Chasidut do Liczb 8:7
וְכֹֽה־תַעֲשֶׂ֤ה לָהֶם֙ לְטַֽהֲרָ֔ם הַזֵּ֥ה עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם מֵ֣י חַטָּ֑את וְהֶעֱבִ֤ירוּ תַ֙עַר֙ עַל־כָּל־בְּשָׂרָ֔ם וְכִבְּס֥וּ בִגְדֵיהֶ֖ם וְהִטֶּהָֽרוּ׃
A tak postąpisz z nimi, by oczyścić ich: pokrop ich wodą oczyszczającą, i niech ogolą brzytwą całe ciało swoje, i niech wypiorą szaty swe, a trzymają się w czystości.
Kedushat Levi
Numbers 2,49 , “but do not count the tribe of Levi as an integral part of the Children of Israel.” The Torah consists of 248 positive commandments and 365 negative commandments which between them represent a variety of lights, whereas the Tabernacle represents spiritual lights condensed within it so that they do not harm human beings by blinding them. The Israelites are also each considered as a light seeing that each represents one of the letters in the Torah. We have a rule that whenever 613 physical lights are present they must be matched by an equal number of spiritual lights so that they can combine in the service of the Lord. These latter “lights” are called אברים הרוחניים, “the 248 spiritualized limbs and 365 spiritualized tendons.” When the Creator dispenses of His largesse, He does so via these spiritualized limbs and tendons.
Some human beings can become only passive recipients of spiritualized light, whereas others are able to “see” how the largesse from G’d progresses from the spiritual domain to the physical domain. These latter people are called prophets. The prophet Samuel I 9,9, describes this process when he wrote: לפנים בישראל כה אמר האיש בלכתו לדרוש אלוקים לכו ונלכה עד הרואה כי לנביא היום יקרא לפנים הרואה, “formerly, in Israel, when a man wanted to seek out the word of G’d, he would say: ‘come let us go to the Seer, for the prophet of today was formerly known as “Seer.’”
We also find an allusion to this in Numbers 8,4 where the Torah writes: וזה מעשה המנורה.....כמראה אשר הראה ה' את משה כן עשה את המנורה, “and this is how the menorah was made:…….according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses so he constructed the menorah.” When the Torah wrote in detail about the construction of the menorah in Exodus chapter 25 and chapter 37, no mention was made of G’d having shown Moses a pattern of this lampstand although the Torah provided extensive descriptions of this lampstand in both of these chapters. In both those chapters the menorah was treated as an integral part of the Tabernacle, and the Tabernacle dealt with abstract spiritual concepts. The menorah per se symbolizes a visual impact of the largesse transferred by G’d from His celestial treasure house to the terrestrial part of the universe. This largesse is in constant motion between the celestial and the terrestrial domains of the universe. The Torah bears witness to the fact that G’d showed this to Moses while he had been on Mount Sinai.
Moses was not to count the Levites together with the other Israelites, as the 12 tribes (Israelites) symbolize the abstract spiritual dimension of celestial light, whereas the Levites symbolize transfer of G’d’s largesse from the most high celestial regions to what we have described as the “abstract spiritual” dimension represented by the 12 tribes of Israel.
This is also why, when speaking of the process of purifying the Levites the Torah (Numbers 8,7) the Torah speaks of והעבירו תער על כל בשרם, “they have to shave off all the hair on their flesh with a razor,” the reason being that “hair” symbolizes clothing, and clothing is something that separates between one’s essence and contact with something from the outside. The Levites were to be as receptive to the emanations from the highest celestial regions as possible [as had been Adam and Eve before they had been provided with clothing, as a result of the barrier their sin had created between them and G’d. Ed.]
Some human beings can become only passive recipients of spiritualized light, whereas others are able to “see” how the largesse from G’d progresses from the spiritual domain to the physical domain. These latter people are called prophets. The prophet Samuel I 9,9, describes this process when he wrote: לפנים בישראל כה אמר האיש בלכתו לדרוש אלוקים לכו ונלכה עד הרואה כי לנביא היום יקרא לפנים הרואה, “formerly, in Israel, when a man wanted to seek out the word of G’d, he would say: ‘come let us go to the Seer, for the prophet of today was formerly known as “Seer.’”
We also find an allusion to this in Numbers 8,4 where the Torah writes: וזה מעשה המנורה.....כמראה אשר הראה ה' את משה כן עשה את המנורה, “and this is how the menorah was made:…….according to the pattern that the Lord had shown Moses so he constructed the menorah.” When the Torah wrote in detail about the construction of the menorah in Exodus chapter 25 and chapter 37, no mention was made of G’d having shown Moses a pattern of this lampstand although the Torah provided extensive descriptions of this lampstand in both of these chapters. In both those chapters the menorah was treated as an integral part of the Tabernacle, and the Tabernacle dealt with abstract spiritual concepts. The menorah per se symbolizes a visual impact of the largesse transferred by G’d from His celestial treasure house to the terrestrial part of the universe. This largesse is in constant motion between the celestial and the terrestrial domains of the universe. The Torah bears witness to the fact that G’d showed this to Moses while he had been on Mount Sinai.
Moses was not to count the Levites together with the other Israelites, as the 12 tribes (Israelites) symbolize the abstract spiritual dimension of celestial light, whereas the Levites symbolize transfer of G’d’s largesse from the most high celestial regions to what we have described as the “abstract spiritual” dimension represented by the 12 tribes of Israel.
This is also why, when speaking of the process of purifying the Levites the Torah (Numbers 8,7) the Torah speaks of והעבירו תער על כל בשרם, “they have to shave off all the hair on their flesh with a razor,” the reason being that “hair” symbolizes clothing, and clothing is something that separates between one’s essence and contact with something from the outside. The Levites were to be as receptive to the emanations from the highest celestial regions as possible [as had been Adam and Eve before they had been provided with clothing, as a result of the barrier their sin had created between them and G’d. Ed.]
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