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EVERY JEW COUNTS

BEGIN WITH A GRIN

One Erev Shavuos, a mother is baking a cheesecake in the kitchen. Suddenly, she discovers that her son is trying to connect the cottage cheese to the electrical charger plugged into the wall.

Mother (shouting): “What are you doing???”

Child: “I saw it only has 3%…”

WHO’S COUNTING?

This week’s parsha, Bamidbar, begins a new book of the Torah called by our Sages Chumash HaPekudim, “The Book of Countings.” The reason for this name is very simple. In Sefer Bamidbar (especially at its beginning), the Torah tells us about several instances where the Jewish people were counted. In fact, most of Parshas Bamidbar deals with this topic – the census of the tribes of Israel. Every person from twenty years old and upward (except for the tribe of Levi, who were counted from one month old) was required to register according to their family and tribe, with Moshe, Aharon, and the leaders of the tribes supervising this great undertaking.

“And here the son asks”: Why? For what purpose do we need to interrupt the busy daily routine, stop the entire course of life, and… be counted! Does this “military census” contribute to anything?! Does it accelerate our entry into the Promised Land, or will we attain some kind of spiritual goal through it?! The question becomes stronger considering that the matter of counting seems to be a “hobby” of G-d. Time and again, Hashem commands Moshe to gather the heads of the congregation and instruct them: “Gentlemen, line up for counting!” What is the significance of this?

Some commentators attempt to explain that the repeated census of the Jewish people was simply to know how many (“combat”) soldiers were in the nation. Especially now, on the eve of entering Eretz Yisrael, the leaders of the people needed to start thinking about the approaching wars and plan their steps accordingly. And this could not be done without an accurate count of the number of fighting soldiers…

This is indeed a very good reason (especially if you’re a battalion commander in the IDF or the commander of the Southern Command), but if so, what is the meaning of the following Medrash (Bamidbar Rabba 2:11): “Yisrael was counted in ten places… and one will be in the Future to Come, as it is said: ‘The flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them’ (Yirmiyahu 33:13).” Why is Melech HaMoshiach destined to count the Jewish people then? Won’t we be living in a period of eternal and true peace?! Will there still be a need to know the number of fighters?!

Rashi, at the beginning of his commentary on Sefer Bamidbar, offers a different explanation for this census mystery. “Because of His love for them, He counts them all the time. When they left Egypt He counted them, when they fell through [the sin of] the Golden Calf He counted them to know the number of those who remained, when He came to rest His Shechina upon them He counted them. On the first of Nissan the Mishkan was erected and on the first of Iyar He counted them.”

Rashi’s words raise several more difficult questions: 1) Why does G-d need to count the Jewish people? He knows their number in any case, without any count. 2) What is the meaning of “Because of His love for them, He counts them all the time”? Until then, the Jewish people had been counted three times, and in total they were counted nine times. Does Rashi call nine times “all the time”?! 3) The end of Rashi’s statement is also difficult to understand: “On the first of Nissan the Mishkan was erected and on the first of Iyar He counted them.” Why did G-d wait a month until the census? Why didn’t He count them immediately, on the same day, on the first of Nissan?!

KEEPING COUNT

In a wonderful sicha, the Rebbe reveals a deeper perspective on the essence of ‘counting.’ The Rebbe explains that in a census – everyone is equal. Each and every Jew is counted equally, the greatest of the great is not worth more than one, and the smallest of the small is not worth less than one. In counting, we do not relate to the individual’s qualities and personal characteristics; we do not “count” their talents, powers, intellect, and attributes; we count them, their true essence, what they truly are – a Jew!

In light of this, the matter of counting is to focus on the essence, the essence of the Jewish soul that is found within each and every person. There is no such thing as a more Jewish Jew or a less Jewish Jew; a Jew is a Jew even if we don’t see in them any practical connection to Jewish matters and Torah study. And they are counted as ‘one’ because they have an essential and unchanging connection with the ‘One G-d’! The power of counting is expressed in that it exposes and reveals the inner essence of every Jew, the ‘point of Jewishness’ that exists in every person of Israel.

That is why G-d counts the Jewish people even though He knows their number. The purpose of counting and census is “to make known their dearness” (in Rashi’s words at the beginning of the Book of Shemos), to reveal their importance and their dearness before Hashem at all times.

In a similar way, the Rebbe also resolves the second question we asked. The meaning of the expression “all the time” is that the action and influence of counting on the Jewish people is felt by them “all the time.” As mentioned above, counting comes to reveal in the Jewish people their ‘point’ or ‘spark’ of Jewishness, and once the spark of Jewishness is revealed in a Jew, it literally affects them at all times!

The Rebbe brings proof for this from the well-known example that a Jew, any Jew, will give up their life rather than worship idols, even if it will cost them their life. One might ask: why? What’s so terrible if they bow to a statue or worship some idol for five minutes, thereby saving their life, and afterward they will repent for it, and the Holy One, Blessed Be He, will surely forgive them…

Rather, the inner truth is that every Jew will give up their life so as not to be disconnected from Hashem, not for a single moment. A Jew wants to be connected to G-d “all the time” because there exists within them a Jewish spark, which is above time and therefore does not make calculations related to time and place. This is a Jewish spark that is operative “all the time”!

COUNTDOWN TO LIFT-OFF

The influence of revealing the spark of Jewishness on the life of a Jew, practically speaking, can be divided into three levels. These three levels are hinted at in Rashi’s words about the three censuses in which G-d counted the Jewish people.

1. In the first stage, the Jewish spark does not affect the inner powers of the person. It remains disconnected from their intellect, emotions, and inner desires. An example of this can be brought from Jews who are defined as “the lightest of the light” even though they gave up their lives for the sanctification of G-d. They gave up their lives so as not to worship idols, even though they did not observe kashrus, Shabbos and family purity at all. The Jewish spark worked on them, but only in a specific way; it did not have a sweeping influence on the rest of that Jew’s life.

This initial state occurred at the time of the exodus from Egypt, at the time of the first census. The simple faith of every Jew in G-d awakened from its sleep and caused them to “follow Me into the wilderness, in a land not sown,” but it did not affect their inner selves (yet).

2. In the second stage, the Jewish spark influences the intellect and emotions of the Jew and changes them for the better, but it is still noticeable as it is an external influence, a superficial influence, and it has not completely penetrated all the fibers of the person’s soul. This secondary state occurred during the preparations for the erection of the Mishkan, after the sin of the Golden Calf, at the time of the second census.

3. In the third stage, the Jewish spark illuminates all the powers of the person’s soul in the most inner way to the point of perfect unity. This ultimate state occurred at the time of the third census, after the erection of the Mishkan. Then, the Jewish people themselves became a “dwelling place” for G-d (“and I will dwell among them”), and then the perfect unity between the person himself and the soul within him was felt. According to this, the Rebbe explains why this census took place a month later, because the month of Iyar (connected with the counting of the Omer, the refinement of the attributes) is the month in which a Jew works on himself to refine and purify his attributes, and to instill within himself the divine holiness in an internal manner. Therefore, specifically in this month, in the month of Iyar, the third census could take place, symbolizing the perfect unity of a person with Hashem.

Parshas Bamidbar is read every year in proximity to the Yom Tov of Shavuos, the time of the giving of the Torah. The Mishna (end of Taanis) calls this day “the day of His wedding,” of G-d Himself. This is the day when G-d married us. This is the day when we reached perfect unity with the Creator, similar to the perfect unity between a husband and his wife, “and he shall cleave to his wife and they shall become one flesh.” This is also the reason why before our “wedding” with G-d, we read Parshas Bamidbar, which teaches us about the power of counting, about the power of the Jewish spark that is found within us, which can bring us to that perfect unity with the Creator. Specifically through counting, revealing the Jewish soul, we can come prepared to the “wedding,” the time of the giving of the Torah!

Now, on the eve of the Geula, we await the tenth count. The number ‘ten’ represents the number of completeness, and the tenth count represents the perfection of counting, that census which will reveal in each and every one of us our true identity (revealing the essence) in perfection and with full intensity.

Let us help the “tenth count” to take place, let us do everything in our power to reveal the ‘essence’ within us already here and now, through adding in all matters of Torah and mitzvos, and especially in the study of the inner dimension of the Torah – the teachings of Chassidus.

TO CONCLUDE WITH A STORY

And we will end with a story about the immense power of the ‘Jewish spark’ to influence a person’s life. The tzaddik, Rabbi Naftali of Ropshitz (d. 1827) once sat with his Chassidim and boasted about his lineage. He noted that there is no one in the whole world who has a more distinguished lineage than he, up to the Baal Shem Tov. On his father’s father’s side he is related to one tzaddik, on his father’s mother’s side he is related to another tzaddik. On his mother’s father’s side he is connected to a third tzaddik, and on his mother’s mother’s side he is related to a fourth gaon.

A man stood up in the audience and asked for forgiveness. He pointed out that he has a more distinguished lineage than the Rebbe. Everyone looked at him in amazement. He was a simple man, not knowledgeable and not gifted, and any connection between him and lineage was absurd. The Jew explained as follows: One of my grandfathers did not put on tefillin. My second grandfather was not Shabbos-observant, and my uncle does not separate between meat and milk. Nevertheless, I changed my life completely and began to observe the mitzvos. This makes me more distinguished than the Rebbe.

The tzaddik from Ropshitz enjoyed what he said and agreed with him.

Good Shabbos and Chag Somayach!

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