Dvar Torah on Parashat Bemidbar (5782/2022)
(Num 1:1 – 4:20)
Dvar Torah given at Temple Israel on Friday evening 5/27/22. That service also included a baby naming for a newborn in our congregation who was given the Hebrew name “Miriam.”
In our yearly Torah reading lectionary cycle this week we begin the fourth of the five books of the Torah, the book known in Hebrew as Sefer Bemidbar and known in English as “The Book of Numbers.”
As is the case with many of our holy books, the Hebrew title doesn’t correspond to the English title. “Numbers” refers to the various Census counts that take place in the book. “Bemidbar” is the first word in the two-word phrase “Bemidbar Sinai” meaning, “In the Wilderness of Sinai”.
That’s, of course, where our story takes place. The miraculous escape from Egypt and arrival at Mt. Sinai are described in the first half of the Book of Exodus. Then for the second half of the Book of Exodus and the entirety of the Book of Leviticus, we are still camped out at Mt. Sinai as God conveys many laws to Moses who conveys them to the people.
But now, in the Book of Numbers, after a few introductory chapters of preparation, we set off “Bamidbar”/ “Into the Wilderness” slowly making our way to the Promised Land.
We never quite get there – at least not in the five books of the Torah. That settlement of the Land of Israel and the subsequent history of Ancient Israel is recounted in the remaining books of the Tanakh/The Hebrew Bible.
I guess Sefer Bemidbar has always been my favorite among the five books of the Torah because this theme of wilderness wandering is so resonant.
All our lives, if you really think about it, are journeys. Sometimes the journeys are filled with joy and abundance. Sometimes they are filled with stress and sadness. But our sense of unceasing connection with our loved ones, with our values, and with our faith is there to help keep us steady amidst the twists and turns of life.
This past week has certainly been one of those stressful times, with the horrific news of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. Stressful, not only because of the tragedy itself, but also because of our frustration at the inability of our leaders and representatives to pass rational gun safety legislation. I know that a massive protest took place today outside the previously scheduled National Rifle Association convention in Houston. And David Hogg, a survivor of the Parkland, Florida mass shooting when he was a high school student, is now organizing further actions to advocate for laws requiring universal background checks and other sensible laws and policies. Particular outreach is being done at the moment to encourage gun owners who understand the need for better gun control policies to get involved in a bipartisan manner. If you look up the hashtag #GunOwnersForSafety on Twitter or other social media you can find a lot more information. And, as I understand, there will be a number of demonstrations and other actions all around the country in the coming days and weeks. Hopefully, such actions will have greater success than those that took place after Columbine, after Sandy Hook, after Parkland, etc., etc., etc.
In such a world, it can be scary to raise children, or to bring new children into the world. But we are a people wedded to the value of “Uvecharta Bachayim”/ “Choose Life.”[1] And this is not by any means the first time in our history when life has seemed precarious. Our Torah teaches that when Pharaoh decreed that all the newborn Israelite male children should be drowned in the Nile, and when the entire Israelite population was being crushed by the indignities of slavery --- that many families were considering not having children, were considering not bringing new lives into their dangerous world.
But, according to the midrash, they were dissuaded by one brave, forthright, hopeful, faith-filled, optimistic, visionary prophet. That prophet was Miriam, the older sister of Moses. We read in Tractate Sotah in the Talmud that Miriam spoke up and convinced her parents, as well as many others among the Israelites, to keep hope for the future. She convinced them that it was worthwhile to continue to bring new life into the world.
And in this way, she single-handedly saved the Jewish people and ensured its continued existence. [2]
And from there Miriam went on in her prophetic career to fill the role of spirit-raiser-in-chief, leading with dance and music as the Israelites emerged in safety from the waters of the parted Sea of Reeds.[3]
Anyone blessed with the name “Miriam” carries that proud and life-affirming heritage within her throughout her days.
But getting back to this week’s Torah portion, it starts with God instructing Moses to take the first of several census counts of the Israelites. Why? Doesn’t God already know how many Israelites there are? Indeed, doesn’t an all-knowing God already know everything there is to know about us?
Rashi, commenting on the opening verses of our Torah portion explains:
מִתּוֹךְ חִבָּתָן לְפָנָיו מוֹנֶה אוֹתָם כָּל שָׁעָה
“Out of affection for them, God counts them all the time”[4]
A well-known midrash elaborates on this idea. As we read In the Midrash collection Bemidbar Rabbah:
“This may be illustrated by a parable. A man possessed ….a stock of fine pearls which he would take up and count before taking [them] out [to market] and which he would count them again on putting [them] back in their place [when he came home]. So, as it were, said the Holy One, blessed be God: … ‘You [Israel] are my children … therefore I count you at frequent intervals.’
Rabbi Melissa Crespy comments on this midrash :
“God takes pleasure in the ‘children’ God brought into the world, and wants to make sure they are safe and sound, and so God counts them at frequent intervals, taking delight and comfort in seeing them and knowing that they are all safely there.”[5]
And so it’s true with us as well ---
All of us, to use a Yiddish expression, “shep naches” – or, loosely translated – all of us take joy and satisfaction in the arrival into the world of children who will be loved and nurtured and who can rely on the support and encouragement not only of their parents but also of the entire community which treasures them as well.
We hope and pray and strive to create and maintain such community – in our congregation, and in the wider society in which we live.
But, in the meantime, we cherish the moment and look to the future with hope, commitment and faith.
Shabbat shalom.
© Rabbi David Steinberg (May 2022/ Iyar 5782)
[1] See Deuteronomy 30:19
[3] Exodus 15:20-21
[4] Rashi on Numbers 1:1
[5] https://www.jtsa.edu/torah/counting-pearls/
