Parshat Behaaloscha 5784
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha that the Levi’im were singled out for service in the Mishkan. They did their Avodah in the Mishkan from the age of thirty until fifty. But after fifty, they ceased their Avodah, as the pasuk states (Chapter 8, Pasuk 25), ולא יעבוד עוד. Rashi explains that this refers to carrying the Mishkan and its vessels, but they continued loading the wagons, closing the gates, and singing (the Ramban disagrees about singing and says this also ended at the age of fifty). And this is why in the next pasuk we read ושרת את אחיו; they continue to function and serve with their brothers.
The next pasuk also states that they continue to safeguard, as it says,לשמור משמרת...ככה תשעה ללוים במשמרתם. Rashi explains that this refers to their taking apart and assembling the Mishkan during travelling, and their encampment surrounding the Mishkan, as indicated earlier (Chapter 1, Pasuk 53), והלוים יחנו סביב לשמכן העדת ולא יהיה קצף על בני ישראל ושמרו הלוים את משמרת משכן העדות. The Levi’im encamped around the Mishkan to prevent others from entering and usurping their role in the Avodah. In addition to their function of עבודה and of ושרת, they performed a function of לשמר משמרת.
The Medrash Rabbah in Devarim (4,4) states, אם אתה משמר נרי, אני משמר נרך. According to the Medrash, Hashem says to Bnei Yisrael, My candle is in your hands, and your candle is in My hands. If you guard My candle, I will guard your candle, and if you extinguish My candle, I will extinguish yours. The candle of Hashem is the Torah, as the pasuk says (Mishlei, Chapter 6, Pasuk 23), כי נר מצוה ותורה אור. And the candle of Bnei Yisrael is the holy Neshamah, as the pasuk says (Mishlei, Chapter 20, Pasuk 27), נר ד' נשמת אדם. If we keep the mitzvos of the Torah, then Hashem will keep us alive.
The Sfas Emes teaches that the point of performing mitzvos is to allow the Neshamah to impact upon one’s physical body, and allow his body to be a vessel for expressing his Divine holiness. This is expressed by the pasuk in parshat Acharei Mos (Chapter 18, Pasuk 5), ושמרתם את חקתי ואת משפטי אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם. When you keep my mitzvos then you will fulfill וחי בהם; you will allow yourself to properly “live” by allowing your true essence of Kedushah to be expressed. As the pasuk says by the creation of man (Bereishis, Chapter 2, Pasuk 7), ויפח באפיו נשמת חיים; the חיים of a person is his נשמה. And when we allow our Neshamah to shine forth, it is expressed as truly being נר ד'.
The Medrash teaches that we guard our Neshamah in our body by fulfilling mitzvos. The word guarding makes us think of negative commands, as in שמור את יום השבת לקדשו. But there are also positive commands, as the pasuk also says by Shabbos, זכור את יום השבת לקדשו. And there are 248 positive commands and they correspond to the 248 limbs in a person’ body. By performing the mitzvos of the Torah, we purify our physical parts and allow our holiness to shine forth. This is how we guard the holiness of the Neshamah, of our נר ד' נשמת אדם, as taught in the Medrash.
The Sfas Emes teaches that Shabbos is the paradigm for this important principle. Anytime there is an expression in our physical world of something holy and Divine, it requires both שמירה and זכירה. It requires guarding and keeping out the profane, and it also requires positive actions of mitzvos which reinforce the Kedushah. And since Shabbos is referred to as יומא דנשמתין, the day when our Neshamah receives an additional level of holiness, we need שמירה; we must safeguard the day by refraining from doing prohibited work. We must not desecrate Shabbos. And we also need זכירה; we have the positive command to sanctify Shabbos and declare it a unique day of holiness.
And, as we explained, we need the positive and negative commands of the Torah to protect the holiness of our holy Neshamos on a daily basis. This is also illustrated when Adam Harishon was placed in Gan Eden, which the Sfas Emes refers to as a place which had a שער הפנימי, an inner gate to Hashem. The Torah states (Chapter 2, Pasuk 15), וינחהו בגן עדן לעבדה ולשמרה. Hashem placed Adam Harishon in Gan Eden to work it and to guard it; a positive command and a negative command.
This also explains the job of the Levi’im. The Mishkan was the place where the Shechinah resided; it was the holiest place on earth. It required the משמרת of the Levi’im. They needed to guard the holy Mishkan and keep out all those who didn’t belong and keep them from taking on responsibilities that were not meant for them. This was their negative command. This was the parallel to שמור את יום השבת לקדשו.
And what was their positive command? What was the parallel to זכור את יום השבת לקדשו? The Sfas Emes teaches that this was the Shirah, the song of the Levi’im. Just as on Shabbos we need to proclaim the holiness of Shabbos, the Levi’im, through song and instruments, reinforce the holiness and the significance of the Avodah in the Mishkan and in the Beis Hamikdash. And the Ramban also states, שהוא עיקר עבודה של לוים. The main Avodah of the Levi’im was their song. And as the Sfas Emes teaches, it was the positive expression of the Levi’im asserting the status of the Mishkan, and subsequently, the Beis Hamikdash, as a place with a connection to the Kedushah of Hashem. And therefore, similar to Shabbos and the Neshamah and Gan Eden, it needed special guarding, both through a positive command and through a negative command.
Good Shabbos
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