bamidbar2021

bamidbar2021

Power in Numbers – Bamidbar

 

In the Gemara, chumash Bamidbar is not called Bamidbar, it is called חומש הפקודים (יומא ע,ב; מנחות מה, א; סוטה לו, ב) in reference to the two פקודים, censuses, that appear in it - in this week’s parsha Bamidbar and again in parshat Pinchas - Hashem commands Moshe to count Am Yisrael.

The census in parshat Bamidbar took place approximately 6 months after the previous census in sefer Shmot, parshat Ki Tisa. Why the need for recounting so frequently? The mefarshim say it was out of affection for Am Yisrael that HKB”H counts us again and again, like someone who has a wad of cash in his pocket, he keeps recounting it to get “nachat”.

 Incredibly the total of the two censuses was identical - 603,550. The mefarshim discuss at length, how could this be? In the six months that passed, was there nobody in the last census who was 19 years and 10 months and in this census over 20? Did nobody die in that 6 month period? And they bring many interesting explanations, but they are not the subject of this week’s shiur.

What I would like to focus on here is the difference in the method of the two censuses. In Ki Tisa, the method of counting was impersonal. Each male over the age of 20 brought a מחצית השקל and at the end, they counted the coins and thus knew how many people there were. The method of counting in parshat Bamidbar is different –

"ואת כל העדה הקהילו באחד לחדש השני ויתילדו על משפחתם לבית אבתם במספר שמות מבן עשרים שנה ומעלה לגלגלתם" (במדבר א, יח).

This census was a head count – לגלגלתם and, the passuk says, not only do you count the heads, but you record the name of each and every one, במספר שמות. According to the mefarshim, all the males over 20 filed past Moshe and Aharon, one by one. Moshe asked each one “What is your name?”, “Moshe ben Yankel from the tribe of Yissachar!” Moshe recorded the name and he and Aharon gave the person a bracha –

ה' א-לקי אבותכם יסף עליכם ככם אלף פעמים ויברך אתכם כאשר דבר לכם

It is not written how long this took, but one can imagine repeating this process 603,550 times! On Simchat Torah when everyone is called up to the Torah, you give them a shortened version of “mishebeirach” מישברך את האבות הוא יברך את הבנים, but even then it takes forever to get through the entire kehila. This process could easily have taken weeks, even months.

The whole episode is shrouded in questions. If the total was exactly the same as the last one, why didn’t HKB”H simply tell Moshe – “Record this – ה' אייר, year 2449, total=603,550 same as last time!”? And if you say it was out of affection that Hashem commanded Moshe to recount, why not again ask for a מחצית השקל like the last time, why a head count? And if a head count, why not simply ask the father of each family – “How many boys over 20 in the family?” The father would answer 237 (in Egypt the women gave birth to sextuplets each time and it was permitted to have more than one wife). Why parade every single person, and record them one by one?

Immediately following the section of the census is a description of the encampment configuration of Am Yisrael surrounding the Mishkan. The Torah describes the tribes, their position etc. beginning with the words דגל מחנה ...., the flag of יהודה, the flag of ראובן, etc. Why all this emphasis on the flags and why does this section immediately follow the census?

As we will soon see, hidden in the above is one of the most important life lessons in the Torah.

The mefarshim say that there is a special numerical progression that describes the growth pattern of Am Yisrael- 3, 12, 70, 600000, אין מספר.

The first three numbers are hinted at in the word גביע, (ג=3, יב=12, ע=70) and are closely connected to Yosef and his brothers – why davka did Yosef hide a גביע in Binyamin’s sack etc. - that is the subject of another shiur.

3 = Avot

12 = Tribes

70 = the number who entered Egypt

600,000 = the number that left Egypt and stood at Har Sinai

אין מספר (infinite) = forever after

Chazal say that there had to be at least 600,000 present at Matan Torah. If there had been one person less – 599,999 – the Torah could not have been given.  Following Matan Torah, the populous of Am Yisrael was unlimited, as promised to Avraham כחול על שפת הים.

Why davka these numbers – 3, 12, 70, 600000, etc? Why were there not 2 Avot? 44 people who went down to Egypt? etc. This is a very complicated topic related to Kabbalah and beyond the scope of this shiur.

So there are certain numbers regarding Am Yisrael in general , and specific groupings within Am Yisrael in different circumstances – for example, how many in a Sanhedrin, how many in a minyan, in a mezuman – that are hardwired, they are fixed and unchangeable. HKB”H designed them to be so for whatever reasons He had.

There are different ways to count people. One method of counting is an impersonal method.

To illustrate – imagine if you had a “dream team”, a “superhero” group of gedolei hador over the centuries – all in one room (this is not so hypothetical, תחיית המתים is based on this principle) – Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaakov, Yosef, Moshe, Aharon, David Hamelech. Shlomo Hamelech and Rebi Akiva. Nine of history’s greatest gedolim, all in one room. Could they say Kaddish? Kedusha? Do Kri’at Hatorah? The answer is no, they are not a minyan, it doesn’t matter how great they are. If however Itzik the mechanic from the garage around the corner, with grease up to his elbows, joined them – they could! The concept of a “minyan” is impersonal, it doesn’t matter which ten people are in it, as long as they are all Kosher Yidden over the age of 13 – that is what makes it happen.

This method of counting was reflected in the first census in Ki Tisa. It was a “substitution” count, an impersonal count of coins and what mattered was the number, not the person behind the number.

This method of numbering encompasses great power. It is impersonal, but inclusive, a nullification of self and empowerment of the group. It says - alone I am nothing, but when I am together with others, I am something.

There is another method of counting, a personal method. In this method you record each and every person’s name. They file past you and you recognize each and every one personally and bless them. This is the method used in this week’s parsha.

This method of counting emphasizes the significance, not of the group, but of the individual. Each person is an entire world and supersedes the group. There is a halacha that if an oppressor chas vechalila comes into a shul of 80 people and says “Bring out one person for me to execute, or I will execute everyone in the shul”, it is forbidden to single anyone out and all 80 people must die.

Why this “illogical” preference for the individual? Surely saving 79 people is better than one person dying?

The answer lies in the paragraphs that follow the census, the encampment of the tribes and the flags. Where did this idea of flags for the Twelve Tribes originate?

During Matan Torah, HKB”H descended on Har Sinai, together with a company of 22,000 angels. Am Yisrael saw that each angel had their own “degel”. Obviously the flags of the angels were not poles with cloth banners flying in the wind, they were spiritual concepts - that signified the purpose, the תפקיד of each angel. Some angels have a fixed purpose, like רפאל, whose purpose is to heal. Others are assigned different purposes according to the need. For example after Yaakov fought the angel of Eisav and prevailed, before he would release the angel, Yaakov asked for his name. The angel’s response was – I do not have one name, I have different names, depending what my assignment is.

Am Yisrael saw this and asked HKB”H – “We also want flags like the angels that signify our purpose נרננה בישועתך ובשם אלהינו נדגל“. HKB”H acquiesced –ימלא ה' כל משאלותיך and subsequently each Tribe was given a different flag, with a different color (like the stones of the Choshen) and letters embossed on the flag. Am Yisrael wanted to know “What is our תפקיד?”

There is a famous story in Sefer Hadorot, (חלק ג') about Rebi Yehoshua ben Elem and Nanas Hakatzav. With apologies to the author, I am going to retell it in contemporary terms –

One night the gadol hador, HaRav Chaim Kanievski shlita had a dream in which he was told who his neighbor is going to be in Olam Haba. His name is Igor the stockbroker! The Rav awoke disturbed. Who is this Igor character he thought? In his shiur the following day he asked his talmidim if they knew of Igor the stockbroker, none did. So the Rav said – “I want you to go out and find this Igor the stockbroker and bring him to me so I can speak with him”. The talmidim hopped on buses, one to Tel Aviv, one to Be’er Sheva, another to Tzfat and headed straight for the municipality building, to look up the name Igor the stockbroker (they did not know his last name). The clerks suggested they call the National Union of Stockbrokers, which they did and they asked for any members named Igor. They found one in Ashdod and wrote down his address.

When they got to the building they could not find Igor’s name on the letterboxes, so they asked a passerby if they knew which apartment Igor the stockbroker lived. The man looked at these bearded, black suited, important looking Rabbanim and said “Sure I know Igor Kalmanowitz the stockbroker, he lives on the 4th floor, apartment 8”. He continued “But what do you want with that swindler?” “Swindler?” asked the talmidim, “What do you mean?” The man replied “He has a bad reputation for selling bad stocks and pocketing his clients’ money. That is why he removed his name from the letterboxes, so nobody will know he lives here!”

The talmidim knocked on the door of apartment 8 and were greeted by a disheveled, unsavory looking character. “Are you Igor the stockbroker?” they asked. Igor looked over their shoulder to see if there was any police on their way up the stairs behind them. “Yee..es”, he hesitantly responded “What do you want?” “We want you to come back with us to Bnei Brak, HaRav Kanievski wants to speak with you!” Igor had heard of HaRav Kanievski from the TV news, but he thought – there is no way that such an important rabbi would want to speak to him. He thought they were pulling his leg and slammed the door in their face.

The talmidim returned to the Yeshiva and told their Rav that they had located Igor the stockbroker, but under no circumstances would he agree to return with them. HaRav Kanievski called for a taxi and arrived at Igor’s home. Igor opened the door and lo and behold, there was HaRav Chaim Kanievski, the gadol hador standing on his doorstep. “Come in rabbi” he gushed, “Can I give you something to drink?” HaRav Kanievski waved him off. “Tell me Igor, what do you do?” The Rav was extremely curious to discover why this man was going to be his next door neighbor in Olam Habah. “I am a stockbroker”, replied Igor with shifty eyes, “I help people invest money”. “Tell me more about yourself” asked the Rav. “Well I have two elderly parents in their nineties who are unable to care for themselves anymore, so I help feed them, dress them and shower them every day”. “אשריך” replied the Rav, I am privileged that I am going to be your neighbor in Olam Habah!”.

Am Yisrael envied the angels their flags, because the flag described the angel’s specific תפקיד. They each wanted to know what their purpose was in this world. HKB”H creates each and every one of us, with a specific תפקיד. No two people in the world have the same תפקיד, just like no two people have identical fingerprints. One has the purpose to be a soldier, the other to be a talmid chacham. One needs to care for their elderly parents and the other to be at a specific place at a specific time to say a specific word to a specific person – to change their life forever.

Bamidbar is called חומש הפקודיםפקודים מלשון תפקיד. This is why, during the census in this week’s parsha, they had to file past Moshe and Aharon, one by one, so they could get a blessing and …… so that Moshe could tell each and every one of them ברוח הקודש  what their תפקיד is in this world! “Moshe ben Yankel from the tribe of Yissachar – your job is to study Torah full time”. “Chaim ben Shmuel from the tribe of Zevulun – your job is to be a (honest) stockbroker” and so on.

There had to be 600,000 present at Har Sinai, not one person less, because from those 600,000 originated every Jewish neshama throughout history from that time on. This is why the mefarshim say they we were all present at Matan Torah.

Rebi Elazar ben Pedat, an Amorah, was dirt poor. Once he had a dream in which he asked HKB”H if He could make him rich. HKB”H’s response was that in order to make Rebi Elazar ben Pedat rich, He would have to reverse the entire מעשה בראשית and recreate the world and then maybe, only maybe could Rebi Elazar be rich.

You are given a specific תפקיד to achieve in this life and you alone are capable of doing that תפקיד. Hashem gives each of us the skills and genetic abilities to fulfill our תפקיד. Some are born rich, some poor, some physically strong, some handicapped, some are bright and others less so. It is not for us to look at the other and think “If only I could be like him/her!” HKB”H created you the way you are for a reason and you have to figure out what it is.

Your neshama gives you nudges in the right direction. This is why some are “naturally” drawn to be doctors, others to being accountants or to study philosophy. Your neshama will unconsciously push you in that direction. If however you defy what your “inner voice” is telling you and instead steer towards “all that glitters”, you set yourself on a path for heartache and pain, until you eventually end up on the road initially intended for you after all. For some it takes a lifetime.

The 12 loaves of Lechem Hapanim on the Shulchan represent the Twelve Tribes encamped around the Mishkan with their flags. Dan did not envy Yehuda for the position of their loaf on the Shulchan (3rd from the top, 5th from the bottom), just like an angel does not envy another angel for their תפקיד. כולם אהובים, כולם ברורים, כולם גיבורים וכולם ..... נותנים רשות זה לזה.

That is so important I want to repeat it – נותנים רשות זה לזה.

It was the secular Zionists’ purpose at the turn of the 20th century to dream of and facilitate the return of Am Yisrael to Eretz Yisrael. It was the purpose of HaRav Kook and his disciples to instill Torah in the fledgling state. It was Moshe Dayan’s purpose to be a general. It was Ben Gurion’s purpose to be a prime minister.  It is Yankel’s purpose to be a “shpitz lamdan” in Mir Yeshiva. It is Itzik’s purpose to be a soldier in קבע in army intelligence. Chaim to be a mechanic, Shmuel a farmer, Rochel a doctor and Tzipporah a lawyer!

We are ALL part of the camp, each with our own degel, given to our neshamot at Har Sinai. Instead of trying to be like someone else, or ההיפך, trying to make everyone else like us, in our image – we need to focus more on לתת רשות זה לזה.  To be a prime minister is no more important than being a mechanic. To be a gadol hador is no more important than a stockbroker who helps his elderly parents.

When we get to the Olam Ha’emet, we will not be judged on how many times we completed the shas, or how much money we donated to tzedaka. We will be judged according to our degree of hishtadlut – how much did you achieve within the limitation of all your strengths and weaknesses. Just because someone gives 1 million dollars in charity, doesn’t give them a better seat in Olam Habah. He might have 5 billion dollars in the bank and for him 1 million is a drop in the bucket. On the other hand a poor man with 3 thousand shekels to his name, who gives 500 shekels to tzedaka would be more likely to get a front row seat than the man who gave a million.

In a society today where so called “bnei Torah” attack an Israeli soldier in the street, or where so called “intellectuals” accuse those who study Torah of being parasites. Where so called “cultured” individuals slam Eastern Jews for their boorishness, where so called “patriots” accuse others of being traitors …. and so the list goes on. This is Israeli society today.

This is why HKB”H gave us Corona, to wake us up. What a wakeup call that was! Now we are back on track in that respect (here in Israel at least), but instead of waking up and learning the lekach, we are back to our old shenanigans. So Hashem gives us another wakeup call – Meiron. We are shocked and stunned, but one week later we are back to our old shenanigans again. So Hashem makes Hamas rain down hundreds of missiles on our heads (the sirens are blaring as I write these words). He makes the entire country erupt in fire, rioting, pogroms on shuls, burning sifrei Torah, stoning Jews in cars in the middle of the “Israeli” city of Lod – not in Yehuda veShomron where stoning cars is “normal” – in the center of “Israel”. Next week we will get back to normal and will probably be back to our old shenanigans yet again. Klap after klap after klap. HKB”H is telling us – WAKE UP. Do Tshuva! Learn to live with and respect one another. 

That is why we have בעיתה and אחישנה. We have in our power to bring the geulah ourselves, if we learn the lessons and wake up. That is אחישנה – the geulah will come without enormous suffering and bloodshed. If we repeatedly ignore the wakeup calls, the geulah will still come בעיתה, whether Am Yisrael deserves it or not, but it will be with a בעיטה, a huge “kick” and enormous suffering. In Egypt HKB”H said מי לה' אלי?. Only five million rallied to the call, 600,000 males over age 20. The other 20 million kept repeating their mistakes and shenanigans and perished in מכת חושך. Only 1/5th merited the geulah! Are we destined to repeat history again, or will we learn from our mistakes this time?

There are two types of counting. One with the individual in the center – Ipad, Iphone, I, I, I ……. Me, me me! The second is with the group in the center – communism, pluralism, global village, etc. The way of the Torah is a combination of both. מחצית השקל – I am only half the coin, only when I am together in the group am I worthy. במספר שמות – every individual is an entire world with a unique תפקיד that no one else has. We have to recognize our individual strengths, but we also have to recognize our power in numbers, as part of a whole. אם אין אני לי מי לי, וכשאני לעצמי מה אני.

This is why 24,000 students of Rebi Akiva died – during this time of the year. This is why we are getting all these נסיונות – to make us wake up and learn the lessons of parshat Bamidbar, חומש הפקודים, which always precedes Shavuot. So that we can get to Matan Torah כאיש אחד בלב אחד, encamped around the Mishkan, each with our own flag and נותנים רשות זה לזה like the angels.

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