A Levite child enters the Azara for service only when the Leviim stand in song; he does not play, he sings, “to give flavor to the melody.” According to R. Eliezer ben Yaakov, the children do not count among the twelve and do not go up onto the Dukhan: they stand on the ground, their heads between the legs of the Leviim, and they were called tzoarei haleviim. The tamid tour places two of them at the foot of the Dukhan, in the Ezrat Israel, two and a half amot below their elders.
Dimensions
- on the ground, not on the Dukhan
- outside the count of twelve
- voice alone, without nevel or kinor
Sources
- Arakhin 2:6“אֵין קָטָן נִכְנָס לָעֲזָרָה לַעֲבוֹדָה אֶלָּא בְשָׁעָה שֶׁהַלְוִיִּם עוֹמְדִים בַּשִּׁיר… רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר בֶּן יַעֲקֹב אוֹמֵר, אֵין עוֹלִין לַמִּנְיָן, וְאֵין עוֹמְדִים עַל הַדּוּכָן, אֶלָּא בָאָרֶץ הָיוּ עוֹמְדִין, וְרָאשֵׁיהֶן מִבֵּין רַגְלֵי הַלְוִיִּם, וְצוֹעֲרֵי הַלְוִיִּם הָיוּ נִקְרָאִין”
Project decisionAdopted: R. Eliezer ben Yaakov, as for the Dukhan itself. According to the first view in the mishna, the children stand with the Leviim. Tour's choice: two children, on either side of the axis, in a linen kutonet like the singers.