In Parshas Bamidbar, Moshe Rabbeinu is commanded by Hashem to sanctify the firstborns, as well as the Levites of the Jewish people: “Behold, I have taken the Levites from the among the children of Yisrael, in place of every firstborn, the first issue of every womb among the children of Yisrael, and the Levites shall be Mine. For every firstborn is mine....”
The sanctity of the firstborns of the Jewish people began with the night of Pesach, when Hashem killed all the firstborns of Egypt. Ever since the exodus from Egypt, the firstborns received a sanctified status, and when they stood at Har Sinai, they were destined to do the avodah (the service in the Beis HaMikdash).
Rashi states that after the sin with the golden calf, the firstborns were punished for taking part in the sin, and were no longer allowed to do the avodah. In their place, the Levites received the rights to do the avodah of the firstborns, in the merit of refusing to take part in the sin. This conferred a status of sanctity upon the Levites. However, it is clear that the sanctity of the firstborn and the sanctity of the Levites were not the same exact kind of sanctity. It was not simply a transferal of the sanctity of the firstborns upon the Levites. Rather, when the firstborns lost their sanctity and the Levites became sanctified instead of them, there was a change in the concept of this sanctity. At first it was a sanctity of the firstborns, and later it was a sanctity of the Levites – two different and distinct kinds of sanctity.
The Sanctity of Firstborn/Beginning and Levites/Connection
What, indeed, was the difference between the sanctity of the firstborn and the sanctity of the Levites?
The Torah says that a firstborn is sanctified because he is peter rechem, “first to exit the womb”. Thus, a firstborn represents a root, a beginning - a rais his (first). In contrast, the Levites did not receive any sanctity in the sense of being the first. Although there is a commandment of “And you shall sanctify them”, to give certain honors and preferences to a Kohen and Levi, the sanctity of the Levites is not because they have any “first” status, but for a different reason.
When Levi [ancestor of all Levites] was born, Leah said, “This time my husband shall become attached to me, for I have born him three sons” – and the depth of this is that the word “Levi” is from the word “levayah”, escort, which connotes an attachment/connection between two things, the escort and that which is being escorted. The sanctity of the Levite is therefore defined as a connecting point between two previously separated points.
Thus, the sanctity of the firstborn was because they had a status of being the “first”, whereas the sanctity of the Levites is because they are a connecting point which enables holiness.
Three-Fold Connection With Hashem (Levites/Connection) Vs. Inherent Connection With Hashem (Firstborn/Beginning)
There is also a more fundamental understanding of the difference between the sanctity of the firstborns with the status of the Levites - and which also can help us prepare to receive the Torah.
The sanctity of the Levites represents connection of two sides. Chazal state, “Three ties are bound to each other – Yisrael (the Jewish people), the Torah, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu (G-d)”.
There is Hashem, the Jewish people, and the Torah. The Torah is called bris (pact), for a bris connotes a bond and connection, and so is the Torah the “connecting point” between Hashem and Yisrael. This is like the sanctity of the Levites, which connects together two sides.
This is the depth behind the sanctity of the Levites – it is the three-fold connection of Hashem, Yisrael, and the Torah, with the Torah being the middle, connecting point between Hashem and Yisrael.
The sanctity of the firstborn, however, represents the level at the giving of the Torah, when the firstborns still had their sanctified status to do the avodah, which was taken away from them only after the sin with the Golden Calf. The sanctity of the firstborn is not about a connection to something after it now exists - rather, [it is more inherent], it is a connection to the very essence of something, for it is a connection to beginning point of something.
In clearer terms, the sanctity of the firstborn, which is a sanctity of the being the first, is represented by the concept that Hashem is called “First”, for it is written, “Ani Rishon” (“I am the First”)”. The Torah is also called “raishis/first”, as Rashi in the beginning of Parshas Beraishis cites from Midrash Rabbah, that “The world was created for the Torah which is called raishis/first.” Rashi there also cites Chazal who state that “The world was created for the sake of Yisrael, who are called raishis”.
Thus, the nation of Yisrael shares a bond with Hashem [and His Torah] on two levels – a bond through the power of “connection”, as symbolized through the sanctity of the Levites, and a [deeper] bond, through being connected with “raishis/first”, as symbolized by the sanctity of the firstborn.
