Blog: Ari Enkin 12 - BaMidbar 5766

28 Elul 5770

September 7 2010

Bamidbar

Welcome to the start of the fourth book of the Torah, known as "Bamidbar", or the Book of Numbers. This week's parsha, Bamidbar (all five books of the Torah derive their name from the first word(s) of the parsha), indeed discusses numbers as we will see.

Many commentators suggest that this parsha, and indeed, the entire book, takes place in the desert to teach us humility. Even something completely useless such as the desert, can become a receptacle for Divine revelation and holiness. The late, but great, Lubavitcher Rebbe used to emphasize that one must make himself like a desert, relinquishing all other interests when engaged in Torah-related activities. So too, although a person may feel empty and desolate like a desert, we must remember that God descended into the desert to give the Torah and guide the Jewish people. The same is true today, regardless of one's spiritual level God is available to all.

Opening in the second year after the Jewish people left Egypt, God commands Moshe and Aharon to conduct a census of all males between the ages of twenty and sixty. This was the age range which was deemed useful towards the military effort. The Levites were excluded from the census, as they were exempt from military service, having been pre-occupied with managing the Mishkan, the sanctuary, as well as with other sacred tasks. The total tally of all eligible males was slightly over 600,000. The total national population including all others was well over one million people.

D'var Torah:

Conducting a census is no simple matter. It is to be strongly discouraged and even when permitted, such as in our parsha, it is with severe restrictions. One will readily recall that King David was severely punished for conducting a census. In His anger, God killed 70,000 Jews due to King David's misdeed. Was such a severe collective punishment called for? One of the many explanations given to this episode is that indeed, the sin was to be considered great because censuses cause the nation to be grouped into one unit. While this may sound like a commendable goal (i.e. establishing unity), it also causes people to loose their individuality. God surely wants cohesiveness and unity, but he also demands that we allow individuals to shine on their own merits and distinctive qualities! Only when truly urgent are we to be turned into "just another number".

It is interesting to note that originally God had intended that those who would be first-born would be honored with carrying out the sacred duties and other holy services. It was only after the sin of the Golden Calf that God decided to remove this privilege from the first-born who had actively participated in that sin. The Levites, however, completely distanced themselves from the happenings of the Golden Calf, and were rewarded accordingly. The Levites were further divided into three groups in order to split the honors. There were the Gershonites, the Kohatites, and the Merarites, each playing a different role in the functioning of the Mishkan.

Also in our parsha is the delineation of the tribal formations. This includes how the nation would journey as well as camp during those times when there was no travel. The Mishkan was always in the center with the Levites making camp around its four sides. There was then a larger square formed consisting of three tribes on each side.