One People, Different Readings

This week, Jews in Eretz Yisrael are reading Parshas Beha’alotcha, while many Jews outside of Israel are still reading last week’s parsha, Naso.

The reason is because outside of Israel, Yom Tov is kept for two days instead of one. That extra day shifts the Torah reading schedule, causing Jews outside of Israel to fall one week behind.

So right now, Jews around the world are literally reading different Torah portions on the same Shabbos.

In this week’s parsha in Eretz Yisrael, the Torah says regarding the Leviim:
״וָאֶתְּנָה אֶת־הַלְוִיִּם נְתֻנִים לְאַהֲרֹן וּלְבָנָיו מִתּוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל…״
“And I have given the Leviim to Aharon and his sons from among the Children of Israel…” (Bamidbar 8:19)

Rashi points out that in this section, the words Children of Israel appear five times. He says this corresponds to the Five Books of the Torah, showing how beloved the Jewish people are to Hashem.

The Kotzker Rebbe in Ohel Torah says something very powerful here.

When the Jewish people saw that the Kohanim and Leviim were separated for special spiritual roles, people could have easily felt pushed aside. If certain Jews were chosen for higher spiritual positions, where does that leave everybody else?

So Hashem reassured them.

Just like the Torah is made up of five different books, yet all five together are one Torah, so too the Jewish people have different roles, different levels, and different missions, yet we are still one people.

Kohanim, Leviim, Yisraelim.

People in Eretz Yisrael and people outside of Israel.

People who feel spiritually connected and people who are struggling just to hold on.

Different roles does not mean different value.

And maybe that is exactly the message specifically this week.

One Jew is sitting in Jerusalem learning Beha’alotcha, while another Jew in Los Angeles or London is still learning Naso. One person learns Torah all day, while another is barely managing to stay connected.

But we are still part of the same Torah and the same people.

A person should never think:
“Because my role is different, I matter less.”

The Kotzker reminds us that every Jew is part of the whole.

Maybe one practical thing we can take from this is to stop measuring people only by where they are holding spiritually. Not every Jew has the same role, background, struggles, or path in life.

Sometimes the person who looks far away is fighting battles nobody sees.

Sometimes the person who feels “less religious” still has tremendous value in the eyes of Hashem.

And sometimes we need to remember that about ourselves too.