Rabbi Levin's Blog

I’m writing these lines at 35,000 feet, on my way to New York to mark the Third of Tammuz, the 32nd Yartzeit of the Rebbe. I plan to visit the Ohel and I was invited to speak at a gathering in Brooklyn Heights. At the 32nd Yartzeit of the previous Rebbe, the Rebbe pointed out the significance of the number 32. It is the numerical value of the Hebrew word “lev” which means heart. Rambam tells us that the leader of the Jewish people is considered the heart of the nation. The heart is one of the key organs that give life to the body, and in some ways is the most important because it provides the lifeblood to every limb in the body. A healthy heart must pump the blood to every arteryand every limb, and even helps the nails grow.  Our spiritual life force is the Torah, and it is interesting to note that “lev”, the letters lamed and beit, are the end and the beginning of the Torah. The last letter is lamed, and when we conclude the reading of the Torah on Simchat Torah, we immediatel...

What comes to mind when we use the word Challah?  Usually it refers to the special bread that we eat on Shabbat and holidays after kiddush, often braided and with seeds on top.  The meaning of the word Challah in its original Biblical form is a loaf.  A loaf of bread or even a “loaf” of Matzah.  And there is a Mitzvah of “Challah” in this week’s Parsha (Bamidbar 15:18-21): Upon your arrival in the land to which I am bringing you, when you eat from the bread of the land, you must donate a raised-offering to G-d: Donate the first of your dough, a loaf (Challah in the original Hebrew) as a raised-offering... From the first portion of your dough you must give a gift to G-d, in all your generations.   Which means that whenever a person would make a dough, they are to give the Kohen (priest) the first loaf, and it needs to be large enough to make a meal.  This was the case at the time when people were generally ritually pure, meaning that they had the ashes ...

“Can I become a Levite?” the great philanthropist asked the Rabbi.  It is a famous old joke (usually told about Kohanim). The Rabbi says: “I’m sorry, I can’t make you a Levite.”  The man pleads and begs, but the Rabbi refuses to budge.  He offers a million dollars, but the Rabbi says “I’m sorry, I just can’t make you a Levite.”  (There is a PS to this joke, I’ll get to that soon.) When the disappointed man leaves, the Rabbi’s assistant follows him out and asks why it is so important for him to become a Levite.  “Well,” he answers, "My father is a Levite and my grandfather was a Levite, I also want to be a Levite!” At the beginning of our Parsha this week, Hashem tells Moshe to separate the Levites to work in the Mishkan (traveling Sanctuary), and later in the Holy Temple, alongside the Kohanim (priests).  The Levites (Leviim) were chosen by their lineage, as descendants of Yaakov’s son Levi, with the exclusion of Aarn’s branch of the tribe, who were the koh...