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NASSO
The parsha begins with the description of the duties imposed on the families of Gershon and Mrori in the mishkan. At the conclusion of last week’s parsha the duties of the family of Kehat were detailed. The parsha states that Gershon and Mrori are also to be valued and counted. The obvious inference is that if the Torah did not somehow here emphasize this equality of Gershon and Mrori to Kehat we may have thought differently.
The reason for this potential misunderstanding is clear. Kehat had the most glamorous of the tasks of the Levites. It dealt with the holy ark and the tablets of stone of Sinai, among the other holy artifacts of the Mishkan which were in its charge. It did not carry those vessels in wagons drawn by oxen but rather on their shoulders on poles slung over their shoulders. The ark in fact carried the children of Kehat and not vice versa.
It would then be easy to denigrate the more mundane work of Gershon and Mrori, the fact that they used wagons and oxen to transport the boards and hooks and curtains and other basic parts of the Mishkan. After all, the work that they did may be basic and necessary but perhaps it is less inspiring and holy than the work of Kehat.
The Torah comes to warn us not to think in those terms. Gershon and Mrori and their contribution to the Levite family and to the service of the Mishkan ranks equal to that of Kehat and they are also worthy of their special mention and count in the Torah.
There is a wise message contained in this idea of the Torah. Even those who seemingly serve in the most mundane fashion in the synagogues and schools of the Jewish people are to be treasured and appreciated. It is related by legend that one of the teachers of Rashi when becoming aged and no longer able to teach in the yeshiva nevertheless remained there and served as a helper to clean the building and the ark of the law contained therein.
For there are no mundane tasks when it comes to holiness and spiritual improvement. Household chores, workplace behavior, social interaction are all part of the matrix of Jewish Torah life. The small things, carrying the boards and placing them on wagons drawn by oxen are part of the same overall picture of Mishkan holiness as is the hoisting of the holy ark itself on the shoulders of Kehat. Not everyone is privileged to carry the holy ark. But everyone has the opportunity to be connected to the Mishkan and to do positive things on behalf of God and Israel.
Even the menial tasks in Judaism carry with them cosmic importance. It is up to the people who perform those tasks to invest in them the will and frame of mind that will elevate them and the work that they do the proper level of holiness and dedication. All Levites are equal in their potential to do good. And as Maimonides points out, all of us have the potential to be Levites in spirit as well.
Shabat shalom
Rabbi Berel Wein
