Bamidbar Drash

This week we began studying from the book of Numbers. This portion is titled Bamidbar and comes from the word wilderness in the first verse. Bamidbar is also the name of this book in Hebrew.

This weeks portion opens with Moses and Bnei-Yisrael in the wilderness preparing for a census.

Holy Scriptures: Tree of Life Version Chapter 1

1In the wilderness of Sinai, on the first day of the second month in the second year from the Exodus from the land of Egypt, ADONAI spoke to Moses in the Tent of Meeting saying, 2“Do a head count of all the community of Bnei-Yisrael by their families and their ancestral house, with a total of every male one by one. 3You and Aaron are to muster by their divisions every son from 20 years and upward available to serve in the army of Israel.

This census is taking place on the first of Iyar which happens to be the month that is ending this week. The month proceeding Iyar is Nissan. It was precisely 1 month prior to the census we are reading about, that the Mishkan or tabernacle was first erected and Adonai had a place to dwell among his people.

Now that he is dwelling among his people he wants to count them. The book of Numbers is famous for being full of well...numbers. The people are counted, money is counted, years are counted, there is just a lot of counting in this book. Many of us can lose sight of what is shared and feel like we are reading an accounting spread sheet.

As I was reading this time though, the numbers and the counting just seemed a little different. I wanted to know: why Adonai is counting his people again? This is the third or fourth census of the people, and this is only the Second year of the Exodus form Egypt.

I do not know how many times I read over this portion leading up to this drash, but it was a lot. After reading it over and over, I started to imagine what it could have been like overlooking the people during this counting. Then some things started to be revealed to me. The people were being assembled according to their families. Many men are named specifically. Families would come up and introduce themselves and declare their lineage according to their families.

Holy Scriptures: Tree of Life Version Chapter 1

17So Moses and Aaron took these men designated by name. 18They assembled all the community on the first day of the second month. They declared their lineage according to their families, the households of their forefathers, with the number of the names of those 20 years old and upward being listed individually. 19Moses numbered Israel in the wilderness of Sinai just as ADONAI had commanded him.

The people were not being counted because the numbers were important, they were being counted because they, as individuals and as families were important to Hashem. Though the numbers are crucial to help us understand the scope and magnitude of the people. It was the people that mattered to Hashem.

i know there have been times in which it seems like my employee number, social security number or even phone number is used to refer to me more than my name. I know sometimes it can seem as if we can get blended into a big number as if we are just a statistic. If we are honest, it can seem as if the most significant part of us to others are the hash marks and figures next to an account number in some system.

We are so much more than that to our Creator. Hashem knows you and is aware of you. You are not a number or a statistic to Him. You matter, and he loves you. He knows your name. So when there is another census one glorious day, when we are called to stand before his throne to give an account of who we are, and give our name, we will be called by the name of he who created us for His glory.