Occupation Levi

as it relates to today's daf. The topic of the daf is the avoidos that were done by the Kohanim in the Beis Hamikdash and the avoidos that were done by the Leviim in the Beis Hamikdash. And following this theme, we're going to compare and contrast the Kohanim and the Leviim. Now, what the Kohanim did in the Beis Hamikdash, that's something that we all know. That's Kohanim 101. What the Leviim did in the Beis Hamikdash is a little trickier and I think it's today to give a little bit of an introduction to today's daf. Specifically talk about what the role of the Levi, not to be confused with the Kohen, was in the Beis Hamikdash. And with many introductions, what better way than to read Lashon Ha'azov shel HaRambam and this is in Hilchos Klei Hamikdash, Perek Gimel, Halacha Aleph. Says the Rambam, "Zera Levi, the offspring of Levi, as in Levi ben Yakov, kuloi muvdal la'avodas Hamikdash, was completely separated for service in the Beis Hamikdash." Shenemar, as the pasuk says, "Ba'eisa hi, at that time, hivdil Hashem es shevet Levi." HaKadosh Baruchu separated shevet Levi. Now, what was the Ba'eisa hi? This is a pasuk in Parshas Eikev and it's talking about after the chet ha'egel. So, when Klal Yisrael sinned with the chet ha'egel, there was one shevet that was completely innocent, "Mi laHashem eilay?" That was shevet Levi and because of that, shevet Levi was zocheh that HaKadosh Baruchu put them on a pedestal, he separated them from the rest of the Jewish people and it was then that shevet Levi became muvdal la'avodas Hamikdash. Says the Rambam, "U'mitzvas asei leiyos haLeviim penuim u'muchanim la'avodas Hamikdash. There's a mitzvas asei for the Leviim to be panui, they should have their schedule wide open and they should be muchan to do the service that they have to do in the Beis Hamikdash, bein rotzei bein shelo rotzei." And this is something that was mandatory. It didn't matter whether you they wanted to enlist or they didn't want to enlist. And then the possuk says who as I'm skipping what was the of the Levi? Should you they should watch the base of so we learn to meet you become familiar with different checkpoints in the base of where they were watchmen. Now some of the watchmen were I other watchmen were the Levites. It says the what was the of the Levi first and foremost should you the you may have additionally there were Levites whose job it was to be what does that mean to open up all the gates of the base of all I give and to open and close all the doors the you may have additionally there were Levites whose job was to sing the all to sing together with the every single day should as the possuk says the whole [snorts] is a should be have the either way the goes and he tells all the different related to I'm skipping who just like the Levi is not allowed to do the of the the Levi is considered a as it relates to the that the Torah says have to be done by the Levi but it goes in the reverse but it goes in the reverse as well the was also that he's not allowed to do any that the Torah says was supposed to be done by the Levi should the matchman says the I'll tell you even a bigger the Levi himself is not allowed to do that one Levi is not allowed to do the work of another Levi meaning should someone whose job it was to sing in the base of should not help someone whose job it is to be busy with the gates. The Levi has shirah l'misharah. And the shirah, the person whose job it is to be from the shirah, can't help one of the misharim. She nemer says the Rambam, it's based on a possuk that says ish ish al avodasa v'elmasa. And from there we learn that each Levi had his job, and if one Levi would do another Levi's job, he would actually violate this halacha of ish ish al avodasa v'elmasa. So, the Rambam in perek gimel hilchos klei mikdash, that's the mar'eh makom, gives us the introduction to the Levi. Rambam says that zerah Levi was completely, without any exception, mudal. For what? L'avodas hamikdash. When did it happen? B'eisa hevdil Hashem es shevet Levi. It happened after the chet ha'egel. What is their job? The Rambam lays out three things. Number one, shiyu shomrim b'es hamikdash. Number two, v'iyu m'hen shoyarim. Additionally, v'iyu m'hen misharim. And then the Rambam, towards the end of the perek, says that when it comes to the jobs that were given to the Levi'im, they're so fixed in that a Levi whose given job A, for example, he's a shoyer, he's not allowed to be a mishayer. And a Levi whose given a job to be a mishayer, he's not allowed to be a shoyer. Because the jobs themselves were very, very fixed and embedded in who this Levi is, based on a possuk ish ish al avodasa v'elmasa. So, what's the short answer of what the Levi did? He was one of the shomrim of the base hamikdash, he was a shoyer, and he was a mishayer. The truth is, if you're holding with the kri'as haTorah of these weeks, and you've been maveh sedrah, parshas Bamidbar, parshas Naso, parshas B'ha'aloscha. By the way, it doesn't matter if you're a ben Eretz Yisrael or if you're a ben chutz la'aretz. Either way, this is this week's parsha, because featured prominently in Bamidbar Naso and also featured prominently in Behaalotecha. But the bottom line is that if you go through the parshiyos, the Torah clearly mentions there was another huge job that the Leviim had. And that is the Leviim were responsible for the logistics and the transportation of the Mishkan. So when the Yidden were in the midbar, they had all their massos al pi Hashem yachanu u'val pi Hashem yisa'u. They're constantly picking themselves up and going, vayivenu say'ah avan, and then forget it, they're settling and they're stopping. The Leviim were the ones that were responsible for that. In fact, the Torah goes into incredible detail describing which family of Leviim was responsible for transporting which aspect of the Mishkan. And it was broken down by Kehas and Gershon and Merari, right? All the children of Levi, but the Torah goes through it in a very, very nuanced way. Not only were they responsible for the logistics, but even when they were encamped, so the pasuk says, sovev laMishkan yachanu, the Leviim had a job to be surrounding the Mishkan because they had to protect it. They had to make sure that nobody was going to get a little bit too close. In the times of the Mishkan, when the Yidden were in the midbar, there was a whole 'nother element, a whole 'nother dimension in terms of what the responsibility of the Levi was. Literally, pasuk after pasuk after pasuk, I didn't count, but it's 50 to 100 pesukim in the Torah, without a question, that talk about this idea. This was something that was only negated when the Yidden were in the midbar. Once the Yidden came into Eretz Yisrael, so there was no more al pi Hashem yachanu u'val pi Hashem yisa'u. In fact, there's an interesting discussion in the Rishonim, what would be if the Yidden are in Eretz Yisrael right now and the Aseres HaDibros the Keilim of the Beis HaMikdash have to be transported? Does the Levi have to transport it like you find in parshas Bamidbar, Naso, and Behaalotecha, or could it have been a rasha without any question and therefore it only relates to that goofa but there's no din anywhere that now that you don't have to show they're going to have a responsibility. But here's the point. So the Rambam in in perek gimmel in hilchos klei mikdash when he describes the function and the jobs of the Levi the Rambam is giving us what it was midorais and that was shomrei mishmeres mikdash A, sho'arim B, and mishorerim C. But really from a biblical standpoint when you go through the pesukei haTorah parshios that we're learning right now there was another element that's not even a D it's an A and that is they were the ones that were responsible during the 40 years in the midbar to make sure that the mishkan came and went exactly the way it was supposed to come and go. But there's one other ha'arah I think it's worth mentioning before we start the daf. Very short light daf by the way. So just one more ha'arah before we jump in and that is when it comes to the Levi you have this idea that if somebody was a shoyer he wasn't allowed to do the job of the meshayer. If somebody was a meshayer he wasn't allowed to do the job of a shoyer. Rambam says it in perek gimmel halacha yud and he learns it from a pasuk ish ish al had his avodah he was told what he was supposed to carry. This is your job this is what you're supposed to do if you do somebody else's job you're in violation. By the Kohanim you don't find such an idea. And the Brisker Rav Maran HaGriz and this is in sefer al haTorah in parshas Bamidbar. He's very he says dvarim shutim. In fact the Brisker Rav himself says that everything I'm telling you is keman haforesh in all these Rambams. But the Brisker Rav with his clarity laid it out for us kishulchan aruch and that is there was a fundamental difference between the way jobs were divided up amongst the Leviim and the way jobs were divided up amongst the Kohanim. When it comes to the Kohanim everybody knows. Anyone that learned in a in fourth grade knows that every morning the Kohanim would all run and they would come to the center of the Azara and there was one coin who was in charge and he would make a girl. He would make a pious and they would determine all the jobs were divided up. Any coin can technically do any job. There was no such thing I'm a and I'm a nice to meet you. I'm a what are you? I'm a doctor. What do you do for a living? I'm someone that's made the mincha. Interesting job. I'm the I am I'm literally the leftovers. There was no such thing. Any coin can do anything and really it was determined usually based on a girl. Now the coin God will we know was not he was allowed to do whatever it is he wanted to do but in terms of the Kohanim every coin can do anything that he want to. He just has to win the lottery as long as he's going to be the one that's going to win the girl and by the way there's a lot. And then there's the base out within the master of the whole system a very systematic way of how this was formulated but at the end of the day what you did was based on a girl. When it came to the lady it didn't work that way. When it came to the lady you got a stellar. You're a you're a as if to say I can and the can there's no such thing when it comes to a coin but when it came to the lady it was that way. There was something called the and there was something called the and. In fact I saw that Rabbi Soloveitchik in his on by midbar. He said that he heard from his father the this is not in that piece and say again it's all partial because this is before in the if you go through it but the added one when the Rambam lays out the jobs of the Levite he says as follows avoid the him he should you show him they should watch the then the Rambam says the you may hen show you with a lot of also. >> Do with three jobs that the Levite had, but there was an after command between the first and the latter two. The first of he or she or that was true for everybody. How was it determined whether you're going to be or not be maybe with a maybe everybody was stick out their thumbs and we're going to figure out exactly how it's going to go but in addition to that every lady got a stamp all we very much stereotype the Levite. They were and they were and and it's regarding the and the that's the the AT SMALL MEANING SHOULD I and that's based on the of is very much in his language in because I love you that's true for everybody for you may have from amongst all the Levite who all have the ability to be a some of them will be some of them will be and that may have is something that that if you are sure you can't be if you you can't be a that's where it was this this Indian of either way just a little bit of an introduction in terms of understanding what exactly the function of the Levite was