The tribe of Levi belongs to God. Forbidden to own land or to wage war, they are poets, teachers, gate-keepers. They are “given, given” – given to carry, given to sing; their presence wards off plagues, accompanying (melaveh) the world rather than grasping it. What makes them special? Biology? History? Or nothing. According to Maimonides, […]Read Post ›
How should we treat singularities? Are leaders – priests, prophets, presidents – intrinsically exceptional, operating on a different plane, carrying out tasks not meant for ordinary people; or are they intrinsically a condensed representation of the people, giving voice and form to the entire collective? We have examples of both, of course. But two examples […]Read Post ›
A strange job, to be a Levite! A caste cast out of Israel, they are “given, given to God.” Rashi explains their double-nature: given to carry, given to sing. What can we learn from these poet-labourers, these wandering mercenary musicians? (And we must learn, for their ultimate task is to teach the people.) We can […]Read Post ›
120 words of Torah 