Spiritual Levite

2 Sivan 5782

“Behold, I have taken the Levites from amongst the children of Israel … and the Levites shall be Mine” (Bamidbar 3:12)

It is a well-known teaching of the Rambam that anyone who wishes to can dedicate his life to Hashem and become a spiritual Levite: “Not only the tribe of Levi, but any man of all the inhabitants of the earth whose spirit has moved him and whose mind has given him to understand to set himself aside to stand before G‑d to serve Him, to worship Him, to know G‑d and walk justly as G‑d has created him justly, and he cast from his neck the yoke of the many calculations that men seek—this man has become sanctified, a holy of holies, and G‑d shall be his portion and his lot forever, and shall merit him his needs in this world, as He has merited the kohanim and the Levites.” (Hilchos Shemita 13:13)

“This is the shrine of the ‘Holy of Holies,’ which is contained in each World.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, end of Chapter 52)

The Shechinah resides with the “Holy of Holies” of each World, this being the Divine “intelligence” enclothed in the Torah of each particular World. One who dedicates his life to Torah and going in the way of Hashem, merits to fuse his being with the Shechinah as it is revealed in that world. As such, he has merited that “G‑d shall be his portion and his lot forever.” He receives all his “needs in this world” through more or less openly revealed miracles.

“The L‑rd is my allotted portion and my share; You guide my destiny.” (Tehillim 16:5)

One who sees G‑d as his allotted portion and share will merit to have his life guided by the All-knowing and All-powerful. His portion will be in pleasant places, he will have a beautiful inheritance (Tehillim 16:6). His wife will be a fruitful vine in the innermost chambers of his house, his sons will be like olive shoots around his table (Tehillim 128). All these and many more blessings await the one who follows the Holy Rambam’s path and dedicates his will to Hashem’s will.