From: JoshHoff@aol.com
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2008 3:56 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort:parshas Bamidbar,5768
I Love to Count
By Rabbi Joshua ( numerically known as The Hoffer) Hoffman
Parshas Bamidbar begins
with a command by God to Moshe and Aharon to count the males of the
Jewish people who were between the ages twenty
and sixty. Rashi,citing the midrash, notes that God has the nation
counted because of His love for them.The tribe of Levi, however, was left
out of this count, and counted separately. Why was this exception
made? The Kesav Sofer offers an explanation based on a midrash, cited by Ramban
and Rabbeinu Bachya , which points to the use of the word 'sa,' which literally
means to lift up, as the word used for counting in the command given to Moshe.
The midrash, notes the Kesav Sofer, points out that the phrase ' sa
es rosh,' count the head,' used here has two meanings. It can mean ' to elevate
the head' or 'to remove the head,' as an executioner does. The Kesav
Sofer explains that elevating someone's head by counting him separately
tends to give him a sense of self-worth. After the sin of the eigel, the Jewish
people felt themselves to be on a very low level spiritually, and therefore
unworthy of receiving God's help in conquering the Holy Land. land.
Therefore,. God told Moshe to raise their self-image by counting them
individually. This elevation in self- image, however, carried with it a certain
responsibility, as well. The people cold no longer claim any excuse if they did
not carry out God's commands in regard to conquering the land, and, so, when
they sinned in connection with the episode of the meraglim, or spies, they were
held culpable. The tribe of Levi, however, did not sin in the incident of the
eigel, and, so, was not counted among the rest of Israel, but, instead merited
its own count.
Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky
offers a somewhat different explanation , although based on the same
source. He also cites the midrash which points to the double meaning of
'sa es rosh,' and explains that two interpretations could be given to the need
for a census. One could interpret the census as a means of determining whether
the people had sufficient strength to capture the land, or alternatively, it
could be understood as an indication that the people , as they marched in
formation in the wilderness, represented the 'chariot of God' here in earth.
The proper interpretation, says Rav Yaakov, is the second one, but hte people
lacked proper trust in God and, as a result, gave the count the first
interpetation.As a result, they did not have sufficient faith in God when it
came to conquering the Holy Land, and succumbed to the propaganda of the spies.
Here, too, the reason that they did not have sufficient faith in God had its
roots in the sin of the eigel, when they panicked after Moshe failed to appear
when they thought he would. This sense of panic bespoke a lack of trust in God,
which resurfaced in the incident of the spies. Here, too, the tribe of Levi was
not susceptible to the loss of faith since it did not sin with the eigel, and,
therefore, it was counted separately.
Although the explanations of the Kesav Sofer and Rabbi Kaminetsky
seem to differ, I believe that they are, in fact, complementary of each other.
While the Kesav Sofer points to a lack of self- worth as the problematic
factor, and Rabbi Kaminetsky points to a lack of trust in God, the two factors
are connected to each other. A person who trusts in God does so
because he realizes that it is God who created him and sustains him, and,
therefore, he has no need to panic when faced with
challenges. Understanding one's status as a creation of God gives him a
sense of self- worth ,as well, which will prevent him from thinking that he is
unable to properly perform the tasks incumbent upon him. By counting each Jew
individually, Moshe was demonstrating to each of them how important they were
in God's eyes, thus inculcating in them a sense of self- worth which
should have helped in developing their trust in God, as well.
When they failed to respond in kind during the incident of the
spies, therefore, they were held responsible, and were sentenced to remain
in the wilderness. Living in Eretz Yisroel would require,on a
collective level, a recognition of God's special providence there,and the
direct connection between the nation's behavior and its material
success. Those who succumbed to the evil report of the spies demonstrated
that they lacked the mind-set necessary to exist successfully there..
Only the tribe of Levi, which maintained its sense of self-worth and trust in
God, was deemed worthy of entering the land and leading a life rooted in a
recognition of God's presence and workings among them.
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