<html><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space; "><div><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Bamidbar is also known as </span></font><em><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Chumash Hapekudim</span></font></em><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">, 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:</span></font></div><div><p align="left"><font><font><strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">First, the Census teaches us</span></font></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> that each individual must be counted since each individual counts and because each person is different. I came across the following saying with a slightly different twist:</span></font></font><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> </span></font></font><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">"Everything that can be counted doesn't necessarily count; everything that counts can't necessarily be counted." (Of course, "Everything" in this saying doesn't necessarily refer only to people, otherwise it would contradict the above concept in the Torah). </span></font></p><p align="left"><strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Second, each person was counted and identified</span></font></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> with his or her family (LeMishpechotam). The Census teaches us the importance of family in Jewish identity. The secret of </span></font><strong><u><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">our</span></font></u></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> continuity is the </span></font><strong><u><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">family</span></font></u></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">. </span></font></p><p align="left"><strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Third, the person counted in the Census was identified</span></font></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> with his Degel, his flag, representing his Shevet, his tribe. To really 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. We've heard the expression of "waving the flag" which sometimes has negative connotations. However, for the Jew, there was great pride in "waving the flag."</span></font></p><p align="left"><font><font><strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">Thus the Censuses </span></font></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">of the Sidrah of Bamidbar teach us that the basic building blocks for a genuine Torah life and society are 1) the unique individual, 2) the family unit and 3) significant communal groups. Without these, it would be next to impossible to really accept the Torah</span></font></font><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">.</span></font></font></p><p align="left"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">We should also remember that it was in the wilderness we accepted the Torah and today we share that very theme with our ancestors, since we are </span></font><strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">still</span></font></strong><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; "> in the "wilderness."</span></font></p><p align="left"><font class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; ">ri</span></font></p></div></div></body></html>