This Shabbat, we will be commencing our reading of ספר במדבר, the Book of Numbers, so called because of the commandments within it to take a census of the nation.
The Ramban gives two different commentaries, on why it was important for this census to be taken.
In his first commentary he says, it was to show the greatness of the Almighty. Despite all that we endured during our travels in the wilderness, God guaranteed that our numbers would be high and the Jewish people would remain intact.
In his second commentary, the Ramban says that actually it’s in the methodology of the counting that the reason can be found. It was to give the Israelites the experience of what happened.
In our Parasha we are told ‘במספר שמות’, count the nations, says G-d, according to the ‘number of their names’. There was something to do with the names there. And the Ramban explained that for each tribe, the members lined up and then they were introduced to the leaders of the nation and the tribe. A person would come along and say his name and then there would be a little bit of a conversation. And so, on all of these occasions, individuals felt important, that the leaders knew who they were through their names. They had a relationship with them and those names were counted.
Rav Soloveitchik, zt’l, tells us that in these two commentaries of the Ramban, you actually find two different elements being highlighted. In the first commentary, what is important to us is the סך הכל, ‘the total number’ – the totality of all the people. In the second commentary, what matters to us is the individual members of the nation, the people who make up that total figure.
Rav Soloveitchik goes on to say, ‘Let us say that you are in a store and you purchase something which cost ₪27. So you are at the register and you’re asked ‘okay, please pay for it’ and you give the money.
The next day you bump into somebody who will say ‘Oh, how much did it cost you?’ And you’ll know: ₪27. But then they’ll say to you, ‘well, how did you pay for it – with a ₪20 note, ₪10 coin, ₪5 coin, was it coins? Was it a ₪50 note?’ You won’t remember because what counted was the סך הכל, ‘the total figure’. You had to be honest to give the ₪27.
Now let’s say you are a school teacher and you are taking 27 pupils on a tour of a museum – on the bus, off the bus, in the museum, out of it – that number 27 will be important to you, not because 27 is important but because each ingredient of the 27 is important. If G-d forbid one would be missing and it would be 26 – that would be terrible.
So Rav Soloveitchik taught from here that we learn first of all, about the importance of the סך הכל, ‘the total number’. It’s important for us to know how many members we have in our communities, how many students we have in our schools, what the number of our nation is, but at the same time, we shall never forget the importance of the ingredients making up the nation, the fact that every single person counts.
So I bless you to always see the ‘ingredients’ of every human being and let’s pray with all our hearts for all those who need a recovery from sickness, for the release of the hostages, as well as praying for our soldiers and healthcare professionals, and Chevra Kadisha members worldwide, and for those who need healing, shidduchim, children and parnassah and may we be blessed to have the most awesome, gorgeous, beautiful, peaceful, healthy, amazing, relaxed, spiritual, sweet, and happy Shabbat.
NUMBER OF MITZVOT: NONE
NUMBER OF PESUKIM: 159
NUMBER OF WORDS: 1823
NUMBER OF LETTERS: 7393
HAFTORA: Hoshea 2:1 - 22
This week we study Chapter 6 of Pirkei Avot.
Sunday, June 9, 3 Sivan, marks the beginning of the שלשת ימי הגבלה—the three days before Shavuot, on which the Bnei Yisrael purified themselves before receiving the Torah.
Shavuot is Wednesday, June 12.
