Segregation, TorahStyle
Separating the people into distinct tribes. Living apart from each other, unique in lifestyle. Is that ‘Achdus’: national unity? Why is the Torah so proud of this setup?
An automobile engine is a wonderful machine; its many components all pulling together, creating a marvel of utility. For the engine to work, however, each part needs to be at a distance from the others. Cramming the parts together would not improve it; rather that would ruin the engine!
Lumping all Jews together would not unify of the nation; it would dysfunction it. As we are disparate in function and nature, our creative energies need to operate far enough from each others’ that we do not smother nor dilute one another’s power.
Segregation signals purposefulness and individuality: we can work as one only when we each have separate space.
P.s. This is true inside the family as well. We are close, we are intimate. But give each other space, too. We cannot thrive squashed together.
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Privilege – Responsibility
The Torah explains that Hashem was justified in taking the Levi’im for they replaced the bechorim, consecrated when Hashem killed the Egyptian firstborn.
Levi’im had rallied around Moshe while the nation worshiped the Egel, the Golden Calf. Is that not basis enough for being chosen? Why the need to replace the Bechorim?
The Levi’iim earned privileges, but they received heavy obligation as well; they were obligated to work for Hashem, whether they wanted to or not. This is no bonus, nor loyalty prize! The Torah explains the basis for that obligation; they had replaced the Bechorim, who were obligated to Hashem. That obligates the Levi’im as well.
For the flip side of privilege must be responsibility…
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You Are Special (?)
Counting the Jews, Moshe was told to count Levi separately. Rashi explains that Hashem knew the Jews would sin. Everyone in this counting would die. He wished to keep Levi out of the affair, and counted them separately, and on a different basis; from the age of one month. The rest of the people, by contrast, were counted from the age of twenty.
Moshe was then told to appoint the Levi’im to the Mishkan service. Next, the Torah reports the actual counting of the Jews. Why interpose the Levi’im’s job detail in middle?
To be considered different, one must actually BE different. Deciding to be different does not make one so, even if you paint your hair green.
To justify counting the Levi’im separately, the Levi’im had to be unique, with a life-goal and function uniquely their own. Appointment to Mishkan service was not a textual diversion, therefor, rather it was to provide the basis to counting them separately.
Sometimes people who want to be special act weird and different. The opposite is actually the case; we are different when we are special. And we are special because of who we are, not because of our differences with others…
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How Many Jews?
The Torah counts the Jews as 603,550 men between 20 and 50 years of age. The Bechorim counted out to 22,273. They were counted as the Levi’im, from a month old and up. That means there was one male Bechor to every 27 males!
Young Bechorim tend to take up more of the family: a Bechor a year old equals 100% of the children in his family. Since the Bechorim were counted from one month old, the Bechorim were disproportionately more than the actual ratio. In addition, Bechorim were counted from one month but the Jews were counted from twenty years, meaning that there was an additional skewing in favor of Bechorim. The number of Bechorim is inflated. Yet there were one Bechor for every 27 ordinary male! Meaning that the real number is probably one Bechor every hundred! Wow!
Over in the Levi camp, there were 22,300 Levites, of whom 300 were Bechorim. That means that there was over 75 normal Levi’im for every Levi Bechor, even more than the Jews! (As mentioned, the real number of Bechrim among the Jews may also have been similar.)
What does all this mean? It means that the families they had were gigantic! This is consistent with the miracle recorded that they had six babes at every birth, so that in ten or eleven births there were so many children. [This point is made by the Oznayim LaTorah.]
Perhaps we can take things a bit farther: The real suffering in Egypt was only 86 years. (Rashi Shir Hashirim 2:13) We also know that according to Chazal only 1/5 or 1/50 or 1/500 left Egypt: the others were unworthy and died.
Lets take the figure of 1/5. Rashi says that one of out five left Egypt. There had once been five times the amount of Jews who left Egypt, only they died in the Makkah of Choshech.
Does that mean that each family had 135 children? That would entail 22.5 pregnancies if 6 children came at a shot. Twenty two pregnancies is a lot at any standard. Perhaps there were entire families that died: there were good families in Klal Yisroel and bad ones. The bad died off entirely and the good ones remained. The bad ones were four times the good ones.
86 years constitutes 3 or 4 childbearing cycles, 3 or 4 generations. Taking only the bald numbers the Torah is explicit about – 27 children in each family, we may infer that the generation before the one that left Egypt consisted of 1/27th the amount of people, i.e. 27,353. The one before that had merely 827 individuals. And the one before that, assuming four generations of 6 per birth, had only 30. That is pretty impossible, considering that they stated with 70!
So we must work with the 5x standard; 603,550 x5 = 3,017,750. A generation beforehand they had 111,768, a generation more: 4,139 and in the fourth generation: 153. Still highly improbable being that the original 70 had 124 years to propagate. The Torah tells us that the Jews became very many, filling the land. That does not sound like 153 individuals, methinks. And the six-fold births are recorded at the beginning – when Yosef still lived!
So I am having trouble mapping out a scheme that would allow for six-fold births yet account for the fewness of the Jews leaving Egypt. Unless they had six at a time, but only one or two pregnancies?
Any thoughts?
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Being Useful
The Jews were counted ‘from the age of Tzava’. Rashi translates ‘Tzava’ as ‘army’. However the age varies with the group; Jews were counted from twenty, whereas the Levi’im were counted from thirty. Both are the age of ‘l’tzava’. Obviously the reference is not to an eternal standard, as the army. So what gives?
‘Tzava’ means the age when a man stands up to be counted in, to take his place as a productive member of society . He shoulders responsibility for the community, and rallies to the banner of service when called. This is ‘l’tzava’ – the age when a person starts to count. He actually means something.
That’s why he can be counted – because he counts! Loafers mean little to us. We do not value people for their intrinsic, inherent, value. Sorry!
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Understanding With Your Hands
“Naase v’nishma,” proclaimed the Jews to Hashem. ‘Naaseh’ (‘We will do!’) was said before Nishma (‘We will hear!’). This is because action leads to understanding – Nishma.[ – Malbim]
Isn’t that backwards? When we understand, we act. Do we think by doing?!
The mind is not a calculator, figuring out the sum from the data we feed it. Rather it’s a problem-solving machine. We feed it a goal, and the mind goes to work making that goal actual. The mind creates the answers, figuring them out. It does not impartially judge the truth.
This is why doing affects thinking. After doing Mitzvos, one identifies with them and understands them. Doing makes the mind go ahead and understand. So you want to understand?? Do, and you will Hear!
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Protocol
This parshah discusses protocol, not much else. It involves itself with counting the Jews, done with the nesi’im, the tribal leaders, then talks about what formation the Jews traveled in and camped, then talked about the tasks and responsibilities of various people and groups. There is almost no content here at all.
The lesson is that protocol is a worthwhile topic. Order is not just so that you find the note under all your papers, rather it is a goal unto itself. Order means living in a disciplined manner. Order shows thought. Its the proper mode of being, besides any benefit it accrues.
An entire parshah is spent on order and protocol, because living correctly is its own goal. It matters…
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Down For The Count
Halacha tells us that Jews may not be counted. Can one participate in a census?
In the Bais Hamikdash, the supervisor counted the Kohanim’s fingers instead of counting them. How was that count conducted? The Kohanim agreed together on a number, lets say 150, and each put in a finger or two. When the counter reached 150, that Kohen won.
This was a counting where the counter never tallied the total amount of Kohanim – it was not relevant – and yet would forbidden had they not counted fingers, but rather the Kohanim themselves. And even though it was done for a mitzvah!!
It would seem, then, that its not the tally that is problematic, but the counting of each person. If one wishes to see if there is a minyan and glances about to see if there is ten, that would be okay, for he has not numbered each one. In that case a census, where each family notifies the census taker how many are there in the family, is no more than a tally, and would therefor be ok. Ask your local orthodox rabbi!