ON THE PARSHA

	Parshas B'MIDBAR (B'Midbar 1-4:20)

	by Dovid Lipman

NOTE: The old styles are being temporarily
abandoned due to constraints on typing time.

PART OF THE GROUP

(1:49) "But the tribe of Levi do not count
             ... among the Jews."

Rashi brings a Midrash explaining why Levi
was counted separately. One reason: Hashem
foresaw the decree that all men who were in
the count, from 20 up, would have to die in
the desert for the sin of the spies, so Levi
was kept safe by not being in that count.

The Sichos Mussar asks, why do we need several
pesukim to state that Levi is counted separately?
For one thing, I can see for myself they're
missing from the main counting - the tribes
counted are all listed! Also, I see the
counting of Levi separately later in the parsha!

He explains that there's a lesson in this
that calls for emphasis. If Levi would have
been in the count, they would have died whether
they individually deserved it or not, because
that's how you're treated when you're part of a
group. The group isn't just a combination of
parts - it's a new entity, greater than the
sum of it's parts.

That's why the Jews could only receive the Torah
after they reached a high level of unity - "like
one man with one heart" (Rashi, Shmos 19:2). The
Jews as a GROUP deserved to receive the Torah,
not individually, so they had to BECOME a group.


WORTHY OF REPETITION (from last year's Worthy of Note)

(3:45) "...and they [the Levi'im] shall be mine..."

Although Levi is indeed singled out for the Service,
the Rambam explains that Levi was also the spiritual
core of the Jews, dedicated to learning Torah and
attachment to Hashem their whole lives - but in
this, the Rambam notes, they are not exclusive at all:
   "And not only the tribe of Levi, but any man in the
   world whose spirit propels him, and whose mind
   compels him, to become separated to stand before
   Hashem, to aid and serve Him, to know Him and act
   properly as He created him to, and who throws off
   the yolk of the many devices that men seek, he
   becomes sanctified as holy of holies; Hashem will be
   his portion eternally, and he will merit in this world
   that his needs be met, as was done for the Kohanim and
   Levi'im." (Mishneh Torah, Shmitah V'Yovel 13:13)