Numbers: A Love Story
Rashi explains that the lists and numbers that Bamidbar starts with are reflective of G-d's love for the Jewish. When you cherish something you repeatedly count it. Hashem counted us three times in one year as an expression of His love of the Jewish People.
This concept of counting what is beloved relates directly to our lives. We collect baseball cards as kids, shot glasses as adults, and repeatedly look over our treasures, assessing the value of each piece. We balance our checkbooks, and count our change, due to our affection for money. On the holiest level parents gaze for hours at each of their sleeping children.
It's not just the literal counting that shows love, but the attention paid. This is what Rashi means by saying that counting reflects love.
When Hashem took us out of Egypt He carried us, cherished us. And He counted us. Shortly after the expression of love that was the Exodus From Egypt the Jewish People strayed and our Father disciplined us with love. And then He counted us. And, when He rested His Presence upon us in the Mishkan He lovingly counted us.
These 3 times that G-d counted us can be applied to relationships of love in life: The first rule of love is giving. We must use G-d's carrying us out of Egypt as a lesson of care and concern for others. However, just like G-d, we must show our love through setting of boundaries as well. And as G-d showed us when He rested His presence upon us, sometimes when you love someone there is value in spending time, not to give in a specific way and not to discipline, but just to be together, in love.
These 3 ingredients: care, discipline, and attention need to be nurtured in relationships. We can each in our own way do our best to emulate G-d. May G-d in his love for us bless us in the art of love.
posted by rabbi neil fleischmann @ 2:28 PM
4 Comments:
Wow.
It is so appreciated.
This is such a wonderful , beautiful way of experiencing Hashem's love. It teaches the necessary steps in any loving relationship.
(As a child, my parents didn't express love or teach how to love, and I always search for the proper meaning of this powerful four letter word. Your writing is full of depth and truth, I want to internalize it.)
G-d created the world to do good. And after all- (childhood, growing up etc.) I'll say, there is no good, better than love. Feeling the love of Hashem, or closeness of a friend that trully cares...
The world is complex, and I realize there are challenges even in things that are good and should be easy. But clearly it can be aquired, Hashem teaches us how to.
(Perhaps our counting these days shows our anticipation to be mekabel the Torah- because of our love for it. Torah should be about love. Love for Hashem, people, etc.)
Thanks agian for sharing it.
Shabbat Shalom
Take a census of the entire assembly of the children of Israel…
Numbers 1:2
Because they [Israel] are dear to Him, He counts them at all times. When they departed from Egypt He counted them, and when they fell at the [sin of the Golden] Calf He counted them… and [here] when He came to rest His Divine Presence upon them, He counted them
Rashi on Numbers 1:1
Some of us find it in our families. Some find it in our jobs. Still others find it in religion. Although the results may differ, the search is the same: to find meaning and purpose in our lives. A common thread that binds mankind is the need to feel that our existence serves some purpose; that we are not just the result of an accident of birth, but necessary components in the fulfillment of a mission of cosmic proportions. This feeling is perhaps the most essential ingredient of a healthy psyche, fueling the desire to set goals and achieve them.
In the course of human development, it is parents who should first play the crucial role of infusing their children with feelings of worth and value. Tragically, we now live in an era when more and more children grow up without this feeling. Instead, they experience a sense of inadequacy and are engulfed by the confusion that an emotion of worthlessness yields. Torah, in its timeless wisdom, recognizes this essential need and addresses it in a manner that is at once comforting and empowering, at times through the simple act of counting.
Numbers
Throughout the Chumash, G-d instructs Moses to count the Jewish people on four separate occasions.[1] These are instructions of such great importance that, based on the directive given at the beginning of our parsha, the entire fourth book of the Torah [Bamidbar] is referred to as the “Book of Countings.”[2] But what was the purpose of these countings? Obviously, it was not merely to take a census, for G-d, with his all-encompassing knowledge, certainly knew how many we numbered. We must therefore conclude that there was another, more profound, intention behind this commandment.
Torah, as with everything that exists, is comprised of both “body” and “soul.”[3] The “body” of Torah includes the narrative and those areas that deal with the more mundane aspects of our lives: Halacha, the laws that one must adhere to on a daily basis. However, Torah’s “soul” comprises the more sublime, esoteric teachings and the philosophies that they contain.
Just as man’s body and soul are fused together as a singular, cohesive and seamless unit, the same is true of the “body” and “soul” of Torah: even within the “body” of Torah there are embedded the most profound lessons, ones that may be thought to be the province of its “soul.” One must first, however, strip away the external layers of a particular law or directive to reveal its fundamental principles and underlying truths, for only then do these lessons emerge.
Now, regarding the deeper dimension of counting, there is a Talmudic law that states that in specific circumstances a food item whose consumption is prohibited may be considered as nullified when a minute quantity of it is accidentally mixed with permitted ones.[4] One of the exceptions to this rule is when the forbidden item is one that is usually sold by number and not by weight. Then, regardless of how minute the percentage of prohibited food found in the mixture may be, the forbidden item is never nullified and the entire mixture is deemed unfit for consumption.[5]
The reasoning behind this ruling is that things that are counted are deemed to have an intrinsic value and importance, one that is not diminished or nullified by it being mixed with anything else.
This now explains why G-d caused the Jewish people to be counted when He already knew their number. By commanding Moses to count the people, G-d was declaring the worth of every single Jew, emphasizing that they are valuable enough to be counted.
What is the special importance and value of each Jew? Each of us has a mission to fulfill; a mission that is specific to him and cannot be realized by anyone else, yet one which affects the entire cosmic vision. Thus, every Jew has an infinite, irreplaceable value.
So G-d was not merely relaying a directive to Moses. He was telling each one of us to utilize our specific talents, thereby fulfilling our unique potential, to enable us to accomplish our particular mission. By relating this in the Torah, G-d ensured that this message would be accessible to everyone, for all time.
Perpetual Meaning
Now we can understand Rashi’s statement that due to G-d’s love of His people, “He counts them at all times.” The Jewish people were counted four times over the course of the Five Books. How does this warrant the description “at all times”?[6]
However, Rashi is not referring to the census per se, but rather to the effect of the countings. For the feelings of self-worth and importance that were revealed through the counting process remained perpetually with the people and imbued them “at all times.”
The same can be said for us in our day and age. Although we are not actively being counted by Divine directive, when we read about these episodes in the Torah, we are given the strength to realize how precious we are to G-d, and how vital it is that we conduct our lives in accordance with His values. G-d Himself is declaring our worth every single moment—one just needs to listen and behave accordingly.
Based on addresses of the Rebbe given Shabbat Parshat Bamidbar 5722 (1962) and 5724 (1964)[7]
Rabbi Neil, this is a gorgeous piece.
To both anonymous', amazing!
Anonymous 5:30 PM, everything you said feels powerful, beautiful, and true. Your words really resonate for me. Thank you.
thank you for all the positive feedback. i feel blessed to have thought of my way of framing these ideas. may we really be blessed to live it.
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