Chasidut su Numeri 18:35
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 18,7. “I make your priesthood a service that is presented as a gift.”
When man serves the Lord this is not a gift to G’d, as he is obligated to do so from the moment he has been born. When man, in the process of serving the Lord, tries to elevate other creatures spiritually at the same time, this does constitute a gift he presents to the Lord.
When the Talmud in Shabbat 31 describes that the first question the soul is asked when appearing before the heavenly tribunal is: נשאת ונתת באמונה, commonly translated as “have you been fair and honest in your dealings with your fellow man,?” the real meaning is: ”when you engaged in business dealings with gentiles and you benefited financially by these dealings, did you use the opportunity of displaying fairness as an opportunity to bring the gentile closer to G’d the Creator?” If you did so you succeeded in rescuing these “sparks” that had strayed from their original path since they had been encased in a body. The word נשאת from the root נשא to raise, elevate,” in the line we quoted from the Talmud, refers to whether the Jew whose soul now appears for judgment in the celestial spheres being asked whether it had been instrumental in helping stray human beings to return to their sacred origins. When the Israelite, be he a priest or not, succeeds in bringing about conversion of pagans for the right reasons, he can claim to have presented his G’d with a gift, מתנה.
When man serves the Lord this is not a gift to G’d, as he is obligated to do so from the moment he has been born. When man, in the process of serving the Lord, tries to elevate other creatures spiritually at the same time, this does constitute a gift he presents to the Lord.
When the Talmud in Shabbat 31 describes that the first question the soul is asked when appearing before the heavenly tribunal is: נשאת ונתת באמונה, commonly translated as “have you been fair and honest in your dealings with your fellow man,?” the real meaning is: ”when you engaged in business dealings with gentiles and you benefited financially by these dealings, did you use the opportunity of displaying fairness as an opportunity to bring the gentile closer to G’d the Creator?” If you did so you succeeded in rescuing these “sparks” that had strayed from their original path since they had been encased in a body. The word נשאת from the root נשא to raise, elevate,” in the line we quoted from the Talmud, refers to whether the Jew whose soul now appears for judgment in the celestial spheres being asked whether it had been instrumental in helping stray human beings to return to their sacred origins. When the Israelite, be he a priest or not, succeeds in bringing about conversion of pagans for the right reasons, he can claim to have presented his G’d with a gift, מתנה.
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Kedushat Levi
Numbers 18,19. “it is an eternal, salt-like, covenant before Hashem.”
This statement had become necessary after the revolt of Korach, who claimed that all Israelites are entitled to be priests by dint of all of them having stood at Mount Sinai. Korach had considered his status as a Levi, as a demotion. He had not understood that the priests symbolise the attribute of חסד loving kindness, whereas the Levites symbolize the attribute of דין, justice. If both the Levites and the priests had symbolized loving kindness, there would have been no room in the world for the attribute of justice. G’d’s universe can function only when both these attributes perform their respective functions.
Nachmanides, commenting on the significance of מלח, salt, writes that salt is a combination of the raw materials fire and water, i.e. justice and loving kindness. Between them these two “raw materials” are the foundation of our civilisation. This concept had to be brought to the attention not only of the Levites, but to the attention of all the Israelites, so that they would understand that both the role of the Levite and the role of the priest are indispensable to the Jewish nation, and are not to be regarded as part of a pyramid, the priests representing the pinnacle.
This statement had become necessary after the revolt of Korach, who claimed that all Israelites are entitled to be priests by dint of all of them having stood at Mount Sinai. Korach had considered his status as a Levi, as a demotion. He had not understood that the priests symbolise the attribute of חסד loving kindness, whereas the Levites symbolize the attribute of דין, justice. If both the Levites and the priests had symbolized loving kindness, there would have been no room in the world for the attribute of justice. G’d’s universe can function only when both these attributes perform their respective functions.
Nachmanides, commenting on the significance of מלח, salt, writes that salt is a combination of the raw materials fire and water, i.e. justice and loving kindness. Between them these two “raw materials” are the foundation of our civilisation. This concept had to be brought to the attention not only of the Levites, but to the attention of all the Israelites, so that they would understand that both the role of the Levite and the role of the priest are indispensable to the Jewish nation, and are not to be regarded as part of a pyramid, the priests representing the pinnacle.
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Kedushat Levi
Another interpretation of the words: ביום ההוא. We know that the word: הוא, “he or it,” as a form of indirect speech, is the opposite of זה or זאת, “this.” The former referred to something or somebody not present, concealed, whereas the latter refers to something or somebody in plain view, present. When referring to miracles, we distinguish between overt and covert miracles, i.e. covert miracles such as the events in the Purim story which did not involve G’d’s interfering with what we know as “natural processes.” The salvation of the Israelites from the dangers of annihilation described in the Torah, required direct interference by the Almighty of a supernatural manner. The Torah calls this interference as יום ההוא, “resorting to hidden elements in the universe, parts of the universe not normally accessible to us.” The Zohar, in commenting on Numbers 18,23 ועבד הלוי הוא, a most unusual construction where the word הוא appears superfluous, writes that the word הוא, refers to the hidden domain of the universe, the celestial regions, and that it is the Levite’s function to repair any imbalance caused in those regions through improper actions by Jews on earth. The word יום, always refers to light, as we know from the story of creation. The expression: ביום ההוא, therefore refers to the day on which hitherto hidden light was used by G’d to deliver the Jewish people from mortal danger.
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