English translation — במדבר א

Sicha 1<pg>1</pg>

A.

In the verse¹

"But the tribe of Levi you shall not count and their head you shall not lift up among the children of Israel"

(which is said in continuation of the counting of "the children of Israel"),

Rashi quotes the words "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count",

and explains: The king's legion is worthy to be counted alone.

Another explanation: The Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw that a decree would stand in the future upon all those counted from twenty years old and above that they would die in the wilderness²

He said: Let these not be included, because they are Mine, for they did not err in the [Golden] Calf.

From the simple language of Rashi it appears,

that his intention is not to negate the explanation of "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count" meaning that the tribe of Levi was not counted <span class="miriam">at all</span>,

and he explains that also the tribe of Levi was counted

(and as explained <span class="miriam">later</span> in the portion³)

rather it was counted "<span class="miriam">alone</span>"⁴

— because if so, Rashi would have had⁵

to emphasize <span class="miriam">the novelty</span>,

that the tribe of Levi was counted alone

(since it was not yet mentioned in the verse that the tribe of Levi was counted)⁶,

and afterwards to add the reasons why it was counted alone;

Rather, Rashi comes to explain why the tribe of Levi was counted alone — and says about this two reasons: a)

Because it was "the legion of the King".

b)

So that "these should not be included" in the "decree upon all those counted from twenty years old and above that they would die in the desert".

And one could say,

that Rashi did not need to negate the aforementioned interpretation

(that the tribe of Levi was not counted at all)

— because after he already explained at the beginning of the parshah "Out of their preciousness before Him, He counts them every hour..

when He came to cause His Shechinah to rest upon them, He counted them",

it is understood simply&lt;sup&gt;7&lt;/sup&gt;

(and there is no doubt)

that the tribe of Levi was counted,

and moreover&lt;sup&gt;8&lt;/sup&gt;.

Rather, Rashi came to resolve the difficulty in the verse: since in the preceding verses

(in the account of the details of the counting of Bnei Yisrael)

it is explicit that the sons of Levi were not counted&lt;sup&gt;9&lt;/sup&gt;,

it is thus proven that in the command "Take the sum of&lt;pg&gt;2&lt;/pg&gt;

All the congregation of Bnei Yisrael etc."¹⁰

The tribe of Levi was not included — and if so, what is the reason for the command "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count etc. among Bnei Yisrael",

which implies that it is a new thing not to count it together with the rest of Israel¹¹?

And on this Rashi brings two reasons,

as above.

2.

But still one needs to understand:

a)

Rashi's explanation

(elucidation of the reasons for this that the tribe of Levi was counted separately)

also applies to the words at the end of the verse — "

(but etc. you shall not count etc.)

among the children of Israel"; and why did Rashi not cite also these words,

neither in his commentary nor in the heading

(and did not even hint at them with "etc.")?

b)

the above question

(what is the novelty in not counting the tribe of Levi among the children of Israel)

arises already earlier,

in the verse¹²

"And the Levites according to their fathers' tribe were not counted among them"

(from which too it is proven that there is a novelty in not counting the Levites "among them")¹³

— and nevertheless Rashi did not explain anything there¹⁴

; and if so, it is not understood: what is the particular difficulty in our verse,

that specifically in it Rashi was compelled to explain why the Levites were counted separately¹⁵?

3)

What is difficult in the first explanation of Rashi,

that Moshe Rabbeinu was not satisfied with it and brought a second explanation¹⁶?

And especially that seemingly it is far from the simple meaning — both from the aspect of its overall content

(that the reason they were counted separately is in order to save them from the decree that "the Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw would stand"),

which is closer to "Aggadah" than to the plain sense of Scripture¹⁷

;

And it is from the aspect of the continuation of the verses here: In the verse after this¹⁸

it is said "And you, appoint the Levites over the Tabernacle of Testimony etc.",

that is, the appointment and authority¹⁹

of the tribe of Levi over the Tabernacle.

And if so,

it is well according to the first explanation of Rashi,

that the tribe of Levi was counted alone because it was "the legion of the King",

the continuation of the words is understood²⁰,

for the command "And you, appoint the Levites over the Tabernacle etc." is the reason for "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count etc. among the children of Israel"

(because they are "the legion of the King" who are appointed over the Tabernacle of Testimony)

; but according to the second explanation there is no continuation here,

apparently,

between "And you, appoint the Levites etc." and "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count etc."?

[And according to this explanation

(the second),

it should have been written here

(not "And you, appoint the Levites etc.",

but rather)

the verse that is in the continuation of the portion²¹

"And I, behold I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel etc. and the Levites shall be Mine"²²

— in accordance with the reason that they were saved

(the Levites)

from the decree "because they are Mine, that they did not err in the [Golden] Calf"²³

(and as Rashi explains²¹

that the taking of the Levites was "when they sinned with the [Golden] Calf..

and the Levites who did not worship idolatry were chosen")²⁴].

3.

And one can say the explanation in this:

In the verse here there is,

at first glance,

a double expression — "

(But the tribe of Levi)

you shall not count and their head you shall not lift."

For at first glance it should have said "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count among the children of Israel",

or "But the head of the children of Levi you shall not lift among the children of Israel"

(and the like).

And from the simplicity of the language it implies,

that "do not count" and "do not lift" are two different details regarding the matter of the census.

And the difference between them — simply²⁵

: "count" means the action of the census,

lifting of the head

("their head..

you shall lift")

its meaning

(according to Rashi²⁶)

receiving the "sum of their count",

that is, knowledge of the total "how many they are".

And behold, according to Rashi's explanation,

There is included a fundamental difference between the manner of counting the children of Israel and the counting of the Levites: In the counting of the children of Israel, Rashi explained&lt;sup&gt;27&lt;/sup&gt;

that it was "by means of shekels, a half-shekel per skull"

[And this is in accordance with his explanation at the beginning of Parshat Tisa: "When you wish to receive&lt;pg&gt;4&lt;/pg&gt;

the sum of their count..

Do not count them by skull, but let each one give half a shekel, and you shall count the shekels and know their number"],

but the counting of the Levites was "by the word of the L-rd"&lt;sup&gt;28&lt;/sup&gt;,

and as Rashi explained: "Moses went and stood at the entrance of the tent, and the Divine Presence preceded him, and a heavenly voice issued from the tent saying: So and so many infants are in the tent"

(And through this Moses knew "the number of their sucklings" — for the counting of the Levites was "from one month old and upward"&lt;sup&gt;29&lt;/sup&gt;).

And this is the explanation of the verse's wording "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count and their head you shall not lift up among the children of Israel" — that is,

not only that the quantity of the count of the Levites

("their head..

you shall lift up")

was not "among the children of Israel"

(meaning that one should not include "the sum of the count" of the Levites within the sum of the count of the children of Israel&lt;sup&gt;30&lt;/sup&gt;),

but also that the manner of the counting action

("you shall count")

of the children of Levi was completely different from the manner of the counting of the children of Israel,

as above&lt;sup&gt;31&lt;/sup&gt;.

4.

And now, based on this foundation

(that there are here two matters — counting and lifting up the head; the act of counting and the summation of the count's calculation)

one must investigate the explanation of the verse "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count" — it can be said in two ways:

a)

Simply — that the end of the verse "within the children of Israel" also refers to the beginning of the verse "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count,"

and the intention of the verse is,

that you shall not count the Levites "within

(in the same manner of counting of)

the children of Israel",

because their counting was in a different manner.

b)

Since the counting of the Levites was by means of a bat kol that announced to Moses "so many infants there are in the tent" — therefore this is not in the category of "tifkod"³²,

whose meaning is a)

the appointment of the person b)

counting each one "by their skulls".

And accordingly the verse divides into two —

(a)

"But the tribe of Levi you shall not count" — end of a matter,

that the tribe of Levi was not to be counted at all³³

;

(b)

"And their head you shall not lift up within the children of Israel" — that the knowledge of "the sum of their count" is not "within the children of Israel",

but by themselves.

And this is the difference between the two explanations in Rashi:

According to the first explanation — "A legion of the king is worthy to be counted alone" — also the beginning of the verse

("But the tribe of Levi you shall not count")

comes to emphasize the obligation,

that the tribe of Levi must be counted alone

(not "among the children of Israel"),

meaning that also the Levites were counted,

except that they were counted by themselves in a different manner.

But according to the second explanation — "The Holy One, blessed be He, foresaw etc. a decree upon all those counted etc. let these not be included" — the verse does not come

(at the beginning of the verse)

to emphasize the belovedness of the sons of Levi in their unique counting,

but rather on the contrary — because of their belovedness they were not counted

(at all),

so that the "decree" would not apply to them

(that)

upon all those counted etc."

[That is: according to Rashi here it must be said,

that the fact that the decree of the spies did not apply to the Levites,

is not

(only)

because they were counted "from one month old etc." and consequently they were not included in the count of "from twenty&lt;pg&gt;5&lt;/pg&gt;

etc.³⁴

(For this is the intention of Rashi,

he should have explained this explicitly,

because we have not yet learned that the Levites were counted "from a month old etc.")

— but

(also)

because they were not counted

(at all),

as below section 6].

And according to this explanation,

what is written "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count" its explanation is,

its simple meaning — that he should not count the Levites,

in order to save them from the decree of the spies^*34.

5.

Based on this, all the difficulties above are resolved

(section 2)

— because all of Rashi's intention is to explain the lengthy language in this verse

(as above),

therefore:

a)

This is not related to the verse "And the Levites etc. were not counted among them."

b)

Simply, why Rashi did not bring the end of the verse "within the children of Israel" — a)

Since he did not intend here to explain why the tribe of Levi was counted separately from the precise reading of the verse "within the children of Israel"

(they were counted by themselves),

but rather to explain the lengthiness of the language,

as above; b)

There is no place to bring the end of the verse,

since his intention is to say that one should explain

(according to the second explanation)

that the beginning of the verse

("But the..

you shall not count")

is a matter in itself,

and the ending "within the children of Israel" does not refer to "you shall not count" that is at the beginning of the verse.

c)

Rashi was not satisfied with the first explanation,

because the language "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count" is more simply according to the second explanation,

according to which its explanation is completely literal,

that "the tribe of Levi you shall not count" entirely.

6.

But still needs explanation in what was said above,

that according to the second interpretation the decree of the spies did not apply to the Levites

(not because they were not included in the category of "twenty years old and above",

but)

because they were not counted — for at first glance,

after all the Levites were counted "according to the word of the Lord",

and what is the relevance of the decree of the spies to the manner of the counting

(whether by shekels or "according to the word of the Lord")?

And it can be said,

that this is understood according to Rashi above:

In parshas Ki Sisa it is said "When you take the sum of the children of Israel according to their numbers, and they shall give etc. when they are counted, and there will not be among them a plague when they are counted",

And Rashi explains "And there will not be among them a plague — because the count, the evil eye dominates it, and plague comes upon them"

(And therefore the count must be done by means of shekels "and do not count them by the head",

which saves from the "evil eye").

And it is found,

that the count

("when they are counted")

is liable to cause the domination of the evil eye and plague

(even though the reason for the count is — as Rashi explains — "because of their preciousness before Him").

And from this it will be understood also regarding our topic — and with an introduction:

The reason the Levites needed a special guard from the decree of the spies,

is not because they were liable to punishment for the sin

(since the Levites did not participate in the counsel of the spies,

as explained in Rashi&lt;sup&gt;35&lt;/sup&gt;),

but because&lt;sup&gt;36&lt;/sup&gt;

a decree was decreed upon&lt;pg&gt;6&lt;/pg&gt;

the entirety of the people of Israel&lt;sup&gt;37&lt;/sup&gt;,

that from the perspective of the decree there is no distinction between righteous and wicked&lt;sup&gt;38&lt;/sup&gt;

(as per Rashi above&lt;sup&gt;39&lt;/sup&gt;

"since permission is given to the destroyer to destroy, he does not distinguish between righteous and wicked")

; but because the Levites "they are Mine

(because&lt;sup&gt;40&lt;/sup&gt;)

they did not err in the [Golden] Calf",

the Holy One, blessed be He, removed them from the generality of the decree by means of the change in the manner of their counting.

And the connection between the prevention of the decree of the spies and "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count" is understood:

The decree of the spies applied to "all your counted ones according to all your number"⁴¹

(without distinction between righteous and wicked)

because counting gives place to an undesirable matter

(and they need the giving of shekels

("ransom of his soul")

to save from this).

Therefore,

when the wrath went out before the Lord and a decree was decreed upon the entirety of the people of Israel,

included in this were "all your counted ones according to all your number".

And this is what the Holy One, blessed be He, said: "But the tribe of Levi you shall not count" so that "they should not be included",

for since their counting is not in the category of "you shall count",

they are no longer subject to the plague that strikes "all your counted ones"⁴².

7.

"From the wine of Torah"⁴³

in Rashi's commentary here:

The difference between the two explanations of Rashi mentioned above — that according to the first explanation, the Levites were also counted like Bnei Yisrael

(except that they were counted in a different manner and under different conditions),

but unlike the second explanation, the Levites were not counted at all,

because the counting of the Levites is not in the category of "you shall count" — it can be said that they correspond to two levels in the superiority of the Levites over all of Israel.

And this will be understood by first explaining the three aforementioned modes in the counting —

(a)

the counting of Bnei Yisrael,

(b)

the counting of the tribe of Levi "by itself",

(c)

"The tribe of Levi you shall not count" — in the service of man:

The service of G-d is divided into three lines

(the pillars)

of Torah, service, and acts of kindness⁴⁴,

which are,

in general,

three types of service⁴⁵

:

(a)

fulfillment of the commandments,

(b)

study of Torah,

(c)

attachment to G-d

(in prayer)⁴⁶,

whose perfection is the service of self-sacrifice.

Commandments were given in a number⁴⁷

— specifically 613,

<pg>7</pg>

And we were commanded⁴⁸

"You shall not add..

and you shall not diminish"

[and likewise in every commandment itself — there is a measure and a limit in the manner of its fulfillment⁴⁹],

For the essential matter of the commandments is

(as explained in Tanya⁵⁰),

to draw down holiness into physicality⁵¹

the world

(the limited — it is said about it "enough"⁵²),

therefore most commandments of the Torah are practical commandments,

that are clothed in physical things and matters of this world — which are in measurement and limitation,

the category of "number";

The Torah

(from its own perspective)

is above measurement,

as it is said&lt;sup&gt;53&lt;/sup&gt;

"It is longer than the measure of the earth and wider than the sea" — above the physicality of the world,

to the extent that it is above the measurements and limitations of time and place,

as our Rabbis, of blessed memory, said&lt;sup&gt;54&lt;/sup&gt;

that whoever engages in the Torah of the burnt-offering is as if he offered a burnt-offering

(without the limitations of time and place&lt;sup&gt;55&lt;/sup&gt;).

But on the other hand,

from this very thing that it is said "it is longer than the measure of the earth" it is understood,

that also the Torah is in the category of "measure"

(because regarding something that is not in the category of "measure" it is not applicable to say that it is longer than "measure")&lt;sup&gt;56&lt;/sup&gt;

— and especially that the Torah is the source of the commandments and there must be a relationship between them.

And as it is said in the haftorah of our parshah⁵⁷

"And the number of the children of Israel etc. which cannot be measured nor counted",

that there are two matters in this: "And the number of the children of Israel" and on the other hand — it is impossible to count them,

"For⁵⁸

it cannot be counted

(from multitude⁵⁹)

"]

;

Self-sacrifice is completely above any matter of measure and limit⁶⁰.

And simply,

the movement of self-sacrifice indicates a bond with G-d that has no limit or end,

to the point that a person is ready and gives his soul⁶¹

for His sake.

8.

The three works above correspond to the three types

(the general)

that are among the children of Israel —

(a)

(the majority)

of the children of Israel,

(b)

the tribe of Levi,

(c)

the High Priest⁴⁵.

The conduct of

(the majority)

of the children of Israel is in the manner of "lead them with the way of the land"⁶²,

and their main work is the fulfillment of the commandments and the doing of good deeds

(Aramaic: good deeds)

;

the tribe of Levi, its matter

(in the language of the Rambam⁶³)

— that "he was separated to serve God, to minister to Him and to teach<pg>8</pg>

His straight ways and His judgments⁶⁴

the righteous to the many, as it is said⁶⁵

they shall teach Your judgments to Jacob and Your Torah to Israel; therefore they were separated from the ways of the world, etc.' — and not only the tribe of Levi, but every individual..

whose spirit moved him, etc., to separate himself to stand before God to minister to Him, etc.' — masters of Torah;

But from this itself that their service is "to teach..

the public" it is understood,

that they are not separated

(completely)

from the rest of Israel who engage in worldly ways,

and on the contrary — "they shall teach" them etc.,

and as the simple meaning of their conduct⁶⁶,

that the Levites go around the cities of the children of Israel to receive their tithes etc. and engage there in teaching the public

(except that at specific times they come to the Holy Temple and perform the Temple service)

;

Above all of them is the High Priest,

who was commanded⁶⁷

"from the Sanctuary he shall not go out",

and he does not go out from Jerusalem ever⁶⁸

;

The essence of the High Priest is — to be in constant attachment with the Holy One, blessed be He,

above measure and limitation

(attachment that is drawn and comes from the essence of his soul,

the yechidah of the soul,

which is united with Him, blessed be He,

"yechidah to unify You"⁶⁹).

And from this is the difference between these three categories also regarding their counting:

The counting of the children of Israel,

whose service

(the main)

is in practical commandments that were given in number

(exact),

was in a manner of counting in natural ways,

by Moses and Aaron with "the prince of each tribe and tribe"⁷⁰,

who counted the shekels

(physical)

that were given by the children of Israel;

The tribe of Levi whose main matter is "they shall teach",

Torah — which has two matters: it is in the category of number and together with this above measure and ordinary number

(in the manner of "which cannot be numbered for multitude")

— was counted "by the word of the Lord",

since their service is on such a level that it is in the category of "number",

therefore they too were counted,

but not in a physical and natural counting,

for they are above the measure of flesh and blood

(for "it shall not be measured nor counted")

but "by the word of the Lord".

However, regarding Aharon it is written in Rashi⁷¹

that "he was not in the count of the Levites",

that the simple meaning of the language indicates that he was not counted

(and included)

in the count of the Levites⁷²

— because the service of Aharon the High Priest is the attachment to G‑d which is above any category of measurement and number.

9.

According to all the above, the difference between the two explanations in Rashi regarding the count of the Levites will be understood:

The explanation of the first — "The legion of the king is worthy to be counted alone" — is in accordance with the superiority of the tribe of Levi in the matter of Torah,

that from this superiority he also is counted,

except that "he is counted alone"

("by the word of the L-rd").

But according to the second explanation in Rashi,

the tribe of Levi has

(also)

this superiority that they are not in the category of number — "you shall not count."

And this superiority came to them because "they did not err in the [Golden] Calf,"

that is,

&lt;pg&gt;9&lt;/pg&gt;

Not only did they not sin with the calf,

but moreover,

they were devoid even of error in thought and supposition about this because of their attachment to G‑d,

that there is no possibility of separation etc.

And therefore — "Mine they are",

that the Levites were acquired to G‑d in a manner that this connection which is beyond measure and limitation is revealed in them,

and from the aspect of this elevation they are above the category of number — "You shall not count."

10.

The three manners in the counting of Bnei Yisrael mentioned above,

correspond and are analogous to the time when we read Parshas Bamidbar — at the end of the days of the counting&lt;sup&gt;73&lt;/sup&gt;,

"before Shavuos"&lt;sup&gt;74&lt;/sup&gt;

:

It is known the explanation of our master the Alter Rebbe&lt;sup&gt;75&lt;/sup&gt;

on what is written&lt;sup&gt;76&lt;/sup&gt;

"You shall count fifty days" — even though we count only forty-nine days — that the fifty days of the counting correspond to the fifty gates of understanding,

and therefore in practice we count only forty-nine days,

because the fiftieth gate is above the service of the created beings,

and it is impossible for them to count

(and to draw down)

the fiftieth gate.

Rather, after the created being reaches the perfection of his service

(through the counting of forty-nine days),

there is drawn from above the fiftieth gate.

But in this itself

(in the extension of Gate Nun)

— two levels⁷⁷

:

a)

level

(lower)

in Gate Nun,

which has a relation and connection to the work and counting of the 49 days,

until it is possible to say and it is said "you shall count fifty days",

that the extension of Gate Nun belongs and is a part of the counting of Bnei Yisrael.

b)

level

(the higher one)

in the Gate of the Nun,

which does not relate at all to the service of the created beings,

and comes in a manner of a gift from above,

and this is the matter

(the essential)

of the festival of Shavuot,

the time of the giving of our Torah,

a drawing down in a manner of a gift.

And accordingly, there are here three matters corresponding to the three aforementioned manners in "number":

(a)

the counting of forty-nine days — the matter of number

(which is by means of human beings),

(b)

the drawing down of the Gate of the Nun from above that comes

(after the vav)

by means of the counting of the forty-nine days — in the category of number,

but "it cannot be numbered because of abundance",

(c)

the Gate of the Nun that comes entirely in a manner of a gift is that which is not in the category of number

(and counting)

at all⁷⁸.

And this is the inner and true quality that is revealed in the children of Israel on the holiday of Shavuot,

the time of the giving of our Torah — that then⁷⁹

in addition to the Torah being given anew — G-d reveals Himself to the children of Israel "face to face"⁸⁰,

attachment to G-d to the utmost

(like the Giving of the Torah the first time,

that at each and every utterance their souls flew away⁸¹)

— "the singular soul to unify You".

(From the talks of Shabbat Parshat Bamidbar 5726,

5740)