Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
וָאֶתְּנָ֨ה אֶת־הַלְוִיִּ֜ם נְתֻנִ֣ים ׀ לְאַהֲרֹ֣ן וּלְבָנָ֗יו מִתּוֹךְ֮ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵל֒ לַעֲבֹ֞ד אֶת־עֲבֹדַ֤ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ בְּאֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֔ד וּלְכַפֵּ֖ר עַל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל וְלֹ֨א יִהְיֶ֜ה בִּבְנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ נֶ֔גֶף בְּגֶ֥שֶׁת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל אֶל־הַקֹּֽדֶשׁ׃
And from among Benei Yisrael, I assign the Levi’im to Aharon and his sons, to perform the service for Benei Yisrael in the Tent of Meeting, and to atone for Benei Yisrael, so that no plague may afflict Benei Yisrael when Benei Yisrael come to the holy space.
This pasuk cannot stop saying the words “Benei Yisrael”! Can we learn something from the 5x repetition?
אָמַר רַבִּי יוּדָן בּוֹא וּרְאֵה כַּמָּה חִבֵּב הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁמַּזְכִּירָן חֲמִשָּׁה פְּעָמִים בְּפָסוּק אֶחָד…
אָמַר רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן יוֹחָאי: מָשָׁל לְמֶלֶךְ שֶׁהָיָה לוֹ בֵּן יְחִידִי. בְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם הָיָה מְצַוֶּה אֶת בֶּן בֵּיתוֹ, אָכַל בְּנִי? אוֹ שָׁתָה בְּנִי? אָזַל לְבֵית הַסֵּפֶר? אָתָא מִבֵּית הַסֵּפֶר?
כָּךְ בְּכָל יוֹם וָיוֹם הָיָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא מְצַוֶּה אֶת משֶׁה וְאוֹמֵר לוֹ: אֱמֹר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל, צַו אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל.
Rabbi Yudan said: You can tell how much the Holy One loves Benei Yisrael from how they are mentioned five times in one pasuk…
Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai said: It’s like a king who had an only child. Every day the king would ask, “Has my child eaten? Had enough to drink? Gone to school? Arrived home safely?”
Just like this, every day the Holy One would say to Moshe: Say to Benei Yisrael… Command Benei Yisrael…
- Do you ever mention something over and over, when it’s something you really care about?
- In Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai’s story, how do you think the child might have felt knowing that a parent was so interested in what happened during their day? How would a child feel if a parent never asked questions about their day?
- What do you think Rabbi Yudan and Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai want us to feel as Jews?
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