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Parshah Summary – P’shat
The Children of Israel are encamped in the Sinai Desert, and they receive the Divine instruction to conduct a census of men suitable for battle from the twelve tribes (excluding the tribe of Levi, but including the two sons of Yosef, making twelve), between 20 to 60 years of age. The tribe of Levi, who is to serve as the spiritual leadership, is counted separately. The Levi-im (Levites) are given responsibility for the Mishkan (Sanctuary), along with all of its vessels and sacrificial equipment.
Whenever the Children of Israel would break down the camp to travel, the three Levite clans would dismantle and transport the Mishkan, and then reassemble it at the center of the next encampment. They then erected their own tents around it: the Kohathites, who carried the Sanctuary’s vessels in their specially designed coverings on their shoulders, such as the Ark and menorah, camped to its south; the Gershonites, in charge of its tapestries and roof coverings, to its west; and the families of Merari, who transported its wall panels and pillars, to its north. Before the Sanctuary’s entranceway, to its east, were the tents of Moses, Aaron, and Aaron’s sons, who were also Levi’im and served as the kohanim, the priests. Beyond the Levite circle, the twelve tribes camped in four groups of three tribes each. To the east were Yehudah, Yissakhar, and Zevulun; to the south, Reuvein, Shimon and Gad; to the west, Ephraim, Manasheh, and Binyamin; and to the north, Dan, Asher and Naphtali. This formation was kept also while traveling. Each tribe had its own nassi (prince or leader), and its own flag with its tribal color and emblem.
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וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר יי אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר סִינַ֖י...לֵאמֹֽר שְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֙ כׇּל־עֲדַ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם לְבֵ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֑ם בְּמִסְפַּ֣ר שֵׁמ֔וֹת כׇּל־זָכָ֖ר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָֽם׃ Hashem spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai…saying: “Raise up the heads (take a census) of the whole (battle ready) assembly of the Children of Israel according to their families, according to their ancestral houses, listing the names, every (battle ready) male, according to their count.” - BaMidbar (Numbers) 1:1,2
One morning, as I lay in bed around 6:30 am, I heard a rumbling sound from deep within whatever dream I was having. “That sound… it means something… something important… what is that sound?” The garbage truck!
I had forgotten to put out the garbage the night before, and the can was pretty full. I leapt out of bed, slid into some pants, darted downstairs and out the front door. I looked and saw that the garbage truck had already passed my house and was halfway down the street! I grabbed the can and ran after it, rolling it behind me. When I caught up, I started to politely ask him if he would take it, but before even one word came from my lips he grabbed it from me violently, almost knocking me over and barked something like “GIMMEE IT!” – I think. Wow – he had certainly had his coffee already. Maybe a little too much. But I was grateful that he took it at all. What would make you get up in the morning so fast? The codes of Jewish law are somewhat paradoxical about getting up in the morning. On one hand, they say that one should leap out of bed to “do the Will of the Creator” – no laziness. Not a moment should be wasted – there is much to do. Get out of bed with גִבּוֹר כָּאֲרִי לַעֲשׂוֹת רְצוֹן אָבִיךָ שֶׁבַּשָּׁמַיִם – the “strength of a lion to do the Will of your Father in heaven” and jump into the day. On the other hand, before you get up, you should take a moment to receive the gift of your life, chanting: מוֹדֶה אֲנִי לְפָנֶיךָ Modeh ani lifanekha – “I give thanks before you…” Then should you leap into your day? No, you should ritually wash your hands, with the kavanah (intention) to purify your heart so that you can be of loving service in all your actions. Okay now should you leap your day? No. First there are blessings to be chanted and prayers to pray. And even before all of that, and perhaps more importantly, one should take some time in silent meditation to tap the inner depths in preparation. So which is it? Should you leap out of bed and get to work, or meditate and immerse yourself in the silent depths of not-doing? But that’s the point. If you spend all your time in meditation, the bliss of Being reveals Itself within your own awareness, but the world remains untouched. On the other hand, if your life is focused solely on the external, then you become lost in its dramas, disconnected from you inner Source, and both you and the world suffer for it. But connect with the Eternal in order to bring it into the temporal – that’s the alchemy! וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר יי אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר Hashem spoke to Moses in the wilderness… The wilderness, the midbar, is the arena in which we live. Like the wild of nature, life itself is not totally predictable; it regularly challenges us, distracts us and can draw us into folly. And yet, it is the only Place from in which the Divine speaks – if we know how to listen. How do we listen? לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָֽם … שְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֙ כׇּל־עֲדַ֣ת “Raise up the heads (take a census) of the whole (battle ready) assembly… according to their count.” Counting the soldiers is a metaphor for our external lives. Each day we should arouse ourselves like soldiers to do “battle” with our inner inertia and make every moment “count.” But there is another half to the equation: וְהַלְוִיִּ֖ם לְמַטֵּ֣ה אֲבֹתָ֑ם לֹ֥א הׇתְפָּקְד֖וּ בְּתוֹכָֽם׃ But Levites, according to their ancestral tribe, were not recorded among them. The Levi-im – the Levites – weren’t soldiers; they were priests and musicians – caretakers of the Mishkan – the Sacred Space at the center of the camp. The soldiers went out to conquer the many, but the Levites safeguarded connection to the One. And in the One, there’s nothing to count; there is only One! The task is for these two sides – the internal and the external – to be in balance. Ideally, we should express our inner Timelessness through the external wilderness of time. But this takes practice; staying connected to the holiness of the moment while running after the garbage truck is not easy. But fortunately, no matter how lost in the external we become, the present moment has not gone anywhere. It is always here, open to our return, to our t’shuvah. This supreme task of bringing the inner holiness of Presence to the sometimes chaotic wilderness of life is represented by the s’firah of Malkhut, which we can feel right now as the connection to the earth beneath us…
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