Cleaving to Hashem: Every Person Can Be a Levi

1“Take the Levi'im in place of every firstborn among Bnei Yisrael … and the Levi'im shall be Mine, I am Hashem.”¹ But this command was given a few verses earlier: “And you shall take the Levi'im for Me, I am Hashem, in place of every firstborn among Bnei Yisrael.”² Why, then, is the command to take the Levi'im repeated? We must also ask the question the holy Ohr HaChaim raises: what do the words “I am Hashem” mean here?³

2The holy sefer Noam Elimelech explains the words “I am Hashem.”⁴ Through Hashem's awesome deeds and wonders a person can come to know Him, recognizing that the palace has a Master.⁵ But the Torah says, “and the Levi'im shall be Mine.” For to reach this recognition, Bnei Yisrael must be levi'im, “joined ones,” to the Holy One, blessed be He: they must cleave to Him.⁶ Through this they will bring Hashem to perform open miracles, and so they will come to recognize that “I am Hashem.” Those are his holy words; see there.

3The holy Ohr HaChaim explains the verse this way. Chazal said that in the future the service in the Beis HaMikdash will return to the firstborn, and one might think that the holiness and high standing of the Levi'im would then come to an end. So the Torah tells us that even then the Levi'im will not lose their holiness and standing. This is “and the Levi'im shall be Mine, I am Hashem”: just as My Name endures forever and ever, so the Levi'im will be holy to Me always, forever and ever.⁷ But why should this really be so? In earlier times, when the service was done by the firstborn, the Levi'im had no special standing at all. It would seem, then, that in the future, when the service returns to the firstborn, it should be the same.

4We can explain this through the well-known words of the Rambam: “Why did Levi not receive a share in the inheritance of Eretz Yisrael and in its spoils, together with his brothers? Because he was set apart to serve Hashem, to minister to Him and to teach His ways … Rather, they are the legion of Hashem, as it says, ‘Bless, Hashem, his legion,’ and He, blessed be He, provides for them, as it says, ‘I am your portion and your inheritance.’ This holds not only for the tribe of Levi but for every single person whose spirit moves him and whose understanding gives him insight to set himself apart, to stand before Hashem to minister to Him and serve Him and to know Hashem. When he walks upright as God made him and casts off from his neck the yoke of the many calculations that people have sought, such a person has become sanctified as holy of holies. Hashem will be his portion and his inheritance forever and for all eternity, and He will grant him in this world what suffices for him, as He granted the Kohanim and the Levi'im.”⁸ So far his words.

5This idea is hinted at in our verses. The first verse, “And you shall take the Levi'im for Me …,” teaches about the service itself, which the Levi must perform in place of the firstborn. The second verse, “Take the Levi'im in place of every firstborn …,” speaks of the holiness the sons of Levi gain by withdrawing from this world to serve Hashem, a holiness that includes not only the tribe of Levi but anyone whose heart moves him to offer himself, as the Rambam says. This answers our question about why the command is repeated. And that is why the second verse says, “and the Levi'im shall be Mine, I am Hashem.” For a person may reach the level where he has no wish to know of the affairs of this world, and all his talk and all his striving are only for “I am Hashem,” to come to recognize the Creator. Then he too shares in the high standing of the Levi'im. Hashem is his portion and inheritance, and He will provide him with what he needs for avodas Hashem, the service of Hashem, and for His Torah.

6This makes it clear why the Levi'im keep their high standing in the future, even when the service of the Beis HaMikdash will no longer be theirs alone. Because they are joined, nilvim, to Hashem, and withdraw from this world to engage in His Torah and His ways, their holiness and high standing will remain with them forever and ever.

7Especially now, before the receiving of the Torah, as we take upon ourselves the yoke of Torah and busy ourselves preparing to receive it, the Holy One, blessed be He, will surely want us as His portion. He will provide our livelihood, as He did for the tribe of Levi, which took the yoke of the Torah upon itself. This is what Chazal meant by “All agree that on Atzeres we also require ‘for you.’”⁹ On Atzeres in particular, the day we receive the Torah, “all agree”: in Heaven above, all agree and consent that “we also require lachem, for you,” meaning that Hashem must sustain us and bestow on us abundant blessing and success.

8May Hashem make us worthy of this, and may we bring the redemption near. Amen, may it be His will.