Kohanim and Levi'im: Sweet and Bitter Almonds

איתא בספרים בענין השקדים שהיו במטה אהרן לבית לוי שהי' רמז דיש בשבט לוי כהנים ולוים והם כמו שקדים מתוקים ומרים.

It is brought in the seforim regarding the almonds (shekeidim) that appeared on Aharon's staff "for the house of Levi" — that it was a hint that within the tribe of Levi there are Kohanim and Levi'im, who are like almonds, sweet and bitter.

The almonds blossoming on Aharon's staff allude to the two groups within shevet Levi — the Kohanim and the ordinary Levi'im — paralleled by sweet and bitter almonds.

ואיתא החייב במתוקים פטור במרים.

And it is taught [in halachah] that one who is liable [to a blessing or tithe] for sweet almonds is exempt for bitter ones.

A halachic distinction: sweet and bitter almonds ripen oppositely, so their obligations differ — a key to the hint that follows.

כי המתוקים גדולים טובים מקטנים.

For sweet almonds are better when they are large [i.e., fully grown].

Sweet almonds reach their value only when mature — they are at their best fully developed.

ומרים קטנים טובים.

But bitter almonds are good when small [young].

Bitter almonds, by contrast, are best while still young and small.

לכן לוים נפסלין בשנים ומבן חמשים כו' ישוב מצבא העבודה.

Therefore the Levi'im are disqualified by age — "and from fifty years old… he shall return from the legion of service" (Bamidbar 8:25).

Like the "bitter" almonds that are best when young, the Levi'im serve in their younger years and retire at fifty.

ע"ש בס' שפתי כהן ומג"ע.

See there in the Sifsei Kohen and the Mateh Aharon (or Megaleh Amukos).

The Sefas Emes cites his sources for this teaching.

ולכן מצינו שקרח נשפל בימי זקנותו ואהרן נתעלה ביותר.

Therefore we find that Korach was brought low in his old age, while Aharon was all the more elevated.

Korach, embodying the "bitter/young" Levite character, fell in old age; Aharon, the "sweet" Kohen, only rose higher with time.

ובאמת הכל הולך אחר החיתום.

And in truth, everything follows the conclusion (hakol holech achar hachisum).

What ultimately matters is how a person ends up — the final outcome, not the beginning.

והלוים הם רק מתחילין כדאיתא שמאלא איתער וימינא עביד.

The Levi'im are only "beginners," as it is taught: "the left arouses, and the right completes the act" (semala is'ar v'yemina avid).

The Levi'im (associated with the "left," Gevurah) merely initiate the avodah; it is the Kohanim (the "right," Chesed) who bring it to completion.

ואיתא במשנה הכשר בכהנים פסול בלוים כו'.

And it is taught in the Mishnah: what is valid (kasher) in Kohanim is invalid (pasul) in Levi'im, and vice versa.

The Mishnah notes that the very factors that disqualify a Kohen do not disqualify a Levi, and the reverse — which the Sefas Emes now explains.

הכהנים נפסלין במומין כי הם בחינת שלום כמ"ש בריתי שלום כשהוא שלים ולא קטוע ולוים בשנים כי הם רק מתחילין ולכן אין המום פוסל בהם כי אינם משלימין.

The Kohanim are disqualified by physical blemishes (mumim), for they represent shalom (peace/wholeness), as it is written, "My covenant of peace" (Bamidbar 25:12) — it must be whole (shaleim) and not maimed; whereas the Levi'im are disqualified by age, since they are only "beginners," and therefore a blemish does not disqualify them, for they are not the ones who bring things to completion.

The Kohen, representing wholeness and shalom, must be physically unblemished — anything less than complete disqualifies him. The Levi, who only begins the avodah and does not bring it to perfection, is unaffected by a blemish but limited instead by age.

והענין הוא כדאיתא אין מלחמה נאה אלא לבחור לכן נדמה הקב"ה וב"ש בים כבחור איש מלחמה ובמתן תורה כזקן מלא רחמים ע"ש.

The matter is as taught: "war is fitting only for a young man," and therefore Hashem appeared at the Sea as a young man, a "man of war," and at the giving of the Torah as "an elder full of mercy" — see there.

War belongs to youth and Torah to elderhood. At the Sea, a time of battle, Hashem appeared youthful; at Sinai, a time of mercy and teaching, He appeared as a merciful elder.

והלוים הם אנשי מלחמה שקדים מרים ולכן רק קטנים כשרים.

The Levi'im are "men of war," bitter almonds, and therefore only the young ones are fit.

The Levi'im embody the warlike, "bitter" mode of avodah, valid in youth — like bitter almonds that are best when small.

ואהרן הוא זקן מלא רחמים [ואיתא במד' כשמן הטוב על הראש כו' זקן אהרן וכי ב' זקנים הי' לאהרן רק שהי' נדמה למשה כאלו הי' יורד על זקנו וזהו הזקן זקן ע"ש.

And Aharon is "an elder full of mercy." [And it is taught in the Midrash on "like the precious oil upon the head… the beard of Aharon" (Tehillim 133:2): Did Aharon have two beards? Rather, [the oil] appeared to Moshe as though it were descending upon his own beard — and this is "the beard, the beard" — see there.

Aharon represents the merciful elder. The Midrash on the doubled "beard… beard" explains that the anointing oil on Aharon appeared as if it flowed onto Moshe's beard too, hinting at a deep unity between them.

והפי' שביטל עצמו אל משה רבינו שר התורה ונעשה כזקן אחד וזהו עצמו בחי' שבת שנק' שלום ע"י שעתיקא קדישא מתגלה בשבת קודש.

The meaning is that [Aharon] nullified himself (bittul) to Moshe Rabbeinu, the master of Torah, so that they became as one "elder" (zaken). And this itself is the aspect of Shabbos, which is called "peace" (shalom), through Atika Kadisha being revealed on Shabbos Kodesh.

Aharon's complete bittul to Moshe merged the two into a single "elder." This union of wholeness and mercy is the very essence of Shabbos — called shalom — when the supernal Atika Kadisha shines forth.

והמשכיל יבין דברים אלו ביותר].

And the understanding one will grasp these matters more deeply.]

The Sefas Emes signals that the deeper Kabbalistic dimension is left for the discerning reader to ponder.

וכמו שיש זמנים שהקדושה והפנימיות מתגלה בהם כמו כן יש צדיקים שעל ידיהם נעשה השלימות בעולם.

And just as there are times in which the kedushah and penimiyus are revealed, so too there are tzaddikim through whom completeness (shleimus) is brought into the world.

Paralleling holy times that reveal inner holiness, there are tzaddikim — like Aharon — through whom wholeness is achieved in the world.

והלוים היו בחינת הנהגה של ימי המעשה בקטנות.

The Levi'im were the aspect of the conduct of the weekdays, in a state of "smallness" (katnus).

The Levi'im correspond to the weekday mode of avodah — the lower, "small" level of service, as opposed to the Shabbos-like completeness of the Kohen.

[ויש רמז אתם המיתם כו' עם ה' מלשון גחלים עוממות שכן כל אלו הגדולים היו בהתגלות יותר כנ"ל.

[And there is a hint in "you have caused the death of… the people of Hashem" (Bamidbar 17:6): the word for "people" (am) is related to "smoldering coals" (gechalim omemos) — for all those great ones were in a state of greater revelation, as above.

The Sefas Emes finds a wordplay linking am ("people") to omemos ("dimming/smoldering"), hinting that the great ones who died were a more revealed, fully glowing light now dimmed.

גם יש רמז לאות לבני מרי היינו הלוים שהם בחי' מרים]:

There is also a hint in "as a sign for the rebellious sons (bnei meri)" (Bamidbar 17:25) — namely the Levi'im, who are the aspect of "bitter ones" (marim).

The phrase bnei meri ("rebellious sons") is read as alluding to the marim — the "bitter," warlike Levite character that Korach exemplified.]

Summary: The sweet and bitter almonds on Aharon's staff hint at the Kohanim and Levi'im: the Kohanim, representing shalom and wholeness, are disqualified by any blemish and ripen "sweetly" into elderhood; the Levi'im, "men of war" who merely begin the avodah, are valid only when young and retire at fifty. Aharon — the merciful elder who nullified himself to Moshe — embodies the completing, Shabbos-like wholeness (shalom) of the Kohen, whereas the Levi'im embody the weekday "smallness" that Korach typified. Ultimately "everything follows the conclusion," which is why Aharon rose while Korach fell.