A wise teacher of mine once made a comment to an irate man who missed his flight, “I don’t think you were meant to be on that plane.” “Why? What do you know?” the man belligerently seethed. “Because . . . you are not on that plane.” Bitachon (בִּטָּחוֹן), the middah we translate as “trust,” means believing that somehow, the path we are on is the one meant for us. ~Rabbi Cantor Alison Wissot, Bitachon- Trusting the Path
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...the basic concepts of decent human behavior, respect for the rights of others, and the avoidance of greed and envy are based on a trust that G-d provides each person with his appropriate needs. Greed, envy, and theft, are the results of a person believing unjustifiably that he can gain by such feelings and behavior....Decent behavior therefore requires a sincere trust in
G-d. ~Rabbi Abraham Twerski, Lights Along the Way
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Parsha Summary:
- B'nai Yisrael is getting ready to enter the land and a census is taken of Israelite males (draftable age from 20 - 60 years old). The Levites (responsible for transporting the Mishkan) are counted separately and will serve the needs of the people in the sanctuary.
- The 12 tribes were camped in 4 groups of 3 tribes each. To the east was Judah (pop. 74,600), Issachar (54,400) and Zebulun (57,400); to the south, Reuben (46,500), Simeon (59,300) and Gad (45,650); to the west, Ephraim (40,500), Manasseh (32,200) and Benjamin (35,400); and to the north, Dan (62,700), Asher (41,500) and Naphtali (53,400).
- This formation was kept also while traveling. Each tribe had its own Nasi (prince or leader), and its own flag with its tribal color and emblem.
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This parsha is read on the Shabbat before Shavuot. What is the significance of the listing of each individual and each tribe? The overall message informs our observance of Shavuot in what ways?
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Hashem has always provided for me until today. Why would He stop now? ~ The Chofetz Chaim (1838-1933)
(ג) יֵ֣צֶר סָמ֔וּךְ תִּצֹּ֖ר שָׁל֣וֹם ׀ שָׁל֑וֹם כִּ֥י בְךָ֖ בָּטֽוּחַ׃ (ד) בִּטְח֥וּ בַיהוה עֲדֵי־עַ֑ד כִּ֚י בְּיָ֣הּ יהוה צ֖וּר עוֹלָמִֽים׃
(3) The confident mind You guard in safety, In safety because it trusts in You. (4) Trust in GOD—for ever and ever, For in Yah—GOD—you have an everlasting Rock.
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֨ר יהוה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֛ה בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר סִינַ֖י בְּאֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֑ד בְּאֶחָד֩ לַחֹ֨דֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִ֜י בַּשָּׁנָ֣ה הַשֵּׁנִ֗ית לְצֵאתָ֛ם מֵאֶ֥רֶץ מִצְרַ֖יִם לֵאמֹֽר׃
(1) On the first day of the second month, in the second year following the exodus from the land of Egypt, יהוה spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, saying:
The Torah was given to the people of Israel in the ownerless desert. For if it were given in the Land of Israel, the residents of the Land of Israel would say, “It is ours”; and if it were given in some other place, the residents of that place would say, “It is ours.” Therefore it was given in the wilderness, so that anyone who wishes to acquire it may acquire it. ~Mechilta d’Rashbi
(ב) שְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹאשׁ֙ כׇּל־עֲדַ֣ת בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָ֖ם לְבֵ֣ית אֲבֹתָ֑ם בְּמִסְפַּ֣ר שֵׁמ֔וֹת כׇּל־זָכָ֖ר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָֽם׃
(2) Take a census of the whole Israelite company [of fighters] by the clans of its ancestral houses, listing the names, every male, head by head.
Because of G‑d’s great love for His people, He counts them all the time. He counted them when they left Egypt. He counted them after they fell in the wake of the sin of the golden calf, to know the number of the survivors. And He counted them when He came to manifest His presence within them: on the first of Nissan the Sanctuary was erected, and [one month later] on the first of Iyar He counted them. ~Rashi
This is reflected in the Hebrew word for “count,” pakod, which also means to “remember” and “be concerned with.” ~Nachmanides======================================
A census expresses two paradoxical truths. On the one hand, it implies that each individual is significant. On the other hand, a headcount is the ultimate equalizer: each member of the community, from the greatest to the lowliest, counts for no less and no more than “one.” G‑d repeatedly commands Moses to count the Jewish people to emphasize both their individual worth—the fact that no single person’s contribution is dispensable—as well as their inherent equality. ~ The Chassidic Masters
(ה) וּבָ֨א אַהֲרֹ֤ן וּבָנָיו֙ בִּנְסֹ֣עַ הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה וְהוֹרִ֕דוּ אֵ֖ת פָּרֹ֣כֶת הַמָּסָ֑ךְ וְכִ֨סּוּ־בָ֔הּ אֵ֖ת אֲרֹ֥ן הָעֵדֻֽת׃ (ו) וְנָתְנ֣וּ עָלָ֗יו כְּסוּי֙ ע֣וֹר תַּ֔חַשׁ וּפָרְשׂ֧וּ בֶֽגֶד־כְּלִ֛יל תְּכֵ֖לֶת מִלְמָ֑עְלָה וְשָׂמ֖וּ בַּדָּֽיו׃
(5) At the breaking of camp, Aaron and his sons shall go in and take down the screening curtain and cover the Ark of the Pact with it. (6) They shall lay a covering of dolphin skin over it and spread a cloth of pure blue on top; and they shall put its poles in place.
Like the Ark, the soul of man is encased within three coverings: 1) it is overlaid with a selfish and materialistic character (what Chassidism calls “the animal soul”); 2) it is embedded within a physical body; 3) it is placed in a physical world which obscures and distorts the divine reality.
As long as the Ark stood in its place in the Holy of Holies, it had no need for coverings. But when the time came for it to journey on, G‑d commanded that it be “swallowed up” by its threefold vestment. The same applies to the soul. A “spark of G‑dliness,” the soul is perfect and complete unto itself. But to journey on—to advance further in the infinite journey toward union with its Infinite Source—it must undergo on a “descent for the sake of ascent.” It must be subjected to the threefold concealment of human nature, physicality and worldliness, to discover in the lowliest reaches of creation the key for even greater connection with G‑d. ~The Lubavitcher Rebbe
(ג) בְּטַ֣ח בַּ֭יהוה וַעֲשֵׂה־ט֑וֹב שְׁכׇן־אֶ֝֗רֶץ וּרְעֵ֥ה אֱמוּנָֽה׃
(3) Trust in the LORD and do good, abide in the land and remain loyal.