OU Torah Insights Project

Bamidbar is also known as Chumash Hapekudim, the book of Censuses. A Census is, indeed, the opening subject of the Parsha. Three principles in conducting a Census are guidelines for dedication to Torah, the core idea of Shavuos:

First, the Census teaches us that each individual must be counted because each individual counts, because each person is different. Just as the genetic or DNA, makeup of every person is special, so, too, is the inner being of each person, the soul, unique. Similarly, the Torah of each person, both study and observance, are precious in the eyes of Hashem on account of their uniqueness. Therefore, every Jew has the responsibility to aspire to his fullest potential in study and observance.

Second, each person was counted and identified with his family (LeMishpechotam). The Census teaches us the importance of family in Jewish identity, and in the transmission of Torah. Emunah (faith) in Hashem and Midot (basic morality) are derived initially from parents. This is why the commandment of honoring father and mother is listed in the first tablet of the Aseret Hadibrot, which is dedicated to the Mitzvot between man and G-d. Balaam, the non-Jewish prophet understood this when he said, "How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, thy dwellings, O Israel." (Bamidbar 20: 19)

Third, the person counted in the Census was identified with his Degel, his flag, representing his Shevet, his tribe. Each tribe had its own Degel, its own symbol, testimony to its singularity. To know a person you had to know him, his family and his Shevet. The Shevet was an important ingredient in the make-up of each Jew.

The original Shevatim, except for Levi and Yehudah, do not have the same significance today. But there are Shevet-like groups which are important ingredients of a Jew’s make-up. These are the intermediate groups, larger than a family and smaller than K’lal Yisroel, which say so much about a Jew. Is a person Sephardi or Ashkenazi? Which Shul does he attend on Shabbos morning? Which is his Yeshiva and does he identify with it? Which are his Communal and Chesed organizations? These groupings and institutions are the Shevatim of today; they constitute the Tzibur about which our Rabbis say: "Do not separate yourself from the community!" (Avot 2:5)

Thus the Censuses of the Sidrah of Bamidbar teach us that the basic building blocks for a genuine Torah life and society are the unique individual, the family unit and significant communal groups.

Rabbi Mordecai Schnaidman