Bamidbar 5775:          The Hidden Agenda

By Rabbi Joshua (hiddenly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

 Parshas Bamidbar begins with a census of the Jewish people conducted by Moshe.  As the process begins, we are told that he took a number of men to assist him. They are identified as “keruei ha-eidah,” the summoned ones of the assembly (Bamidbar 1:11).  Rashi explains that they were the princes of the twelve tribes. Interestingly, there is a difference between the way the word “keruei” – summoned, is written in the Torah – the kesiv – and the way it is read. The kesiv is with a yud, as if it said “keriei,” but the keri is done as if the word was written with a vav – keruei. There are a number of theories regarding the phenomenon of kesiv and keri, perhaps most famously that of the Redak, who says that there were different versions of the text. Rav Dovid Feinstein had said that the kesiv represents the hidden potential, while the keri represents the actual manifestation. How does Rav Dovid’s theory apply here?

Rav Moshe Sternbuch, in his Ta’am VoDa’as, notes that in Parshas Korach (Bamidbar 11:2), there is reference to the princes of the assembly, the “kerei moed,” those summoned for meeting. There, the word “keriei” is written with a yud, unlike the way it is written in Parshas Bamidbar. Why the difference? He explains that the yud, whose numerical value is ten, is an allusion to the tzibbur, the congregation. The princes mentioned in Korach came to rebel against Moshe, thinking only of themselves, and, so, there is no allusion to the congregation in the term used for them. The princes who came to assist Moshe mentioned in Parshas Bamidbar, however, had totally pure intentions, meaning to help in the census, and, therefore, a yud, alluding to the tzibbur, is included in regard to them.

Perhaps we can suggest a further allusion pointed to by the yud in keriei. My teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveitchik, zt”l, often pointed out that the letter yud adds the personal element to a word. The word shulchan means a table, but with a yud at the end – shulchani – it means “my table.” When Moshe prayed for his disciple, Hoshea, to resist the bad intentions of the ten spies, he added the letter yud to his name, rendering it Yehoshua, hoping that he would assert his personality in resisting their plan. The yud in the word “keriei,” then, can be seen as an allusion to the unique personality of each one of the princes.

Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, zt”l, as brought in Darosh Darash Yosef, says that Moshe had a dual purpose in his census. One purpose was to know the total population of the nation. The other purpose was to develop a personal relationship with each person. This was necessary because Moshe was now the teacher of the people, and a teacher needs to have a personal relationship with his student in order to be effective. As the Ramban says, when each person passed by Moshe to be counted, he was thereby elevated, given special importance. The yud in the name for the princes, then alluded, on the one hand, to the tzibbur as Rav Sternbuch explained, corresponding to the general purpose of the census, and, also, to the unique aspect of each person’s character, the expression of which was necessary for the teaching process. The princes, in assisting Moshe, helped bring out both elements. 

A joyous Yom Tov to all from the entire Netvort staff.