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Kabbalah teaches us that the specific details involved in the performance of a Mitzvah are not arbitrary. When we perform a physical act in the course of doing a Mitzvah, our physical movements parallel the spiritual effects of our Mitzvah. LIGHT FROM THE FUTURE ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
Aaron the Weightlifter
A Torah Trivia question: Who was the first weight lifter? The answer:
Aaron, the High Priest, Moses’ older brother.
In this week’s parsha, the Torah tells us that Aaron was given a rather interesting task. When the entire tribe of Levi was chosen to be members of G-d’s “Special Forces,” their dedication ceremony required that they be lifted and waved. Aaron literally had to lift 22,000 Levites!
(By the way, Aaron was 83 years old at the time!)
Rabenu Bachya, one of the medieval Bible commentators, observed that this was either a public demonstration of Aaron’s strength, or alternatively, it must have been a great miracle.
ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
This entire exercise of Aaron lifting and waving all the Levites is baffling. While it is clear that lifting and waving the Levites was an important element of their initiation into the unique role as G-d’s chosen servants, why did Aaron have to physically lift and wave them?
Why did G-d have to perform this great miracle to enable Aaron to do all the lifting? Couldn’t this ceremony have been performed by means of some symbolic gesture?
No to Symbolism
The simple answer to this question will surprise many readers. Judaism does not recognize symbolic actions. All of Judaism’s so-called rituals are not really rituals or symbolic ceremonies. Indeed, our Holidays are not commemorations of past historical events. To be sure, one can find much meaning in remembrances and symbolic gestures, but a Mitzvah goes way beyond ritual and symbolism.
Every Mitzvah, every Divinely ordained act—which many will identify as a ritual or symbolic act—is, in truth, an act that instructs, edifies and instills holiness within the person who performs the Mitzvah and, by extension, the entire world.
ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
When we eat Matzah on Passover, for example, we are not eating simple flour and water, but, by way of the physical act of eating we internalize a profound spiritual energy, that vitalizes and liberates our soul.
Similarly, when we put Tefillin on our heads, it is not just as a reminder of the unity of G-d—the theme of the Shema contained within these black leather boxes—we actually generate Divine energy that permeates our consciousness.
When a woman lights Shabbat candles before the onset of the
Sabbath, she is not just performing a ritual or engaging in some nostalgic tradition that goes back thousands of years, she actually generates spiritual light that will change the atmosphere of the home by introducing Divinity, serenity and peace. Indeed, it brings light to the entire world. According to the Midrash, lighting Shabbat candles will ultimately transform the world of darkness and usher in the Messianic Age, when the “Lights of Zion”, meaning the light of the Beis Hamikdash-the Holy Temple, will shine.
ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
Uplifting!
All of the above can help us gain some measure of understanding as to why the Levites were actually lifted by Aaron. Aaron was not just performing a ritual laden with meaning. By his physical action, ordained by G-d, Aaron was actually lifting the Levites and their descendants up spiritually as well.
Had Aaron only performed a symbolic gesture, one that was not
Divinely ordained, it might well have inspired some of the Levites, but it certainly would not have instilled within them the G-dly energy they and their descendants needed to realize their potential.
Kabbalah teaches us that the specific details involved in the performance of a Mitzvah are not arbitrary. When we perform a physical act in the course of doing a Mitzvah, our physical movements parallel the spiritual effects of our Mitzvah. For example, when Aaron lit the Menorah he was actually illuminating the souls of the Jewish people.
Based on this premise, the question that may still arise is: Why lift and wave the Levites? What spiritual dynamic is related to the physical lifting and waving? And why was it necessary that it be done by Aaron ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA specifically? Couldn’t one of his sons have performed this rather onerous task in his place?
Tempering Passion
Chassidic literature, based on Kabbalah, understands the act of lifting the Levites as a way of tempering their natural fiery passion with the kindness of Aaron.
To explain: There are two primary personality types. The Kohain (Priest)
is known as a man of kindness. Aaron, the first priest, was known for his love of, and obsession with, peace. Hillel, the great Sage, states in Ethics of the Fathers: “Be like the disciples of Aaron, love peace, pursue peace, love the creatures and bring them close to the Torah.” By contrast, the Levites were known for their fiery nature. While passion for good things is no blemish, one can misplace that passion and use the fire destructively. To cite a simple analogy: One’s enthusiasm for Judaism can become misdirected and used in arrogance to put down someone who is not as passionate.
Aaron, who personified the attribute of kindness, was therefore charged with the responsibility of uplifting the Levites, and in so doing, uplift their passion so that it only served a lofty end.
ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA
Waving the Levites in all six directions symbolizes the synthesis of their diverse character traits. Each of the directions represents a different personality trait. When they were combined and directed towards one goal—serving the one G-d—they transformed the Levites’ diverse character traits into a harmonious blend, reconstituting them into a wholesome individual whose passion would not provoke a mishap.
Even after Aaron lifted and waived the Levites, thereby instilling in them some of his love and kindness, they still remained passionate and zealous guardians of Jewish interests. Without Aaron’s initiation process, they would have not been such an asset to the Jewish people.
However, there remains a perennial need to govern their occasional one-sided zealous streak.
Complete Levite-Kohain Synthesis
In the Messianic Age, the Kabbalists tell us, the Levites will be promoted to the rank of Kohain. Perhaps this implies, among other lessons, that in the age of perfection the Aaronic effects on the Levites will be complete. In times of exile, fragmentation and division is the rule, whereas unity and synthesis is the exception and is resisted by the people who are prone to lean in one direction. As a result, we—and ESSAYS ON PARSHAS BEHA’ALOSECHA especially those with the Levite temperament—often find it hard to combine the two attributes of kindness and fiery passion.
With the coming of Moshiach and the beginning of the Redemption, the fiery passion of the Levite will become the norm for everyone.
However, the Messianic Age is also the age of unity and synthesis. We will therefore experience the Levite mindset as it is tempered and uplifted by the loving temperament and spiritual state personified by Aaron.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Behalosecha by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
