בס"ד
Parshas BaMidbar starts the fourth book of the Torah that is
called by the same name. It is also called sefer haPikdudim (פיקודים)
or the book of Numbers. It bares this name because a salient feature of it is
the census of the children of Israel .
The word BaMidbar (במדבר) means "in the
wilderness", referring to the Sinai desert between Egypt and the Holy Land .
The chronicle opens with G-d telling Moshe to appraise the community of Israel .
This means to take a count by patrilinear family line of all men above the age
of twenty who are to enter the army. A count is then taken with a subtotal for
every tribe. Twelve times, one for each tribe, the language "by
patrilinear family line . . . of all men above the age of twenty who are to
enter the army" (Numbers 1:2-3), is repeated. A grand total of those to be
drafted is then given, using the same phrase.
It certainly would have been far more concise to give the
command once then list the numbers. If one wished to be brief the populations
of the tribes could be omitted and only the grand total recorded. Adding to the
difficulty, all thirteen numbers are almost immediately repeated. The second
time it is organized by the four camps of three tribes each that circle the
Mishkan. The tribe heading the camp is mentioned along with the names of the
three tribal leaders, with a subtotal of the number of draftees. The tribal
leaders had been mentioned slightly earlier in the Chumash.
Rashi explains these repetitions saying because of G-d's
affection for Israel
he counts them every hour. Among the examples he brings are the exodus from Egypt and the
anticipation of instilling within them the spirit of heaven. The idea is that
repetition is an expression of love. For example a child will listen to
repeatedly to a song he likes, request that a favorite story be read day after
day, ask a question or repeat a phrase that is enjoyable time and again. This quality
is seen more clearly in children. However, through them we can see it in
ourselves, in the Chumash, and in Hashem. If it is possible to say G-d's love
of the people of Israel
is shown in His frequent and embellished counts of them.
The Levi'im are counted separately and differently. Like the
tribes, the count is by patrilinear line. However lineage is traced to the
three sons of Levy, not just Levy himself. Also, the count starts with babies
who are one month old not twenty years old. In addition there service in the
Mishkan is detailed. The Cli Yakar quotes Yeshiahu 40:25, that Hashem,
"takes out by count his host and calls them all by name", ( המוציא במספר צבאם לכלם בשם יקרא. ישעיהו מ כה
), as a proof that calling someone by name is an expression of love. When
Hashem calls, "Avraham Avraham" (Bereshis 22:11), Rashi comments,
that this is the language of affection. There are similar commentaries when
Hashem calls, "Moshe Moshe" (Exodus 3:4). The detailed instructions
to the Levi'im also shows greater hasgacha pratis. The Rambam explains in Guide
to the Perplexed that the greater Hashem's love for a person the greater his
providence is on him. This is dramatized by the fact that the Levi'im are
physically closer to the Mishkan than are the twelve tribes.
The Cohanim, Aharon and his sons Eliezer and Itamar, are
mentioned by name and stationed at the entrance to the Mishkan. This is an
expression of the love of the righteous as discussed in Gemara Sukkah 45b:
Hezekiah further stated in the name of Rabbi Yeremiah who
said it in the name of R. Shimon bar Yohai, I have seen the sons of ascension but
they are but few. If there be a thousand, I and my son are among them; if a
hundred, I and my son are among them; and if only two, they are I and my son. Are
they then so few? Did not Raba in fact state. The row [of righteous men
immediately] before the Holy One, blessed be He, consists of eighteen thousand,
for it is said, "It shall be eighteen thousand round about" ?— This
is no difficulty: The former number refers to those who see Him through a clear
prism, and the latter to those who see Him hrough a blurry one. But are those who see Him
through a clear prism so few? Did not Abaye in fact state, The world never has
less than thirty-six righteous men who receive the face of the Shechinah every
day, for it is said, Happy are they that wait for Him (לו)
and the numerical value of לו is thirty-six? — This
is not a Difficulty -- The latter number refers to those who conditionally
enter [into the presence of heaven], the former to those who enter unconditionally.
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ואמר חזקיה א"ר ירמיה משום רשב"י ראיתי בני עלייה
והן מועטין אם אלף הן אני ובני מהן אם מאה הם אני ובני מהן אם שנים הן אני ובני הן
ומי זוטרי כולי האי והא אמר רבא תמני סרי אלפי דרא הוה דקמיה קודשא בריך הוא שנאמר
סביב שמנה עשר אלף ל"ק הא דמסתכלי באספקלריא המאירה הא דלא מסתכלי באספקלריא
המאירה ודמסתכלי באספקלריא המאירה מי זוטרי כולי האי והא אמר אביי לא פחות עלמא
מתלתין ושיתא צדיקי דמקבלי אפי שכינה בכל יום שנאמר אשרי כל חוכי לו ל"ו
בגימטריא תלתין ושיתא הוו ל"ק הא דעיילי בבר הא דעיילי בלא בר:
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אזכור
הכבוד של תורמים ליד יוסף
אבי מורי פיליפ שרייבר, רבי ברוך רוזנפלד, יוחנן הולצברג, אברהם
שמרלר,
שלומי דייווס, בנימין לוי, אליהו גליק, בצלאל גליק, דוד נקי
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A
discussion of how the frequent counts of the children of Israel
To download Audio click: https://www.box.com/s/xh47qgm02mc2weqeivy5
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