It hardly seems fair, but G-d blatantly favors some over others. * Having good fortune when there is so much strife is an obvious injustice to so many losers. Is elitism part of Torah?
By Rabbi Boruch Merkur
To be a Jew, the Chosen Nation, is to win the lottery.
The whole world knows this, but they can’t handle the truth. We’ve held on to the winning ticket for centuries, fending off nations who try to pluck it from our grasp.
In this sense, it seems much less a blessing – this lottery.
The Jew is the extreme lottery. Jews are “the treasured nation,” elevated above others to inherit the world’s throne. Yet which nation has struggled more than us throughout history?
In the simple sense though, having the good fortune to win in a world of so much strife is an obvious injustice to the billions of losers, those whose numbers didn’t come up in the draw.
Our Creator seems to blatantly favor some over others. Within Jewry itself, there are three main classes: the holy Kohanim, the priest class; the Leviim, who also serve in the Temple, sheltered from worldly preoccupations; and Yisroel, the rest of the lot, the Twelve Tribes.
The Twelve Tribes are twelve different dynamics, twelve different relationships with G-d. There is, for example, a Tribe of scholars (Yisachar) and a Tribe of merchants (Z’vulun), and so on - and then there is kingship (Yehuda), which rules them all.
Is elitism woven into the world? Is it derived from Torah itself, which casts the lot of the Chosen?
King David says[1]: “G-d is my allotted share and portion. You cast my lot (אַ֝תָּ֗ה תּוֹמִ֥יךְ גּוֹרָלִֽי).”[2] This refers to the lottery of the soul (גורל שבנשמה), the soul’s Divine core, which exists in all Jews equally.[3]
Notwithstanding all the distinctions among us, the Jewish soul, at its core, is the real lottery winner. It is whole and perfect, infinitely Divine. But there is no difference in quality between one Jew and another.
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The same is true of the division of the Holy Land:
The Land of Israel is also divided “by lot - b’goral,” for the distribution relates to the core.[4]
Thus, when it came to the original divvying of the Holy Land, there was a kind of equality, a forerunning to the total equality of the Future Era:
Regarding the original division of the land, it says, “There is not a single Tribe among the Jewish people that did not have in its portion land in the mountains as well as the lowland, land in the countryside and land in the valley.”[5]
This statement applies only to the Tribe as a whole. In the Future Era, however, each individual within the Tribe will have a portion of each type of land …
“Alternatively,[6] throughout the regular course of history, before Moshiach comes, there is inequality, one having little and another having a lot. But in the Future Era, each person will possess an equal portion of all types of land.”[7]
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The Land of Israel is destined to be divided into Thirteen Tribes, for the Tribe of Levy will also receive a portion of the Land, as it is said,[8] “the Gate of Levi shall be one [of the three gates on the north].”[9]
“Why did Levi not originally merit an inheritance in the Land of Israel or among the spoils with his brethren? Because Levi was distinguished to serve G-d, to minister to Him and teach His integral ways and righteous laws to the masses, as it is said, ‘They shall teach Your laws to Yaakov and Your instructions to Yisroel.’[10]
“They are, therefore, removed from the ways of the world. They do not wage war like the rest of the nation, nor do they inherit … Rather, they are the army of G-d (חיל השם), as it is said, ‘Bless, O G-d, his valor (חילו).’[11] In turn, G-d grants them merit, as it is said,[12] ‘I am your portion and your inheritance.’”[13]
But in the Future Era, “when knowledge, wisdom, and truth will be pervasive, as it is said,[14] ‘for the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of G-d,’”[15] to the point that “the entire occupation of the world will be solely to know G-d”[16] … there will be no need to separate the Tribe of Levi from the ways of the world, for the world will then be in the ultimate state of perfection. The Tribe of Levi will thus receive a portion and an inheritance of land.
The significance of apportioning the land into Thirteen Tribes in the Future Era is connected with unity that transcends division, alluded to by thirteen being the numeric equivalent of the letters that spell “אחד – one.”
In the Future Era, the division of the land will be by “G-d Alm-ghty Himself, as it is said,[17] ‘and those are their portions, declares the Lord G-d.’” From this it is understood that even the division itself will emerge from and be an expression of unity …
In the Future Era (after the rectification of the world has been achieved) there will be a revelation of Divinity that transcends the fragmentation of the world, a singularity, achdus ha’p’shuta.
This Divine realization is brought about through the unity of the Jewish people, who will all be at the level of the Tribe of Levi[18]: “Not just the Tribe of Levi alone, but every single person, etc., whose spirit compels his devotion … that person is sanctified Holy of Holies. G-d will be his lot and inheritance forevermore … as the Kohanim and Leviim merited.”[19]
Through unity, mutual concern, all Jews are elevated to their true distinction. Through solidarity, we finally cash in on the immeasurable prize we have won.
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NOTES:
[1] T’hillim 16:5
[2] Rambam’s Laws of Shmita and Yovel, end
[3] Seifer HaSichos 5751, pg. 631, FN 130
[4] Ibid
[5] Bava Kama 81b
[6] Tosfos “HaOlam HaZeh,” Bava Basra 122a
[7] Seifer HaSichos 5751, pg. 630, FN 129
[8] Yechezkel 48:31
[9] Bava Basra 122a
[10] Bracha 33:10
[11] Ibid 11
[12] Korach 18:20
[13] Rambam’s Laws of Shmita and Yovel 13:12
[14] Yeshaya 11:9
[15] Rambam’s Laws of Repentance Ch. 9, end
[16] Conclusion of Rambam’s Mishneh Torah
[17] Yechezkel 48:29
[18] Rambam’s Laws of Shmita and Yovel, end.
[19] Seifer HaSichos 5751, pg. 630-631