Akeidat Yitzchak 72:1:5

"Count every head!"

Midrash Rabbah Numbers 2, comments in connection with Psalm 20,6, "we shall shout for joy and rally around our banner in the name of G'd," that at the time G'd revealed Himself to Israel at Mount Sinai to give them the Torah, twenty two thousand angels descended with Him. The Midrash quotes Psalms 68,13, as proof for its assertion. All of these angels were waving banners, flags, as it says (Song of Songs 5,11) "surrounded by myriads of banners." As soon as Israel saw these flags, they became anxious to make flags for themselves, similar to those of the angels, as it is written in Song of Songs 2,4, "He brought me to the house of wine, and waved the banner of love over me." G'd responded to this request by saying "Indeed, I shall make flags for you as you desire." It says in Psalms 20,6, "the Lord will fulfil all your requests." Immediately thereafter, G'd said to Moses: "Make flags for them just as they want." This is the meaning of "each according to his flag and his ensign."

Purpose and function of the flags. 1) In order for even the most illustrious people to attain their objective in life, a mental image of their common purpose needs to remain constantly before their spiritual eye. 2) Ordinary people do not only need a mental image of their goals in order not to become distracted from them, but they require a visible symbol, illustration of such goals and purposes. The artist needs to concentrate on a model and to exclude peripheral vision so as to avoid the danger of distorting what he draws. The marksman needs to concentrate his entire field of vision exclusively on the target, if he does not want to miss. It is a fact that extremes are usually taboo in the philosophy of Judaism, and we have a string of scriptural quotations supporting the view that the golden mean is the way of life to be pursued. When concentrating on the image representing our purpose, the fact that peripheral vision is excluded, symbolises the exclusion of extremes either to the right or to the left. Whenever we polarise a particular activity, - if polarisation is for the sake of Heaven-, it becomes acceptable in G'ds eyes. Similarly, apparently negative forces, phenomena such as the angel of death, Satan, the yetzer hara, are necessary, because they fulfil a useful function and advance the cause of G'd. The Talmud Baba Batra 16, says that even Peninah's needling of her sister -in-law Chanah, was due to a constructive motivation, since it bestirred Chanah to pray for a child. (Samuel I chapter 1) Similarly, Satan, who subjected Job to all his afflictions served G'd in what he did, since otherwise Job would have appeared as more pious and devout than Abraham. (Job chapter 2) The result of employing such normally negative character traits is not a coarsening of one's personality, and does not turn us into slaves of these bad traits, but, on the contrary, it strengthens our mastery over the yetzer hara, evil impulses. This is the meaning of Baba Batra 16, saying that the angel of death kissed Chanah's feet. "He," i.e. the yetzer hara ended up as her slave, not vice versa. The fact that the angel of death=Satan= yetzer hara are identical, is proved by a string of scriptural quotations from the book of Job. Various statements in our Mishnah have to be understood in a similar vein. "Any quarrel which is for the sake of Heaven, will endure." (Avot 5,17) The meaning is that although the venue, i.e. quarrelling, is normally a forbidden venue, it does advance G'ds causes when it is employed for that purpose. (interpreting Torah) The Talmud Berachot 6, states "he who fixes a makom, spot, for his prayer, will be assisted by the G'd of Abraham. Beyond the halachic meaning, that one should have a regular spot from which to offer up prayer, the meaning is that he who concentrates on the one and only source, (makom is also a name for G'd) from which ultimately all prayers will be answered, will enjoy the help of the G'd of Abraham. When Solomon dedicated the Temple, he went to great lengths to emphasize that all prayers must be directed to the central spot, the holy of holies, the Western Wall. As we read "Here He stands behind our wall" (Song of Songs 2,9). This epitomizes what our sages had in mind when they said "anyone who fixes a spot for his prayer etc." The Kabbalists understand the aggadah that G'd has withheld the key of rain from His agents, as illustrating the idea that we must address ourselves to G'd directly for our needs. We must polarize our concentration on the source of our salvation to the exclusion of agents, assistants. Azzut, effrontery, can be a serious enough misdemeanour to result in the death penalty,- compare the Amalekite who bragged to David about having administered the coup de grace to a dying King Saul-. (Samuel II chapter 1) Halachically speaking, this act was not even culpable, since no one can be convicted of a capital crime on the basis of his own testimony. Besides, it was not even true. Nonetheless, David had the lad in question executed. The reason is that his brazenness in claiming to have killed the one whom G'd had anointed, was a conduct that deserved the death penalty. As David said to him, "your own mouth has convicted you." On the other hand, we find Yehudah ben Teyman exhorting us "be az like a leopard in fulfilling the mitzvot! (Avot, 5,23) This indicates that even normally despicable traits can on occasion be employed constructively. The whole of Psalm 20, underlines that when we concentrate on receiving aid from Jerusalem, Zion, the seat of the shechinah, we "will rise and find ourselves encouraged." Similarly, David was granted confidence when he faced Goliath. (Samuel 1,17,36). To sum up: exclusive concentration on the source of our salvation is necessary for successful completion of one's purpose. The crux of the matter is that both our observances and our studies should be lishmah, for the sake of the subject matter, for its avowed purpose. Rabbi Meir says that many attributes are conferred on the person whose preoccupation with Torah is lishmah (Avot 6,1). Since true love is based on the two people having many likes and dislikes in common, family members are apt to love one another because they have so much in common both by heredity and by common environment. True friendship also is based on this community of interests. When we act lishmah, we qualify for this community of purpose with our Creator, we become His partner, so to speak. If we do not act in this way,- though wicked people also often have much in common-, the nature of their self interest dictates a diversity of approach, competition etc. Therefore, their purposes will not be achieved in the long run. Similarly, even a Torah scholar who is motivated by selfish considerations will ultimately not achieve his goal, and does not qualify for the complimentary attributes listed by Rabbi Meir. The Talmud Pessachim 49, states that the worst kind of individual is he who studies Torah, and forsakes its path. He demonstrates thereby that whenever his goals seem attainable by other means, he neglects and abandons Torah. He is called nazuf, excommunicated. The Talmud Horiot 10, tells us that a sin committed for a pure motivation is morally superior to a mitzvah observed for unworthy motivations. The encampment of the children of Israel reflected a) the limitation placed on them at Mount Sinai, i.e. they were not to be too close to the shechinah .Therefore, the camp of the Levites as well as the camp of the priests was interposed between them and the tabernacle, b) Since they faced the tabernacle from all four directions, it made the tabernacle the central points towards which all thoughts and hopes were directed. Torah was given to Israel free of charge, just as fire, water and desert are free of charge. (Midrash Rabbah Numbers 1) Furthermore, the comparison with fire is to indicate that the "fire" of physical passions had to be sublimated by "fire" of moral and spiritual values offered by Torah. When the Jewish people saw the mountain afire without burning itself into a heap of ashes, that lesson was learned. The fire had become one of purification. Excess water in the bloodstream is apt to cool anyone's enthusiasm. It causes people to seek their fortunes by crossing the oceans. At the same time, excess fluid produces lethargy, laziness lack of enterprise. The desire for financial success (desert, earth, i.e. matter) is implanted within us as an antidote to lethargy caused by thinned out blood (watery). Just as all these three items are part of our basic make up, so the Torah has been made available free, naturally, without the need for an extraordinary effort on our part to secure its wisdom. Lo bashamayim hee, She is not in Heaven, i.e. difficult of access. Or, in the words of Maimonides, the more basic and vital our need for a life preserving element, the more readily available did G'd make such elements. He granted them indiscriminately. The Midrash relates that when Israel saw the angels and their flags, and realised their significance, they developed a desire for a similar means of preserving their concentration on the source of their welfare, i.e. G'd. They realised that without such a symbol to look at, they would not be able to sustain the lofty moral niveau they occupied at the time of the revelation. Creatures of the spiritual world are distinguished by their constancy. The weakness of creatures in this physical world of ours is their constant changeability. The Israelites had wanted to preserve as much of this constancy as possible. They sought to do this by concentrating on symbols that represented their moral purpose in this world. This is why they wanted flags. By counting the people on fixed dates, i.e. maintaining a degree of constancy, the basic changeability of human beings would be stabilised to a degree. Rosh Hashana, i.e. New Year's day, would be the date fixed to concentrate on their moral niveau. By counting people of a certain age group, excluding those who had reached the age of sixty, the annual variations in the total number of people counted would be kept to a minimum. This accounts for the fact that on several occasions, as much as 38 years apart, the Torah reports practically the same total number for all the tribes combined, excluding the tribe of Levi. The counts on the occasion when the half shekel levy was raised, and the count of the people when the tabernacle had been erected, comes out identically the same for the above mentioned reason.

Some problems in the text of the Parshah. 1) What need is there for the introduction "take the sum of the entire congregation etc." (Numbers 1,2), if the objective is merely to count them and mention the flags of the encampment? 2) Why was the camp of Ephrayim, a son (grandson) of one of Jacob's major wives assigned the Western position to move third in order, whereas the camp of Dan in a Northern position moves last, an apparently superior position? 3) Why does the Torah describe the significance of the birthright as dating from the day G'd smote the firstborn in Egypt? Had such birthright not been significant already at the time Jacob bought it from Esau? 4) Why were some of the sacred vessels carried by the family of Kehat, wrapped in blue woollen covers, whereas others had to be wrapped in red covers? 5) Why are all the details about Israel's wanderings reported? It would have sufficed to state "they camped at the behest of G'd, and they travelled at G'ds command!"

(1) The counting had two basic objectives. 1) To demonstrate to each individual Jew that he had individual worth, not as Bileam had thought at first "the nation covers the visible part of the earth," i.e. that Jews are important only collectively. The count proved that each Jew is significant individually. Of the gentiles it is said "here the nations are as a drop in the bucket." (Isaiah 40,15) Of Israel it is said "who has been able to count the dust of Jacob?," i.e. even its dust deserves to be counted. (Numbers 23,10) Similarly, stars, constellations, are all individually counted by G'd. "Who counts the number of the stars and calls each one by name." (Psalms 147,3) So, although G'd had been aware of the total number of Israelites, the individual significance of each was demonstrated by treating each Jew like a star in the sky, and by assigning to him his position in the scheme of things. The concept had been familiar to them; but to see the physical realisation of it, brought the idea home more forcefully. Further, there is the element of the shekalim and atonement, as discussed in chapter 52. The second objective was to drive home the point that unlike the gentiles, the survival of the Jewish people would not be restricted to the survival of their species, but that each Jew would possess individual eternal existence, just as each individual star has a permanent existence. Of the stars it is said in Isaiah 40, 26, "not one of them is missing." This provides the rationale why G'd counts each star and names it. It is to establish its permanent purpose in the universe. They are counted collectively, yet they possess individual differences in quality. Compare our remarks about the letter vav linking the enumeration of the offerings of the princes at the time the tabernacle was dedicated. (chapter 58) The need to establish who belonged to which family, (not necessary on the occasion of the first count) was to remove all doubt about the purity of anyone's ancestry. As the Talmud says in Yevamot 42, "the shechinah cannot be present unless both the origin of the zera, seed, and the permissible family relationship is firmly established." The Talmud in Kiddushin 70, expresses the same thought somewhat differently. "The tribes of G'd are testimony for Israel." (Psalms 122,4) The prince, the leader of the tribe, is to the tribe what the sign of the zodiac is to each star in its group. The Levites were not counted yet, since also the last time they had not been counted at the same time as the other tribes. On that occasion, when the levy of the half shekel represented an act of atonement for the sin of the golden calf, the Levites who had not participated in that sin, had not needed to atone for their part. The Levites would camp around the tabernacle. When the right kavanah, intent, and concentration existed, namely that the shechinah in the tabernacle was the model towards which one should strive to orient one's life, then no harm , no ketzeph would befall the viewers. (2) We believe that the front of the encampment faced East, the West being in the rear. North and South were left and right respectively. This would make the camp of Yehudah the most important, facing East. East is not to be understood as a point, but rather as a solid front. The whole camp is to be considered a square, each of whose sides represents one of the compass directions mentioned. In physics, the primary direction, length is viewed as "senior"; the second dimension "width" is viewed as junior." Yehudah and Ephrayim being in the East and West positions are both "length" positions, whereas North and South are understood to be "junior," i.e. "width" positions. We then have no problem with the sons of the lesser wives occupying positions superior to those of the sons of the major wives of Jacob. The fact that when the trumpet blasts signalling the breaking up of camp is mentioned, only two directions are named, supports our theory that the two dimensional lines are meant when the order of the importance of the encampment around the flags is described. (Numbers 10, 6-7) The pictures on the flags correspond to the four facets seen by the prophet Ezekiel in his famous vision of the merkavah, Divine entourage. (Ezekiel chapter 1) (3) The fact that Jacob had already tried to reverse the principle of the sanctity of the "firstborn" is true, but the legitimacy of this was not really confirmed until the plague of "killing the firstborn." The legislation stemming from this reversal was not enacted until after the episode of the golden calf, which represented a wholesale failure on the part of the Jewish firstborn. Basically, while the firstborn performed priestly functions, he was allowed a dual role, both the mundane and the spiritual function. Since the failure of that system, the Levites who have supplanted the firstborn, have primarily religious duties, and are relieved of the mundane task of having to work for a living. (4) Covering the holy ark in a cover made of blue wool, indicates its prime importance, since the path to G'd leads via the tablets and the Torah that rest inside the holy ark. techeylet, skyblue, symbolises the Heavens and the throne of G'ds glory. The other vessels were also covered, but represented a path to G'd that is somewhat less direct, more "diluted." Therefore, there are different materials and colours for the covers of those vessels. The table also had a blue wool cover, but the blue was only on the outside, not as in the case of the cover for the ark, which was of blue wool both inside and out. The balance of the holy vessels had red covers, representing the malchut, majesty aspect of G'd. The menorah, candelabra had a cover that was blue wool on the inside, but tachash, hide, on the outside. The ark was covered more than the other vessels, since it had to be transported on the shoulders of the Kehatites. They were not, however, permitted to touch the ark itself. (5) The journeys of the Israelites described in Parshat Behalotcha in such agonising detail, teach that contrary to prevailing opinion, shared by Jews who had just left a country that based its philosophy on astrology and astronomy, the timetable of these journeys was determined only by G'd, not by astrological data. The Jewish people did not know from one day to the next if they were going to break camp. Calendar analysis, propitious times for journeys were all factors which were completely ignored when it came to decisions when and in which direction they would move. The Torah therefore emphasizes their obedience. "By the mouth of G'd they would journey," they observed G'ds instructions meticulously. (6) Since motion in a certain direction is conceived of as approaching some goal, and since by the nature of things, G'd, being perfect, He does not need to move at all, Moses proclaimed at each departure and arrival that the purpose of the move was for G'ds enemies to take heed and for Israel to return to constructive rest.

The many flags that the Jews displayed in the desert will be replaced in messianic times by a single flag symbolising "One nation, One G'd." (compare Isaiah 11, 12-13) Ephrayim, though the "senior," whose encampment in the desert was behind the tabernacle, and who harboured resentment of that fact, will no longer have cause for such resentment. A single flag will serve the entire nation alike. There will no longer be a need to have visible symbols to help concentrate on the presence of G'd, His hashgachah, etc. Rivalry between various parts of the nation, i.e. Yehudah and Ephrayim will cease at that time.