Parshat Behaaloscha 5779
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week's parsha the laws regarding the years of service of the Levi'im. The Torah tells us that a Levi starts learning the Avodah from the age of twenty-five and then begins work at age thirty. This continues for twenty years until he reaches the age of fifty, at which point he stops working, as the pasuk says (Chapter 8, Pasuk 25), V'Lo Ya'avod Od. Rashi comments that this doesn't mean he stops working entirely. Rather, he stops the heavy carrying work, but he still closes the gates, sings, and loads the wagons. Chozer Hu L'Ne'ilas She'arim, LaShir, V'Liton Agalos. This is why the next pasuk says V'Shereis es Echav; he doesn’t stop working entirely and he services his community in ways more age appropriate, like closing the gates, etc.
The Chidushei HaRim asks, why does Rashi tells us that one of the jobs of the Levi'im was in closing the gates. Just as they closed the gates, they opened the gates. Why doesn't Rashi teach that one of the lighter jobs continued by the Levi'im was to open the gates, or at least tell us they opened and closed the gates?
The Chidushei HaRim derives from here a very important principle. He posits that Chazal are teaching us a very important lesson in stating that the Levi'im are Chozer L'Ne'ilas She'arim; they return to be the closer of the gates. The pasuk says in Shir HaShirim (Chapter 7, Pasuk 2), Mah Yafu Pe'amayich B'Ne'alim. A simple way of reading this pasuk would be, how nice is your walking three times a year when you go up to Yerushalayim and fulfill the mitzvah of Aliyah L'Regel. The Chidushei HaRim learns that the word Pa'am is to be understood as the word Pa'amon, a bell. The pasuk says in Bereishis regarding Pharaoh (Chapter 41, Pasuk 8), Va'Tipa'em Rucho, his spirit was agitated like a bell shaking inside his head. Just as a bell has a clapper inside ringing the bell, the word Pe'amayich implies an arousal and fervor.
Mah Yafu Pe'amayich. How nice is your enthusiasm and exuberance for Avodas Hashem. However, Mah Yafu Pe'amayich B'Ne'alim; it needs to be with Ne'alim. It needs to have proper borders and restrictions and be guarded properly. Just as a Na'al, a person's shoe, encloses him and a Manul locks a door, so too one's excitement and enthusiasm must be kept in check.
This is why Rashi emphasizes that when the Levi finishes his heavy labor Chozer Hu L'Ne'ilas She'arim. His job is to close the gates. At this juncture in his life, his function changes from the youthful vigor of heavy lifting to the sage perspective of maintaining borders and limits. Certainly he opens the gates as well. But the point of the Rashi is to stress the significance of his new role.
The Sfas Emes expands this idea and teaches it on two levels; the individual and the national. Each person at this stage in his life needs to look back on his life and see where limits and safeguards should have been employed and can still be used. With the calmer perspective of an older and wiser person, one's service can be purer without the excesses of youth.
And this is true on a national level as well. The youth need to be assisted by their elders. The Levi'im now use their experience to guide and direct the young. They help keep the excitement of the youth within proper borders. And this is the meaning of the words Rashi quotes in the next pasuk, V'Shereis es Echav, and they serve their brothers. If the previous pasuk teaches V'Lo Ya'avod Od, they don't work any longer, why does the Torah stress their serving their brothers? They're working less!
The answer is, now they perform a new significant role; they serve their brothers in the capacity as elder, wiser statesmen. They close the gates when they need to be closed. The community certainly needs the vigor and enthusiasm of the young. It's important to maintain excitement and energy. But that energy must be curbed with the wisdom of the experienced, who know when to place limits. Your enthusiasm is beautiful! However, Mah Yafu Pe'amayich B'Ne'alim.
Good Shabbos
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