Rav Yitzchak Breitowitz: Unity Through Diversity

You see your tomorrow. >> Okay. Hi everybody. Thank you all for coming and uh as always uh we dedicate the share praying for the protection of Amy Israel, the unity of Amy Israel and the eventual victory and for all of those whose health has been affected by terror. They should have a rafu rafu a rafu for leia shosana bas is and leia bas ka may they be alias in honor of the upcoming yumpt of matenu it is dedicated I'm just reading for writ one of the teachers of our time over the past 30 years has enriched my life with an enormous amount of Torah knowledge guidance and inspiration and continues to inspire both me and my wife until today. May this Torah learning be a for his continued I will say amen and thank you very much for the very kind dedication on the occasion of the 20th yard site the shabis of Mrs. Janette Cassels, uh, War Narska Shandel Bash Shaya Mendel, who as a young girl saved many lives in Krakco during the Showa, smuggling children younger than she in and out of the Krakco ghetto, sponsored by her sons, uh, Mitchell and Jeffrey. Jeffrey in particular is a is a good friend of myself and Iban. And finally, an anonymous contribution again for the Hashem's protection for all of Kali Israel and for the Gulma very very soon. Okay. So we are coming of course towards the end of the omare period. We are also beginning a new kishidbar. Uh it's interesting that uh the rabbitical name for Bidbar is audish of the numbers. So the English actually has it right. numbers is actually how Kazal called this book because it actually begins with a census and towards the end there is a census. There are two enumerations in the book of Bameidbar. One in the first para of Bameidbar and the other in paraspinas which we're going to read around the three weeks and they do represent two different populations. The first population the one that is counted at the beginning of Bidbar uh represents the uh population of the males who left Mitzim from the age of 20 and up. So that is the population of yot mitzim. By contrast paras pinas is 40 years later and the old generation has died because of the sin of the spies which we'll read about in a few weeks. And this represented the new generation of those who were 20 and up but at that time meaning they either they were not born uh at the time of the Exodus uh or they were below 20 and therefore it's a different population base. Now what's interesting is I'm not going to go over a detailed numerical calculation and that is the ultimate totals are the same. Meaning even though if you compare the census in Bidbbor and the census in uh in Pinas individual tribes go up and down. So there are going to be diff every single tribe is different because it's a different population base but the aggregate total it's quite amazing the aggregate total of the 603,000 is actually identical. So even though there are ups and downs the nation remains the same. It's almost like a mushel maybe for Jewish continuity. We have our ups, we have our downs, we have our changes, but the nation remains constant and you actually even see that in the mechanics of the census itself. Uh, and you know it's you know people often get bored with numbers unless you're a statistician and I know there are these baseball fanatics that can uh kind of compute all sorts of averages uh over over decades. uh but a lot of people we kind of pass over numbers but it is worthwhile in fact if you have the time it's kadai to even make a comparison of the bameidbbor census and the pinhas census to see who gained and who lost and rashi offer actually offers explanations in pinhas primarily as to why there's a difference uh but here is the uh the issue that I want to point out first of all keep in mind that the beginning Midbar starts with Hashem commanding Moshe Aron and the Nissim to count the males from the age 20 and up. It does not say by the way 20 to 60. So it's some say it's 20 to 60, others say it's 20 up and there's no 60 limit. But this is a commandment to count uh Ben Israel. Now when was that commandment given? We have to pay attention to dates a little bit here. The Torah says they were commanded the first day of the second month of the second year from the Exodus. Now remember in the Torah the years change in Nissan not Roshashana and we don't even have the words and those are Babylonian names that we don't have until the Babylonian exile. Rather the Tory refers to months by reference to counting them from Nissan. So the month of Nissan is called the month of Eeyore is in which we have the Torah calls. So we must be the only culture in world history that celebrates our new year in the seventh month of the calendar. is. So the thing is therefore if it tells us it is which is 13 months after the exodus it's the second year right so the year changed in Nissan now the Mishkan itself was finished and dedicated roesh Nissan only one month earlier than that. So that means in other words the census was commanded one month after hakamatishkan in the second year from the exodus. Okay, that is when we were given a command. Let me point out that we do have a famous that we've talked about a number of times called that means the Torah does not always follow chronological order. And sometimes events are written down later that are earlier than events that were written down earlier. And in parasa we do have a very blatant example of this. We're going to read in the para after this one the nim when the Mishkan was dedicated all the nim brought corbanos and this is very good for balor because they brought the identical corban and the trump is identical so even though there's a lot of sugg but it's exactly the same now it's very very clear that the nim brought their corbanos the first 12 days of Nissan because the mishkim was dedicated nissan and the nim brought their corban the dedication of the altar. Which means even though the book begins later in the book, we go backwards to Roshesh Nissan when we describe again chronological point that there are things in Bameidborg that are earlier than where the book starts. The book starts in Eeyore. In fact, we're going to go back and see events that happened in the month of Nissan. And this is now I think I mentioned in the past that Rashi utilizes this principle with some frequency. Ramban tries to avoid the principle Ramban has a certain orientation that we try to interpret verses chronologically except when it's impossible. This is an example of impossibility. This is an example where even Ramban has to admit that the Torah is out of order in this particular context. Okay. But be it as it may, we have the Mishkan dedicated Roshoesh Nissan and Hashem commands a census rod Eeyore. And in that census again the count is everyone that is 20 and up except for the tribe of Ley. Ley is not counted in that census. There is a separate counting of Levim. Interestingly enough, there are two separate countings of Levim. One is a counting of Levim from the age of 30 days and up. And the other is a counting of Levim from the age of 30 years and up. So it's interesting if you were to ask me you know I know how many 20 year olds there are in Ruvane Shimon Yehuda how many 20 year olds are in ley I actually don't know because I have two numbers and the 20-year-old will be somewhere between the two numbers I know how many 30 dayolds there are and I know how many 30 year olds there are uh so the 20 would be somewhere in the middle between the 30 days and the so it's interesting that ley under no circumstances counted me esim but they are counted separately and rashi says as oftel they are the army of the king they are to be you know god they are counted separately they're not miknas into the overall counting of everybody else they are differentiated in that way okay so that's kind of the general structure and again just to finish the just the narrative of what's going on. You'll then recall that this is an unusual one-time pigeon haben. We know of course that we redeem the firstborn uh by giving money to a coain, but this was a one-time very unusual pigonhaben that instead of redemption by money, every ley redeemed a firstborn. Meaning a ley who was 30 days old redeemed a firstborn of an of who was 30 days. And since there were a few hundred more firstborn than there were levim only those extra gave the fivekim to the cow. So this is the only time this ever happened. The only time it happened that you had a person for person pigeon aben was in this first generation and the only ones that gave money were the extra. Of course that raises the question you know each person can say I'm included in the pigeon like why do I have to so there there were kind of lotteryies that were drawn in which uh the family of every bakar picked a something out of a lottery box that said you are covered by a person. you are covered by a person and a few the few hundred were slips that said not covered and so whoever drew the slip not covered they would have to give the money of pigeon. Okay. Uh so the purpose is therefore the 30day counting was for the redemption of the firstborn and the 30-year counting was the qualification for service in the Mishkan. Levim did not fully serve in the Mishkan till they reached the age of 30. That's why there are two separate countings. According to that 20 was not a relevant age for Levim. The 30 day was the redemption idea and the 30 year was the avoda idea and that's why there are two different countings of of Ley. This does raise questions. I I actually did wasn't planning on talking about this that we find in Draim when David Hamelik is making preparations for the temple that he was not allowed to build but he still made many many preparations it says he counted the levim from age 20 and that's that's a very interesting question seems to be assuming that 20 is the relevant age when the Torah says 30 is the relevant age now in the Torah itself there's a contradiction because one Pussk says the Lavim served from age 30. Another Pussk says they served from age 25. So that Rashi gave us an answer that there were five years of apprenticeship and then you graduated into full service. Uh but either way that's not 20. David was utilizing the idea of 20. Uh the 25 to 30 the Gumar has an interesting comment as a little digression. It says from here we learn out that if you've tried to be successful at a given activity profession for 5 years and it's not working out it's time to switch because a ley is given five years of apprenticeship and then he's supposed to graduate. If he's not able to do the work then he doesn't do the work. So uh people a lot of yeshiva boys uh often use this as an argument. They want to leave yeshiva after five years because they say oh I'm not successful right so kazal say you're not successful in five years you got to switch careers so there are two answers rash shivas like to give uh one is a warm and fuzzy answer and one is the tough love answer so depending on the personality of the rashiva uh the tough love answer is it says if you tried to be to work and weren't successful switch. You call what you're doing trying. You know, you weren't you weren't trying. So, what do you want? Of course, it doesn't work. You got to keep going. That's kind of the tough love answer, saying the condition is you got to try. The warm and fuzzy answer is what do you mean you haven't achieved success? Perhaps you haven't achieved the success you thought you would achieve, but you know, you can read Rashi now. You can learn Mishna now. So, of course, you're successful. Therefore, you should keep on going. Right? So, so you can differ different answers. You can either say you are a success or you can say, well, you're not a success, but you didn't try. Either way, they the argument is to stay in the Torah world a bit longer if you can. Again, not addressing the army issue tonight. I'm not talking about that. I'm just talking about just generally staying in the staying with Lima Lima Torah. Okay. Now, here is the the interesting thing. Rashi points out that although this is the first time that we have a specific census Ruven Shimon Levy, there is by hidden implication a prior census of the identical population and that is when the Mishkan was constructed. When the Mishkan was constructed, every person, this is Pares Kissa, every man from 20 and up was commanded to give a half shekele in addition to whatever voluntary offerings you made of gold, silver, copper, wool. There was a designated half shekel offering and that half shekele was mel of silver. That half shekele was melted down and from the half shekel they constructed heavy sockets in which they inserted the b the beams of the mishkun. Right? The beams of the mishkun had two prongs like the teeth of a plug and they were inserted in sockets that were heavy silver sockets. Every ter because of the two prongs had two sockets that that stabilized the Mishkan. And when the Mishkan was taken apart, kind of like Legos, heavy Legos, the Kurashim, the beams were taken out of the sockets and both the beams and the sockets were loaded onto wagons. That's how they were transported. Now if you calculate and you look at the half shekel the totals of the half shekel you will get the identical population of 603,000 in other words you had double in other words uh if you had a half shekele right so if you take the the total number of shikim and you divide it by two you will get that population so there are two questions here the Michigan was constructed. They began constructing the Mishkan the day after Yam Kipper when Moshe came down with the second tablets and they finished at Nissa. We don't have an exact date when they gave the half shekel and it wasn't one day anyway. It was over a period of time, but it clearly was a census prior to the one in Eeyore. So there are two questions that are presented here. Question number one is, if they already were counted during the construction of the Mishkan, why is there a need to count them again in the space of a few months? Bishma, the double counting in Boren Pinas. That's obvious. They're separated by 40 years and they represent two different populations. One is the population of those who left Mitraim. The other is the population of those who were under 20 or born in the desert and they were 20 40 years later. But here you're counting the same population, those people who were 20 and just a few months before you count you count you calculated the population via the half shekels that they gave. Why is there a need to count the same population base again? That's question number one. Question number two though is really the opposite. Given the fact that you get counted after your 20th birthday, how could the two populations be the same? Let's imagine I'm going to I'm just going to make up a date because it's not not exactly accurate. Let's assume that just just for purposes of illustration that everybody gave their half shekel let's say inh it was some period between tish and nissa now that counted everybody that was 20 years old by some people surely had birthdays between and so there were people who were only 19 at the time of the first counting and they weren't counted and they became 20 in the second counting. So even though the two countings, I'm not sure if the plural is sensai or sensus, I think it's sensai is the Latin plural for this. There were people who became 20 between the two countings and they would only be counted in the second counting and not in the first counting. How could the two countings be the same? So maybe you'll say some of them say this well some people died. So therefore it might be possible that the births were exactly equal to the I don't mean the birth in other words people who reached their 20th birthday. It's not a question of birth but the people who reached their 20th birthday between the two countings were equal to people who were counted in the first counting and died. And if there is a matchup of 20th birthday and deaths, that will do it. And yet many maforam say that that is not a suitable answer because we do have a tradition that there were no natural deaths in the midbar other than the deaths that are recorded in the Torah, which are substantial. But people didn't just die. They they only died when there was special divine punishment or decrees or the like. And there's no particular indication of any death events between other than theel itself which only involved 3,000 people. Uh there is no particular uh death event between the first counting and the second counting. Remember the even the first counting was after the right. So so you can't even include the in that calculation. So bikzer to summarize there are two questions that Rashi himself brings that are very interesting. Number one given the fact that there was a first counting based on the half shekels that were given for the adanim why is there a need for a second counting just a few months later dealing with fundamentally the same population base? That's question number one. Question number two is given the fact that you get included when you hit your 20th birthday, how could the two numbers be exactly the same? Uh some people had their 20th birthday uh in between the two countings and they would be counted in the second and not in the first. So the it should have been um it should have been a different number in one way or the other. It should have been a different number. Right? These are two questions. Now with respect to question two, I'm going to do question two. Rashi gives a very fascinating answer. Rashi says it's a very bigish that the definition of birthday did not mean the day of your birth. Everybody became one year older on Roshashana tish. Which means it made no difference if you were born in Kashwan or you were born in L. When Tish came, you were now one year old because you had part of that prior year. Everybody had a uniform birthday. The birthday of the nation, which is interesting, not Nissan, the birthday of the nation is said to be Tish. So based on that Rashi says it turns out that anybody that was 20 years old at the time of the first counting the first counting was let's say in fashion it was between Yum Kipper and Nissan the second counting was Eeyore. So there was no tish between the two countings. So anybody who was 20 was counted the first time and the second time. Anyone who is 19 is still going to remain even if his birthday was uh in Eor whatever it would be he remains hakally 19 until tit >> and therefore there was no change based on a uniform birthday >> between let's say and because there's no tit in the middle um I think I'm not sure I'm not sure I think that's how it's how it may be calculated in China or something I think for Chinese birth populations. I mean not not tish but they use like January 1st they they use a uniform birthday and it is definitely the way they determine the age of raceh horses for some crazy reason. Uh they pick a date that at that point you become one year older kind of the uniform birthday. So that's a fascinating answer. It's a little bit it's a little bit bit of a kittish because number one uh uniform birthdays is kind of a strange thing. We normally don't I mean for bar mitzvah and the like we certainly don't go with uniform birthdays you know it has to be your actual birthday but number two it's a little unusual that you're using tish because because really the the Torah is always using Nissan as the next year. But if that would be the case, that wouldn't work out because between andor there is a Nissan. So Rashi Badka has to make the point we're not using Nissan as the uniform birthday. Okay. But that's Rashiish. Uh others say an interesting thing. Others say fascinatingly that the first counting of the half shekel included the tribe of Ley from age 20 and up because everybody gave the half shekel. The second counting does not include the tribe of Ley. So in point of fact, the second counting may in fact be larger than the first counting because the first counting you'd have to subtract the Levian of 20. And that represented the population growth in the other tribes which means we don't have the number. We don't know how many Levian were 20. But some want to say that that is why the two countings are the same because the first counting by definition included shave levy. The second counting did not and therefore the second counting is the same but really it's a larger population growth. Those who became 20 again different different chetos and those who uh enjoy working with numbers you can work out a lot of complications. It's getting can get very very uh complex in terms of trying to balance the numbers. In fact, uh to throw out another issue which I'm not going to address at all. People also raise the question, how could the numbers be so perfectly rounded? Uh you see that they are rounded at least to the tens. Uh a population might be 50,000 or maybe 55,000 uh and the like, but you'll never see uh you know 55,631, right? It's a it's a round everything is rounded off to a certain perfect number. And was that the mitsus or is the Torah tolerating approximations? No, different commentaries go with different mah. Okay. But be it as it may, the main thing I want to focus on is the first question that Rashi raises. What is the need of repeating a census just a few months after the first census? Why? So, Rashi says the following. Rashi says repetitive counting even within a short period of time is a sign of it is a sign of divine love. Just like a miser you know with his chest of gold may count his gold jewelry over and over and over again because he loves it so much. So too wants to count Israel every occasion that he has. So the sashel right the makashel was in the aftermath of the so after the tragedy god I mean he knows but god wants a minan of the survivors right so the first minan is in the aftermath of the aga and the second minan is when god wants to rest his divine presence through the Mishkan which is just one month old. He also wants to know. He wants to count the nation upon whom he is resting his shina. Now why did he wait a month that I don't know and rashi does not really say the mishk is one month old but still this is close enough that we consider this to be part of the process of hash. So Rashi's answer is relatively simple that repetitive s apparently superfluous counting is a sign of divine love which Hashem will show us at pivotal moments in our existence in the aftermath of tragedy like the ego and as a precursor to the hash the resting of the divine presence upon the Jewish people uh after the construction of the Mishman. But here is I want to build on this comment of Rashi though and maybe elaborate on it maybe beyond what Rashi himself is saying but based on this idea of and that is if you think about it the first counting via the half shekele and the second counting in parasid are actually very very different even though they do result for whatever reason in the same population of men who are 20 and up. They were done in very very different ways. The first counting is a very anonymous counting. Meaning how were they counted? People dropped a half shekele coin in a pushka. Moshe and Aaron counted the half shekels before they were melted down. and they knew the population via the computation of the half sheep. Moshe and Aaron didn't know who gave what. And there is no tribal division in that first census because we were simply counting the population by counting the half shekels. We don't know how many ruins, how many shimons, how many isers. It was anonymous. It did not give you a tribal breakdown and it was indirect. In fact, when the Torah introduced the mitzvah of giving the half shekele, the Torah emphasized when you count the Jewish people, do not count them by heads because that unleashes negative divine forces. They should be counted indirectly. Now by contrast the Bitbar counting is very far from anonymous. In Bameitbbor we don't only have a total we have a very detailed tribal breakdown how many ru how many shimons how many Yehudas. That already is a major difference between the first counting and the second counting. Moreover, even on an individual level, the second counting was more personal than the first counting. Now, let me raise this question. We know that the first counting was through the half shekels which were melted down for the adon for the sockets. Was the counting in parasa midbar? Was that done through the giving of an additional half shekele? The Torah does not say if you read just read the Torah, the Torah does not say whether an additional half shekele was given in that counting. Now Rashi as a matter of fact says that all countings are done with the half shekele. So even though it only mentions a half shekel in the construction of the Mishkan, this counting was also done with half shekele. And if you ask me, well, what did they use those half shekels for? The first half shekels were melted down and used for the sockets, what would the second the answer is the second half shekele was used just like the half shekele was used every year for carbonos to buy the animals for the carbanos. In fact, that's the normal use of the half shekele. The first use of the half shekele to melt them down for the adanium that was unique. So Rashitaka learns that even the second counting was through half shekels even though the Torah doesn't say it. Other rishims say no other said there was a direct count. Now if there was a direct count certainly that's more personal you know I don't just see a coin I see a person but the MSA is even like Rashi that it was a half shekele. The half shekele was given in a different way. The first time they dropped it into a pushka and Moshe and Aaron just counted the box, the contents of the box. Here the Torah uses the phrase they shall be counted the mispar she misparamus the counting of names or the Ramban says mispar does not mean counting. Misbar means the narration of names. And here's what Ramban says, and it's a fascinating comment. When you gave your half shekel in Bidbar, you didn't drop it into a box. You went over to Moshe and Aon and you introduced yourself. You say, "Hi, I'm Arami." And you gave the shea Miss Baramos. Give Moshe your name. I mean, think about this a little bit. How many names did Mosher Rabenu know? How many people ever talked to Mosher Rabenu? The Dora Midbar. Yeah, Moshe gave us these mitzvah and we all we all listened, of course, but on a onetoone basis. How many people ever got a kesher to Mosha? In fact, the Gomorrah says that Aon Hako was actually much more connected to people than Moshe. Aaron was the great peacemaker who got involved in domestic quarrels and mlo between husband and wife and that's why it actually says that when Aaron died the mourning in Amy Israel was even greater than when Moshe died. Aaron was more of a man of the people Moshe the greatest novi who ever lived. Moshe was otherworldly. I mean first of all keep in mind when Moshe walked around after the he walked around with a veil over his face because of the light of the shina. So you see this mysterious man walking around with a veil over his face. Although when he gave the mitzvah he uncovered the veil so people saw the light of the So one can imagine I mean I I wasn't there. I'm not that old. But one can imagine that there was a tremendous sense of awe. Yeah, Moshe had his detractors. That's true. That didn't stop people from attacking him. That's human nature. But by and large, the tremendous awe, the tremendous reverence and the average Jew, if there's such a thing as an average Jew of that generation, had no real personal shyness with Moshe. But the Ramban says it was important that at least once in your life you introduced yourself to Mosher Rabenu. So, so he was not just the leader of the nation of Israel. He was the leader of every single yet. No, I understand that it's not every single yet because at the end of the day, it's still only the men from 20 up. I understand that. But at least it was representative of every family and the like. So the point I'm making is there is a tremendous difference between the first census and the second census. The first census in the aftermath of the ego was anonymous. We didn't know we meaning Moshe and Aaron didn't know the tribal breakdowns and they certainly didn't know the individuals who put in the money. We're just counting the money and we figure how many people there are based on the half shekels which are then melted down for the sockets. The second minion there's much greater emphasis on the individuality both in terms of tribes and individuals either to the extreme that they were counted by heads and there was not even a half shekele given which is what some resham say or even like rashi that this two was a half shekele because you don't want to release negative forces by headc counts but it was a half shekele involving an introduction I gave my half shekele to motion as opposed to dropping it in the box. You know this is an issue that you know we face even today gdolem we talk about gdole gdm gdm uh but how many people you know are zoka to have a connection uh to gdole and it's a it's a great privilege if one even once in their life they get a chance to have the guttle know them. It's both a great thing for the person and the truth is it's a great thing for the guttle too because the guttal a leader in in Israel has to have a sense that he's not just the leader of this faceless nation but individual people who have their lives and they have their problems and they have their struggles and they have their crisis and the true true God is a god for the individual. and not just for the nation. Again, it's a little hard today because GDOM are in short number and the nation grows bigger and the individual problems grow ever larger. Uh, you know, it's interesting. I um I read about a person was describing something like 50 60 years ago. He wanted to see the stipler of Yakabis Kenyki who was already a world famous gone but of elderly. Now the stipler's son is Rafim Kessi but but 60 years ago Kineski was an aola uh he was not a I mean he was still he was a guy even then but he was not famous. So the stipler was not well or he had a lot of people. So somebody said to this rabbi okay listen you can't see the stipler but you know his son just lives two blocks away. You can go see his son. He says his son I don't want to see his son. I want to see I want to see the the stipler. Yeah I go see his son. So he goes over to Rheim Kineski's house, knocks at the door. It's a Revan Revson Kenyvski opens the door uh and he says I'd like to talk to your husband if it's possible. She says my husband like why you know you know his his father is like next to no store and and whatever it is and like nobody was there and he says he spoke to Kinesowski like five hours just sit there you know five hours because he wasn't famous yet he wasn't a guttle yet he had I mean I wouldn't say he had plenty of time he was learning but he gave the person like five hours of time just to sit and and talk fast forward 40 years later 50 years later when was still alive if you get two minute if you got two minutes you were very very lucky so that's what happens I mean people told me they remember talking to rebel yash whatever it is uh they could just sit in the base medish and you know again it's not that he would waste time and shoot the breeze but but you know you could you know talk to him and uh as long as you needed to talk to him there was no there was no there was no push now the embasses I'll tell you a fascinating thing I I've mentioned the story before uh I went for to have a conversation with yakov kamki about a personal problem when he already was a world famous godo and he to my great great astonishment gave me 3 hours of his time and I have to say it was absolutely amazing because he gave the impression that he had all the time in the world. He gave me he gave the impression he had nothing else to do that day which was obviously not true and that gave me a a unique appreciation of what real godless is that when he's focusing on you you are the only person there babe was that way by the way also uh Baba people describe that you were the only person in the world in fact when he used to have when he was younger uh he used to have his meeting with people like from 12 to 4 in the morning. That was the designated time. So people would start coming in at 12:00 and uh his secretary because there were big lines, the secretaries were always giving him a buzzer. Every five minutes they would give him a buzzer to kind of kick this guy out and let's bring in the next person and he always he always ignored the buzzers. He didn't pay attention to buzzer buzzer buzzer. He he he spent as much time as you yeah I understand it's an inconvenience to the other people but he but if someone needed him he gave the person everything he needed the buster rebby and the the father of the present Bustner Rebby um Releviet who I was zoka to get somewhat close to when I was in law school in Boston wonderful wonderful man uh my wife noticed this we used to call him up for shilas at different times and she not noticed that I didn't notice But she was right that he was never the one that hung up the phone. >> You're talking to him. You're finished. He would not hang up because maybe you have something else you want to say. You had to hang up. He would just remain on the line until such time as you said goodbye or you're hanging up or or whatever it is because you get as much time as you need because you matter. Mosher Rabenu was presumably not able to have that leadership style because of the needs and responsibilities that he had. But the Ramban is suggesting at least this one time this is the way it had to be. Introduce yourself. You're not just some faceless anonymity. So my point is that even though superficially at first glance it might appear that the first counting and the second counting are the same, they are in fact very very different. The first counting is anonymous and homogeneous. The second counting is individualistic and differentiated. Is there a significance to that distinction? And I would suggest that there is because it represents two different models of unity. Unity and community is important. Actus is important. Aas Israel is important. Right? Just like everybody's in favor of motherhood, baseball and apple pie, everybody in theory is in favor of Akutus and community. But there are two different models of community. that one could create and I'll use maybe a sociological term. One might be called a melting pot model and one might be called a salad bowl or tapestry model. A melting pot model when you have a society in which people comes with different cultures, different backgrounds and you want to create a unity and a community. One of the ways you do so is by obliterating differences to whatever degree you can. That's the idea of a melting pot, right? That was until recent decades, that was the prevailing model, let's say, in the United States. Um, now when I was growing up, the notion that classes could be offered in Spanish in public schools for Hispanics, that was that was a totally foreign idea. You come to America, you learn English. That's the language and that's part of the acculturation process of immigrants, right? And that's called melting pot in which you create community by melting away the differences that make people different. So to try to make people as homogeneous and unified as possible and in that way differences will not be a source of conflict. Right? That's melting pot. Uh the analogy would be uh I can give you a um culinary analogy that's not very appetizing. Let's imagine a cholant made for shabas but it's left over until the middle of the next week. Like what does a cholant look like on Wednesday? So on chabas I see meat and potatoes and barley and beans and kishka all good stuff. Hard-boiled eggs maybe whatever you put in. uh by Wednesday it's an undifferentiated glop in which I don't recognize anything but it kind of all became homogenized melting pot quite literally. Now there's another type of unity that might be called a salad bowl. Right? In a salad bowl, you have the lettuce, the tomatoes, the peppers, the uh the chickpeas, what whatever you put in in which everything has its own color, its own texture, its own kind of consistency and taste, but they blend together to create something beautiful. Not by homogenization and not by obliteration of differences, but by all of the differences coming together to create a whole. You can use a lot of metaphors. You can describe that as a salad bowl. You can call it as a tapestry in which the different colors come together. You can call it a mosaic. You can call it a garden. Right? There's a mazal that says the beauty of a garden lies in the diversity for most people the diversity of colors. Now there is a beauty. There are gardens that that will have, let's say, 10,000 roses, and that certainly has a beauty. But for most people, I'm not saying it's universal, most people appreciate a beauty that's based on a diversity of color and the like, as opposed to just the same thing. Music, music, by definition is based on diversity. If you were to simply play the same note over and over and over and over again, it would not be very appealing. Music involves different notes, different pitches, different frequencies, and that creates uh that creates beauty. So that's we'll call it salad bowl, tapestry, mosaic, tap u um garden, music, whatever it is. But it's fundamentally a different type of unity than the unity of homogenization and the unity of melting pot. The unity of melting pot is premised on obliteration of difference. The unity of salad bowl is maintaining differences but combining them so they work together in a symbiotic way in which the whole becomes greater, more beautiful, more tasty, whatever you're talking about than the individual parts, right? Two models of unity. Now, which type of unity does the Tyra espouse when the Torah says we want there to be Israel? We want there to be unity. You want there to be community. Okay, everybody says, "Of course, that's what Hashem wants." But what type of community is it that the rebon is calling for? So the answer is in typical Jewish fashion, it depends. Sometimes it's one and sometimes it's the other. In the short term, sometimes you got to put aside your individuality and work for the greater good. When there is a national crisis, when there is a calamity and we need to come together in a unified effort, that is not the time to march to the beat of your own drum. You kind of put aside your plans. An example would be in in our generation, last generation at least, the aftermath of the Holocaust or even during the Holocaust when there was an obligation to try to save whoever you can save. And after the Holocaust, the idea of rebuilding a shattered and destroyed people, that was not the time to kind of I want to do it my way. You kind of have to come together and help each other in a time of crisis. But in the long run, that is not the unity wants. Hashem does not ultimately want cookie cutters. Hashem does not ultimately want conformity. So this is the idea. The aftermath of the the unity of the first census was melting pot anonymous impersonal homogeneous everybody the same because after the ago the ego was a very critical catastrophe for for us. Hashem wanted to abrogate his covenant with Am Israel. Hashem said to Mosher Rabeno, "I'll destroy this nation. I'll make a private deal with you." Mosher Rabenu refused. Mosher Rabeno said, "If they're not coming along, I don't want to come along." But we needed to repair that relationship. When you need to repair a severe rupture of that nature, and indeed every time of war is kind of like that, even even the crisis we're going through now, you focus less on your individuality and more on the need to deal with the crisis in whatever way you're dealing with. I know that can open a political can of worms as well. I'm not going there tonight, but you got to set aside your preferences. And that's why in the aftermath of the first census is anonymous and homogeneous. But the permanent nation of Ami Israel, Hashem wants there to be a unity that celebrates diversity and difference rather than negates it. That's the union of tribes. You know, people say the 12 tribes. We don't have a sense of tribalism today. Well, well, maybe in another way, but in the sense of the Ruven Shimon, most of us don't know our tribe, >> unless you were Cohen or Cohen or a Ley or the like, but tribes are a big deal in the Torah. Each of them had a Nazi. Each of them had a flag. Each of them had a special position. In the Midbar, you couldn't just, hey, this guy's my best friend. I'm from Isakar. He's from he's from Yehuda. I'll just go with him. No, you didn't choose your seatmate. You didn't choose your tentmate. You had to go with your tribe. Inherit Israel. Of course, every tribe had its unique territory. So tribes were a big deal. You you did not just self-identify as a Jew. you identify as a ruin or a shimon or a y is or a god. Now, one might wonder why why is that important? Why is tri isn't the only thing that's important that uh we're human and we're Jewish? Wh why is there this further division into tribes? What is the lesson here? And I think the lesson precisely is that God cherishes individuality and each tribe represented its own unique path in the service of Hashem. In fact, the medish rabba and parasa which is the para after midbra when it goes over the nim that each one brought the same it actually says yeah externally they're doing the same but each one had a different unique meaning and that's why the medish is huge in paraso because it goes over 12 individual stories in other words the idea of is hashem doesn't want cookie cutter hashem wants the uniqueness to blend together. And if that's true on a tribal level, that's true on the individual level as well. So homogenization and melting pot may indeed be the appropriate response to short-term crisis. But for long-term, as Rashi says, Hashem wants a celebration of diversity and uniqueness. Now, when I say diversity, I'm not embracing a diversity that goes against the Torah. No DEI, you know, all that stuff. Obviously, you have to work within Hashem's rules, but okay, that that needs to be said, but within Hashem's rules. Hashem wants there to be a uniqueness of expression. That's why so today we don't do it by tribes, but that's why we have Ashkanazim, different types of Ashkanazim, uh, Yakis, although I I'm told that, uh, German Jews don't don't like the term Yaki. I'm a little confused because some said it's fine and some said they're offended. So I offer my apologies to those who are offended. So I'll just say um I'll just call them uh Yehud Ashkanats, Polish, Hungarian Jews, Litvak, then with you have Iranians and Iraqis and Tunisians and Syrians and then Tony, which is a separate thing. People sometimes say, why are why are all of these different factions? Why can't we unite? But the truth is like the garden with many flowers, this is part of the beauty of the Jewish people. And part of some of the problems in Israeli society or Karedi society in particular might be the notion of imposing a a homogenization and a sameness as opposed to celebrating the differences and talents that people have. And I would suggest that this is what emerges from comparing the first count and the second count. So it's a wonderful thing that even in the most technical, mundane, dry details of numbers, one can see some very important lessons in life. The way people are counted kind of signifies kind of what is a temporary state and what is the ideal state and the ideal state is a sense of diversity. Diversity of course remember that all of the different tribes were circ circling the Mishkan. So everybody's different, but they're all focused on the same idea of abodashem of serving Hashem and giving Hashem what they bring to the table, their uniqueness. You know the the famous Rav Zusha who was known for his great great humility once said the following and I'm sure you've heard this. He said, "Hashem is not going to ask me why wasn't I Moshe because I'm not Moshe. Oh, I wasn't I Ara. But Hashem's gonna ask me, why wasn't I Zusha? >> My job is not to be Ara. My job is to be me. Your job is to be you. >> Now, that could be a very difficult process of self-discovery and introspection. Who am I? It's actually a good question. It's a hard question, but ultimately that's the question that Hashem expects us to try to answer with our lives. And he even said he said it in another way too that that's a powerful way. He said, "If I would be given the chance to change places with Mosha Rabenu, so I would be Moshe and he would be me, I wouldn't accept that offer because yeah, it would be great for me, but what does God get out of the offer? I mean, uh, there's one Mosh, there's one Zusha. And if we change places, there would be one Moshe and one Zusha. What does God gain? Is this just about me?" But God needs a Mosha and God needs a Zusha. So I'm needed too. I am needed too. As as insignificant as they might be compared to Moshe, but God needs all of us. It's like um the mushel they give, the modern mush they give is when they have these space rockets. So in the space rocket there may be screws that that cost uh 30 cents. Although in government contracts they probably cost $800, but but you know you can get them for 30 cents. But if one of those screws malfunctions, the whole billiondoll project explodes, people die, and all that money goes to waste. In other words, the little screw is needed as part of the big enterprise. The Mosha Rabenus of the world, however you translate them, need the little folk, so to speak, and we have to bring our uniqueness and our beauty to avot. And this is the difference between the first counting and the second counting. So wish you all a good chabas and thank you for coming. You must sh