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the Redemption of the Firstborn in the Wilderness vs the Ongoing Mitzva of פדיון הבן

The Missing Levi’im

We find a narrative in the Gemara[i] regarding the census of the Levi’im in Parshas Bamidbar. A non-Jewish king once looked at the math in our Parsha and accused Moshe Rabbeinu of being either a liar or a thief.

The Torah[ii] provides the count of the Levi’im as twenty-two thousand (22,000). But if you tally up the individual families of Gershon[iii] seven thousand five hundred (7,500), Kehos[iv] eight thousand six hundred (8,600), and Merari[v] six thousand two hundred (6,200), the total number [excluding Aharon[vi] himself of course] is actually twenty-two thousand three hundred (22,300).

Where did those three hundred (300) Levi’im go?

Rashi provides the answer: Those three hundred (300) were themselves firstborn – the firstborn Levi’im. Even though they were counted in the family census, they were excluded from the total count used to redeem the firstborns of Israel because they were needed to “redeem themselves.”

This raises a fascinating logical[1] dilemma: If the Levi’im are already inherently sanctified, why do they need personal redemption at all? Furthermore, the original redemption in the wilderness was a one-to-one exchange—one Levi for one firstborn Israelite. Today, however, the Mitzvah of Pidyon Haben is given to the Kohanim (not the Levi’im), and we only use five (5) silver coins instead of the Levi / Kohen himself, and it is perfectly allowed to have one Kohen redeem innumerable firstborns.

What changed?

The Elevation Caused by Koraĉ

This initial mass-redemption was a one-time anomaly. G-d took the existing firstborns of Israel and swapped them head-for-head with the Levi’im. But if this system was meant to be the method by which the future Mitzva would be performed, this could create a logistical problem. Each family with a firstborn would have to seek out a Levi, one who had not previously been exchanged with a firstborn, then conduct the redemption. If they couldn’t find one, each firstborn would have to wait until one was born (or came in from someplace else).

Accordingly, the Gemara[vii] notes a discussion between Reish Lakish and Rabbi Yoĉanan as to whether the Mitzva was even operative prior to the Jewish people’s entry to the land of Israel.

Based on the verse[viii] והיה כי יביאך, Reish Lakish takes the position that firstborns born in the wilderness were not sanctified. Aside from this one-time swap, this Mitzva was not performed.
Rabbi Yoĉanan disagrees[2] with the classification of the verse as a condition of the Mitzva. Rather, he views it as a promise, that the Jewish people will indeed enter the land of Israel – in the merit of performing this Mitzva.

According to both opinions though, the current Mitzva of Redeeming the firstborn is not the way it was performed the first time. Why was it performed differently? The answer lies not in the nature of the firstborn, but in the evolving status of the Levi’im and Kohanim.

Initially, the Kohanim were simply a specialized branch of the Levi’im. Their job, as one of the families of the Tribe of Levi, was to act as the “honor guard” of the Mishkan. Because all branches of Levi were essentially equivalent servants of G-d – as were the firstborns who had previously been the ones offering sacrifices on behalf of the people[3], a direct, one-to-one exchange between a firstborn Israelite and a Levi was the proper method of redemption.

However, the rebellion of Koraĉ(the Levi) changed the spiritual landscape forever. Koraĉ demanded that all the Jews are equal.[ix] And indeed, he was right. Any Levi could be exchanged for any firstborn. There was no premier status amongst Levi’im. G-d changed that by elevating the Kohanim above their baseline honor guard position, granting them twenty-four (24) specific gifts[x]—including the right to the firstborn redemption.

Because of this elevation, a Kohen is no longer on a one-to-one par with a standard firstborn, just like a Kohen is no longer on par with a standard member of the Tribe of Levi. The firstborn might be inherently greater than his brothers, but the Kohen is now the Chosen Servants of G-d.

This elevated status is exactly what allows a single Kohen to redeem countless firstborns using mundane assets which can be used over and over again. The original parameters of the Mitzvah shifted entirely because of Koraĉ.[4]

The Deeper Meaning: What Makes a Firstborn Special?

Once we understand the mechanics of the Mitzvah, we have to ask the deeper, philosophical question: Why the firstborn? We instinctively place a premium on “firsts,” but if we view this logically, it actually makes very little sense.

There is a famous saying[xi] in martial arts: “Perfect practice makes Perfect.” Human experience dictates that the first time you do something, it is usually your worst attempt. The first pancake is always a mess. The first time you perform a Karate Kata, it’s clumsy. It is only through repetition, refinement, and practice that we achieve excellence. By that logic, the second or third child should carry a higher spiritual premium, because the parents are more experienced! Why is the raw, unpracticed “first” the one that is sanctified?

To understand this, we have to look at the Sefer HaBahir[xii], which connects the concept of the firstborn directly to G-d himself.

The two types of Creation

There are two types of creation. There is the creation of Refinement – taking something that exists and making it better. That is the human realm; that is where “perfect practice makes perfect.”

But then there is actual Creation. The Sefira of Ĉoĉma is the first of this; the flash of unprecedented, ex-nihilo existence. Bringing something out of absolute nothingness. G-d is the ultimate “First” because G-d introduced existence where there was only void. The Sefira of Ĉoĉma thus contains two aspects – it is the First of the Sefiros in the sense that it contains within it all the potential that comes after. And it is also the Sefira of Ĉoĉma, one of the Sefiros of the intellect on par with the Sefira of Bina. It is its ‘first-ness’ which sets the Sefira of Ĉoĉma in a status greater than the other Sefiros.

The firstborn child represents this exact divine phenomenon. Before the firstborn, the mother and father were just people. The arrival of the firstborn changes the previous reality and creates an entirely new state of existence: they are now creators; they are parents. The firstborn isn’t sanctified because of skill, refinement, or practice. The firstborn is sanctified because that child is the physical manifestation of the first of the Sefiros – the raw, unadulterated, miraculous flash of new light entering the world.

In the Kabbalistic analogy, the two parents are Ĉoĉma and Bina, who, by means of Da’as, come together to produce the concept of the emotional attributes. This is why a child when it is born, initially does not have the full intelligence of the adult, because he is born in a way that reflects that Kabbalistic mechanics – as an emotional attribute Sefira. The first of which contains that same duality that Ĉoĉma has; it has the power of its ‘first-ness’ as being the first of the emotional Sefiros. And it is on par with the other emotional Sefiros, for example Gevurah. It is this first-ness, which is connected to the first-ness of Ĉoĉma which must be sanctified to G-d.

Repurposing the Miracle

Because Ĉoĉma naturally seeks to detach from the mundane and return to its spiritual source, this raw energy of the fact that it is a first must be carefully grounded. G-d’s ultimate goal in taking us out of Egypt wasn’t for us to escape the physical world, but to infuse it with holiness.

This is why, before Moshe could instruct the Jews to dedicate their firstborns, he taught them about Pesach, Matzah, and maintaining the Jewish calendar in line with the solar calendar. He explained the purpose of the new Jewish nation, who will be brought to the land, and conquer it, becoming farmers and interacting with the land and the rest of the peoples of the world. He was teaching them that they must first ground themselves in physical, earthly mundane time and consume the “bread of faith” before they could elevate the firstborn status. And even then, it was only after the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai and after the construction of the Mishkan, when the Jewish people armed with the Torah and the ability to properly serve G-d in the Mishkan (Tefillah) could be asked to sanctify the firstborn to G-d.

How then does the Mitzva of redeeming the firstborn assist us in sanctifying ourselves to G-d.

The redemption of the firstborn, as mandated by G-d in the wilderness, occurred in one of three (3) ways:

Self-Redemption – the Levi’im who were themselves firstborn ‘redeemed’ themselves. This option remains available to us today, which is why the children of Kohanim and Levi’im are exempt from this Mitzva.
Head-for-Head Exchange – the firstborn amongst the Jewish people were ‘redeemed’ by the Levi’im directly. This was a one-time option available to the generation of the wilderness, never to be repeated again.
Five (5) Silver Coins – those firstborn amongst the Jewish people, who, by lottery[xiii], were determined not to have a Levi counterpart, were redeemed by five (5) silver coins paid to Aharon and his sons.[5] This option remains available to us today, and is in fact the preferred[6] method by which firstborns are redeemed by Kohanim.

As we noted above, the firstborn of the “children” Sefiros corresponds to Ĉesed, and thus Ĉesed seeks to elevate itself [to be redeemed] through its connection to the three upper Sefiros:

Ĉesed connects to Ĉoĉma – as both are on the “right” side – the side of giving forth light.
Ĉesed connects to Kesser – as both seek to impose itself. Kesser is the ultimate expression of self – “I Want”. Ĉesed is the ultimate expression of emotion “I love”. Neither is concerned with the recipient.
Ĉesed connects to Bina – it’s direct predecessor. From Bina begins the concept of the other, taking into account different points of view, nuances that are dependent on factors, etc. For Ĉesed to be properly expressed, there must be the other to give – to love.

And thus, we have three (3) methods of elevating these connections of the “first”:

The tendency of Ĉoĉma is to remove itself. To seek to reconnect with the source from whence it came. Self-nullification to the extent that it can’t even properly express to itself the intelligence contained within it. The purpose of the “first-ness” is not to withdraw from creation back to its source, but rather to start the process leading to creation – the creation of a being which considers itself to be other. Thus, we redeem this first-ness with itself. The new purpose of the Levi’im and Kohanim are no longer the withdrawn servants of G-d, the guardians of the entrance to the Mishkan. Now they are the singers in the Bais Hamikdash, those who inspire others in their service to G-d, and they are the enablers of those who wish to come close to G-d.
The tendency of Kesser is to impose its will on itself and others. Irrespective of logic or the needs and wants of anything or anyone else. The purpose of the “first-ness” is not to impose holiness on the world. Rather, G-d desires a world where people have the freedom of choice to do anything they wish – and they choose to seek out G-d and create a world that is fitting for G-d to dwell in. Therefore, while the option of one-to-one redemption was mandated that first time in the wilderness, as G-d imposed his illogical will on the people, that is not an option for us to engage in when performing the Mitzva. Indeed, it is possible, as Reish Lakish suggested, that the entire Mitzva wasn’t even available to the generation of the wilderness – perhaps because they lived in a state of G-d’s immediate and undeniable presence. They could literally see the Clouds of Glory. Manna rained from heaven every night. The wellspring followed them wherever they went. Denying G-d’s presence was not an exercise of free will, it was an exercise in insanity.
The tendency of Bina is to differentiate into nuance. To understand and expound upon details to the n^th degree. To understand different points of view. The purpose of the “first-ness” is not to enable everyone to observe their own sense of sanctity. Rather it is there to begin a process of unification, unifying people to serve a single G-d. Unifying the person’s warring emotions to a single purpose, the service of G-d. Accordingly, the firstborn is redeemed with money, assets with universal value, expressing the concept that while there might be differences of opinion in how to go about serving G-d, the purpose is universal, and each position is not any better than any other, so long as they are unified in their service. One coin is no different than any other. And this is the preferred method of performing the Mitzva, the method by which a ברכה is recited. Ultimately, a person’s innate and intrinsic abilities are not given for himself. They are given to be elevated and sanctified to G-d.

[1] And a Halaĉic dilemma. See Sefer Mitzvos Gedolos (SMG) Positive Mitzva 144 וכל בכור אדם בבניך תפדה. The SMG quotes the Gemara [Beĉoros 4a] which teaches us that Kohanim and Levi’im are not obligated to redeem their firstborn children by use of the fortiori rule: If a Levi could redeem others, certainly he can redeem himself. However, this comment by Rashi implies the opposite. It is only because the Torah excluded the firstborn Levi’im from the general total that we learn they were not to be used to redeem a firstborn – that they could in fact redeem themselves. Without that exclusion during the census, Moshe would have included them in the total, as he in fact included them in the individual family censuses.

[2] Generally speaking, in arguments between Rabbi Yoĉanan and Reish Lakish, the Halaĉa follows Rabbi Yoĉanan. However, since Reish Lakish advanced an unquestioned view that this one-time swap was an anomaly, we can certainly take that position for the purposes of this discussion.

[3] Who had previously been offering sacrifices to G-d on behalf of their families – as it says in the verse [Shemos 24:5] וישלחו את נערי בני ישראל ויעלו עלת, ויזבחו זבחים שלמים לה’ פרים, on which Rashi comments, these את נערי were the firstborns.

[4] However, the status of the Levi’im and the firstborn were not decreased. They remain on par – which is why, when a Levi is not present to wash the hands of the Kohanim prior to their service, a firstborn, who is on par with a Levi, should do so. They still contain that inherent greatness equivalent to a Levi. See Sefer Mitzvos Gedolos (SMG) Positive Mitzva 19.

[5] In total there were one thousand three hundred and sixty-five (1,365) Shekalim paid to Aharon and his sons. [Bamidbar 3:50]

[6] The Gemara derives by means of כלל ופרט וכלל that any moveable asset which has intrinsic value equal or greater to the five (5) silver coins may technically be used. This excludes land, slaves, and promissory notes – none of which are fungible.

[i] Gem. Beĉoros 5a

[ii] Bamidbar 3:39

[iii] Bamidbar 3:22

[iv] Bamidbar 3:28

[v] Bamidbar 3:34

[vi] See Rashi explaining why Aharon’s name has dots on top of it.

[vii] Gem. Beĉoros 4b

[viii] Shemos 13:11-12

[ix] Bamidbar 16:3 רב לכם כי כל העדה כולם קדשים…

[x] See Bava Kama 110b and Rambam ביכורים 1:2

[xi] Hanshi Glenn Mehlman would say this often in class. As does Hanshi Moti Horenstein.

[xii] Mishna 104

[xiii] Gem. Sanhedrin 17a

פקד כל בכר זכר