The tribe of Levi was counted separately from the rest of the nation, and, whereas the rest of Bnei Yisrael were counted from the age of twenty, the Leviyim were counted from the age of one month. The Midrash, cited by Rashi (3:16), noted the logistical problem that this posed. Moshe turned to God and asked “How am I supposed to go into all their homes, and into all their tents, to know the number of their infants?” If even the young children were being counted, this meant that Moshe needed to go into every home to check how many children were there. Clearly, this was not practical.
The Midrash tells that Hashem replied to Moshe, “You do yours, and I’ll do Mine.” Moshe went to every Levite home, stood outside the door, and a voice from heaven announced to Moshe how many children were in the home. The Midrash explains on this basis why the Torah says that Moshe counted the Leviiim “by the word of God.” Quite literally, the Midrash states, this counting was done by God’s words, as God told Moshe the number of children in each family in the tribe of Levi.
Rav Yisrael Meir Druk raises the question of why it was necessary for Moshe to go to each tent. If he in any event needed God to tell him how many young Leviyim lived in each tent, so why didn’t he just stay home and receive the information there? What purpose was served by going to each home?
Rav Druk explained that the Midrash here is teaching us about the importance of hishtadlus, of taking initiative and investing effort. Of course, we believe that our successes and achievements depend solely on Hashem, and that nothing we do could ever succeed without His assistance. Nevertheless, Hashem created the world in such a way that we need to put in the work. Our parnasa is in His hands, but we cannot spend our days lying on the couch and expect Hashem to take care of our bills. Whatever it is that we need to get done, we must invest as much effort as we can, and trust that Hashem will fill in the blanks, that He will step in to do what we are incapable of doing. As the famous Mishna in Avos (2:16) teaches us, “You are not obliged to complete the work, but neither are you free to refrain from it.” We have to do our best, and then rely on Hashem for the rest.
The Midrash relates that when Pharaoh’s daughter saw a basket with an infant floating in the river, she couldn’t reach it. She extended her arm, and then a miracle occurred, and her arm grew long enough to take the basket. This description aptly captures the message of hishtadlus. Our “arms” aren’t always going to be “long” enough to achieve all that we want to achieve. But this does not mean that we shouldn’t try. We must extend our “arm” as far as it can go, put in the work and effort, and ask that Hashem step in to extend our “arm” even further so we can reach our goals.
