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Among the themes of this week’s parsha (Matos-Masei) is the borders of the land of Israel. Generally, they encompass what was called the land of Canaan, which is the area that the Jews conquered when they entered after forty years of traveling in the desert. However, there are many opinions that in the future, when the meshiach (the Jewish messiah) arrives, the Jews will occupy a much larger land mass than what they conquered at that time. One of the questions that will come up is, where will the tribe of Levi live? When the Jews conquered the land, and eliminated the seven Canaanite nations, the Levites were not included in the division and inheritance of the land. That is because the verse (Num. 26:53, in parshat Pinchas) says, “Among these you may divide the landŔ and the Sifri explains that the intention of the verse is to exclude the Levites, not only from inheriting the land, but also from dividing up the booty the the Jews received by conquering foreign cities. So, the Levites had no land of their own. The Rambam (Hilchot Yoval v’shmita 13:10) indicates that this is the halacha (Jewish law) as well: “The entire tribe of Levi is warned not to inherit in the entire land of Canaan, and so they are warned as well not to take any part of the booty at the time of conquering the citiesŔ This being the case, it is interesting to know where the Levites will live in the future, since apparently they will not allowed to own land within the boundaries of what we now know as Israel.
One of the commentaries on the Rambam (the Mishneh lemelech) opines that in the future, the Levites will own land in Israel, since there is a verse in Yehezkel (48:31) that refers to “a gate of Levi.” The Talmud (Baba Batra 122A) explains that in the future, all thirteen tribes will divide up the land of Israel, and not only the twelve that divided it upon their entry to Israel with Joshua. According to this opinion, then, the Levites will own land in Israel proper in the future. However, other early commentaries disagree; for example, the Ran (mentioned in the Shita Mekubetzet on Baba Batra) takes issue with this opinion and instead concludes that the Levites will live in cities nearby Jerusalem, as they did in the time of the Temple, but not on land of their own.
But, the final authority on issues such as these, on which the code of Jewish law does not express an opinion, is the Rambam himself. And he says simply, as reported above, that “The entire tribe of Levi is forewarned not to inherit in the land of CanaanŔ However, we do not know the Rambam’s opinion regarding the future division of the land. About that, the Minchat Hinuch suggests that also in the future, the Levites will have no portion in the Land, for if they did, the Rambam would stay so openly. That is what he did regarding the meshiach, for example, about whom the Rambam (Hilchot Melachim 4:8) says that the meshiach will receive one thirteenth of all of the lands that the Jews conquer.” Since he says no such thing regarding the Levites, suggests the Minchat Hinuch, we may assume that they will not inherit in the future, just as they do not now inherit.
However, the Smag (Sefer mitzvoth gedolot), whose way is to perennially follow in the halachic path of the Rambam, and indeed to often simply copy his words, holds that according to the Rambam, the Levites will inherit a portion of the land in the future. He even adds, “in the future, they will even inherit in the Land, as it says, “a gate of Levi.” And we need to know from where he derives his opinion. Moreover, according to the Rambam, the present injunction against the Levites owning land is among the negative commandments of the Torah. So how is it possible to simply uproot the mitzvah in the future and allow the Levites to own land?
There are those who explain that there is no real mitzvah here. Rather, the Torah uproots the right of the Levites to ownership in Israel, as it does in the case of women, servants and converts, who also may not own land. That is, the Torah does not say that it is forbidden for the Levites to own land, but that they were not included in its inheritance. However, if someone were to give them land, they would own it, and there is no injunction against them doing so. There is some support for this view coming from the scripture, as we see in the verse (Num. 26:57), “And this is the census of the Levites…as they were not counted among the rest of the Israelites since they were not given an inheritance among the children of Israel.” That is, they were not “given,” but had they been given land, they would have owned it properly according to Jewish law. However, all this is fine and well regarding the commentaries who held that it was not a mitzvah, but the Smag and the Rambam counted it among the negative mitzvoth – that it was forbidden for the Levites to own land. So, we must understand according to this opinion, how is it that in the future it may be possible to “uproot” this mitzvah and permit the Levites to inherit?
We can find a clue to the answer in the precise words of the Rambam, “The entire tribe of Levi is enjoined not to inherit in the land of CanaanŔ At first glance, why does the Rambam choose the word “Canaan,” and not “Israel?” The simplest explanation is that he intended to exclude whatever lands were called Israel, but that were not part of the land occupied by the seven Canaanite nations. For in general, whatever land that the Jews, led by their king, conquered (in addition to the land of the seven Canaanite nations) was also called Israel. For, “All the lands conquered by a Jewish king in accordance with the ruling of a beit din, constitute a public conquest, and they are considered like the land of Israel that Joshua conquered, in all respects” (Rambam in Hilchot Melachim). And even though all of these “new lands” conquered by the Jews are like the original Israel conquered by Joshua, they are different in one respect; there is nothing preventing the Levites from inheriting land there.
However, it does not make sense to say that this is all that the Rambam meant, for he stated so openly in the next halacha: “But in the rest of the lands conquered by the a proper King of the Jews, the [law of the] Cohanim, and the Levites in those lands and their booty is similar to the rest of the Jews.” Since the Rambam openly permits the Levites to own land, etc, in all lands that the Jews conquered (aside from the land of the seven Canaanite nations), he must have meant to exclude somewhere else when he used the name “Canaan.” And the most obvious area to exclude from the injunction is the area that is essentially part of Israel, but is not part of Canaan – and that is the three lands that constitute the “east bank” of the Jordan, the Kini, Kenizi, and Kadmoni (also known as Edom, Moab and Midian, which are today most of what we know as Jordan). As the Rambam explains elsewhere (Hilchot rotzeach 8:4), “And where will the additional cities of refuge be added [in the future]? In the cities of the Kini, Kenizi and Kadmoni, which were promised to Abraham but never conquered. And about them it says in the Torah, ‘When the Lord your G-d will expand your bordersҔ – referring to the future, when the meshiach arrives. Thus, we now understand that the Rambam also holds that the verse in Yehezkel (“One Levite gate”) refers to land that the Levites will inherit, but not in Canaan, but rather on the east bank of the Jordan). And the injunction that precludes the Levites from inheriting among the rest of the Jews applies not only in the past but also in the future, but only in the land of Canaan.
But if so, why did the Rambam not say so openly – “in the future, the Levites will inherit in the land of the Kini, Kenizi and Kadmoni”? Because it was not the way of the Rambam to write “new” items that were not stated openly in the Talmud. Even though such items could be implied from other laws in the Talmud, the Rambam only wrote those laws that were stated openly.
However, now we need to understand why the Levites will inherit separately from the rest of the Jews. For at first glance, the entire raison d’etree of the Levites was to be separate from the other tribes, as the Rambam writes (Hilchot Shmita v’yovel there, halacha 12), “And why did the Levites not merit to inherit and take a portion of the booty like the rest of their brothers? Because they were set apart to serve G-d and instruct others in His straight ways and righteous lawsŔ And if so, why would it be permitted in the future for the Levites to inherit, etc…?
But in reality, the difficulty of the Levites owning land was not something intrinsic. Rather, it had to do with the nature of ownership in the land of Canaan. The land of Canaan was given to the Jews to settle, just as any land is divided among the people that live there – the purpose was to provide the Jews a place to live and work the land, producing their livelihood and building their land. And that is the reason the Levites could not own land there – for they were dedicated to a higher calling, one that transcended everyday life. However, the land that they were granted on the east bank of the Jordan was a different sort of land – it will be given to them by G-d – to the Levites themselves, as a place to realize their higher calling in a way that transcends the way that the Jews presently own and work the land of Israel (Canaan).
All that is real and true in the physical world stems from a higher reality and truth in the spiritual world. So, if the Levites were given a higher style of service of G-d, resulting in a separate land for them in the future, it must reflect a different level of spiritual service as well. The difference between the land of the seven Canaanite nations and the land of the Kini, Kenizi and Kadmoni is the following; Canaan is the land of the midot, emotions, which are seven in number. Emotions imply a relationship to that which is “other,” for in order to feel an emotion, it is always in relation to someone or something that is separate from us. Moreover, in order to relate to that which is “other,” it is necessary to lower ourselves from our intrinsic personal level to the other. This was the avoda, or service of the Jews in the land of Canaan.. The purpose of the Jewish presence there was to purify and elevate the seven emotions, corresponding to the seven nations that previously lived there. After they were eliminated, the purpose of the Jewish presence there was to purify and elevate the inner emotions of the Jews themselves.
However, the G-dly service of the Levites was intellectual, not emotional. By nature, they are given to meditation and prayer, secluding themselves so that they may pursue the kind of intellectual achievement that only comes with isolation and inner work. That is why they did not have any inheritance or any part in the booty that came with the conquer of the land of Canaan. Rather, their presence in Canaan was for the purpose of uplifting and educating the other Jewish tribes who lived there. However, in the future, when the job of purification will be completed, the Levites will have their own section in the land of “greater Israel,” that is, in the land that G-d will give them in the future for their own intellectual avoda – and that is the land of three nations, the Kini, Kenizi and Kadmoni. Unlike the emotions, of which there are seven, there are three intellectual faculties. And in the future, the Levites will serve G-d on a strictly intellectual level that will call all of their chochma, bina, and da’at into play, without necessarily having to lower themselves to purify and elevate the emotions of the rest of the Jews.
Still, there is a question here for those who know the Rambam, who famously writes (at the end of Hilchot Shmita v’yuval) that not only the Levites, but any Jew who so decides, may separate himself and dedicate his life to avodat HaShem. And in so doing, he make throw off the yoke of everyday parnasa, or livelihood, and dedicate himself to serving G-d alone. And if so, what does it mean that in the future, the Levites will be dedicated to a higher form of avoda, involving the intellect alone, when in essence, anyone who so decides may achieve the same thing, even now?
But, the answer is that there is a difference between those who do so because the situation makes it possible, and those who do so because they themselves so desire. In the future (at least in the beginning of the era of meshiach), the world will change. It will become a more spiritual place, in which man’s physical needs are met easily, without any strife or stress, and this will enable all Jews to pursue G-dliness and spirituality because that is their natural proclivity. It will not be necessary for the Jews to consciously “dedicate” themselves, because that will be their natural tendency in any case. However, the Levites are a different story. They serve and will serve G-d not only because the world makes it possible, but because they themselves have decided. (The same is true regarding those who even now decide to dedicate themselves to avodat HaShem – it is from choice). So, the result is that even in the future, when all Jews will be dedicated to their true calling, which is to serve G-d, there will be a difference between the Levites and the rest of the Jews. The Levites, who dedicated themselves out of choice to intellectual service of G-d, will have their own “intellectual” land, dedicated to devotion and cleaving to G-d without any “emotional” influences, in the land of the three nations, the Kini, Kenizi and Kadmoni, on the east bank of the Jordan.
From Likutei Sichot of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, ztz’l, vol. 38, Pp. 103-110
Rabbi David Sterne, Jerusalem Connection in the old city of Jerusalem