A.
As suggested by its name, most of nour parasha concerns the revolt instigated by Qorah ben Yitzhar ben Qëhath ben Lévi. Rashi explains Qorah’s rationale: נתקנא על נשיאותו של אליצפן בן עוזיאל שמנהו משה על בני קהת על פי הדבור אמר קרח אחי אבא ארבעה היו שנאמר ובני קהת וגו' עמרם הבכור נטלו שני בניו גדולה אחד מלך ואחד כהן גדול מי ראוי ליטול את השני' לא אני שאני בן יצהר שהוא שני לעמרם והוא מנה נשיא את בן אחיו הקטן הרי אני חולק עליו וגו' (“He was jealous concerning the presidency [nësi’uth] of Elitzafan ben ‘Uzzi’él, whom Moshe appointed over the bënei Qëhath on [Divine] instruction. Said Qorah: Father had four brothers, as it is said: ‘And the bënei Qëhath were ‘Amram and Yitzhar and Hevron and ‘Uzzi’él’ [Exodus VI, 18]. Both sons of ‘Amram, the eldest, took greatness, one the king [Moshe] and the other the kohén gadol [Aharon]. Who is fit to take the second [rank]? Is it not I, for I am the son of Yitzhar, second to ‘Amram? And he has named the son of his youngest brother! So, I am rebelling against him....”).
Qorah gathered around himself other malcontents, including Dathan and Aviram, who had been unwilling participants in Israel’s mission since before the Exodus (cf. Exodus II, 13, Rashi ad loc.), with the rousing battle-cry רב לכם כי כל העדה כלם קדשים ובתוכם ד' ומדוע תתנשאו על קהל ד' (“It is much for you, for the entire community are all of them holy and amongst them is Ha-Shem, and why do you exalt yourselves over Ha-Shem’s congregation?’; XVI, 3).
Moshe saw in this not a challenge to his authority, but to G-d’s and that of His Torah, and so posed the rebels the ultimate test, reminiscent of the fate of Aharon’s sons Nadav and Avihu, who brought “strange fire” before Ha-Shem in the form of unauthorized incense (Leviticus X, 1-2). The rebels rose to the bait, and met a similar end (XVI, 16-35).
But the revolt was not yet quelled. So far had the rot spread that many ordinary bënei Yisra’él blamed Moshe and Aharon for the deaths of the 250 notables who had sided with Qorah. At this monstrous misrepresentation of the obvious, a Divinely ordained plague broke out, mitigated only by Aharon’s actions as kohén gadol in bringing, at Moshe’s urging, incense between the afflicted and those not yet afflicted (qëtoreth, incense, atones for lashon ha-ra‘, a secret which had been revealed to Moshe by the angel of death when he ascended Mt Sinai; עיי' זבחים פ"ח. ושבת פ"ט.).
There followed a miraculous reaffirmation of Aharon’s appointment, and G-d’s restatement of it: ואתה ובניך אתך תשמרו את כהנתכם לכל דבר המזבח ולמבית לפרכת ועבדתם עבדת מתנה אתן את כהנתכם והזר הקרב יומת (“And you and your sons with you will guard your këhunna for every matter of the altar and within the curtain, and you will serve; a service of gift [‘avodath mattana] I give your këhunna, and the stranger who approaches will be put to death”; XVIII, 7).
What exactly is an ‘avodath mattana?
B.
The Nëtziv, in his Ha‘améq Davar, offers the following summation: לפי הפשט באשר עבודת הלויים כתיב להלן "ולבני לוי הנה נתתי וגו' חלף עבודתם" היינו שאם לא הי' עסק הלויים לא הי' צריך להפריש מעשר כלל שהרי הוא חולין. אלא חלף עבודתם. ואם כן המה מושכרים מכלל ישראל. משא"כ מת"כ אפי' לא היו כהנים הי' ניתן הכל לגבוה. והי' הולך לים או נשרף. כו' מכש"כ שארי מתנות ממקודשים מתחלה לד' והכתוב נתנן לכהן. א"כ אינם מושכרים מישראל. ורק עבודת מתנה היא מהקב"ה וזה ראי' שעבודתם היא למעלה מכל עבודה שנעשית בשכר וגו' (“According to the simple sense, since it is written later on of the service of the Lëviyyim: ‘And to the bënei Lévi behold I have given... in exchange for their service’ [v. 21], i.e., that were it not for the employment of the Lëviyyim there would be no need to separate ma‘sér [a tenth of the harvest] at all, since it is hullin [not sacred], save ‘in exchange for their service’, that is, they are hired by the rest of Israel, which is not the case with the mattënoth këhunna [summarized in vv. 8-19]; even if there were no kohanim all [these things] would be given on High, and would then be dumped in the sea or burnt [since. being holy, they cannot be used for a mundane purpose].... In any event, the rest of the gifts are from things already sanctified to Ha-Shem, and Scripture grants them to the kohén, in which case they are not hired by Israel; it is purely an ‘avodath mattana from the Holy One, Blessed is He, and this is evidence that their service is exalted over any service which is performed for hire....”). As the Nëtziv goes on to point out, so is the fact that any non-kohén who attempts to approach is to be put to death evidence of the exalted status of the kohanim.
So, says the Nëtziv, the bërith këhunna with Aharon and his sons is an ‘avodath mattanoth because all of the “gifts” summarized in our parasha come from the shulhan ha-gavoah, the “exalted table” of sacrifices already dedicated to G-d; given by G-d to the kohanim as gifts to support them whilst they dedicate themselves single-mindedly to Divine service in the Mishkan and, later, the Béyth ha-Miqdash. hence, unlike the Lëviyyim, whose support comes from produce which would otherwise belong to Israel, the kohanim are not “hired” by Israel, but supported by G-d.
Therein lies the pëshat, the “simple meaning,” but, as we all know, the Torah is eternally relevant, even in our days when, through our many sins, we have no Béyth ha-Miqdash and the role of the kohanim is considerably diminished. What does this concept of ‘avodath mattana mean for us?
C.
The séfer Mënorath Zahav offers the insight דהנה בעבודתו יתברך שמו הנה עבודת העובדים יש נקרא עבודת משא ויש נקרא עבודת מתנה. דהנה האיש אשר לא נבדל לגמרי מחומריות העולם הזה הנה עבודתו עבודת משא נקרא כי העבודה עליו עדיין למשא. אבל עובד בעבור כי צוהו השם יתברך. אבל מי שנבדל לגמרי מן העולם הזה הנה גם בעולם הזה מטעימו השם יתברך מעין עולם הבא וזה סוד "עולמך תראה בחייך" והתענוג הגדול שבכל התענוגים הוא לו העבודה שבתורה ובמצות כמו בגן עדן וזהו נקרא "עבודת מתנה אתן את כהנתכם וגו' (“that [G-d’s] service, i.e. the service of those who serve [Him] is called either ‘avodath massa’ or ‘avodath mattana. For the man who is not divorced completely from the materialism of this world, his service is called ‘avodath massa’ [burdensome service], for the ‘avoda is still a burden on him; rather, he serves [only] because Ha-Shem has commanded him. But to someone who is completely divorced from this world, Ha-Shem gives, even in this world, a taste of the world to come, and this is the secret implied in ‘you will see your [share of] the world [to come] in your lifetime’ [עיי' ברכות י"ז.], and the greatest pleasure of all pleasures to him is service in the Torah and mitzvoth, just like Paradise, and this is called ‘I shall grant your office, your këhunna [as an] ‘avodath mattana...”).
The Qëdushath Lévi makes a similar point, noting דידוע דברי חז"ל "שכר מצוה בהאי עלמא ליכא" אבל יש שכר אחד שאדם מקבל אף בזה העולם והוא דשכר מצוה מצוה (“the words of Hazal are well-known, ‘There is no reward for a mitzva in this world’ [חולין קמ"ב.], but there is one reward which a person does receive even in this world, i.e. that the reward for a mitzva is a mitzva [ע"ע' אבות פ"ד מ"ב]”; פרשת ראה), by which the Barditchever means that the pure joy of performing the mitzva in this world and thereby giving pleasure and satisfaction to the Creator is its own reward; the reward for a mitzva is the mitzva itself.
This is perhaps most clearly evident when one considers the mitzva of talmud Torah. The pure joy when, at the end of a sustained effort, one finally arrives at a comprehensive understanding of a topic in Torah, or resolves what seemed an irreconcilable difficulty, can hardly be described to one who has not experienced it, but it can be sensed simply by looking into a typical béyth midrash in operation, and hearing the passionate arguments as pairs of students struggle to understand the texts before them. Truly אשרי צי שגדך בתורה ועמלו בתורה ועושה נחת רוח ליוצרו (“happy is he who has grown great in Torah, whose labour is in Torah, and who provides satisfaction to his Maker”; ברכות שם).
D.
But we all have to earn our livings; we all need to eat to live. How do we achieve this state of being “completely divorced from the materialism of this world”?
The answer, it seems to me, lies in how we live our lives, and the motivations with which we approach the mundane, material necessities. If, for instance, one dedicates hand, mind and heart to G-d by davening and laying tëfillin, if we consciously take the attitude that parnasa, our livelihood, is for the purpose of doing mitzvoth, educating our children in Torah and mitzvoth, in general to demonstrate that זה א-לי ואנוהו (“This is my G-d and I shall adorn Him”; Exodus XV, 2), and dedicate our time not involved in parnasa to learning and teaching Torah, then we are not really part of humriyuth ha-‘olam ha-zeh, the “materialism of this world,” and earn, as the popular zëmira and the Mënorath Zahav have it, our taste mé-‘éyn ‘olam ha-ba’, yom shabbath mënuha (“from the source of the world to come, the sabbath day of rest”).
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