Bemidbar

You and I have finished studying the book of Vayikra, but the Torah never ends, so with God's help we begin the study of the book of Bemidbar with the first weekly portion, which bears the same name as the whole book, and we will read from verse 1.

As I have already mentioned, the Jews had no imagination for the names of books, and therefore they named them by one of the first significant words. The word bemidbár (in the desert) became the name both of the book as a whole and of the weekly portion.

So, the beginning of the month of Iyar, spring, that is roughly May, the desert of Sinai, it is getting warmer (it is not cold there even in winter), and the Most High addresses Moshe and gives him a command.

The word gulgólet literally means skull, but it is used in the meaning of head when it is about counting. So, it is necessary to count, figuratively speaking, the headcount of the sons of Israel by all the tribes.

Let us say, these are those fit for military service, or those liable for military service. In the movement of Israel through the desert there must be order, and the best of orders is to distribute the people so that each one knows which tribe he is from, and each tribe knows its place in the arrangement of the camp, so that everything is calm, peaceful, and each one would be in his place, perhaps would prepare for his functions. Each one is assigned to his host, to his army, in some sense of this word. And in an army there must be order and accounting. Therefore the Most High commands Moshe and Aharon to count everyone and to distribute them correctly. But they will not do this just the two of them, we read about this further on.

That is, together with you in the process of the census and the accounting of all the tribes there will be 12 representatives, one from each tribe, whom the Most High will name Himself, so that Moshe and Aharon would not have difficulty with the choice.

The name Elitzur means God – my creator. According to one of the meanings, the word tzur is connected with the word tzurá (form), that is God forms me. Another meaning of the name is my LORD – a rock. The name Shdeyur means Shaddai – my light. As we know, Shaddai is one of the names of God.

It so happened that the name Schlemihl became a synonym for the word klutz, bungler and so on, at the prompting of the German writer Alderbert von Chamisso, who gave this name to the main hero of his book “The Extraordinary Story of Peter Schlemihl” (1814). But there is nothing bad in this name, on the contrary, Shlemi'el means My shalom (my peace) – the LORD. In the name of his father, Tzurishaddai, the word tzur appears again, which we have already talked about, that is, it is either Rock mine Shaddai, or He Who creates me – Shaddai.

The name Nachshon is a diminutive of the word nachásh (serpent), that is little serpent. We must remember and always keep in mind that our ancestors were not shy about giving such names as Kelév (dog), Ze'év (wolf), Chamór (donkey) or, as here, Nachshón (little serpent). This was not considered shameful, because a person was named so because of some qualities of the animal, stupidity was not necessarily meant, and it is not disgraceful. The name of his father, Amminadav, means my God is generous.

The mentor of the tribe of Yissachar is Netan'el (God gave) ben Tzu'ar. The name Tzu'ar comes from the word tza'ar – little helper, a lad who can easily help, a young helper, a support for his dad.

The name Eli'av means God is my father. The name Chelon – soldier, fighter, a valiant man.

The name Elishama means God heard me, or simply God heard. Amihud – my God is glorified. Gamli'el – the LORD delivered me. The verb lig'ól – to save, to deliver, go'él – deliverer, redeemer. Pdatzur – ransomer or my liberator, rock. This is another meaning of the word atonement, from the verb lifdót (to ransom). The verb padá (in the past tense) means that some ransom has been paid for a person, he has been taken out of captivity or set free. And this is also a name hinting at the Most High.

Avidan means my father judges. Gid'oni, this name is most likely connected with a place that is called Géda, that is Gedáite, if translated freely.

The name Achi'ezer means my brother is a help to me. Amishadai means my God – Shaddai.

Pagi'el – this means one who meets with God, one who prays with God. The name Achran comes from the meaning of the root achár (standing firm).

The name Elyasaf – my God will add, my God will bless me abundantly. The name De'u'el (Re'u'el) – one who knows God, both forms of the name are abbreviations of Daru'el.

The name Achira – my brother is close to me, this is a hint at the wish for peace in the family. The name Einan means a man with kind eyes, it comes from the word ayn – eye. Such were the names at that time.

That is, they acted quickly, they did not plan for long. On the same day they summoned the named men and gathered the whole community.

An interesting word, yityaldú – they genealogized them, if one translates directly. Toldót – this is genealogy, lehityaléd (from the same root yud-lamed-dalet, as the word lalédet, to give birth) – this literally means “to genealogize,” a word that occurs only here. That is, they drew up a family tree for them by families, for each of them.

From verse 20 begins the listing, for each of the tribes, of what number came out. This listing will be uniform, monotonous, and to some it may seem boring. Therefore, if it seems so to you, simply leaf forward, because further on there will be just the translation. If you are interested in reading the text in Hebrew, even this boring monotonous text, then welcome.

And further on the Torah speaks in the very same language, sometimes the Torah does not exercise itself much in a variety of language.

With this ends this long and, as it may seem to someone, tedious list. But one must remember that it was compiled by the command of the Most High.

Why so? Because concerning the Levites there will be a special, separate instruction.

The verb lifkód, which throughout the whole chapter we used in the meaning to take into account, to count, here has the meaning to appoint, to set (the word hafkéd is the imperative mood of the verb). For example, pakíd in modern Hebrew – employee, mefakéd – commander, pkudá – order, command, letavkéd – to function. Such a word with many meanings it is.

That is, the camp of Israel will be arranged so that in the very center there will be the Tent of Testimony, around it – the Levites, and around the Levites – the remaining tribes of Israel (we will read about this in the second chapter).

The Tent of Meeting is a great blessing for the people. But it is also a very dangerous object, if one relates to it without due awe, without due caution. And therefore the Levites are chosen for this service: they guard the Tent of Meeting not only from encroachments upon it itself, but also from someone among the people possibly suffering because of a disregard for safety rules, because of a careless attitude toward the Tent of Meeting. And the Most High warns: “Do not climb in, it will kill!” The Levites take care of the Mishkan, outsiders had better not touch (in this case an “outsider” is anyone who is not a Levite).

The people are divided into regiments, into armies, and all this must be arranged in a certain way.

With God's help, you and I continue studying the weekly portion Bemidbar and will read chapter 2. Like chapter 1, it is rather monotonous, and the same thing is repeated in it. And the reader may say: “Well, why do we need all these diagrams of the arrangement of the units, the listing of names and numbers, some of which were already mentioned in chapter 1? Why this repetition? The Word of God is not so voluminous as to include repetitions (so it may seem). They would do better to tell us something new, something we did not hear in the previous chapter.” These questions arise if you are not part of the people, if you are not on this list. But the Torah shows us in this repetition (perhaps really somewhat monotonous) that the Most High has care and a plan regarding every person. There is no gray mass, no crowd of extras and no corps de ballet: here every person is a soloist, every person is assigned to some place, to some army, for every person there is his own well-thought-out purpose. And although our lifetime is short compared with world history, each of us has his own tasks.

All the formations that will be discussed in our chapter are given for a short passage. It is not yet a matter of the forty-year stay in the desert, nobody knows about that at all. It is a matter of the people, during their short stay in the desert, having to be arranged in a certain way and to follow a certain route. For each one his own function is provided, all together, the whole people is one single body, but each one has his own function.

So, we read from verse 1 of chapter 2.

The word dégel in modern Hebrew is translated as flag, banner. In Shir haShirim it can mean a gaze: either that which draws the gaze, or the gaze itself. In this context, most likely, it is about the more ancient meaning of this word – unit, military unit.

Very many different books have been written about this: about flags, about banners, about emblems. Some say that each tribe had a flag of the color that corresponded to the color of the stone on the efod and that symbolized this tribe. Others say that on the flag there were some images from the blessing of Yaakov. There are many versions, but the Torah tells us almost nothing about these flags and emblems.

In the middle of the camp, at the very center, the Tent of Meeting is set up, it is the reference point for everything, the origin of any coordinate system in the camp of Israel, and everything is measured from this point. Directly in the first circle around the Tent of Meeting (as we read in the previous chapter) stand the Levites, and further on we will see a description of how the other tribes are arranged.

The camp is a kind of division that, as we will find out, unites three tribes, among which Yehuda will be the senior one. We analyzed the names of the chiefs of the tribes in the last chapter, so I will not explain them again.

We see that there are two meanings, two terms that the Torah will use: matté (headquarters) – part of a large machané (camp).

The headquarters of Zevulun is the third headquarters in the camp of Yehuda. We are now discussing those who stand ahead of all in the east, and we see Yehuda, Yissachar and Zevulun.

That is, as we have already said, when the whole camp of Israel is to move, the camp of Yehuda sets out first. The tribe of Yehuda is ahead of all, on one side of it will be the tribe of Zevulun, on the other side – the tribe of Yissachar.

That is, these three tribes, assigned to the camp of Re'uven, set out following the first three from the camp of Yehuda.

Perhaps here it makes sense to interrupt the monotonous listing and to recall the story (this question is often asked) that the tribe of Dan is absent from the list in the book of Revelation (7:5–8). And on this account very many unflattering things have been said about Dan: that it is, they say, not such a prosperous tribe, and the antichrist will come out of it, and nothing worthwhile will come out of it, and much else has been said. The tribe of Dan, which is mentioned here (and it is not a small one), unfortunately gradually dissolved among other peoples, and it is known from history that it was on the verge of disappearing already at the time when the sons of Israel went into dispersion: when the ten tribes of Israel went into dispersion, the tribe of Dan had almost disappeared. It was such a “fossil” tribe, and perhaps this is the most understandable reason why the tribe of Dan is not in the book of Revelation.

It is the same with a musical piece that an orchestra performs. If a person is on the stage and he has his own instrument, then there comes some moment – maybe a small one, maybe an insignificant one – when he plays his musical part in harmony with the other instruments, and without his playing the music will no longer be the same. And the Most High arranges the camp of the people of Israel like an orchestra, laying out the instruments before the playing in such a way that every instrument is needed. And any of us, simple people, can feel: as long as we are in this world, there is some part of our very own that we play in the common orchestra. And therefore, perhaps, one should not perceive the study of the whole musical score as something tedious.

It is interesting that in all the censuses – both in the initial one, and in the one that is here, and in the last one – we will not see any growth of the population. It is as if the same number of people is preserved in cans, plus or minus. Although 40 years will pass, and a certain growth of the population (perhaps not as large as in Egypt, when over 210 years a tremendous increase of the population took place), some increase of the population should have taken place. On this account there are many different versions, and it is interesting that one of the versions says that such is the order, this is not simply a symbolic number, this is the needed number so that the people would follow its path. For everything to work at that moment, exactly such a quantity of population was needed, exactly such a number of the people was necessary both for the exodus from Egypt and for the coming into the land.

We said that the Levites are not counted among the others, they are servants chosen for a separate service, for guarding the Tent of Meeting. From their camp, which stands around the Tent (the central circle), from them the whole count proceeds.

With God's help, we continue studying the weekly portion Bemidbar and will begin reading chapter 3, from verse 1.

Here, actually, is where it all began.

who were authorized for the kohanic service.

That is, three kohanim remained for the whole people of Israel: Aharon, the father, and his two sons – Elazar and Itamar.

At this point an attentive reader may ask: “Wait, wait! The Torah first said: here is the genealogy of Aharon and Moshe, and listed the sons of Aharon. But where are the sons of Moshe? Where are his children, about whom we know that they were born, that their names were Gershom and Eliezer, where are they? Why does the Torah say nothing about them?” Further on, too, we will read only about the sons of Aharon. We also know what happened to the sons of David, what happened to the sons of other well-known and authoritative personalities, teachers mentioned in the Tanach. But we know nothing about the sons of Moshe. The commentators say this: “Since Moshe taught, instructed the sons of Aharon in Torah, since he guided them in Scripture, the Torah counts the sons of Aharon among the sons of Moshe.” In this sense, on the spiritual level, everyone in Israel were children of Moshe, and, all the more so, his nephews, the sons of Aharon. When Amalek came and fought with Israel at Refidim (Shemot 17:12), Moshe's hands were held on one side by his nephew Chur, on the other – by his brother Aharon. Reading the Torah, we see that Moshe's family is active, his whole family is in service. And only his sons are neither seen nor heard. Other sources are silent about this too, we will find almost nothing on the topic of where the Mosesons went, where the sons of Moshe disappeared to. And yet some hints we can see. The midrash tells: “When Moshe met with Aharon (after the LORD was revealed to him on Mount Sinai), he asked Moshe: ‘And who are these people with you?’ And Moshe answered: ‘This here is my wife, Tzippora, nice to meet you. And these here are my sons.’ And Aharon said: ‘Wait. You want to bring your sons to Egypt? What, are there too few Jews there? We are now thinking about how to get the Jews out of Egypt, and you want to bring your little kids there as well? Send them to your father-in-law.’” And Moshe, as the tradition says, sends the children and his wife to his father-in-law, Yitro. And the children wait there for the moment when the giving of the Torah will be. Then Yitro brings Tzippora and the children with him to Moshe. And after that it is not so very clear whether a meeting takes place, whether there is any contact between Moshe and the children. The children did not take part in the crossing of the sea, in this whole process of the exodus from Egypt. And for this reason, it so happened that they are not part of the people that came out of Egypt, they are a kind of tourists. Often a people, a community, a society and even a family are created by suffering, shared experiences, shared labor. People say: “We have eaten a pood of salt together.” Few people say: “We ate a bucket of pastries together.” It is precisely hardships lived through together that unite. But the sons of Moshe did not take part in these hardships, were not involved in many of the fears, experiences, worries that united the people of Israel. The midrash tells that when Moshe prayed and asked (27:12) to appoint a man over the community, his successor, perhaps he had in mind one of his sons: “Appoint them instead of me, set them up after me.” But the Most High said (so says the midrash): “When Yehoshua ben Nun sat here poring and striving to learn, your children were amusing themselves outside.” They did not become part of the people that gained the Torah through suffering, did not go together with the people of Israel through sufferings, through trials, and therefore they got lost. The Torah is not passed on genetically by inheritance, it is impossible to pass on knowledge of Torah, a teacher's knowledge, by birth. The qualities of the soul necessary for the kohanic service can indeed be passed on by inheritance, children can inherit these qualities from their parents. Qualities, but not the knowledge of the parents: the Torah has to be received anew each time. On the one hand, it is open to everyone, and everyone who wants to can receive it. On the other hand, knowledge of the Torah cannot be left as an inheritance, each time this knowledge has to be earned, going along a hard path. Out of respect for Moshe, out of reverence for Moshe, the fact that with his children not everything turned out so smoothly is not put on display. And nevertheless – yes, we can say that the people, all his students – these are his children, and Moshe is comforted by this.

Aharon himself is also, of course, from the tribe of Levi, as we know, but the whole tribe is appointed as service staff for the kohanim. Before the kohen goes out to bless the people, he must wash his hands, and this is done by the Levites, they help the kohen in the Temple. This is a tradition that exists to this day wherever there are kohanim. During the morning prayer they go out before those assembled, take off their shoes, turn their faces toward the assembly, covering themselves with tallitot, stretch out their hands and bless the assembly. Today the help of the Levites comes down to some symbolic minimum, but nevertheless it exists, the Levites are still the service staff in the service of the kohanim.

All the service staff are the Levites; everything that is necessary to ensure a service of the kohanim unburdened by unnecessary worries, all of this the Levites organize.

On the one hand, a whole tribe of the sons of Israel, the tribe of the Levites (to which the kohen himself belongs), comes into the service of the kohen as a kind of tribute. On the other hand, the kohen himself serves the people of Israel in the Tent of Meeting.

 If previously every firstborn was to serve at the Tent of Meeting, now a tribe of the sons of Israel, the tribe of the Levites, is set apart for this service and, accordingly, there will appear the possibility and the commandment of the redemption of the firstborn.

 The LORD says that from the moment when He executed all the firstborn in Egypt, all the firstborn in the people of Israel are consecrated to the Most High. But the Most High puts the tribe of Levi into service instead of the firstborn, and, accordingly, as we said, we will have the commandment of the redemption of the firstborn, which we will talk about further on (3:46–47). Since what is consecrated once to the Most High is consecrated forever, the firstborn remain consecrated to the Most High, but they must be redeemed in order to free them from this service. It is possible (and this is an option) to give them to a kohen to be brought up. The kohen always asks about this during the redemption of a firstborn, although this is, of course, a formal question.

Let me remind you that in those times when the Torah was given, a person was considered to have survived if he lived to a month. Mortality among children was very high, therefore a person began to be considered a person from the age of one month. A boy lived to a month – that means he will, with God's help, live. And if we read that a person comes of age at 20 years, as the book of Vayikra says, from 20 years a person becomes an adult, then a Levite is called and appointed to service from the age of one month. What, it would seem, does a one-month-old child know? But nevertheless, from the age of one month he begins to be raised as a Levite.

 The name Livni – white or snow-white, perhaps also in the meaning righteous. Shimi – the one who listens.

Meanings of the names: Amram – my God is exalted; Yitzhar – the one who brings light; Chevron – the one who gives friendship, grace; Uzi'el – my strength is the LORD.

The name Machli means healing, Mushi – the one who pulls out, brings out into the light.

That is, each of the families will be responsible for some part of the Tent of Meeting. So finely and precisely are the rules of service laid out.

Here one can see the prototype of ancient surnames: Amram – Amrami, Yitzhar – Yitzhari and so on. By the way, the surnames Keati, Amrami exist to this day.

Elitzafan is a name that means the LORD hid, sheltered me, or the LORD directed me.

The name Tzuri'el – my rock is God or the one who creates me – God; Avichail – my father is a warrior, or my God – a warrior.

In all, twenty-two thousand people make up the tribe of Levi, the smallest of all the tribes.

With God's help, you and I continue studying the weekly portion Bemidbar, and we will read from verse 40 of chapter 3.

 We have already talked about this, it can be repeated once more, that from the age of a month and upward a child was considered to have survived. Until a month, by the standards of those times, an infant was neither alive nor dead. Whether he will survive or not, that is a big doubt. He lived to a month – that means he is a sturdy one, and we count him as alive, and Moshe must prepare a report on how many firstborn there are in the people of Israel.

 What does it mean: “Take for Me”? Why is it not written: “Give Me, hand over to Me the Levites”? Well, first of all, because the Levites do not belong to Moshe, he cannot give anyone to God. Take means take them on for the work. The Most High calls Moshe the ruler in His house, that is, Moshe is the house manager, and the Most High commands him to recruit the Levites for the service instead of the firstborn. The firstborn are released from the service, although they remain holy and need redemption, but in their place in the service the Levites must step in, every firstborn must be replaced by a Levite. The Most High, as it were, releases, dismisses the firstborn and hires the Levites. One can count some instead of others by such a holy barter, and this concerns both people and livestock.

In verse 39 of our chapter 3 we read that the number of the Levites came to twenty-two thousand. And here the Torah says that the firstborn came to twenty-two thousand two hundred seventy-three, that is, 273 firstborn more. But there is one nuance. The Torah did indeed say that the total count of the Levites is 22,000. If, however, we trust a calculator to check the count that the Torah gives there (verses 21, 28, 33), then we will see that in fact there are 22,300 Levites. Why then does the Torah round so strangely, or know mathematics so poorly? Most likely because the Torah takes into account in that count 300 firstborn from among the Levites. The Levites themselves also have firstborn, who are at the same time both firstborn and Levites. They, as it were, replace themselves with themselves, redeem themselves with themselves. Thus it turns out that there are 273 more firstborn than Levites.

 That is, each of these two hundred seventy-three “extra” firstborn, speaking in quotation marks, is worth five holy shekels, that is approximately 75 grams of silver.

With this, chapter 3 ends, and we will continue studying chapter 4. And a new topic begins.

The preparation (enrollment in the army) of a kohen and a Levite begins after thirty days, from the very youngest age, but the age of entering the service is thirty years, not twenty, but older. Apparently, the long preparation is necessary in order to teach a person how to live next to holiness, to be worthy of being a neighbor of holiness. The thing is that the work of the Levites is not only singing, as many understand it today. The Levites – they are both porters and cuttersiThe Russian word here can mean people who cut up carcasses or people who take something apart (here perhaps the Mishkan). Since it is unclear which is meant, it is translated literally as “cutters”., they labor at hard labor and at fifty they retire, they have an army retirement age.

Although the Torah announces that now there will be an account of the service of the sons of Kehat, the account will not be quite about that. The service of Kehat is the Levitical service, and before it the kohanim perform their own service.

 About the animal tachash there are many versions, it is such an amazing, unknown little beast: either a sea animal (from whose skin coastal people still make shoes for themselves), or a giraffe, or a little beast created by the Most High especially for this purpose. No one knows for sure which animal is meant here.

Aharon and his sons prepare everything for carrying. First they packed the ark and inserted the poles into it.

Here we see that even during the journey the grain offering remains on the table, even when the table is in a folded state.

That is, we see that the table with the loaves of the offering is also prepared for carrying by the kohanim.

All the packing of the Temple accessories is done by the kohanim for the maximum convenience of carrying them.

One of the meanings of the verb ledashén – to free, to clean from ashes, literally to de-ash. Tradition says that here another miracle takes place. When the altar is packed, prepared for carrying, that very fire which in its time came down from heaven remains on the altar in a certain potential form: it seems to burn, but in a wondrous way it damages neither the purple cloth nor the tachash skin. In this way the fire is preserved on the altar even during the journey, as it is commanded: the fire shall be on the altar all the time.

 The Most High gives clear instructions not only for making all the vessels, but also for packing them. He spells out this work thoroughly, gives the most detailed instructions, because careless handling of the Mishkan and its objects is a dangerous thing.

Here at last we have reached the topic announced in verse 4. When Aharon and his sons, the kohanim, pack up and close off all the holy articles, and they are all isolated, covered – then the sons of Kehat will come to carry them.

 Elazar ben Aharon is appointed quartermaster, head of the supply department over the whole Mishkan.

The Most High says here: “Observe the safety regulations.” And the safety regulations in the Mishkan, as we have said, are formulated simply: “Do not climb in – it kills.” Before calling the family of Kehat, the kohanim must pack everything, close everything off, so that the family of Kehat does not touch the holy articles directly, without insulation. And thanks to this the family of Kehat can serve safely. The Most High says: “Take care of your staff,” caring for the Levites.

And, actually, this is an instruction for us too: to treat the holy around us more carefully. Do we always take on ourselves the service for which we have, figuratively speaking, clearance? Often we can intrude into someone else's soul, enter people's personal territory, touch another person's Holy of Holies – there where only the Most High or a kohen appointed by Him should act. Taking His role upon ourselves, we thereby expose ourselves to mortal danger. If we want to serve like the family of Kehat, that is, to help haul loads, to carry the burdens of our friends, of those close to us – that is wonderful. The principle “if you want to help – help materially” is in fact not all that funny and fits quite well when we try to get into another person's soul. If we suddenly want to take on ourselves the service of Aharon, that is, to touch a person's Holy of Holies, his very heart, his soul, and to take up applied folk neurosurgery of the soul, then we may find ourselves in great danger. We can harm both ourselves and those whom we are trying to help. This is how the Hasidim understand this commandment and its application in our life. On the one hand, do not violate other people's boundaries, do not take on yourselves the functions of Aharon where you are a son of Kehat. On the other hand, do not let Levites in where only a kohen should enter, do not let Levites be kohanim in your heart.

Our weekly portion Bemidbar begins with these verses:

1. And the LORD spoke with Moshe in the desert of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after their going out from Egypt, saying:

2. “Take a count of the whole community of the sons of Israel by their families, by the house of their fathers, by the number of their names, all the males, head by head.”

The LORD commands Moshe to count everyone. What is this needed for? The Talmud says such a thing, such a principle: that which is counted does not dissolve in the majority. For example, in a sack of rice there are grains of rice. The grains of rice have no individuality at all, they all have the same face, and there is nothing special in these grains of rice. The same can be said of something bigger, for example, of a sack of nuts.

Unlike grains of rice or nuts, every person is a one-of-a-kind piece of work. Take, for example, the Louvre and one of its paintings, say, the “Mona Lisa.” A vandal rolls up, pretending to be disabled, in a wheelchair (this is a true story), smashes a cake against this painting and tries to destroy it in some other way as well. And this is not some mathematical destruction of one ten-thousandth of the Louvre's exhibits, it is the destruction of a separate, distinctive exhibit, which is valuable in itself, because that is what every painting, every exhibit of the Louvre is. All the more so a person: each one has his own separate value. And therefore the Most High commands Moshe to count the people of Israel, saying: “Count everyone, count everyone head by head.”

However huge the society a person is in, however large the community he is a member of, he is valuable to the Most High in himself. His birth on a particular date, at a particular time, at a particular hour, with particular qualities is foreseen by the Most High. Every person, with all his special qualities, is a unique work, a separate exhibit among all the creations of the Most High, valuable precisely because he differs from others, because he is not like others, because he has his own task.

And the people of Israel, when it moves through the desert and carries with it the banner of holiness, is, as it were, in a special war. Its movement is a battlefield in the war of the Most High, where the people defends holiness. And the Most High tells us that in this war there is no cannon fodder, there is no one who has no value at all, whose value is negligible. Each one is valuable in himself, each one is counted, each one is separate, there is no mass in which a person must dissolve, God forbid. On the contrary, a person needs to preserve the Divine qualities placed in him, to develop his individuality, his uniqueness. And through this, of course, every soldier of this war, every warrior recognizes his own value, recognizes that he is counted by the Most High, as, in fact, is each of us.

And for our encouragement more than that is said (Gospel of Matthew 10:30): “Even the hairs of your head are counted.” What does this mean? It does not literally mean that somewhere in some book it is written how many hairs I have on my head. It means that not one of my hairs will have anything happen to it in which the care of the Most High was not provided for. And something bad may happen in my life (something I perceive as bad), a misfortune may happen. There are situations when a person feels fear, lostness, uselessness; a great many different tragic situations happen in which we can find ourselves. But at the same time we are never deprived of God's accounting, we are not erased from the Divine bookkeeping, we are not rounded off for an even count, we do not dissolve among the multitude of grains of rice in a sack. And whatever happens to us – in this moment, in this situation there is a manifestation of the Most High's care for us, although sometimes this is very hard to feel. Sometimes we feel fear, hopelessness, abandonment, and, since we are human, we can forget about this care of the Most High, but it is there all the same, it is present in our life. And, considering our life, looking closely into it, we can still discern this care. And one of the ways of reading this verse, where the Most High says to Moshe: “Count the whole people of Israel head by head,” can be this: “Lift the heads, lift the heads of the Israelites!” that is, tell the Israelites: “Head high! Do not walk around with your heads hanging, do not hang your noses, head high in this war!” Even when despair floods over us, even when it feels as if for the hundredth time we are falling into the sawdust, into the boards, into the mud, and for the hundredth time we have to start everything all over again, one can hear: “Head high!”

We are counted. We are all exhibits in God's arena of action, we are all soldiers of the Divine battle, soldiers for whom there is the care of the Most High, for each of us. And this count, head by head, of the sons of Israel and the accounting of every hair on our head – this is our encouragement, which we have from the Most High, in order to be comforted by Him. When things are really bad for us, He cares for us. We are not a grain of rice that can get lost, not a sesame seed that can fall out of the sack unnoticed. We will not be forgotten, we will not be rounded off, we will not be erased, we will not be thrown as cannon fodder onto enemy pillboxes: we are counted, every hair on our head is accounted for. May the Most High bless all those who follow His will, study His Torah, seek His face, walk in His way. And grant us to feel His care for us, His presence in our life, and to sense our uniqueness as His creations. And grant us to see, to realize our special qualities, to develop ourselves, to become better and better, perfecting precisely our innate qualities, feeling this freedom – to be ourselves and not to dissolve in the majority.

In this talk we will speak about how exactly the process of counting the people is carried out. The Most High commands Moshe to register all the sons of Israel head by head, by their families, by their fathers' houses, by the number of their names, all the males head by head. And let us reread verse 3 of chapter 1:

So, first of all, in order to count the sons of Israel, Moshe and Aharon are needed. One could say that there are so many sons of Israel that Moshe alone will not manage, and he needs Aharon as a helper. But we do not see that Moshe counted half (three hundred thousand) and Aharon the other half, the other three hundred thousand – no, they count everyone together.

One more important detail. When the Torah tells us (in verse 1) where the matter takes place, it says: “…in the desert of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting.” But it is clear that if it is in the Tent of Meeting, then it is also in the desert of Sinai, since the Tent stands in the desert, so why does this need to be repeated? Such a question arises. In order to answer this question, I suggest looking carefully at the word tifkedú (count), which occurs in verse 3. The meaning of the root of this word (pe-kuf-dálet) – is commanding, assigning of functions, putting into action, that is, commissioning for operation. The word mefakéd in Hebrew is commander, pkudá means order, command, pakíd – employee, lifkód – is to be registered. That is, if you translate literally, then tifkedú is not count, but put on the register, take account of, define specific functions. And the place of such registration is both the desert of Sinai and the Tent of Meeting. Thus, there are some two separate options, which need to be set, need to be defined for each person.

Moshe is the person through whom the Torah was given, he is the one who leads the people of Israel through the Sinai desert. Every person has his own definite purpose, his own function, service in this world, and this is Moshe's department. When Moshe registers people with himself, with Moshe, a registration in the Torah, he determines what function, what purpose each person has. This is what is connected with the desert of Sinai, what is connected with the Torah and its observance. What are we intended for? What is given to us with ease? Where is our work done with inspiration? Where do we feel our calling? That is, it is this very calling that is recorded, fixed with Moshe when the people are counted.

And what about Aharon? Aharon is responsible here for the Tent of Meeting itself. And the essence of the Tent of Meeting is contained in the words of the Most High: “You build it for Me, build Me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell among you.” The essence of the Tent of Meeting is that the light of God is revealed in each of us.

So, we can say that the Torah and Moshe – are a person's head. That is why it speaks of a head-by-head count (the word gulgólet, skull, is used). That is, each person is recorded according to his purpose, according to his function, according to his uniqueness. Aharon and the Tent of Meeting – this is the extent to which the Divine light, the Divine presence is revealed in this service. These are those very two options, which we spoke about: each person has not only his own unique purpose, but also has a degree of burning, the degree to which a person is inspired, how much his heart strives to fulfill this service, how much he gives himself, all his heart (or not all his heart), how hotly the fire of the service for which he is intended burns in him. This is determined by Aharon's function.

One can put it this way: Moshe is responsible for recording a person's purpose; Aharon is responsible for the battery for this service. The more a person burns, the more faithful he is in this service of his, the more he has kindled the flame in his heart, the greater the source of energy he connects to, the more the bellows of his flame are blown from above. And the function of the head is inseparably connected with the function of the heart. As a car has an engine that sets it in motion, fuel that is poured into the gas tank – so the human heart gives the burning for carrying out the service of the head, for carrying out the Divine commandments. One can be called and serve with all one's heart, but this does not always work out: sometimes we come to serving with all our heart gradually. But, one way or another, this registration of the uniqueness of each person includes not only his specific function, his specific unique service, but also the uniqueness of his devotion to his service. And a person can kindle the fire of his service more, more and more. He can grow in this service of his not only through perfecting his experience, but also through the fire of the heart that warms up this service.

And this registering of each person, this counting, it happens constantly. There is the study of the Torah, there is the study of Scripture, there is prayer, and one can join, combine this in such a way that our prayer is in the place where we study the Torah, that the Torah directs our prayers, that our prayer is for our service, for our purpose, that our burning is there. That is, we are given not only a unique task, but there is also a unique care for its fulfillment, and both the one and the other are unique. Care is taken of each of us (not only of every hair on our head), we are watched, how much we burn, so that in accordance with our burning our bellows are blown: whoever is faithful in little receives more. Faithfulness at the very first stage of our service leads to our being given more and more heartfelt care. We overflow, are strengthened, are filled with spirit, are filled with strength for our service. So, figuratively speaking, the brain and the heart, our spiritual brain and our spiritual heart, work in the service of the Most High.

What takes place is not simply a counting, a registration, we do not simply get a serial number, we get care for our purpose, we are given a specific assignment, we are assigned to a specific front of work, we are given fuel, ammunition for this battle. May the Most High bless us, so that our hearts overflow with this spirit of service, so that in our calling we serve with a burning heart and burning eyes, so that we can kindle the hearts of others too.

In our weekly portion Bemidbar we read about how the service of the Levite families at the Tent of Meeting is to be distributed. Each of the families of the Levites receives a particular sphere of service for itself. A special service falls to the family of the sons of Kehat. This family is appointed to serve at the Holy of Holies, including carrying the ark of the covenant. On the one hand, we know that this is a great honor, and each of us, I am sure, would like to take at least a peek at this ark. On the other hand, we know how dangerous this is. Probably everyone has read the story of what happened to Uzza, son of Avinadav (2 Shmuel 6:6). When David was transporting the ark, Uzza saw that the oxen had tilted the cart too much, and he only wanted to touch it, to steady the ark, and he died from this touch. There is honor, but there is also danger. Therefore, for those who are engaged in this service, the Torah gives a special warning. In verses 18–19 of chapter 4 of our weekly portion Bemidbar we read: “Do not cut off the tribe of the families of Kehat from among the Levites. And this is what you shall do for them, so that they live and do not die when they approach the Holy of Holies: let Aharon and his sons go in and set each of them at his work and at his burden.” The Most High says: “Let the sons of Aharon, the kohanim, prepare, cover everything necessary and put each one of the family of the Levites in his place and say: you carry here, you take here, and you take here, and you take there,” otherwise they will die. Yes, as we said, carrying the ark is very dangerous, but also very honorable. And on this topic there is a dispute among the sages in the midrash Vayikra Rabba.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Padat says that since carrying the ark was dangerous, everyone who was assigned to it tried to run away from this service as fast as his legs would carry him and said: “Look, I have already taken the lampstand. Look, we are already carrying the covering, I am busy, I have taken up something else, I am not ready to carry the ark now, it is frightening and dangerous.”

Rabbi Shmuel bar Nachman disputes with him and says: “On the contrary, precisely because carrying the ark was a great honor, all who were worthy of it, and all who were not worthy, wanted to carry precisely the ark. No one wanted to carry the covering or some small Temple vessels, it had to be precisely the ark that one touched.” In both the one case and the other, the glory of the ark was demeaned.

The dispute of these two sages also concerns what happens in our life. When we have no Temple, no Temple vessels, this dispute, as it were, sets limits for us on two sides. There are people who say: “I am not ready for something great. Not ready, and that's all! I will do some small things, simple things, everyday, routine things. I am a small person, how could I come anywhere near the ark, all I'm fit for is selling sunflower seeds here. For something great, for something that will demand too much strength from me, that will demand too close an approach to the Most High from me, for that I do not agree.”

On the other hand, there are people who say: “Ah, any task is within my reach, I can do everything, I will not lug around the table, the candles, I will not deal with trifles, give me precisely the ark! I am not ready to fritter myself away on trifles. Only great deeds! Only what changes the world, only what is for stadiums, only what is for the broad masses. Only such things am I ready to do.”

A person must tell himself that he is capable of great deeds, must be able to urge himself on to great deeds, not be afraid of great deeds and not excuse his refusal of great deeds by the fact that he is busy with small deeds. At the same time a person must not neglect small deeds and the care of some trifles. Even if you are very great, very strong and very wise, you still must not neglect some simple, banal, everyday, routine things either. Nothing should seem petty and unworthy to you. That is, these two sages tell us from different sides: “Do not fall into either the one or the other extreme.”

In the Talmud, in tractate Megila, on folio 31, there is this amazing remark: “Every time you read about the greatness of the Most High, you also read about the humility of the Most High.” And the text of verse 17 of chapter 10 of the book Devarim is cited: “For your LORD, He is the God of gods and the Sovereign of sovereigns, the Great, Mighty and Fearsome God.” And when we read this, it seems to us: “Well yes, truly, to every word, yes and amen! He is the God of gods, the Sovereign of sovereigns, the Great, Mighty and Fearsome God, the All-Powerful, and there is no one stronger than Him.” But at the same time, in the next verse, 18, we read: “He executes judgment for the orphan and the widow, loves the stranger, providing him with bread and clothing.” That is, this Great, Fearsome, All-Powerful, Mighty God, speaking of His greatness, immediately says that He cares for the orphan, for the widow, for those whom society usually neglects. And He does not simply care for them, but provides them with bread and clothing, literally feeds and clothes the simplest people.

This is a lesson for us too. We must not fall into the extreme of thinking that we are not made for trifles, we are not made for routine, we are made for something great. At the same time, we must not fall into the other extreme either and say: “Our business is small, we are small people. We will cut our coat according to our cloth. We are not made for great deeds, if only we could sort out the trifles here.” We can cope with any situation, we can solve global problems or take part in solving them. But we are also not ashamed, not offended to deal with trifles and to solve the problems of people who seem unimportant, insignificant to us, although one should not treat any person with disdain. Their problems may seem petty to us, but we should not consider them so. That is, we can carry out any task that the Most High sets before us.

The Torah requires of a person who intends to serve the Most High to combine in himself love for the great, love for great deeds, readiness to take on great deeds, with an absence of disdain for small deeds, so that small deeds feel just as great. Because all, all deeds add up to the common service of the One Most High, who is Infinitely Great. And behind a small deed one can see the Most High in exactly the same way as we see Him behind a great deed. Therefore the Most High has no petty clerk, just as He has no big boss either. All serve Him, doing their own work, and in their own place they become the main one in this work, in the work of their service to the Most High. We must learn not to divide deeds by size, to do small ones like big ones, and big ones – like small ones. May the LORD bless us to feel ourselves ready at all times and to see no tasks too small for us, nor tasks too great, so that every hat fits us, so that every task is within our strength.

In our weekly portion Bemidbar, in chapter 4, we read this command of the Most High:

2. “Appoint the sons of Kehat from among the sons of Levi, by their families, by the house of their fathers,

3. From thirty years and upward to fifty years, everyone who comes into the host (fit for service) to do the service in the Tent of Meeting.

Here the same term is used, fit for service, as coming into the host, into the army. The Levites are called up for service, this is a kind of army service of the Levites. It begins at twenty-five with training, at thirty the service itself begins, and at fifty the time comes to retire, the time to go on pension.

With what should a Levite or a retired kohen fill his life? We will partly find the answer to this question in the eighth chapter of our book Bemidbar, that is, in the weekly portion Behaalotecha.

24. “This is the command for the Levites: from twenty-five years and older they shall come into the host for service in the sanctuary.

25. And from the age of fifty years he shall leave the working army and shall no longer work,

26. But he shall continue to serve with his brothers before the Tent of Meeting, to stand guard, but at the work he shall not work. So you shall do with the Levites in their service.”

Here we read that, as a matter of fact, at his fifty the Levite does not go anywhere, he serves as a guard for his brothers at the Tent of Meeting. To put it in modern language, he stays on at the Temple as a watchman, walks around the Temple Mount with a rifle and, if someone comes, shouts: “Halt, who goes there?!”

But in fact this is not what it is about at all. One of the possible understandings is that a person already has experience, has wisdom and begins to share this wisdom. Rabbi Ovadya of Bertinoro (Bartenura) says, commenting on this place, that it is precisely on this passage of the Torah that the thought from the tractate Pirkei Avot (Sayings of the Fathers) rests: at fifty a person begins to possess the potential to give advice. Let me quote a passage from that part of Pirkei Avot (chapter 5:22) which we are talking about.

“At five a person must begin the study of the Written Torah…at thirteen – take upon himself the burden of the commandments (he is already responsible for his own fulfillment of the commandments. Even before that he is brought up in the commandments, but he begins to answer for fulfilling them at thirteen)…at eighteen – it is time to marry, at twenty – to become a provider (that is, to open up the sources of his earnings or, one could say in modern language, to build his business), at thirty – strength comes, at forty – maturity of mind, at fifty – a person gains the right to give advice…”

Of course, what is meant here is the potential to give advice. Wisdom does not necessarily come with age: as they say, sometimes age comes alone. But by fifty, as a rule, a person (and today a fifty-year-old person is full of strength in every respect, still, perhaps, quite a man) stops thinking in black and white. Some experience comes, wisdom comes, and such a Levite can instruct other Levites, and one of the tasks of the Levites is to teach the people Torah, to answer certain questions. And the fifty-year-old Levite (of course, not all of them are meant) teaches the young Levites not to act rashly, to be wiser, teaches them to listen, teaches them to hear, teaches them to speak so that they are understood. That is, the fifty-year-old Levite is a keeper of the tradition, a keeper of experience and a kind mentor for others, this is a completely different service.

One of the commentators of the books Netivot Sholom of Rebbe Admor of SlonimiThe Russian literally says “one of the commentators of the books Netivot Sholom of Rebbe Admor of Slonim”. It is unclear whether this means the Slonimer Rebbe himself, the author of Netivot Shalom, so the wording was kept literal. tells how he pictures this scene: “Until fifty a person lives, as it were, at a certain speed. One has to hurry: at five – one has to begin studying the Torah, at thirteen – one has to prepare oneself for keeping the commandments, at eighteen – to marry, at twenty – to build a business, at thirty – to gather strength, at forty – maturity of mind, by fifty one can calm down.” In the end he reaches a new level of a calm, wise life. By fifty a person, as a rule, has built everything for himself for a new, calm life, one could say that life only begins at fifty. If by these fifty years of his a person has worked enough, has built himself up enough, then he can also realize his potential to give advice. People will really come to him for advice, they will want to hear him, they will want to listen to him, they will want to know his opinion, they will want to share something with him. This will be his service.

Of course, like every person who has reached such an age, one could say an elderly person (although today it is hard to speak of a fifty-year-old person as elderly), he also has certain weaknesses, certain difficulties. And, speaking about this, I would like to end this talk with a text called “Prayer of an Elderly Person.” And one may not fully agree with this text and may find some theological rough edges in it, but it is still a very interesting text, and I very much want to share it with you.  “LORD, You know better than I that I will soon grow old. Keep me from the fatal habit of thinking that I am obliged to say something on every occasion. Save me from the urge to meddle in everyone's affairs in order to improve something. Let me be thoughtful, but not a bore, helpful, but not a despot. Guard me from the temptation to lay out endless particulars in detail. Give me wings, so that in my weakness I may reach the goal. Seal my lips if I want to start talking about illnesses: there are more and more of them, and the pleasure of telling about them endlessly is ever sweeter. I do not dare ask you to improve my memory, but increase my love of people. Tame my self-assurance when my good memory happens to clash with the memory of others. One thing I ask, LORD: do not spare me when You have the chance to teach me a brilliant lesson, proving that I too can be wrong. If I knew how to be warm-hearted, preserve this ability in me. Truly, I do not intend to turn into a saint, some of them are unbearable at close quarters. Yet people of a sour disposition are also the crowning creation of the devil himself. Teach me to discover good where it is not expected, and to recognize unexpected talents in other people.”

Read also the portion Naso, the portion Behaalotecha, the material on the garments of the priests and the weekly portions of the Torah.