The time-honored custom among the Jewish People is to publicly read aloud the final Torah portion, Parashat V'zot HaBracha (Deut. 33,1-34,12), not on a particular Sabbath, as all the other portions, but on the holiday of Shmini Azeret/Simchat Torah. (This year, this festival falls out on Sabbath, this very week.) 

With all the excitement and great joy at completing the annual Torah cycle, accompanied by singing and dancing, not everyone gets the chance to study this portion as they do the other portions. Let us therefore discuss one particular verse, which appears at first glance a bit hard to understand. It is part of Moshe Rabbeinu's parting blessing to the Tribe of Levy: "May he smash the loins of those who rise up against him, so that his enemies rise no more" (Deut. 33,11). Our question is: When did Levy participate in a war? The Rambam (Laws of Shmittah 13,12) that the Levites are separated from the "ways of the world" and do not wage war or even inherit like the rest of Israel. They were consecrated for prayer and Torah study, and did not engage in battle. What then was Moshe referring to in this blessing?

The Sforno explains that the verse is referring to the Levites' "battle" against those who wished to take over the Priests' Temple service, such as during the "battles" of Korach and King Uziyahu. This does not appear to jibe with the straightforward explanation of the verse, however. 

HaRav Kook explains that the Levites took part in wars outside the Land of Israel, as the Rambam himself states (ibid., 11). They also took part in defensive wars, as Rashi to this verse explains, citing the example of the Hasmoneans [of the Tribe of Levy] who fought against the Greeks and the Hellenists. 

It occurred to me to explain that the Levites' wars were against the heretics of Israel, especially those who worshiped the Golden Calf. When Moshe declared war on them, the Levites gathered together to the cause (see Sh'mot 32,26). In his final blessing to Levy, Moshe stated, "He said of his father and mother, 'I do not see them,' not recognizing brother or child" – meaning that the Levites fought against these people as well. Rashi explains that this refers to unrelated family members, such as stepbrothers, stepchildren, or even maternal grandfathers. The only reason the Levites were able to fight and kill them was because of their sin of heresy with the Golden Calf – just weeks after the Torah was given! – which disqualified them from membership in the Israelite nation. 

Clearly this was a dangerous task for the Levites, for the heretics certainly fought back and sought to kill them. The verse therefore continues, "May he smash the loins of those who rise up against them, and his enemies will rise no more."  The word used here for "enemies" is as in Psalms 139,21, where it refers to those who rebel against G-d – and here as well. 

We find another case where the Levites were willing to wage war for G-d's honor. The Jerusalem Talmud (Sotah, end of Chapter 1) states that there appears to be contradictory verses as to where Aharon HaCohen died – in Moserot, or in Hor HaHar? The Talmud explains that when Aharon died, the Clouds of Glory left the Israelites, and the Canaanites saw an opening to threaten them. They therefore reversed course away from the Land of Israel and sought to return to Egypt. They reached Moserot, where the Levites caught up with them and killed eight families, losing four families themselves in the battle. The Israelites asked themselves: "What has caused such loss of life among us?" And they answered that it was because they hadn't shown honor to Aharon upon his death [in Hor Hahar], and so they made a special memorial and eulogy for him there [in Moserot], and so it was as if he had died there.

But, we ask: Why did the eight families deserve to be killed by the Levites? After all, they were running away in fear of the Canaanites!

Actually, we find in the Torah capital punishment for those who refuse to inherit and settle in the Land. The Torah tells us that during the Exodus, only one-fifth of the Jews left (Sh'mot 13,18) – and Rashi explains (there, and Sh'mot 10,22) that the other 4/5 died during the plague of Darkness, because "they were wicked and did not want to leave Egypt." Yes, they were righteous in not assimilating into Egyptian culture in other ways – but they were lacking the sense of sacrifice necessary to come to the Holy Land and take it over from its hostile populace. We thus see that the refusal to accept the Divine gift of Eretz Yisrael is a form of rebellion against G-d, rendering them liable to death! 

In addition, when the people chose the Spies' appraisal of the Land and did not want to enter, they were told, "Do not rebel against G-d [in this way]!" (Bamidbar 14,9) For only in the Holy Land do we truly accept G-d's kingship. And as the Gemara states (Ketuvot 110b): "Whoever leaves the Land, it is as if he has no G-d." Such a sin is clearly a capital one, deserving of the death penalty. The entire generation of the Desert thus died in the desert – except for the Levites, who did not take part in the Sin of the Spies. 

… 

The blessing to Levy states further: "They [the Levites] kept Your [G-d's] word, and safeguarded Your covenant."  The Talmud states (Yevamot 72a) that the Levites were the only ones to fulfill the commandment of ritual circumcision in the Desert; the others feared the danger of the great heat and the lack of a north wind. Thus, the Levites were totally dedicated to G-d's word. 

For other examples of the Tribe of Levy's ultimate dedication to G-d, see our work Otzrot HaMussar, I, p. 662-4; here we simply explained the examples of such that can be derived from the blessing of Moshe to Levy.

Translated & adapted by Hillel Fendel.