What the Rabbi began with before the tangent was that the tribe of Levi, when counted, had only 22,000 people. The other Shevatim (tribes) had at least twice as many. Ramban points out that Shevet Levi (tribe of Levi) was counted from one month old, so they had an earlier count, whereas the other tribes were counted only from ages 20 to 60. The question is: Why did Shevet Levi have so few people? Ramban says famously, as the Rabbi said, that since Shevet Levi did not have to work in Mitzrayim (Egypt), they did not experience the increase that came as the Egyptians afflicted the others. That applied to the rest of Bnei Israel (Children of Israel), who worked and suffered. But Levi, who did not work and suffer, did not receive this. But I know what Ramban is saying is something fascinating. It wasn’t a punishment for Shevet Levi that they did not have as many people as the other tribes. It was a reality: if you suffer, you get Beracha (blessing); if you don’t suffer, you don’t get that Beracha.
The other day, I got a video from a Rabbi, Rabbi Biederman, and I shared it with Rabbi Shasha. It was tremendous. Rabbi Biederman gave a mashal (parable). He says that sometimes in life, you can tell what’s coming from what happened before. He gives a mashal about a poor man who goes to a wealthy man and says, “Can I have money?” The wealthy man first asks for change. Let’s say the wealthy man says, “Do you have 50 cents?” If he asks whether you have 50 cents, you know you’re getting a dollar, and you’re going to have to give back 50 cents. You’re going to get a total of 50 cents. If the wealthy man says, “Do you have a five?” then you know you’re getting a 10. If he asks, “Do you have a 10?” then you know that what’s coming is a 20. If the wealthy man says, “Do you have a 50 now?” Wow, that says a lot. That means 50 are coming to me.
The Rabbi says, “I’m asking for something from you so I can give you that Beracha later on. Hashem is asking for pre-change so He can give us the big donation later on. If a person has a small problem, Hashem is asking for a little change, so you have a little more Beracha coming your way. If Hashem gives you a gargantuan problem, a huge problem, Hashem is saying, ‘I’m asking for a lot of change because I have so much coming to you.’”
I was at a gathering for someone who had passed away young, and there were young children there. I’ll never forget an older man there who spoke to these young children who had lost their parent young. He was an Ashkenaz (Ashkenazi) man, and he said that he, too, had lost his parents young—his father when he was young. From the moment Hashem gave him that affliction, he said, “I’m asking for a lot of change because I have so much coming to you.” From that moment on, he saw amazing Beracha in everything in life. He says that when it came to yeshiva, he got into yeshiva right away. He had chavrutot (study partners) right away. When it came time to get married, he got married right away. When it came time to have children, he had children right away. Everything went easily because when Hashem gives suffering and affliction, Hashem is demanding something from you. But when Hashem demands something from you, there’s so much that’s going to come back in the other direction.
I couldn’t believe, as he was saying this, that I had the same experience after suffering. When my father passed away, after that you start to see Beracha, because Hashem doesn’t just want to give affliction. You see that in the history of the Jewish people. Right after the Holocaust, the Jewish people were devastated and decimated, and it was like it was over for the Jewish communities and the Jewish nation. Right after that, we saw such tremendous Beracha. We got autonomy in Eretz Yisrael (Israel), then the build-up of Israel and Torah in Israel, the build-up of Torah in America, and the build-up of Torah all over the world. Hashem says, “When I give you a big problem, I’m asking something. I’m asking you for a lot of change. If I ask you for a lot of change, then you know that a lot is coming later on.”
Baruch Hashem (thank God), Hashem has asked our communities, our people, and the world for a lot of change, and people have suffered. Now there’s a little light on the horizon, and it’s daybreak; we see maybe the tide beginning to turn a little bit. So we say that for the last two months, Hashem has been asking for a lot of change, and now maybe it’s time for Hashem to give the donation. He didn’t ask for 50 cents, where you know a dollar is coming. Hashem asks for thousands of thousands of dollars in change, so you know the donation is going to be big. Be’ezrat Hashem (with God’s help), with these words of Rabbi Biederman, we can only imagine the Beracha. We pray and hope that the calm after the storm, the Beracha after the storm, comes to us, our families, and our communities; that people start to make comebacks financially, and people see improvement in other ways, or what. Unbelievable news we heard today: Rabbi Nahum came back home.
This morning, I was recording a class, and all of a sudden the middle guy comes on and says, “Rabbi, stop the class.” I said, “Yeah, I’m recording.” And he starts screaming, “Stop the class!” I said, “What happened?” He said, “Rabbi Nahum’s home.” So the class is over, and I’m like, “Oh my God, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry.” The guy killed the entire class recording his shiur (lesson), but it was worth every penny. Rabbi Nahum is home now. It’s time to see the Beracha. Now, after all of the problems, it’s time for the Beracha. Now the Beracha is [unclear], just as with the other tribes: they had all the suffering, and then later on they had these vast numbers. Shevet Levi—it’s not a punishment. Shevet Levi was great, but Shevet Levi did not have the suffering, did not have the affliction. Therefore Hashem says, “I’m sorry, it’s not a punishment, it’s not a punishment, it’s not a punishment, it’s not a punishment, but you didn’t—I didn’t ask you for change, so the Beracha and the donation are not coming your way.” Bnei Israel had a lot of problems and affliction in Mitzrayim. They’re going to get the Beracha later on. Shevet Levi, you don’t have the affliction; you also don’t have the Beracha. We’ve had the affliction. All of that Beracha that’s on the horizon should come soon, really.