Since last week and throughout the current week, our home has been thoroughly divided in a way that seemed unimaginable. Yes, there are the natural divisions within a home: Parents and Children; boys and girls; and sometimes parent against parent. In some U.S. households, those divisions are based upon political affiliation or even ones’ alma mater. However, it never occurred to me that our family would be divided based upon an NBA team. Sure, I grew up a NY Knicks fan, but they have been so bad for so long, I figured there wouldn’t be a sports conflict with my children. I couldn’t imagine that the tension would be between Mother and children. However, with a wife from the Bay Area, and our children being raised here in Toronto, our home is a virtual boiling cauldron of tension, ill will, and all things Toronto Raptor/Golden State Warriors. As we watch the games, each side cheering loudly, and talking trash; I find myself just enjoying the quality of play. Because basketball was my first sport and played in high school and college, I enjoy watching the team play as a team, each player with a function during a certain possession as well as a specific role throughout the game. I watch and I think back to my father coaching our JCC team. I watch and think about my father reminding me that a pass gets to the destination quicker than dribbling. I watch and think about my father telling me and the rest of the team: “There is no ‘I’ in TEAM”. Everyone on the team has a role. If that role is not executed with efficiency and excellence, then the team’s effectiveness is compromised and the risk of losing games increases. I watch these incredible athletes who are paid enormous sums of money; play selfless ego-less basketball all with one common goal.
This week’s Par shah is Bemidbar. Bemidbar marks the start of the fourth Book of the Torah, Sefer Bemidbar (the Book of Numbers). If the Book of Leviticus focused upon all the ritual and ethical behavior a community must observe in order for “God to dwell among it”, The Book of Numbers focuses upon something quite different. Sefer Bemidbar consists of lists, lists of names, numbers, and places. The Book begins and ends with a census. The Book begins with B’nai Yisroel still wandering from place to place as they completed their first year free from captivity. As they begin their second year, there will be more narrative and more events. The Book of Numbers concludes with B’nai Yisroel’s temporarily dwelling in one spot for the next 38 years, overlooking the Promised Land.
Parshah Bemidbar begins with God commanding Moshe to count the people. Then God commands Moshe to organize the people according to tribal formation around the Mishkan. Three tribes are in each of the four directions: three in the North, three in the South, three in the East and three in the West. The tribe of Levi, (the priest) was not counted in this census because it occupied the center of the camp. Instead of the firstborn from other tribes serving in the Mishkan, the Levites became the designated tribe to serve God in the Mishkan. Counting the Levites was the second census. In Parshah Bemidbar, we also read a list of names. These are the designated leaders of each tribe. Every tribe has a place within the camp, every tribe has a flag, and every tribe has a leader. The Parshah concludes with another census, this time it is limited to a particular family within the tribe of Levi. Every tribe had a role. Every tribe had a place. Every tribe had a function. The Midrash Tanchuma Bemidbar 12 explains that when God suggested the arrangements and roles for the tribes, Moshe questioned the idea. “Now there will be disputes between the tribes.” Moshe reasoned that by assigning certain tribes to certain places, other tribes would become envious and grow disenchanted with their place within the camp, relative to the Mishkan. God explained that there was no need to worry. Each tribe’s designated spot was based upon Jacob’s sons’ positioning around Jacob’s coffin. Each tribe had a clear and proper place within the greater community. There was no fighting, no bickering, nor any disenchantment. VaYa’Asu B’nai Yisroel kChol Asher Tzivah Adonai et Moshe, Kein Asu – “The Children of Israel did everything that God commanded Moshe, so did they do” (Num.1:54). Knowing their role or their place had a positive effect. Each tribe had a defined space and specific function that insured the welfare of the community.
Towards the end of the Parsha, the census for the Levite tribe begins. The first family with the Levi tribe to be counted was the Kohatite family: Moshe and Aharon’s family. The Kohatite family was assigned a certain task in regards to the maintenance of the Mishkan. Remembering what happened to Aharon’s two eldest sons when they inappropriately approached the Mishkan back in Parsha Shemini; clearly, this family bears an inordinate amount of risk to life and limb in regards to its particular responsibilities. V’Zot Asu Lahem V’Chayu V’Lo Yamutu B’Gishtam et Kodesh Hakodashim, Thus shall you do for them so that they shall live and not die; when they approach the Holy of Holies Aharon U’VaNav YaVo’u V’Samu Otam Ish Ish Al Avodato v’El Masa’o –, Aharon and his sons shall come and assign them, every man to his work and his burden. (4:19). Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno, an Italian Renaissance commentator explains that each of the Hohatites should be appointed to do a specific task in the breaking down and carrying of the Mishkan. They should be so organized in order to ensure an orderly approach to the Mishkan. Otherwise, they will invariably compete with one another in order to be the first one and someone might get jostled. The jostling could result in someone knocking into the Mishkan thus bringing death upon himself.
While an entire people stood at Sinai and said Naaseh v Nishma, We will do and we will obey while receiving the Ten Commandments; we learn that every individual counts and every individual has value. God ordered two censuses. B’nai Yisroel mattered to God; each individual must have had value. Otherwise, God would not have counted. From this, we learn that a community’s strength is only as great as the individuals that comprise that community. We also know that that the person who has been counted must have a sense of self-value or self-worth. Each person counted must have a role or a function within that community. Each individual must have the means to contribute to the community. By reaching out to the individual, recognizing how each contributes to the whole, the larger group benefits. No, B’nai Yisroel wasn’t trying to win an NBA championship, but Bemidbar reminds the community that each tribe, each family each individual has a role to play in terms of bringing Holiness and God’s presence into the camp. Unfortunately, as long as Toronto and Golden State duel in the NBA championship, mother and children will remain divided and I will wind up doing far more of the household chores.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
