A thought on Parshas Behaloshecha
"...u'le'chaper al Benei Yisroel...""...and to atone for the Children of Israel..." (8:19)
The Torah outlines the tasks of the Levites. Their duty was to transport and assemble the physical structure of the traveling mishkan, and to serve ancillary roles as musicians and singers during the sacred service. The priestly Kohanim, on the other hand, engaged in the actual service, dispatching sacrificial offerings and related rituals.
It is easy to see how the Kohanim facilitated the atonement of the Children of Israel. They were our agents, our appointed ones, in seeing that the offerings were brought forth on our personal and our collective behalf. The Levitical role in brining about atonement, however, is less clear. How do portage and song facilitate kappara?
The Ralbag offers a pair of thoughts here. Back in Parshas Mishpatim. the Ralbag helped us understand the term sher'us - service - as relating to the term shir - singing. The Levites, we know, served HaShem through their singing. This week, the Ralbag builds on this idea. We find later in the Torah (Devarim 18:7) that they are told "..v'sher'es b'Shem HaShem.."
which is often translated as "and they shall serve in the name of G-d." However, the Ralbag understands that it means that the Levites, when they sing, are serving through the use of HaShem's Name." The word b'Shem means serving with the Name. This means that while the Kohanim are serving HaShem, the Levites are elevating that sher'us by actually employing or utilizing HaShem's Sacred Name within their consecrated songs. In that sense, rather than viewing their music as an ancillary facet of the ritual, we can view their singing as a spiritual and transcendent sanctification of the numinous and the intangible. In that sense, the singing, with its audible yet immaterial offering, ascends to the heights which the material incense and smoke ascend to as they transform from the physical into the ethereal. The Levite offers up his own essence. This is a profound symbol of atonement. Thus, as our verse says, the Levite is also me'chaper al Benei Yisroel.
The second thought offered by the Ralbag (as to the atoning feature of the Levite's work) refers to the more mundane and material labor he performs. He carries, constructs and re-assembles the physical components of the mishkan. Only the Tribe of Levi can do this. Those who are from the other tribes are forewarned against touching and tampering with the mishkan. We had to keep away from that material much as we had to keep away from Mt. Sinai.
Now, if one were to chance upon the unattended mishkan material, he might have the urge to make contact with it, even to touch it with awe and devotion. As long as the Levite was in charge, however, and tended to it, he safeguarded it, and us, from such forbidden contact. In that way, the Levi saw to it that his brethren remained safe and enjoyed Divine protection and oversight. That was his way of atoning for the nation.
The offering up of one's self through one's talents and gifts brings about kappara. Being responsible for one's own responsibilities and avoiding confusion and chaos can also assure loving kappara from Above.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
The Torah outlines the tasks of the Levites. Their duty was to transport and assemble the physical structure of the traveling mishkan, and to serve ancillary roles as musicians and singers during the sacred service. The priestly Kohanim, on the other hand, engaged in the actual service, dispatching sacrificial offerings and related rituals.
It is easy to see how the Kohanim facilitated the atonement of the Children of Israel. They were our agents, our appointed ones, in seeing that the offerings were brought forth on our personal and our collective behalf. The Levitical role in brining about atonement, however, is less clear. How do portage and song facilitate kappara?
The Ralbag offers a pair of thoughts here. Back in Parshas Mishpatim. the Ralbag helped us understand the term sher'us - service - as relating to the term shir - singing. The Levites, we know, served HaShem through their singing. This week, the Ralbag builds on this idea. We find later in the Torah (Devarim 18:7) that they are told "..v'sher'es b'Shem HaShem.."
which is often translated as "and they shall serve in the name of G-d." However, the Ralbag understands that it means that the Levites, when they sing, are serving through the use of HaShem's Name." The word b'Shem means serving with the Name. This means that while the Kohanim are serving HaShem, the Levites are elevating that sher'us by actually employing or utilizing HaShem's Sacred Name within their consecrated songs. In that sense, rather than viewing their music as an ancillary facet of the ritual, we can view their singing as a spiritual and transcendent sanctification of the numinous and the intangible. In that sense, the singing, with its audible yet immaterial offering, ascends to the heights which the material incense and smoke ascend to as they transform from the physical into the ethereal. The Levite offers up his own essence. This is a profound symbol of atonement. Thus, as our verse says, the Levite is also me'chaper al Benei Yisroel.
The second thought offered by the Ralbag (as to the atoning feature of the Levite's work) refers to the more mundane and material labor he performs. He carries, constructs and re-assembles the physical components of the mishkan. Only the Tribe of Levi can do this. Those who are from the other tribes are forewarned against touching and tampering with the mishkan. We had to keep away from that material much as we had to keep away from Mt. Sinai.
Now, if one were to chance upon the unattended mishkan material, he might have the urge to make contact with it, even to touch it with awe and devotion. As long as the Levite was in charge, however, and tended to it, he safeguarded it, and us, from such forbidden contact. In that way, the Levi saw to it that his brethren remained safe and enjoyed Divine protection and oversight. That was his way of atoning for the nation.
The offering up of one's self through one's talents and gifts brings about kappara. Being responsible for one's own responsibilities and avoiding confusion and chaos can also assure loving kappara from Above.
Good Shabbos. D Fox
posted by Rabbi Dr. Fox at 1:50 AM
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