Has everyone filed their census with the US government? I recently completed mine. The US takes a census every 10 years to determine how many individuals live in a state and neighborhood. This information is used to gauge the extent that federally collected revenue will be distributed equally among the states and neighborhoods and to determine how many representatives will be sent to Congress.
Serendipitously, we begin reading the forth book of the Torah tomorrow, the book of Numbers. Up to this point in our history, we have been led out of Egypt free from slavery. We have been given the 10 commandments, we have an established judicial system, we’ve been told what we should and should not eat, how to treat those with ailments, how to treat one another, and the Tent of Meeting. What’s next?
In the parsha to be read tomorrow morning, B’midbar, G-d instructs Moses and Aaron to take a head count of all males age 20 and older that can serve in an army; a census. This is not the first census taken of the Israelites. The first was taken just before the construction of the Tabernacle, or Tent of Meeting, in Exodus (30 vs. 11-16, and 38 vs. 25-26). This time the census is not to determine how large of a nation we have, but more importantly how large of an Army Moses has to defend the Tabernacle.
We recall that Moses was raised as an Egyption, a son of Pharaoh where among other things, he learned the skills of being a warrior and general of a powerful army and nation. His experiences in that role will soon be used as a backdrop for the development of the nation of Israel.
What is interesting to note is that this part of the Torah is very detailed on who is the leader of each of the 12 tribes of Israel, how many men are able to fight, and the order of the tribes in the army to be built. It is also interesting to note the placement of all the tribes; they surround the Tabernacle to protect it at all times. At this time in our history, we have been out of Egypt for 2 years, 2 months, and 1 day. There are 603,550 men in this Army, which is a little more than half the size of today’s active personnel in the United States armed forces.
Aside from the construction of an army, this parsha also describes who will care for the Tabernacle; the Levites. The Levites are not counted as part of the army to be built. Rather, they are subsequently split into 11 individual groups that are responsible for taking down and erecting the Tabernacle as well as serving the other tribes. But each group has a specific set of items they are responsible for carrying, and the Kolahites are identified as being responsible for the most holy of items. These items are so holy that if someone from another tribe approaches or touches these items, aside from Cohain, they die.
What I found interesting in the variety of writings about this Torah portion is that this begins the maturation of the Israelites into a nation. Two years and 2 months prior we were slaves in Egypt. Some Israelites at this point are longing for those days, which I found rather confusing. They were longing for them because in Egypt, they were provided food, shelter, and they had a task; they knew what their lot in life was going to be. Now they are free and able to make decisions for themselves, but have to also fend for themselves. You can think of this situation as the Israelites in Egypt being children. Everything they needed was provided to them. If it wasn’t provided they didn’t need it. Now these same people are in a position to choose what they want to do; liberation requires the children to mature into adults. Granted some never seem to grow up, but in the winderness, they have no choice.
Thus the census is the beginning of defining what the nation is for Israel, who will protect Israel, and in some cases a purpose in life. SHABBAT SHALOM
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