Bamidbar: (Re)placement

Bamidbar: (Re)placement

The books of the Torah are connected.  Gd calls to Moshe at the beginning of Vayikra becasue Shemoth ended with a Mishkan filled with the Spirit, leaving it unclear that there was space for Moshe to enter.  Vayikra ends with the law forbidding   replacement (temurah).  A sanctified animal cannot be replaced

Bamidar begins with a census of the tribes...except Levi.  Moshe is instructed not to count the Levites.  And then he is told to count them.  They are counted so that their number can be put into correspondence with the firstborn, whom they replace.

The firstborn are sanctified because of their rescue from the last plague in Egypt. This sanctity extends from animal to people, only the animals keep the status. The fristborn status is egalitarian  Any family could have a firstborn.  It is replaced by a hereditary title. Levites are the sons of Levites. 

The problem with replacement is the insecurity. Specialness is removed.  When Gd does this, the problem is worse.  Gd said don't do it. ( Note that the some of the spirit of the law at the end of  Vayikra is maintained.  The firstborn retains an element of holiness),  But deeper, there is the question of whether we, the Jewish people, can be replaced. We reassure ourselves about our job security in the song Yigdal  ( velo yamir datho). The parsha says no job is secures. 

The parsha sets the stage fro the climax of Bamidbar, the Korach rebellion.  Once the possibility of replacement is open, it is hard to close,  The parsha ends with an admonition not to put the subtribe of Kahath in the  suicidal position of taking on more of the sanctified work than assigned.  Korach was a descendant of Kahath.