Posted by admin in Topics on May 24th, 2009 | No Comments »
Who helps the Kohanim today? That’s an enormous question to tackle. Do the people feel it’s necessary to provide the sustenance for livelihood to a Kohen, or do we say: you can work too & provide for yourself? Unfortunately, the latter view is accepted.
The majority of modern day Kohanim feel they’re still obligated to serve the people in some capacity, and these are the struggles we encounter on a daily basis. When you ask people what the Kohanim did in Yisrael, they say we conducted the services at the Temple (sacrifices, incense, etc.), and that’s all they know. Unfortunately, today’s society doesn’t realize we were counselors, financial advisors, natural physicians, judges, lawyers, and teachers in any number of subjects imaginable. The Temple courts were the educational center of the universe, as was outside of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. If you needed some assistance, you came to the Priests & Levites. Latter developments and a quest of knowledge would form the Prodigies of the Kohanim, the Rabbanim.
Yet the question remains, who helps the Kohanim today? The tribe of Levi was given no inheritance in eretz Yisrael, for HaShem was and is our inheritance. Humm, does that mean if a Kohen struggles it’s because HaShem isn’t providing for him? Theoretically you could say that the Holy One takes care of the Kohanim, so we don’t have anything to worry about; and on one side that’s true, but HaShem takes care of us all. The point I’m trying to make is that we provided our services in obedience and enjoyment to the Holy One, and these services were performed without thought of how we would eat, or have a roof over our head; because we believed that our people would believe in HaShem and be obedient to him. In all honesty, we (Kohanim) don’t function well in the corporate world & with normal work. Even though some become successful, many of us struggle because we are geared to bless and solve problems that are brought before us, not hustle in the corporate world to move up the business ladder; because in our eyes we’re already at the top of that ladder.
I know this struggle seems like a simple one to fix (i.e. - just suck it up and work in the real world), and in theory it is simple, but we’re blessed in a way that when we have to focus on “the real world”, we neglect our duties as Kohanim. I know this may seem arrogant, and that is not my intention; and if I was reading this I would say “you’ve always had everything handed to you and have never worked a day in your life”, and in many aspects, that’s exactly how it is; but when our sustenance stops, all we have is our blessings and no way to share them. Our initial response is always: ”why doesn’t anyone come to us for assistance anymore?” At that point, we try and find an avenue (career, etc.) where we can be a blessing and share the love of HaShem, but it becomes troublesome to us because we’ve never looked at blessing people as a job; it’s always been an honor to serve, rather than employment.
Please, the next time you encounter a Kohen and/or Levite, ask them if they are doing ok in every area of their life. If they aren’t, be a blessing to them; because you never know what blessing HaShem has prepared for you for your assistance.
Shalom Aleichem.
