Rabbi Binyamin Yuhanan Mystical Insights Into Parashat Bamidbar 1

Shalom Alim we are learning parb the new SE the new book of Torah seph another name for this book is seph the word means in the wilderness the the the other name seph means the book of accounting or countings like the English name for for this book is numbers why is it called numbers because there are a lot of countings be it people animals gold and silver and so on in fact in this Seer the Jewish people are accounted twice once in the swix para and once in parad and we know that the Jewish people were counted already once when they left Egypt by um The Exodus they were counted and the number was the same as in this week's partial over 600,000 ma um males between the ages of 20 and 60 now the question arises double fold number one why is Hashem counting us three times each time the number is similar it's about 600,000 men the first two times the number is identical exactly the same number by Exodus and now this is a year later um why is Hashem counting us especially if the number Remains the Same on top of that we know that it's not good to count too much when you have a specific number for something you tend to limit it to that number when you say I have so much money so You just defined how much money you have and Shalom it might not grow why because you decreed that this is how much money I have but what if hashm wants to give you more now with your own lips you set a cap on your wealth so it's not recommended to count your money it's not recommended to count people we try not to count too much because the talmud says a blessing the blessing is only found in things that are hidden from the eye hidden from the eye can be interpreted they're hidden from the evil eye things that are hidden from the public eye because maybe someone will have an evil eye will look negatively and wish something bad so things that are hidden from the public eye and the evil eye will have the blessing things that are shown to the public they might have a curse on it God forbid because the public might have people who are jealous and maybe wish uh bad there is another interpretation and that is blessing is only found in things that are hidden from the eye whose eye your own eye even though you have a good eye you wish good upon yourself so why should you hide your own accomplishments and wealth as we explained before because by knowing exactly how much you have and putting a number on it especially with words you limit your future growth so why is Hashem counting the Jewish people again and again and again three times in close proximity and uh God knows how many people there are he can just tell Moshe Moshe you should write down in your Torah that this is how many people there are and mosha can just write down the final number why count and uh we we have two exceptions to um when it is okay to count normally you shouldn't count normally you shouldn't announce how much you have or how many people you are but in two cases it is permitted to count one is if you're fulfilling a Mitzvah when you want to fulfill the Mitzvah of charity of separating Mas tithing your money separating 10% so you need to know the total how much did I earn this month so that I can separate 10% and distribute it to good causes so I have to count every income that I had this month and I have to add it up but because I'm doing it for a mitzvah for the sake of Holiness for the sake of um kindness It's not subject to it's not subject to any limitation the opposite Hashem tells us when we give when we give we will be blessed so uh a person doesn't need to be scared when he's counting his own money for the purpose of separating 10% M to give it to poor the second um time when when counting is okay is when you're not counting to find the total number but rather you're counting because you love what you're counting just like let's say a person who loves money and he has a collection or of gold coins and rare coins out of his love for his treasure he's just going to go through it again and count it again he already knows the number everything's written but he's counting it again because he just loves holding it and counting it it reminds him of his fortune of his um happiness so too it is with the Jewish people Hashem knows the total number he can just tell Moshe the number not only that the second time the number was the same as the first Hashem can just tell Moshe Moshe uh let's not mention any numbers but you should know it's the same as last time don't even count don't bother Hashem loves the Jewish people and he enjoys looking at each Jew and he enjoys the process of counting them just like a king who um will call together all his troops and stand them in a parade in a show why because the king loves his power and the Army represents presents his power and he wants to see it yes he knows he was given the report how many soldiers there are but he wants to see because he enjoys it our sages say that Hashem counts the Jewish people like a man would count diamonds and pearls and therefore it's repeated again and again and there is no um God forbid any curse in it the opposite like the kohanim said to the Jewish people in their blessing Hashem will shine his countenance upon you and he will give you um Grace when Hashem looks at you you receive the blessing just like we say in the blessing of sim shalom through the light of your face which means Hashem when you look at us Hashem you gave us just by looking at us all the blessings Torah and life love and kindness charity and mercy when Hashem looks at a Jew there is a flow of kindness of Mercy from God to the Jew and it happens constantly every moment Hashem is looking at us that is why it's beneficial to always picture it that Hashem is looking at me right now Hashem proved himself already by telling us count the Jewish people again count the Jewish people again again I want to see each Jew I want to enjoy and through the the the blessing ofanim hasem said to the theim I want you to bless the Jewish people every day with my name and mention that I am looking at them you has Hashem will raise his own face toward you as if we can say such a thing literally that's what it means the blessing of kohanim it says hasem Will Shine Your Shine his face upon you and hasem will raise up his eyes towards you that's how Hashem loves us that he's constantly looking at us and we feel hashem's glance and gaze upon us for two reasons number one to control our um yet and our desires and say I can't do that because Hashem is looking and at the same time to feel his warm um uh blessing that kindness and blessing are flowing down upon me from directly from God so this is what uh the Torah calls counting the Torah says raise up the head of every Jew it doesn't say count them but it says raise them up for me to see usually when you count you show your superiority over the object of counting like at the end of last week's para says that when you count your sheep the the baby sheep that were born that year you count them with a stick and you count them one by one when you get to the 10th one dip your stick into paint and dab it on the sheep that's the 10th one 10th one become becomes we separate every 10th animal to be taken to yam and eaten there so that's when I show superiority I put a a a stamp a number like the Germans Yak May their name be erased used to put a number on a Jew and Hashem says no I'm not stamping a Jew I'm not putting a number on a Jew no I'm raising up his head I'm raising up his face that he should be uplifted because when uh uh when Hashem when God counts you when God when God looks at you you are automatically raised up why because he's showering you with kindness and also because when God looks at you everything's revealed there's nothing hidden and what's revealed your essence yourish you know your Nish shines through your body and by looking at you by recognizing your true worth your essence Hashem is Raising you up raising you up from mundane from every day from regular from the masses of humanity he says you are special you have a soul you are higher remember it every human being has a soul and every Jew has a special Nish and whoever remembers that I have a soul he becomes free he releases his Nish when a person thinks of of himself as the body the body creates a uh a covering a a a veil a curtain just like when you have a powerful nuclear reactor so powerful that you have to put a sarcophagine thick thick uh many feet thick cement over it to contain it because it has so much power so too if we think of us as a body the body will become physic physical more real and it will cover up the powerful Nish and contain it and will not let it out it's only when we think of ourselves as I am a spiritual being yes I am in a physical world I have a physical body but I am a soul then our soul will shine through all of a sudden we will feel spiritual we will feel Godly and we will become come unlimited so um bem next year we will try to have a a series of Russian language lectures on the Kash but this lecture we will um do in English I apologize um okay so now what's interesting is that when Jewish people are counted yes each one is count Ed individually each Jew is important in the eyes of God however Hashem reminds us constantly again and again almost every other sentence reminds us according to their families a according to their father's household which means a Jew as precious as we are but we were placed into a society we were placed into an extended family and into an immediate family which means a Jew cannot be successful by separating himself by developing the relationship with God Alone that doesn't work Hashem reminds us yes I love the Jewish people and I want to count them and I want to see all them I want to raise them up but don't forget don't forget about your family don't forget about your father's household your immediate family and your extended family it also reminds us that we need to think about our fathers father's family means ancestors a Jew has to develop his own relationship with God yes but the Jew also has to remember the history he has to remember what did his parents accomplish what was their connection with God and develop it further and learn from it what was his grandparents relationship with God what were their sacrifices his great grandparents and so on and so on to realize that I am not alone I wasn't created in an empty world I was created as part of humanity as part of my society and as part of my family this will help us to care for others to love others to give to others and also to learn to handle others to be patient with others to learn how to communicate with others and this is something that is uh that cannot be accomplished if a person feels that I am for myself and I am by myself the Jewish people this time were counted a little bit different than when we left Egypt when we left Egypt all the Jewish males from 20 to 60 were counted and they were 63,000 with some extras this time the tribe of Levy was not counted it was again 12 tribes because the tribe of ysf was split into a and Min but the 13th tribe of Levites was not counted which means that really we had more Jewish people now than by The Exodus the tribe of Levy itself had about additional 22,000 men but they were also counted differently they were counted not from 20 years of age but from one month of age 30 days and up and there was no upper limit whereas by Jewish people they were counted from 20 to 60 the Levites were counted from one month and up no upper limit now when Moshe had to count the males between 20 and 60 that was easy they all came they all greeted Moshe they all said Shalom Alim Moshe said Shalom and he asked them what is your name what is your father's name what tribe you're from and they recorded it Moshe blessed him and he went on his way but how did Moshe count the tribe of Levites how will the infants come before Moshe until they learn to walk until their parents will allow them to independently go to the camp of of Levites to meet Moshe how are they going to come and if you say let their mothers bring them that is not modest because in olden times it was not like today in the olden times there was a clear division between the community of men and the community of women they were very careful not to cause any uh mistake not to stumble not to let any male who is not her husband see the woman um and God forbid desire her and therefore it would be Unthinkable that a lady should publicly bring her child in front of the assembly and mosha she would have to walk from all the way from her tribe from her tent through many um tribes and many tents and stand in front of mosha with her baby so the other possibility is that perhaps Moshe can visit them in their house in their tent and approach the uh the crib and count but that's also not proper because it's it doesn't look good for a man who is not the husband to enter someone's private tent not allowed we find that it's only a Coen who is allowed to enter a tent when there is Sarat but he only is allowed to enter the tent when the tent is empty or the house is empty that there should be no suspicion that someone is there and perhaps there is there is a private meeting between kohen and another woman God forbid therefore they would empty the entire house and only then a man who is not the husband was able to enter we know from the story of Abraham that when guests came to him he did not take them into his tent not allowed to take someone into your tent your tent is Holy it's private tent is like bet mikdash we in our terms it's the bedroom of the couple and that is holy of holies only the kohen Gad can go into the holy of holies one day a year Yip no one is allowed to be there with him it's a private meeting between him and God so too a husband and a wife have a holy Union only they're allowed to be there their bedroom even when they're not intimate nobody has the audacity and the right to enter someone else's private bed so Moshe wasn't able to enter any tent of the Jews so how did he count the infants so this is a question that Moshe asked himself he said how am I going to count the Jewish people the Levites they can't come to me they're too small and I can't go to them cuz it's not modest for a man to enter someone else's tent what should we do do and Hashem said to mosha go count the Levites andos said God how can I do it and Hashem said go you do your part do as much as you can and when you can't do anymore I will come and help you so mosha said okay they're not coming to me I have to go to them I'm going to go until I come to the tent but I can't enter the tent what's going to be I don't know God is going to take care of it so mosha went he came to the first tent and as soon as he approached Divine voice came out and said in this tent there are so many babies that cannot walk yet and mosha wrote their names down he went to the next tent as soon as he approached it the Divine voice came out and said in this tent there are so many babies that cannot come out these are their names and he wrote them out this would make the job of uh uh sensor sensors sensor collectors so much easier they don't have to knock on the door they don't have to ask any questions they just come to the house and the Divine voice comes out how many people live in that house butash they don't have access to Divine voice only Moshe had that but what we learn from this is just like God told Moshe you do your part and I will do the rest we have a rule that God doesn't ask of us to do anything that he didn't give us ability to do so any Jew when he approaches his obligations in Torah has to say I am ready able and willing to fulfill the entire Torah why because it is obligatory upon me therefore I can but what if I can't can't be if God asks you to do it must be you can and therefore we have to believe in ourselves and do our part it might look to us that it cannot be done and that is true by ourselves we cannot do it it's only when we do our part God will take care of the rest we don't need to accomplish we just need to do as it says in you're not obligated to finish the job but you