Shabbat Parashat Shoftim - 5783

Shabbat Parashat Shoftim - 5783

Rabbi Hal Miller

There shall not be for the Kohanim, the Levites, the entire tribe of Levi, a portion

and an inheritance with Israel. The fire offerings of Hashem and His inheritance

shall they eat. [Devarim 18:1]

The Torah seems to alternate in this section between using "Levites" to mean the

entire tribe of Levi and to mean only the Kohanim. How do we tell them apart?

For example, our verse lists Kohanim, Leviim, and the entire tribe of Levi as if they

were three separate groups. The rest of the verse might provide us some clarity, in

that whoever is being spoken of here will be able to eat the sacrifices and "His

inheritance", but the verse does not describe these so we have to look elsewhere.

The next verse says, "he shall not have an inheritance among his brothers, God is

his inheritance as He spoke to him." We know that the entire tribe of Levi fits this

category, so perhaps the end of our verse means Kohanim get the offerings and

the rest of Levi get "His inheritance", which must be the various tithes.

But then the third through fifth verses discuss the "due of the Kohanim", which is

not permitted to the rest of Levi. It might imply that the first and second verses of

this chapter also only apply to Kohanim.

Along come verses six and seven to further confuse us on this matter. "When the

Levite will come from one of your cities from all Israel ... to the place that God will

choose, then he shall minister in the name of Hashem his God, like all of his

brothers, the Levites, who stand there before God." Sheireit means to serve, to

minister to God, and is ordinarily applied only to Kohanim. There are instances

where the rest of Levi 'serves', such as judging, and this might be what the latter

part of this pair of verses refers to, but the end, "who stand there before God"

usually refers to the Kohanim, who are "before God" with the sacrificial service.

Rashi addresses the inheritance issue, defining the "portion and inheritance" as in

the land, and "His inheritance" as terumot and maaserot, the tithes, which seems

to indicate that all of Levi is included here. But in 6-7 he says that it does not apply

to non-Kohen Levites since it uses the word sheireit, ministering. Onkelos also says

like this.

Ibn Ezra says verse 6, and therefore the whole section, refers to all of Levi since

Levites serve by teaching Torah throughout the land. The Gemora in Eiruchin [11a]

also says that it refers to all of Levi because of the singing.

But Rav Hirsch definitively answers our question. What precedes this section gives

us instruction on judges and the king, and now the authority of the Kohanim is added.

He says that "the entire tribe of Levi" is in parentheses and the section applies only to

Kohanim. The Torah in many places tells us that the Kohanim are part of Levi, so rules

that apply to the tribe of Levi as a whole also apply to Kohanim, but our verses here

are specific to the descendants of Aharon within that tribe.