Parshas Bamidbar

G-d Loves You

Rav Blachman taught us that the fact that we read Parshas Bamidbar before Shavuos is Halachik, not coincidental. Ezra decreed that before Shavuos and before Rosh HaShana we should read both Tochachos (curses/rebukes).
However, if a father hits his son, but the son doesn’t understand that dad does this because he loves him, then dad is just being a bully - it doesn’t teach the son anything. So too with the curses before Shavuos. We cannot arrive at Shavuos being pushed around. Before Shavuos comes Bamidbar which shows how much G-d loves us.

Rashi says on the first Pasuk in Bamidbar, that counting something demonstrates how precious it is to you. At the time of every unique or important event, G-d counted us. After Yetziyas Mitzrayim, was a census. After the golden calf, there was a census and before G-d rested his Shechina upon us, there was a census. Hashem obviously knows how many of us there are, so apparently, what the counting accomplishes, is that it lets us know how special we are.
The other Parsha often read before Shavuos is Parshas Naso. What Bamidbar and Naso have in common, is that they both deal with the census. Naso begins, “...Naso Es Rosh Bnei Gershon... - Raise the heads of (i.e. count) the children of Gershon...(Bam. 4:22)” The census is referred to as “raising their heads” in Bamidbar as well (Bam. 1:2). Why the weird language? Because it is not just counting people, it is making them feel special, it is raising their heads, it is giving them dignity.

This is Rashi’s explanation, and the one that every kid in Day School brings home for Shabbos. The question remains: How does counting accomplish this? The classic illustration is that a person carrying money, constantly counts it, to be sure that it is all there. However, G-d knows how many Jews there are at any given time. Clearly, the point of counting the Jews is for the their own benefit, not for G-d’s. So, how exactly does counting the Jews demonstrate how special they are?

One approach is that a Davar SheBeMinyan, Eino Bateil - something that is “counted,” cannot be nullified. We have a Halachik principal that generally, a piece of forbidden material is nullified in a majority of permitted material. For example: When some milk falls into a cholent, if the milk that fell in, is less than 1/60th of the total cholent, then the milk is considered as if it is not there. However, if the object that fell in was something that is sold individually, then it cannot be nullified. The reason for this is logical. One small drop of milk in a majority of Kosher material is annulled, because that little drop of milk is insignificant, so we can disregard it. However, if the forbidden material is something that is important enough to be counted, then each individual piece is significant, and we cannot annul it.

Rav Segal told us a story that some not-yet-religious relatives of his once visited on Sukkos, and he showed them his Esrog. His Uncle asked where one could buy an Esrog and how much it cost. When Rav Segal explained, his Uncle responded, "Not the kind of thing that you buy in the Supersol for 3.50 a kilogram." Then he turned to his wife and said, "I told you those things in the supermarket weren't Etrogim!"
Lemons can be sold be weight, and you don't care exactly how many are in the bag, but Esrogim are sold by number. The indication that each individual component is important, is “counting.”

When Hashem counts the Jewish people, He is demonstrating that there is a difference between his relationship to the Jewish People as a whole, and the Jewish People individually. There is an entity called Clal Yisrael, and that entity is very special, but one shouldn’t think that the individual Jew is insignificant! Even though the individual Jew is part of Clal Yisrael, he also has a special relationship with Hashem - he is a Davar SheBeMinyan. Each individual Jew is special and important to Hashem. This is demonstrated by the counting. (To see how Rav Segal ties this idea into Sefiras HaOmer, click here.)

Rav Blachman, however, taught us another approach. You would think that one is important when he is unique, when he stands out. However, a census does the opposite, it makes everyone into just a number. A census is not an attempt to search out the singularity of each individual, rather, it is the elimination of the individual. You are just one of a big group. So how does Hashem’s counting of the Jewish People express his love for them?

Hashem’s love for the Jewish People goes much deeper than their individual accomplishments. His love for us is not based on what we may or may not have achieved in our lives. Whether you are Rav Moshe Feinstein or Bob, both are just a number. Each one of us has Kedushas Yisrael, simply because we are Jews. A son is always a son, no matter what grades come back on the report card. So too Hashem’s love for us transcends all tangible accomplishments.
The three times that Hashem counted the Jews testifies to this idea. In Yetziyas Mitzrayim, Hashem took us out even though we didn’t deserve it. We were on the forty-ninth level of Tumah. Crossing the Red Sea, even after all of the miracles, the angels looked down and said, “These are idol worshippers and these are idol worshippers. Why do these get to live and these drown?” The answer is, because His love for us transcends all that. G-d told us we were important, so we blindly followed Him in to the desert, and He gave us the Torah, which we blindly accepted. So, we fell... big time. That was the golden calf. So, G-d says, “I love you in a deeper way,” I forgive you. Then, we made the Mishkan, because we wanted to, not blindly. The result was that He wanted to rest his Shechina on us, because we accepted Him because He was real, not because we were following blindly. That is when Hashem dwells “BeSocham - In them (Shmos 25:8).” G-d doesn’t dwell in the Mikdash, he dwells in the Jews. That is how special we are.

Sometimes a person needs to be reminded how special he really is. Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that “The world was created for me (Sanhedrin 37a).” We say in Davening every day, “HaMeChadeish BeTuvo BeChol Yom Tamid Maaseh Bereishis - [Hashem] is constantly renewing creation every day (Berachos before the Shema).” We are not accidental beings that happened to survive by chance. The deeper sources tell us that G-d did not create the world and leave it to run. Creation is not like turning on a light switch, and once it’s on, it’s on. The deeper sources tell us that for the world to exist, G-d has to constantly will it to. Rav Twersky told us that The Rav would quote the Rambam in Yesodei HaTorah (1:1), that Hashem is “Mamtzi Kol Nimtza - causing all of existence to exist.” The Rambam writes “Mamtzi,” present tense. That means that he is doing it right now. Right now, you exist because G-d wants you to. Every second that you are here, G-d is willing you to be here. The Baalei Mussar tell us that this is a tremendous Chesed of Hashem, because even when you are sinning, G-d is constantly giving you the strength to go against his commandments. That’s how much he loves you.

Good Shabbos.

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