Levites Counted From Infancy

And God spoke to Moses in the Wilderness of Sinai, saying: Number the sons of Levi after the house of their fathers, after their families, every male from a month old and upwards shall you number them.            Numbers 3:14-15

            The census of the tribes other than Levi counted males from the age of twenty years [Numbers 1:3] while the Levites were counted from the age of one month [the time the Halacha considers a neonate to be viable].

            My father explained that the different census criterion for Levi versus the other tribes arose from and reflects the different tasks of each.

            The other tribes were counted in preparation for raising the army necessary to fight to liberate the Promised Land. As Rashi notes [1:3], the Torah here teaches that one younger than twenty does not serve in the army. That is, according to the Torah, draft age is twenty years old because one must have reached a sufficient level of physical [and emotional] maturity to serve in the army.

            The Levites, whose mission was to be the nations’ teachers and spiritual guides, did not serve in the army. In order to fulfill its mission, the Tribe of Levi had to acquire Torah themselves and be immersed in love of Torah and fear of heaven. The process of inculcating these values begins in infancy. As it were, a Levi’s mother imparts a love of Torah and fear of heaven as she nurses her baby. In this way, Levites are prepared to be the bearers of Torah within the Nation of Israel. Thus, unlike the remaining tribes, Levites are to be counted from infancy.