Parshat Bamidbar 5780
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week's parsha the setting aside of Shevet Levi to serve in the Beis Hamikdash. The pasuk reads (Chapter 3, Pasuk 6), Hakrev es Mateh Levi V'Ha'amadetah Oso Lifnei Aharon HaKohen V'Sharsu Oso; bring forth Shevet Levi and stand them up before Aharon Hakohen and they shall serve him. The Medrash Rabbah on this pasuk quotes the pasuk from sefer Tehillim (Chapter 92, Pasuk 13), Tzadik K'Tamar Yifrach. The pasuk compares the Tzadik to a date, and one of the statements the Medrash makes is, just as a date has a Ta'avah, a strong desire (the Medrash later describes a non-producing date palm desiring to be grafted onto another tree), so too the Tzadik has Ta'avah.
The Medrash asks, if he is a Tzadik, what type of Ta'avah does he have? And the Medrash answers that the Tzadik has a Ta'avah for Hashem, as the pasuk in sefer Yeshayahu says (Chapter 26, Pasuk 9), Nafshi Ivisicha B'Laylah; my soul desires you at night. When night comes and I contemplate my life, I have an intense desire (Ivisicha is from the word Ta'avah) for You.
Why does the Medrash specifically employ the word Ta'avah to express a longing for closeness with Hashem. Usually this word has a negative connotation of lust and desire. How can it describe the longing of a Tzadik?
The Mishnah in Avos (Chapter 4, Mishnah 28) teaches Ha'Kinah, Ha'Ta'avah, V'Hakavod Motzi'in es Ha'Adam min Ha'Olam. The three difficult traits of jealousy, lust, and desire for honor take a person out of this world. The Sfas Emes teaches that we see from here that these emotions and desires are very powerful and when they are focused on the Olam Ha'Chitzoni, on the outside, physical world, they remove a person from eternal life in the world to come.
But all things that move a person have a Penimiyus side as well. When a person focuses his longing from the physical to the spiritual, when he desires a strong connection to Gd and these three traits also take him out of this world; but they bring him into the world to come. When one's soul is not moved by temptation and physical pleasure, but instead has a strong desire for Torah and connection and is moved to achieve as much as he can in Ruchniyus, this is the positive side of Ha'Kinah, Ha'Ta'avah, V'Hakavod. One can use these drives in a positive way.
The way to get close to Hashem is through the covenants that he has established with us. First, there is Bris Milah. Precisely at the point of physical Ta'avah, Hashem connects us to Him and implores us to turn the Ta'avah to a spiritual one. And the other Bris is the Bris of Torah. Learning Torah is the way we connect to Hashem, understand His world, and achieve eternal life.
Shevet Levi, who are singled out in our parsha, are those who excel in maintaining the Bris between Bnei Yisrael and Hashem. As Rashi teaches on the pasuk in Devarim (Chapte 33, Pasuk 9), Ki Shamru Imrasecha U'Brischa Yintzoru, Shevet Levi was the only Shevet that gave their children a Bris Milah while in the Midbar. And as the Rambam teaches in the end of Hilchos Shemittah V'Yovel, Shevet Levi is singled out for service in the Mikdash and for teaching Torah as well. This is the unique portion of Levi. And the Rambam concludes, anyone who wants to make himself a part of this tribe and dedicate himself to learning Torah and serving Hashem is able to do so.
This is the internal desire and passion the Sfas Emes teaches which lies within every Jew. And when we connect to Hashem through the Bris Milah and the Bris of Torah, we are able to turn our emotions and temptations from the physical to the spiritual. Our Ta'avah becomes a Ta'avah for Hashem, as the Medrash describes the longing of the Tzadik.
This is why the Torah is called a Kli Chemdah; it is a means to make our desires holy. And this is true not only with the Jew (Nefesh), but also with time (Shanah), as Shabbos is called Chemdas Hayamim, the most desired of days, as we have a Ta'avah to connect to Hashem on Shabbos. And this cycle is completed with the concept of space (Olam), since Eretz Yisrael is called Eretz Chemdah, the desirous land.
As we approach Chag Ha'Shavuos, we need to strengthen our connection to Torah and make our desires and temptations spiritual ones by connecting to Hashem through his Brisos; Bris Milah and Bris Ha'Torah. And in doing this, we emulate Shevet Levi. The tribe whose portion was not physical land, but rather a close, intimate relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu.
Good Shabbos and Chag Sameach
Print this article