Parashat B’ha`alot’kha
Numbers 8:1 – 12:16
As the Israelites prepare to move on to the Promised Land, the tribe of Levi achieves its final stage of confirmation as the tribe dedicated to the sacred service of God. “For given, given are they to Me from among the Children of Israel; instead of the first-born released from the womb of all of the Children of Israel, have I taken them to Me.” (Num. 8:16) All the traditional commentators notice the doubling of the word, “given.” The plain sense is that this tribe is dedicated to the Divine service. They are given over totally to that purpose. But why the doubling of the word?
The array of meanings attached to these two words is wide and rich. Each reader of the text wondered about the Levites’ “givenness.” Who gave them, and to whom were they given? And why?
Hizquni (German, 13 C.) reads the doubled words to say, “They are given by the Children of Israel to the Holy Blessed One, and then they are given by the Holy Blessed One to Aaron (the Priest.) “ This reading combines the mention of the givenness of the Levites found in Numbers 3:9, where they are said to be given to Aaron from the Israelites, along with our own verse that says they are given to God. We find a circle of giving whereby humans dedicate some group from among them to God, and then God gives them back to some group from among the human community.
Ibn Ezra (Spain, 11 C.) reads the doubling of the word to mean that “they and their children are given by Israel.” This indicates that the people of Israel intended for this new sacred status that they had chosen for their Levite kin to be a permanent status. The Levites’ status will never change, as opposed to the status of the first-born, whose givenness was initiated by God and then cancelled by God, and transferred to the Levites.
The Renaissance commentator, Sforno (Italy, 16 C.) insists that the doubling of the word teaches us that, along with the giving of the Levites by the Israelites, the Levites also gave themselves to God. When, in the aftermath of the Golden Calf debacle, Moses challenged Israel and asked, “Who among you is devoted to God?” (Ex. 32:26), it was the Levites who crowded around him. Without their own sense of dedication, the gift of the Israelites would not have been possible.
Rashi (France, 11 C.) provides a beautiful comment that comes at these words from a different angle. His implicit question is, “what were they really given over for? He answers, “Given for carrying the loads and given to sing.” The Levites were dedicated to the most menial and back-breaking work of porterage. But they did not allow their physically exhausting job to deplete their spirits. They were also dedicated to the most inspirational task of singing God’s praises.
Each of these traditional commentators opens our eyes to different dimensions of giving and devotion, calling us to appreciate our own powers of giving and receiving, of carrying heavy duties and lifting our souls – as unique individuals and as members of a community – in partnership with a generous God.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi David Greenstein
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