Rabbi's Sermons

Shabbat Shalom!

Many years ago, when I was still in high school, the Mexican government appealed to our civil duty (others say they took advantage of us), to participate as pollsters in the national census. The task was overwhelming, especially considering that knocking on doors from house to house in the heavy heat was not fun at all. To this you can add the negative responses of many citizens who saw our questions as harassment of their privacy. Why would they give information about dates of birth, number of people in the household, the age of the children, income level, years of schooling, places of employment and more to a young man in a school uniform? Today it is almost unthinkable that people have that level of trust in areas that could represent a risk such as the North of Mexico, or in Latin America in areas where drug trafficking is unfortunately something trivial.

I understand the importance of censuses and the potential of accurate data to improve the lives of a country's citizens, but I must admit that it is quite a tiring and stressful job for census takers. Today in Israel, for example, the surveys are conducted by telephone, making the process even more traumatic. Every few months, an employee calls and asks statistical questions that are repeated each time, and although nothing may have changed from the last time, they are asked again and again in a bureaucratic way.

In Parashat Bamidbar, which opens the new book of Bamidbar, a census of the children of Israel took place, one of several censuses taken among the people along the way. In the census of our Parasha, there are all the young people who are eligible for military service, according to tribes and families. Like any commander today, the commander that appears in Parashat Bamidbar tends to be exhausting and very repetitive, mentioning many facts and numbers, as it is written in the first chapter of the Book of Numbers: "²⁰ And the children of Reuben, Israel’s eldest son, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by head count every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war: ²¹ those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of Reuben, were forty and six thousand and five hundred”. This format is repeated over and over again: “And the children of so-and-so, by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, by head count every male from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war: those who were numbered of them, even of the tribe of so-and-so, were such and such”. Twelve times we read the same text in chapter 1 for the tribes of Reuben, Shimon, Gad, Yehuda, Isasjar, Zbulun, Efraim, Menashe, Binyamin, Dan, Asher, and Naftali.

Not surprisingly, the original Hebrew name Bamidbar meaning "In the Wilderness" has been changed in non-Jewish versions to the name of "Numbers" as it is known to the world, for the numbers derived from the census. This difference between the title of the book in Hebrew and its title in English or any other language, leads us to ask ourselves, why this change? The title "In the Wilderness" evokes a sense of the spirit of travel, a feeling between the chaos of slavery and confinement in Egypt, to a freedom not only political, but literally physical, in the open field in the expanse of a desert. The title "Numbers" on the other hand, makes us think of measurement and evaluation, statistics and percentages, a concept that is all data and above all, of very defined limits. They are two diametrically opposed concepts! Anyone who talks about spiritual issues understands that the spirit cannot express itself in numbers or quantities. However, in reality, we know that any activity that carries ideological or religious values must also include some type of measurement, which eventually implies a count, cataloging or a statistical percentage. All psychologists use a notebook, they make drawings, audio or video recordings, but they cannot stop using spreadsheets and CRM systems. In our current reality, and especially in this new century of modernity, it is practically impossible to live only with an idealistic, mystical or esoteric vision of the world. We all need to build a clear plan of what we want to do in our lives based on specific data.

For example, almost seven weeks ago, we celebrated the community Pesach Seder, in a totally spiritual environment within the framework of our traditions. In that special ceremony, we blessed the moment, we talked about values, we sang songs together and studied as a group. At a first glance, we know that it was an absolutely spiritual and religious activity. But behind the scenes, the logistics needed for that night proved challenging for a team of community members, who planned, organized, quantified, evaluated, directed and controlled a whole arduous project so that such a spiritual dinner would be a complete success. I'm sure they did many "Numbers" to celebrate the departure to Bamidbar, "Into a desert" of freedom.

There are four ways of studying the texts of the Torah, known as “the Garden” from the Hebrew פרד”ס - Pardes, the Hebrew acronym for these four study methods: The first is Pshat – which is simple and direct reading, the second is Remez – Comparison of texts or use of words that give us an idea of what the text means, the third is Drash – Interpretation, which is the way in which the sages understood, according to their logic, what the text means. Finally, the fourth method is Sod – Secret, which refers to the use of kabbalistic techniques of mystical interpretation of the texts in the Torah. Under this last system, the sages indicate that each word and even each letter in the text of the Torah has a reason to exist in the sacred text. All the letters and words have a reason to exist in the texts and it is our job to decipher or find a reason.

The twelve times repetition of the same text in Hebrew: “תּוֹלְדֹתָם לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם: בְּמִסְפַּר שֵׁמוֹת מִבֶּן עֶשְׂרִים שָׁנָה וָמַעְלָה” - “by their generations, according to their families, by the house of their fathers, according to the number of the names, from twenty years old and upward, all who were able to go forth to war” surely has a reason for being there. Each generation or tribe, each group of families by their common name, each family itself in which there were men older than twenty years old, who could go to the army, had an importance and a dedicated mention. There was no tribe that had a different mention, with fewer or more words. All the people of Israel had a name and a presence in Klal Israel. The text shows us that when it comes to the members of the people of Israel, and today of a Jewish organization, each family, each membership, each individual of this community, has to be mentioned and no one can be omitted. The opinion and ideology of each of them is as valid as the other and must be respected.

At the end of the prayer in Tefilat Amidah – The Standing Prayer, the central prayer in the Jewish liturgy, we pray: “Barchenu Avinu Kulanu keEchad, beor panecha” – “Bless us our Father all as ONE with the light of your face”. The blessing could have simply stated “Barchenu Avinu Kulanu beor panecha” - “Bless us our Father with the light of your face”. But why to add keEchad - "as ONE"? The Midrash Tanchuma about the Deuteronomy text 29:10 that reads: אַתֶּם נִצָּבִים הַיּוֹם כֻּלְּכֶם לִפְנֵי ה’ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם – “Ye stand this day all of you before the Lord your God”, tells us that this teaching not only applied to the people of Israel in Bamidbar, but also to the people of Israel TODAY in all the communities of the world. The Midrash tells us that if one takes a bunch of sugar canes, may not be able to break them in one blow because they are tied together. But if they are separated, they can be taken one by one, and then even a young man can break them. The people of Israel were not redeemed until they became one group, when they all had a presence. Something similar is happening today, in our own community. Only if "We stand" united keEchad - "As one", "this day all of you" may receive blessings "beor panecha" from the face of the Shechina. As long as we continue divided in opinions or ideologies, we will have to continue waiting to fully receive the blessings of the Eternal. I think it is something worth reflecting on, especially now that we are less than a day away from receiving the light of the Torah again on the Shavuot holiday.

Shabat Shalom and Chag Sameach!

May 31^th, 2025

Rabbi David Laor