The Levi’im had special roles taking care of the mishkan. The Torah explains how this came to be.
וַאֲנִ֞י הִנֵּ֧ה לָקַ֣חְתִּי אֶת־הַלְוִיִּ֗ם מִתּוֹךְ֙ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל
תַּ֧חַת כׇּל־בְּכ֛וֹר פֶּ֥טֶר רֶ֖חֶם מִבְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל
וְהָ֥יוּ לִ֖י הַלְוִיִּֽם׃
כִּ֣י לִי֮ כׇּל־בְּכוֹר֒ בְּיוֹם֩ הַכֹּתִ֨י כׇל־בְּכ֜וֹר בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרַ֗יִם הִקְדַּ֨שְׁתִּי לִ֤י כׇל־בְּכוֹר֙ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל מֵאָדָ֖ם עַד־בְּהֵמָ֑ה
לִ֥י יִהְי֖וּ אֲנִ֥י יהוה׃
I (God) took the Levi’im from among Benei Yisrael,
in place of all the firstborns among Benei Yisrael.
The Levi’im shall be Mine.
For every firstborn is Mine. From the day that I struck every firstborn in Mitzrayim (Egypt) I made every firstborn of Israel—from human to animal–holy to Me.
They shall be Mine, I am God.
- What do you notice? What are you wondering about?
- What words get repeated in these pesukim? What can we learn from these words?
- Why does it make sense for Benei Yisrael’s firstborns to be considered holy to God? How do you understand the connection to מַכַּת בְּכוֹרוֹת (makkat bekhorot, the final plague when the Egyptian firstborns were killed)?
- Why is it “holy” to have special roles in the mishkan? What do the mishkan and holiness have to do with each other?
- What do you think it would have been like for firstborns to be the ones to work in the mishkan? What would have been nice about that?
- According to a midrash (Bemidbar Rabbah 1:6), the Levi’im were promoted because they weren’t part חֵטְא הָעֵגֶל (heit ha-eigel, the sin of the golden calf), and the firstborns were. You can find evidence for this position in Devarim 10:8. Look it up! Why would not taking part in heit ha-eigel make the Levi'im a better choice for working in the mishkan?
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