allusion to the tribe of Levi having attained a superior spiritual status not attained by his forbears or his siblings. The Levites, or some of them at certain times, were able to completely negate the limitations imposed upon mortal man who inhabits this physical part of the universe. As a result of this achievement, an entirely new Jewish nation came into existence, i.e. the 12 tribes that comprise this nation.
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Kedushat Levi
In the portion of וזאת הברכה, where Moses bestows his final blessing on the people before his death, the blessing for Shimon is included in his blessing for Yehudah, seeing that Yaakov had not seen fit to bless him on account of his part in the sale of Joseph as mentioned in parshat Vayechi by Yaakov.
The reason that Shimon and Levi were singled out for not receiving their share of the blessings was their share in the sale of Joseph. Actually they became involved in that unfortunate occurrence because Joseph had singled them out to tell them (boastfully) of his dreams, especially his aspirations to become king.
Shimon and Levi had not opposed the idea of the tribes needing a king, but had preferred that the king should be Yehudah, i.e. a descendant of his. History proved them quite correct as the dynasty of David became the Royal dynasty, whereas kings from the tribe of Joseph ruled only in Egypt, over Egyptians primarily, and even King Sha’ul, though descended from Rachel, was not a descendant of Joseph. [The kingdom under Jerobam, a descendant of Joseph from Ephrayim, over the ten tribes does not count, as he had split the nation. Ed.]
Considering this, Moses included the blessing of Shimon as a sub-heading under the general heading of Yehudah’s blessing. By doing so he enabled the descendants of Shimon not to feel embarrassed, as their purpose in selling Joseph had been to ensure that Yehudah would be able to assume the role G’d had intended for him, i.e. (his) and Levi’s actions had been well intentioned. Moses did bless the tribe of Levi independently, specifically, -although Yaakov had not blessed that tribe- on account of the characteristic described in Moses’ blessing of his not “recognizing his father or his mother or even his brothers.” (Deut. 33,9) This somewhat enigmatic statement referred to the tribe of Levi having demonstrated a superior loyalty to G’d during the episode of the golden calf, when, if even the closest family member would have been found guilty of worshipping that idol they would not have hesitated executing him. (Exodus 32,28 as interpreted in Sotah 8) We are told there that a person is accorded treatment commensurate with the treatment he meted out to others. This means that the tribe of Levi had to be given recognition for their loyalty to G’d by being blessed by Moses outright and not only indirectly as was his brother Shimon. [After all, had it not been for Moses’ having converted the mixed multitude without first obtaining G’d’s consent, the whole debacle of the golden calf might have been avoided. Ed.]
At this point our author continues with Moses’ blessing of the tribes in Deut. 33, explaining the introductory word וזאת used by Moses in Deut. 33,7.
[I do not understand why the publishers of these volumes have not seen fit to append what follows in its appropriate place, i.e. the commentary on וזאת הברכה. Perhaps the reason is that after the presentation of the author’s commentary on Parshat Nitzavim, no systematic commentary on the final 3 portions of the Torah follows; for reasons I am not familiar with; the publisher may therefore have decided to append these Deut. 33,7 וזאת, “and this, etc.” Ed.]
The reason that Shimon and Levi were singled out for not receiving their share of the blessings was their share in the sale of Joseph. Actually they became involved in that unfortunate occurrence because Joseph had singled them out to tell them (boastfully) of his dreams, especially his aspirations to become king.
Shimon and Levi had not opposed the idea of the tribes needing a king, but had preferred that the king should be Yehudah, i.e. a descendant of his. History proved them quite correct as the dynasty of David became the Royal dynasty, whereas kings from the tribe of Joseph ruled only in Egypt, over Egyptians primarily, and even King Sha’ul, though descended from Rachel, was not a descendant of Joseph. [The kingdom under Jerobam, a descendant of Joseph from Ephrayim, over the ten tribes does not count, as he had split the nation. Ed.]
Considering this, Moses included the blessing of Shimon as a sub-heading under the general heading of Yehudah’s blessing. By doing so he enabled the descendants of Shimon not to feel embarrassed, as their purpose in selling Joseph had been to ensure that Yehudah would be able to assume the role G’d had intended for him, i.e. (his) and Levi’s actions had been well intentioned. Moses did bless the tribe of Levi independently, specifically, -although Yaakov had not blessed that tribe- on account of the characteristic described in Moses’ blessing of his not “recognizing his father or his mother or even his brothers.” (Deut. 33,9) This somewhat enigmatic statement referred to the tribe of Levi having demonstrated a superior loyalty to G’d during the episode of the golden calf, when, if even the closest family member would have been found guilty of worshipping that idol they would not have hesitated executing him. (Exodus 32,28 as interpreted in Sotah 8) We are told there that a person is accorded treatment commensurate with the treatment he meted out to others. This means that the tribe of Levi had to be given recognition for their loyalty to G’d by being blessed by Moses outright and not only indirectly as was his brother Shimon. [After all, had it not been for Moses’ having converted the mixed multitude without first obtaining G’d’s consent, the whole debacle of the golden calf might have been avoided. Ed.]
At this point our author continues with Moses’ blessing of the tribes in Deut. 33, explaining the introductory word וזאת used by Moses in Deut. 33,7.
[I do not understand why the publishers of these volumes have not seen fit to append what follows in its appropriate place, i.e. the commentary on וזאת הברכה. Perhaps the reason is that after the presentation of the author’s commentary on Parshat Nitzavim, no systematic commentary on the final 3 portions of the Torah follows; for reasons I am not familiar with; the publisher may therefore have decided to append these Deut. 33,7 וזאת, “and this, etc.” Ed.]
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