(Bemidbar 18:15,16)

The unique status originally afforded to the firstborn in the Temple service requires further analysis. Why was it that Hashem saw fit to grant them this special status in the first place? The most obvious answer is that "on the day that I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt [but spared those of Israel] I sanctified the firstborn of Israel to Myself" (Bemidbar 3:13). But this does not really address the question at the core -- it only moves it over to a different plane. Why were the firstborn of *Egypt* singled out for such special treatment -- being subjected to death on the night of the Exodus? In order to clarify this point, let us first take another look at what is entailed in the Temple service.

The power and glory of a king are manifested more in the king's palace than in any other location in his kingdom. Similarly, Hashem's power and glory are more obvious in the Beit Hamikdash than anywhere else (see Tosafot Bava Batra 21a, s.v. Ki MiTzion). It is a place where the pride and omnipotence of Hashem are manifested. This may be the reason the Temple is referred to as the "*pride* of your power" ("Ge'on Uzeichem") in Yechezkel (24:21).

This may also be the reason we are taught (Bava Batra 4a) that the Sages felt it appropriate for the walls of the Temple to be embellished in a manner that would evoke the waves of the sea. Hashem's *pride* ("Ga'ava") is said to be seen in the power of the waves of the sea -- "You rule over the *pride* of the sea" (Tehillim 89:10); "Hashem reigns; He is clothed in *pride*... he is known to be mighty on high through the crash of the great waters" (ibid. 93:1-4). When Israel sang to Hashem after He split the waters of the Red Sea they declared, "I will sing to Hashem because He is extremely *proud*... in Your great *pride* You destroy Your enemies." The pattern on the walls of the Temple was thus designed to recall Hashem's pride and might -- the theme of the entire Temple structure (See also Parasha-Page Tetzave 5755, section II).

It is therefore fitting that a person who stands to minister to Hashem in all His power, should have some degree of pride and self-assuredness himself. Otherwise, how can he feel himself worthy of serving the King Who appears in all His might? He must have the trait that was found in the righteous King Yehoshaphat: "His heart was *proud* in the ways of Hashem" (II Divrei HaYamim 17:6). It is natural for a first born child to have a higher sense of self-regard and pride in himself. This is a natural effect of the pride parents show in their first child. It is perhaps because of this sense of pride and self-esteem that the firstborn were originally chosen to serve Hashem in His Temple.

The Gemara (ibid.) goes even further and compares an arrogant person to an Ashera tree (an object of worship in the ancient world), which, according to the Torah, must be chopped down and destroyed. The arrogant man is liable to not only *worship* idolatry. His arrogance may make him *become* an object of worship in his own eyes! Since a firstborn has a tendency toward pride and egoism, he is especially liable to fall into this trap.

The Egyptians were known for their arrogance. "As for Egypt... I say of them, `They are arrogant' "(Yeshaiah 30:7). The firstborn of the Egyptians certainly did not channel their extra dosage of pride toward the service of their Creator. On the contrary, they allowed this trait to lead them completely astray, to deny Hashem totally, and even to deify themselves. This is the reason Hashem slayed the Egyptian firstborn on the night of the Exodus. When Hashem demonstrated as never before His uniqueness and His superiority by destroying all of the Egyptian idols (Rashi Sh'mot 12:12), He struck down the firstborn as well. The Torah says, "I will pass through Egypt on this night and I will strike down all the firstborn in Egypt and I will enact judgments against all the gods of Egypt." The slaying of the firstborn and the enacting of judgments against the Egyptian deities were not two *separate* acts -- the firstborn themselves were slain for their role as gods!

When the father of the firstborn gives a five Shekel "ransom" to the Kohen to redeem his child, it is intended to remind him of the smiting of the Egyptian firstborn while sparing the Jewish ones (Sh'mot 13:15). The father is being reminded to take care not to teach the wrong kind of pride to his son. It is natural for the father to feel very proud of his first son, making the son, in turn, feel proud of himself. When the father reminds himself of the death of Egypt's arrogant firstborn, he will stop short of feeling "My own strength and power have acquired" for me this child. If the father would have such dangerous feelings about his child, it would invariably bring the child to express his own pride in a similar haughty manner and fall as the Egyptians did. (See Chinuch -- Mitzvah #91 -- who gives a similar rationale for the Mitzvah of Bikkurim, or the dedication of the first of one's fruits to Hashem.)

What of the firstborn of the fourth matriarch, Bilhah -- namely, Dan? We find that Dan encamped on the northern extremity of the camp during the Israelites' travels in the desert (Bemidbar 2:25). Rabbenu Bachya explains the significance of this fact. He points out that north (of the celestial equator) is the only direction in which the sun never can be found (in the northern hemisphere, which is where Egypt and the Wilderness are), and it thus represents darkness. (In fact, the very word for north -- Tzafon -- can be read to mean "something that is hidden" for this reason.) Dan was positioned there, says Rabbeinu Bachya, because it was the tribe of Dan who "darkened the eyes of Israel" through adopting idolatry. It was the Danites who accepted upon themselves the infamous Idol of Michah, which remained their focus of worship for many centuries (Shoftim 18:30-31).

As the Gemara in Sotah pointed out, arrogance -- which, as we have seen, is the bane of the firstborn -- can all too easily lead to idolatry!