The Tribe of Levi and Being Leviim

Parshat Korach

by Rabbi Avi Billet 

All the way back to the dispute between Yaakov and Eisav over the birthrite we are introduced by the Rabbis to the idea that being the firstborn was meant to convey upon an individual the right to serve God in some kind of Temple. 

 Our tradition teaches us that the firstborns, who were supposed to come from every tribe, and therefore give each tribe representation in the Mishkan/Mikdash, were removed from this possibility in the aftermath of the sin of the Golden Calf. In retrospect it may have been a good thing, because it made the Priesthood a family affair, in which a tradition could be passed from father to son, versus having random representation in families – and therefore no specific tradition of customs to be handed down from generation to generation.

 In the Torah’s narrative, we find a maximum of 6 Kohanim – Aharon, his 4 sons (two die in Vayikra 10), and Pinchas, who is awarded Kohen-status in the Parsha named for him, and eventually succeeds his father as Kohen Gadol.

 Otherwise, the focus on who works in any capacity in the Mishkan specifically is on the Levi’im, members and descendants of the tribe of Levi. There is an interesting debate on the phrase שבט אביך (18:2) to whether Aharon is tasked with having his cousins from Gershon and Merari (Midrash Aggadah) or just the family of Amram (Targum Yonatan) to serve in the capacity as described in this  verse. The “Amram” perspective would be troubling because as best we know, only Moshe and Aharon were Amram’s sons, which would therefore be quite limiting to Aharon’s family – who are already Kohanim – and Moshe’s family, who have basically disappeared from the Torah’s narrative. However, it is likely that Targum Yonatan meant “just as Amram was known to be of the tribe of Levi, include all who are known to be from the tribe of Levi.”

 

Of course, the name Levi comes from the word Leah used when naming her third son, as she declared

הפעם ילוה אשי אלי, now my husband will be forced to accompany me. Perhaps on the simplest level, now with three children (the oldest being 2 years old!), she could at most hold onto two of them when going places, and needs a second set of hands to help with a third child.

The point is that the name לוי means to accompany. When we see the instruction given for the tribe of Levi, in the role they will be taking to their task in the Mishkan, being worded this way (in Chapter 18):

(ב) וְגַ֣ם אֶת־אַחֶיךָ֩ מַטֵּ֨ה לֵוִ֜י שֵׁ֤בֶט אָבִ֙יךָ֙ הַקְרֵ֣ב אִתָּ֔ךְ וְיִלָּו֥וּ עָלֶ֖יךָ וִֽישָׁרְת֑וּךָ וְאַתָּה֙ וּבָנֶ֣יךָ אִתָּ֔ךְ לִפְנֵ֖י אֹ֥הֶל הָעֵדֻֽת:

(ד) וְנִלְו֣וּ עָלֶ֔יךָ וְשָֽׁמְר֗וּ אֶת־מִשְׁמֶ֙רֶת֙ אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֔ד לְכֹ֖ל עֲבֹדַ֣ת הָאֹ֑הֶל וְזָ֖ר לֹא־יִקְרַ֥ב אֲלֵיכֶֽם: 

... one wonders if they were called לויים because they were from the tribe of Levi, or if they were called לויים because their role is to accompany and assist the Kohanim and the service of the Mishkan. Just about every commentary defines the word וילוו as either “attaching” or “combining” or “partnering” or “assisting.” Ibn Ezra says נלוים, which means accompanying. 

 One could argue that if their job determines their title, they should have been called מלווים (pronounced m’lavim) instead of לויים. Ergo, the fact that they are the tribe of Levi is coincidental to the idea that they assist the Kohanim.

 R Shimshon Refael Hirsch notes that the Leviim have many tasks, as auxiliaries and subordinates to the kohanim, so this specific one which is attached to the word וילוו  (many commentaries define the task in question as a “guard duty” for the Mikdash) is not indicative that they are called לויים specifically and exclusively because of their job.

 Back in Bamidbar 3:7-8, Hirsch notes that the jobs of the Kohanim and Leviim is to represent the national community, as the Torah was given and entrusted to the whole community.

They stand ready to do their assigned task in the name of the nation and on behalf of the nation. In their case, guarding the Torah is the foremost duty of the Torah’s keepers. “Hence, for its own good and to fulfill its duty, the nation sends the Leviim to their watch, to guard the Dwelling Place of the Testimony of the Torah against the nation as a whole and against each of its individual members.”

 At the same time, Hirsch also writes “The לויים are commissioned by the כהן and by the entire community to perform the service of the Dwelling Place, לעבד את עבודת המשכן. They serve in the Dwelling Place on behalf of Aharon and on behalf of the entire community.”

While we could explore what every commentary has to say, or whether a similar question was ever raised and asked, I would suggest that while the name לויים is coincidental in its similarity to the task of serving the Kohanim, it happens to work to the advantage of the בני לוי that כשמם כן הם – their life task happens to be defined by their title (see Ibn Ezra quoted above). 

In a parsha that focuses quite heavily on the roles of the Leviim – whether those trying to follow in the footsteps of Korach, or in demonstrating through Aharon’s stick test that the tribe of Levi was chosen for a unique role within the community, or in chapter 18 which focuses on ALL of the tribe of Levi – the Kohanim and the Leviim! – there is a subtle reminder that our given name may simply be, on the one hand, our given name, which has little meaning to us. On the other hand, there is an understanding that names help define us as well. 

In the case of the Leviim, their names charged them with the responsibility of being those who served the people in the Mishkan, whether as guards, as singers, or some other task. Those who took their name and charge most seriously helped define how extraordinary a life in the service of God could be.