Date: June 17th 2022

In this week’s parsha Behaaloschah, after a brief interlude discussing the Menorah, the Torah returns to the topic we left off with at the end of Parshas Nasso, the appointment of the families of Shevet Levi to the work of the Mishkan. Although initially it was the right of the firstborn to serve in the Mishkan, the honor was taken from them after the sin of the golden calf and given to the tribe of Levi instead.

The Chizkuni comments that, aside for this primary reason for the change, there was a benefit to selecting the tribe of Levi over the first born. If the system had remained as initially intended, all firstborn sons would have the duty to serve in the Temple. However, there would be a lack of continuity because many firstborn sons are born to fathers who were not firstborns themselves. Once the service was given to the tribe of Levi, it became a familial heritage. All Leviim were sons and grandsons of Leviim and they would be brought up in a family culture that both taught and emphasized the great importance of the Temple service and the seriousness of that responsibility. Furthermore, even their bodies would be acclimated to serving the roles in the Temple. The Chizkuni adds that if they did not have this family tradition it would result in mistakes being made in their service and they would be punished by Hashem to such an extent that they could die- just as Nadav and Avihu
died for bringing a foreign sacrifice.

The implication of the Chizkuni is that Nadav and Avihu, who did not have a family tradition (as they were first in the line,) might not have made the mistake they made had they been raised in a family with previous generations serving in the temple.

The sages equate Nadav and Avihu to Moshe and Aharon in greatness and spiritual stature. The error that Nadav and Avihu made occurred during the inauguration of the Mishkan which was a time when the awe of the temple service and the palpable presence of Hashem were at the highest level imaginable. Without a doubt, their full focus and intensity as well as the greatest depths of their knowledge and understanding were brought to bear on the decision of how to perform the service in the most perfect manner. In addition, they were raised and taught by Moshe and Aharon who were perhaps the two greatest leaders in Jewish history. How is it possible that such individuals, at that transcendent moment, would have come to a different conclusion and behaved differently if their father and grandfathers were Kohanim before them?

We see from here the unfathomable impact tradition plays on personal development. An understanding of the subtlety, profundity, and importance of something that an individual gets “with mother’s milk” that is the result of generations of development is incomparable to what can be achieved without that process*. Even the wisest and greatest of all men with all of their faculties aroused cannot reach the same level they could if they had the additional benefit of being raised within a family tradition.

POSSIBLE APPLICATION

The concept in this schmooze would seem to apply profoundly to the way we raise our children in general, and more specifically to the way we conduct ourselves when we are with them. We can try to teach our children everything we think they should know, and we can try and and put their feet on the right path, but the power of tradition, of modeling a behavior that they can learn from, is a uniquely powerful tool to help them achieve their greatest potential.

We also have the ability to connect ourselves to the righteous deeds of grandparents and great grandparents that we may know from family traditions. If a particular family forbear had a tradition of learning torah everyday after work for a set time, or giving charity in secret, or inviting guests to the home, these actions can become family traditions which can be carried forward to future generations. As we see from the example of Nadav and Avihu, these traditions can have a greater impact on our future generations than all the teaching and instructing in the world. Besides for the impact these traditions can have on our children and on our families for generations to come, they can, without a doubt, have a profound impact on us as well.

*The Torah states in Bamidbar 8.24 that the Leviim were to participate in the work of the Mishkan from the age of 25. Rashi asks that earlier the pasuk stated that they would begin at the age of 30. Rashi answers that the actual work began at age 30 but the Leviim would come at age 25 to spend 5 years learning how to perform the service. One can assume that if the first born would not have lost the right to perform the service they would have had a similar system if not even more. Nevertheless, they would have made mistakes as a result of the lack of receiving a tradition of the service in their families.


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