This week's Miller's Musings is sponsored by the Harris family in honour of Gary's birthday
and as a רפואה שלמה for
יהודה זאב בן ברכה אלכסנדרה גילה
דבס''
MILLER’S MUSINGS
בהעלתךפרשת
*I Am What I Am*
Although not first choice for the role, this status being originally in mind for the firstborns, the Levi’im went on to play a central role in the service of the Mishkon. Our Parsha relates the consecration of the Levi’im and is noted by Rashi to repeat the words “Children of Israel” five times, when a pronoun could have been used, such as ‘them’, instead. Rashi explains that the repetition was to make abundantly clear how dear the Jewish people are to Hashem. But we are still left to ponder why specifically this Parsha is chosen to convey this message?
The notion of absolute equality in all areas of our service to Hashem, is not one that the Jewish religion necessarily aspires to. Equal respect? Absolutely. Equal worth? Certainly. But to say that every Jew must have the same role as each other and must have the right to fulfil any function they desire, goes against what we see as the structured system set out by the Torah. We each have a different place in the order of things, some more visible and high profile than others, but that is not to say any of them are of higher value or more worth. Every person is entirely essential and identical in the importance their part plays in fulfilling Hashem’s purpose in creation. That being said, it could be easy for someone to lose sight of this fact and see the Levi’im ministering in the holiest place on earth and perhaps become despondent or lose a certain amount of self-respect, believing their own position to be of lesser significance. In order to combat this, says the Chidushei HaRim, the Torah reminds us during the sanctification of the Levi’im just how precious we all are to Hashem. We are all equal in the eyes of Hashem and every one of us as equally cherished.
We seem to have come to a point where all that we are is questioned and even the most basic facts about our identities are malleable. It appears that an acceptance and sense of pride in who we really are has become lost. Hashem has created us a certain way, with a certain composition of characteristics, both internal and external, and this is how He clearly wants us to be. An acknowledgement of this is the only way that we can hope to achieve what Hashem has in mind for us. It is the only means by which we can refine the attributes that we have been given. If we don’t know who we are, how can we hope to perfect that person. We must have pride in ourselves, our strengths and our flaws. We must look at our situation in life as a badge of honour bestowed upon us by our Creator. As a gift that only we can receive and only we can utilise as intended. We do not need to be like anyone else, nor is that the way Hashem wants it. He wants us to be us, but the best version that we can be. This is our purpose. This is the meaning for which we strive. We can never be someone else and we should never want to be. Hashem doesn’t and neither should we.
*May we appreciate the value and dignity in ourselves this Shabbos*
לעילוי נשמת לאה בת אברהם
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