Bamidbar / במדבר

This week's parsha, Bamidbar, kicks off a new book of the Torah - איזה כיף!

As always, the Hebrew name of the first parsha is the same as the name of the book, so Bamidbar is the also the name of the book.

In English it's called the Book of Numbers. In my opinion, this is one of the rare cases where the English name is more fitting than the Hebrew name. One of the main features of ספר במדבר are the censuses that God commands to be carried out. More on this later.

Not to be outdone, the Book of Numbers also has an additional Hebrew name, חומש פקודים, or the book of counting. This is the best name yet, because the Hebrew root פ.ק.ד denotes not just generalized counting, but can also mean taking authority of something, like commander - מפקד.. Other forms of the verb can mean appoint, or even agent or clerk. All of these terms are very applicable to this week's parsha, and the book in general.

The book starts off with God speaking to Moses, telling him to take a census of the people.

שְׂאוּ אֶת רֹאשׁ כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם בְּמִסְפַּר שֵׁמוֹת כָּל זָכָר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָם:

"Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel, by families following their fathers' houses; a head count of every male according to the number of their names."
(Numbers 1:2)

At first, this seems like an odd request - why would God need to know how many Israelites there were at the time? For a God who can part the sea and bring down manna from the heavens, a simple head count shouldn't be too much of a challenge.

As always, Rashi helps us out: [he counted them] Because they were dear to Him, He counted them often. When they left Egypt, He counted them (Exod. 12:37); when [many] fell because [of the sin] of the golden calf, He counted them to know the number of the survivors (Exod. 32:28); when He came to cause His Divine Presence to rest among them, He counted them. On the first of Nissan, the Mishkan was erected, and on the first of Iyar, He counted them."

This is a nice image - God is like the record collector in the movie High Fidelity, endlessly sorting and resorting his records in different ways, and constantly making different "top 10" lists. A nice sentiment, but let's look deeper.

The Hebrew word choice is revealing here. As happens so frequently when translating Biblical Hebrew, translators try to make sense of the text, and don't just translate word for word. While this may get the main point across, the subtlety of meaning and beauty of the language is completely lost.

The Hebrew reads שאו את ראש כל עדת ישראל - literally "lift up the heads" of the Community of Israel. So how does taking a census "lift up the heads of Israel?"

I thought of three main ways:

First off, censuses focus on individuals, not groups. God does not want an estimation of how many Israelites there are, God wants to know exactly (well, at least how many male head of households there are….).

This is a huge contrast to life in Egypt. where we were not individuals at all. Our identity was only group based. If one of us was injured during a day of work, another was immediately switched into his place - one cog in the wheel is the same as any other.

When a group wants to degrade another group, they can do it by dehumanization, which is another way of saying "to take away uniqueness." This is why the Nazis gave us numbers, identical clothes, and crew cuts. Emotionally speaking it's a lot easier to do harm to a group than it is to an individual, with name, a history, a personality.

Judaism takes the opposite approach. Each person, made in the image of God is precious, and indeed, saving one life is like saving the world.

So the first way that the census raises up our heads is to take note of our individualism, our uniqueness.

The second way of "raising the heads" is inspired by the venerable Psalm 121:

שיר למעלות , אשא עיני אל ההרים, מאין לבוא עזרי?

"A song to the ascents. I raise my eyes to the mountains, from where will my help come?"

עזרי מעם ה', עושה שמים וארץ

"My help comes from God, maker of heaven and earth"

The psalmist is reminding us of the ultimate source of hope in tough times, God. This must have been a very stark reality for the Israelites, who saw first hand how God gave them the strength to defeat the armies of Amalek. When Moses's staff was lowered, Amalek gained the upper hand. Only by Moses fulfilling God's will were the totally un-battle-hardened Israelites able to triumph.

Just a few parshiot back, we witnessed the Divine presence entering the Mishkan, so God's presence was truly felt all around us, in a very physical sense. By lifting the eyes of each individual up the heavens, we are reminded of our absolute need of the holy presence.

Our parsha also details the formation in which the B'nai Israel traveled. The Mishkan was in the center, guarded closely by the Levis and surrounded on all four sides by the tribes, in an organized fashion. Each Israelite played in keeping safe our only sense of survival in the harsh wilderness!

The final "lifting of heads" is inspired by the 3rd part of the Priestly Blessing:

יִשָּׂא ה' פָּנָיו אֵלֶיךָ וְיָשֵׂם לְךָ שָׁלוֹם:

"May the God lift up His face unto you and give you peace"

Not only do we lift up our heads towards God, but God lifts up his "face" towards us. Without us as partners of the Covenant, God's marvelous creation is unfulfilled. Sure, the animals and plants perform God's will, but they have no choice.

Humans are the only beings that can choose - in this sense we can overpower God, because our free will is absolute, at least in my opinion.

We are God's great hope. This is why God tried again after the generation of the flood, and wasn't content to let humans go the way of the dinosaurs. We are an essential part of God's creation, so after we raise our heads to God, God raises God's "head" towards us.

In placing the census here, the Torah's timing is impeccable. After the details of the priestly code, and all the worry about purity and impurity, God once again reminds us of his love for us, that he will be there for us, and that he needs us, no matter where we are in life. More than this, God's love is not just for B'nai Israel as a whole, but for every single member of the tribe.

I want to bless everyone here today to walk the streets with the feeling that God's loves you - because God does.