Nasso-Behaaloscha - Becoming Chosen

You're listening to the weekly partial podcast with Ari Goldwag, recorded with Hashem's never-ending assistance in Ramat Beit Shemesh, Israel, 5786, 2026. This week's parsha, if you're in Eretz Yisrael, is Behaalotecha. If you're in Chutz L'Aretz, it's Parshas Nasso. And I'd like to share with you a thought, a Medrash in Parshas Behaalotecha. And I think that it definitely has an impact on stuff that's going on in Parshas Nasso. In Parshas Nasso, we have the obligation, the uh the responsibilities of the Kohanim. End of Parshas Bamidbar, we had the responsibilities, the different things that they would carry beginning of Parshas Nasso as well. And in Parshas Behaalotecha, there's a talk of the responsibilities of the Levi'im, of the Levites. And the Medrash is speaking about the responsibilities of the Levites. "Kach es haLevi'im", the pasuk says, perek ches, pasuk vov. It speaks about choosing, taking the Levites. And our topic is going to have mainly to do with what it means to be chosen. What it means to to step up to having a a sense of responsibility and having a sense of a a chosenness. What does it mean? How does one get there? What is What is required of a person who is a leader? Who is a leader? So, that's going to be our conversation. That's going to be what we're going to speak about. The the Medrash, it talks about a few things before it gets to it. And I would like to read the beginning part cuz it interests me. I'm a musician, as you might know. And um it says like this, "Kach es haLevi'im", "Take the Levites." Okay, so the Levites, they would play musical instruments in the Beit Hamikdash, in the Temple, in the Mishkan, in the Tabernacle. There was a few different jobs, as we'll see, that they were responsible for. Among them was the music, uh watching out at the gates of the Holy temple of the base of Migdash being involved in carrying I'm sorry, not being involved in carrying. It says love with the maso. It does say that. Okay, we'll see what exactly those things are. The different uh the maso v'lashir v'lashmor the marizu says are the three jobs that they have. They're involved in carrying. Maybe it's referring to the to the Kohanim as Kohanim are also Levites, right? All Kohanim, all priests are from the tribe of Levi. They come from Aaron. Aaron Aaron was a Levite. So Now that the Medrash talks about the music first, before we get to the chosenness, we'll get to there. That's going to be the center of it, but first it talks about something interesting. The The instruments that they played in the base of Migdash. How many strings a guitar has six strings. A harp, I don't know how many strings it has. But how many strings did those did those instruments have in the base of Migdash? Come and hear all you Kohanim, show you the way in a monogamy. How many strings were on the harp or the lyre that they would play on? All right, maybe you would show me how you would begin with me. We know that that there were seven strings originally on those harps. And we're going to see that in the future times there'll be an eight-string harp and a 10-string harp. Shana amar service machos b'nei Yisrael Posuk says in Tehillim, King David who was the one who laid the foundation for the temple and he was the one who composed the songs that were sung in the base of Migdash. He He speaks about service machos b'nei Yisrael. When it comes to coming in front of Hashem with song, with sweet, pleasant singing so service machos one needs to be full of joy. The word soiva, which means joy al dikara soiva al sheva simchos You can read the word soiva as a sin. It can also be read as a shin. Instead of being soiva, which means full, which means satiated, it can be read as sheva, which means seven. And generally speaking, I heard from my rosh yeshiva, Rabbi Perr, that the number seven represents a full amount of times. Like sheva yipol tzaddik v'kum, seven times a righteous individual will fall, but he gets up. There's an idea of it means a full amount of times, like endless times. A tzaddik falls, but he gets up, right? We're here to make mistakes, as we said. But soiba simcha is So what we're saying is you want to be full of joy, you want to sing in front of Hashem, so you need sheva, you need a full measure. Right? What's the full measure of counting in this world? So tzava, as we know, the number that indicates the concept of fullness is the number seven. Seven days of the week, Hashem created the world in seven days. And that's how many strings there were on the instrument of the of the Levites. And it represents the fact that when we're singing in front of Hashem, we give it our all. We go all the way. And we see that that really is the foundation of why Levi is chosen, why the Kohanim are chosen. They go all the way. We have King David I America. King David also says, interestingly, in perek kuf yud tes of of Tehillim, chapter 119, which is the longest chapter in Psalms, and it's the chapter that describes the joy, the happiness, the greatness of Torah. So there it says, "Sheva b'yomi lo tichacha mishpatzei tzidkecha." Seven times in a day I praised you. On the statutes of your righteousness. Okay, so that means to say Dovid Hamelech is saying, "How do I praise you?" Which means, "How do I sing to you?" Which means, "What How many strings are there on my instrument?" Seven. Seven. Seven times a day. I'm doing it seven times a day, which means a full measure, as much as I possibly can. Over and over again, I'm praising you, Hashem. Over and over again, I'm using all my capacity to sing to you, to praise you, to recognize the greatness of your Torah. Yemos Hamashiach nazish maina. Okay, so what happens when the Messiah arrives, we're going to get an even deeper level of of serving Hashem. It's not going to just be seven. Seven is as much as we can here in this world, but there's a supernatural way of serving Hashem, which we don't yet have. We will have in times of the Messiah. Right? When the times of Messiah come, we'll have an eighth note. We'll have an even deeper level of spiritual dimension to our serving Hashem, a depth. She came to the army of Ben Egon. King David says in the helm chapter six verse one I'm going to say but I didn't even say Shminis. To the conductor in the songs, the Neginas on the eighth. On the eight-stringed harp. So there's a a harp that has eight strings, which indicates that there's an even deeper level, more all-encompassing way of serving Hashem. Not just with all of my physical capacity, but all of my spiritual capacity. Blessed love I not say Saser. In the future time, which means in all of my bar, which is the time that starts in the year 6,000 or 6,001. After the most of Messiah, after the Messianic age, there's an even deeper level. We get to eight. And the eighth aspect represents the Neshama, but there's a Neshama of the Neshama and there's a Neshama of that Neshama. There's an even deeper aspect, which is represented by the number 10. So there's going to be a 10-stringed harp to indicate that we enter into an even deeper way of serving Hashem. Not just with all of our physical capacity, not just with all of our spiritual capacity, but with all of our deepest deepest spiritual capacity. Okay. That's just an introduction. That's how That's the kind of serving Hashem that we're after. All of our All of our ability. Physical, spiritual, everything, all the way in. That's who the Levites were, all the way in. We ask in the hymn, interestingly Who was the one who established these musical instruments? It's David. Samuel the prophet and King David. It's a positive in which is very interesting because if you look at the there it's in 311 1 Chronicles chapter 9 verse 22. So I'm pretty sure I looked at it. I'm pretty sure it's speaking about when the Jewish people returned to the land of Israel after the Babylonian exile. Right, the Jews returned small numbers but increasingly larger numbers just like what's going on today. About 50,000 Jews returned to Israel at the beginning after the times of Esther. And the second describe who they were, where they came from, who were the Levites that returned, who were the Kohanim that returned. It gives them their It talks about their lineage. And it says in the second They might use David and all of them It talks about the different Kohanim, the different Levites and all of their tasks and jobs that they had in the temple. It speaks about their specific jobs. And it says and let's let's recall, okay, thinking about it. The first base of English lasted approximately 400 years. I don't remember if it was 410 or 420. And then there was a 70-year exile. So we're talking about about 500 years after David and Samuel. A little bit more. Approximately 500 years after David and Samuel the Levites and the Kohanim knew who they were and knew what their jobs were based on the original um direction of David and Samuel. Now David and Samuel they overlapped for a short time because Shmuel passed away pretty soon after David was anointed. So, there was a small window, and David was not yet the active king of the Jewish people at that point. But, Shmuel died before Shaul died quite soon before. As we spoke about in weeks past. And so, David and Shmuel together directed and gave clear instructions to the Levi'im what their job would be. What to the Kohanim what their job would be, which is interesting because our P'sukim are talking about that in Parshas Naso in Parshas Balak. Giving them their jobs, but David and Shmuel in their time gave the direction, and that direction was passed down from generation to generation to generation. 500 years later, they still knew who they were. It's pretty amazing. Imagine that you knew from your father and your mother who you're supposed to be in life. What your job is. What your specific talents, how they're supposed to manifest in this world, and how you're supposed to serve Hashem and serve Hashem's people. Imagine you knew that. But, they knew that for 500 years they had passed it down. So, Hema Yis'u David U'Shmuel R'aya B'emunusam. These were established by King David and Samuel the Prophet, the Seer, Haroeh. B'emunusam, interesting word. In the Pasuk B'emunusam, so, I'd like to read to you the the I think it's the Metzudas David. Or was it the Ralbag? I think it's the Ralbag. Rashi Lemashi'as She'yis'adeilam Shomrim Es Ha'eis B'zalzalim Yasu David U'Shmuel. The foundation of these different groups of Levi'im and and Kohanim was done by King David and and the Prophet Samuel. V'nehe'eyasam Ne'emonim La'Hashem Yisbarach. R'ol Hasader Zeh Yis'avod B'veit Hashem Shalem. Okay. Okay, so we're getting an introduction here, by the way. We still got some some more interesting information to find out, but this is the intro. What made the Levites prepared? What gave them the ability to know what their job is in the world? It was their amunah sum. The possuk says they were they were faithful to Hashem. They were faithful to Hashem. We'll see what that means in the next piece of the magish, but they were faithful to Hashem, and because of their faithfulness Dovid and Shmuel said, "We can tell these people what to do. We can give them their instructions for now and for all time." And 500 years later, they're still doing it. They're still they still and they had a 70-year break when they weren't doing it. They weren't involved in the base hamikdash. So, Dovid and Shmuel were able to give them the order of the avodah. The order of their particular service life and shalom in a complete way. And it's very interesting. The Rabak says something very fascinating. The There was one small window that Dovid and Shmuel could have done this together. It was before Dovid had become king. Shaul was still the king. Shaul was chasing after Dovid to kill him. So, Dovid is on the run. And Shmuel and Dovid at that moment definitely needs explanation, but at that moment Dovid is on the run from being killed by Shaul. He is directing and giving giving um precise instructions to the Leviim and the Kohanim who they're supposed to be and what they're supposed to do. Shmuel and David together are figuring that I mean that's pretty interesting and you know if you try to think about it like what would be the p'shat why that's the moment in history where their jobs were given out. And maybe when a person is running why was David running? Because he was anointed to be the next king. Shaul knew that. So David is not yet not yet fulfilling his job, but he knows what his job is. Right? So that's a good time to help others figure out what their job is. It's like this moment where you have the vision on you. You have the vision and you are not yet doing it. You have the vision. You know where it's supposed to go. You can help others. Maybe. I don't know. Just a thought. Says the Medrash, back to the Medrash V'heim me do chalukei ha'shir. They established how the songs were distributed. Okay? Which means to say you play this instrument, you play that instrument, you sing this solo, you're part of this choir, you do this harmony. Everything was delineated by David. I mean that's very interesting. David Hamelech was the sweet singer of the Jewish people. So >> [laughter] >> if there's anyone who's going to distribute the solos correctly, maybe it's him. So it's very interesting. Vayalu ha'Levi'im al hamizbei'ach v'al hamizrach u'vnei Yishai ha'Levi'im And so the Levites would get up onto the platform. The in the Beit Hamikdash they had a platform, a stage. They would get up there and they would sing in front of Hashem. Right? Which means to say for us, I don't know if everyone out there who's listening is a singer. I assume not. But what it means for us is that they got their purpose. They got their their job, what they're supposed to be doing in front of Hashem. Rebbe Akiva says Hashem says to Leviim, "See the great love that Hashem showed to the Leviim." Hashem says to Moshe, "Harbe Leviim are beloved in front of me." This is what Hashem said to Moses. Moshe was also a Levi. He was also a singer. Az Yashir Moshe u'Bnei Yisrael, right? He He led the Jewish people in the song of the sea. And he's going to lead us again when Mashiach comes. So, this is what Hashem says to Moshe, "I want you to see how precious how precious the Leviim are." Kacha Hashem says to Yisrael. "Take them to me, to my name for leadership." Right? Says the Marizu, "What is the leadership?" Negidim v'sarim munim al avodas Hamikdash. They were leaders. They were princes who were appointed over the service in the Beit Hamikdash. She'omer kacha Hashem says to Leviim l'chol inyan She Olam u'Mikdash u'Mishkan masah u'shir u'shmirah. Right? Some of the Leviim the priests were the ones who would carry the different parts of the Beit Hamikdash the Mishkan. Some of them were singing. Some of them were were acting as guards. But they each got their job. Why did they get their job? Because they were beloved in front of Hashem. Why were they beloved in front of Hashem? U'minyan hamishgerim b'nei Kahat u'Leviim we see it. The fact that Hashem says, "Take the Leviim." We see that they're they're chosen. They're beloved. But why are they beloved? So, we got that hint in the pasuk in Divrei Hayamim because of their emunasam because of their faithfulness. Because you can be given your purpose in life. You can be given your um stewardship in life if you're someone who demonstrates that you're a faithful person. If you show that come what may, you do what's right? Hashem says, okay. Here we go. Here's your job. Here's your job. I know I can trust you with it. So, I think with that's what I think it says here. And they're the full on people. They have the seven stringed harp. The full on people, they're doing it all the way. They're playing full full music. Says the Malbim. And here the Malbim really brings out the point very strongly, very clearly. Kaga Salviem. Zesham Hashem Sadi give us a value of son and ashay. This is what the possuk says in Tehillim. Possuk says in Psalm chapter 11 verse 5. Hashem tests Hashem tests the righteous one, which doesn't mean exactly tests. It means he's ba'al klayos v'lave means he can determine and understand what's going on in a person's heart. How do How do you know what's going on in a person's heart? Cuz see people what they do. They see their actions. Hashem says, I want to see your actions. Let's see what you do when push comes to shove. Do you do you come through? Do you come through in a pinch? Hashem sees that. Hashem recognizes that. Ba'al klayos v'lave. Rasha v'lave son and ashay, but the wicked person, the one who loves evil, loves stealing, he's not responsible. He He wants to take other people's stuff. Someone else has earned something, he takes it. He grabs it. Son and ashay. Son and ashay exactly what son and ashay means. It either can mean Hashem's soul hates him or it can mean Hashem hates his soul. Not sure. But either way we can say it uh loosely for today's generation, Hashem does not appreciate those who do not show fidelity. Do not show have integrity. Do not show integrity. Now, what does it mean? It means the Levites have the special character trait which we all must emulate. As the Rambam says, "Who lay share me lay me le vad?" Right at the end of Where is it? Hilchos Melachim? Not sure. Hilchos Ma'aser? Famous Rambam. It's not only for the the for the tribe of the Levites. Anybody, any human being in the entire world, Jew, non-Jew, anyone can dedicate themselves to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Here's what you do. In Hakadosh Baruch Hu Malis Adam Yisrael Achav Ben Avodah K'siddah K'hilah. You want to know how to know what your job in life is, how you can serve other people, you got to pass the test. You got to pass the test. Hashem tests the person, checks the person. Does this person have integrity? K'mo she omer ben Siyani u'malis Yisrael. When a person stands up to his tests, that's when Hashem raises him to greatness. You know, one of the things that we see by Yosef HaTzaddik. Yosef was somebody who endured tremendous suffering. His brother sold him into slavery. He was chased by Potiphar's wife. Then he spent 12 years in jail. It was a tough time. But after he came out of those 13 years of of challenge, he had become a Baal Bitachon and he become somebody who truly trusts in Hashem. You got to be that kind of person before you can be a leader. Machinat Moishe Rabbeinu. Says the Medrash, we find this by Abraham. You saw Hakadosh Baruch Hu as soon as he saw Abraham. Abraham was tested with 10 tests and he withstood them all. V'ach kach b'rachli. And afterwards, Hashem gave him a blessing. She amar Hashem b'rachos Avraham Akol. Which I think is saying, the Medrash is saying, afterwards he got a blessing. What does that mean? It What does it mean to get a blessing? Right, I about it. When you when Yakov Avinu takes the blessing from Yitzchak, so what is he getting? He's getting his youth, he's getting his direction of purpose. Right? Esav had pretended to be somebody who was interested in spirituality. His father thought that he would carry the purpose of the Jewish people, but he was wrong. Yakov was the one. So, receiving the blessings means Avraham Avinu gets the blessings, why does he get the blessings? Yakov gets the blessings, why does he get the blessings? It means that he gets the direction, right? The blessings that a person has person is talented in some area. Person is a has leadership qualities. Person is whatever it is. Good at learning, good at teaching, whatever it is. Those blessings guide the person towards what they're supposed to do in life. But you only get the blessings when you've proven that you can use those those talents with integrity. Avraham got that. Yitzchak Yitzchak came to Avimelech and he said Avimelech came to Yitzchak. Yitzchak also had a test. He stood up to the test, he was blessed. Yitzchak came to Yitzchak and Yitzchak blessed him. After the test he planted and then he had tremendous crops. He had tremendous blessings, which means to say he had direction. Jacob had tremendous amounts of challenges with with his brother trying to kill him, with Lavan changing his his uh his paycheck many times. Esav came to Dina and he said Yitzchak. Rachel died, Dina was abducted. He lost Yosef for 22 years. I felt I have a lot of challenges and Yitzchak came to Yitzchak and Yitzchak blessed him. I see. >> Right? Jacob went through all of his trials and tribulations. In the beginning he had nothing, in the end he had tremendous blessings. Tremendous direction. He had a family. In the end he saw in his lifetime his great grandchildren. He gave his grandchildren blessings. The Joseph also, as we said, he had his challenges and the how with the with the wife Potiphar he was in jail for 12 years. You know, a person thinks that the challenges are going to get me out of these challenges, but the challenges are what makes a person into being that great person. It's the withstanding of the challenges which shows his integrity and greatness. Sham says, "If you're a person who can do these things, you're a person that I can give jobs to." You're a person that I can give jobs to. The Sham says, "You know, so he afterwards comes out of jail and he becomes a king. Why? Because he withstood his challenges." And Sham said, "I give this to the person who says the righteous one that Sham tests I've shifted to Levi." This was the case with the Levites bringing it back to the Levites to the Kohanim. Why were they chosen? They were chosen They gave themselves over. They completely gave themselves over, completely with all of their guts to the name of Hashem. The Israelites were in Egypt. It was a very difficult time and the Jewish people they stopped doing certain things. They stopped learning Torah. They stopped giving their kids the bris. Ezekiel tells us about this uh uh >> [sighs] >> The possuk says when I was angry at the Jewish people, I made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. Angry at the Jewish people? They were slaves. What did they do wrong? Possuk says there are Ezekiel and the Jewish people, they defied Hashem. And Hashem poured out his anger upon them. Most of us have a mitzrayim. So she had three days of darkness in Egypt. Why? All of the Jewish people of Israel, the wicked of the people of Israel, the ones who defied Hashem, rebelled against Hashem, they died then. She came over to make a push and be Hashem says I'm going to I'm going to separate out all those who defy me. She knew that they know how to forget the shame of Israel by the fullness of the world. The shame of the Jewish people is coming low. Possuk talks about in Shir Hashirim there's parts of Klal Yisrael that get that get thrown to the side. Why? Because they reject Hashem. The parts of Klal Yisrael they are purified and chosen. Why? Why are we chosen? We chose them because we remain in integrity. We remain with fidelity to Hakadosh Baruchu. Kumi lach rayasi yafasi lach shari giya ketz hagoula. Possuk in Shir Hashirim perek bais possuk yud gimmel talks about who merits to see redemption. It's those who hold on to their faith. Those who hold on to their connection to the redemption and to Hakadosh Baruchu, to God. V'shivti shivti shivti kol tzaddikim hayu. So part of Klal Yisrael lost it. Part of the Jewish people in the land of Egypt lost their connection they're going Baruchu, lost their fidelity, but the the Levites, the tribe of of Levi, they were righteous, they retained that connection. They proved themselves worthy by they kept the tire of in Cairo. So I mean they kept the tire, they kept giving their kids the circumcision. And we see by my show of a menu. He was called to task on his way from Israel's house back to Egypt because he hadn't yet given his kids a mirror but he did. He did give them a mirror. I don't know what you show show us what you show show show Levy. When the Jewish people did the sin of the golden calf, the tribe of the of of the Levites did not partake and never show me show me also love Levy. You know my wish is similar to have also some of the most upon him. Right, so they were able to stay true to this world who they had integrity. They were chosen because of that. When it came to what was right, it didn't matter it didn't matter what anybody else said. I'm kind of I'm not translating precisely here, but that's the gist. You know I could show them that they came and I show them so that they were all righteous and they saw them in the sea and them. They he tested them and they stood up to their tests. Show me show me show me my soul. But he says about them they were tested. You know how you leave us so he says the Levites are mine. I can I show me show me show me so they give for this. Fulfills that which it says in the show him tests the righteous of all the show him show him show me show me show me. Those who are wicked means those who are lagging fidelity, those who cannot keep their connection to this world who alive. They don't have the integrity, they don't stand up to their tests. They're rejected. I'm going to call you show me show me show me. Therefore, King David says praise worthy is the one who fears who goes in his path. Bottom line. You want to get to your purpose in life, stand up to your neshama. When we stand up to our neshama, when we face our challenges with integrity, we are full. We are full. We have seven strings on our harps. Soon to be eight strings. We've got it. We're fully there. Giving it our all, standing up to our neshama. will show us who we are, what we're meant to be. I want to bless you. I bless you. I ask you to bless me. should help us to indeed see who we are. should help us to stand up to our neshama. should help us to be strong, to give it our all, physically, spiritually. Thank you so much for listening. Have a wonderful shabbos. This podcast was made possible [music] through the gracious donations of listeners like you. For more podcasts like this, please visit www.arigoldweg.com or search on iTunes, [music] Ari Goldwag.