Everybody Counts

Ruach

Weekly D'rash on Parshat Bamidbar

This week we begin the Book of Numbers. The Hebrew name of it is Bamidbar which translates in English to “In the Wilderness.” The Book of Numbers describes the journey of Israel from Sinai to the Plains of Moab just before entering the land. A close reading reveals that it is mostly about the beginning and the end of the 40-year journey. We read about the preparation for the journey, the importance of faith and trust in God, victories, and defeats. Much of the description of the life of a Messiah follower in the New Covenant Scriptures mirrors the wilderness wanderings of Israel. We have been redeemed from bondage to the freedom of serving the Living God. The future hope is the Land with its New Jerusalem.

This week’s portion describes the preparation for the journey. It describes the role of each tribe. Most tribes provided security for the journey. This meant security for the people and the Levites as well as the sacred materials. The Levites were responsible for carrying everything related to worship. We know that security is an important part of our journey! We appreciate our Beth Messiah Security team as well as Officer Ryan and others who protect us every Shabbat.*

The point of these early chapters is to describe how the tribes were organized. One observation that applies to us is that everyone was necessary for the journey. It was necessary to have protection for all the people. Think about how many thousands of women and children were on the journey. In addition, there had to be all kinds of responsibilities and jobs that are not mentioned in these chapters that kept the people organized and moving.

Much of the text describes the role of the Levites. They were divided by families. Each family had the responsibility of setting up, taking down, and carrying all the holy objects. This was in addition to any priestly role that they may have had. We read that they were stationed in various locations around the sanctuary. We will learn in later chapters that what was most dangerous for people was not enemies from the outside but rather unbelief, disunity, and ungodliness from within. We will learn that some leaders were jealous of others and wanted to be in charge. This led to a terrible outcome. Mistrust of God led to the fateful decision to refuse to enter the land. As we learned during our Wondrous Wisdom Weekend, their choice was folly because of the distrust in the Word of God. The choices we make determine our walk with God.

We see that God viewed them as a community and not simply as a group of individuals. God views us as a community as well as individuals. We read in Ephesians 2:22 that we are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit. Speaking of the process of building we read: “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all ways into Messiah, who is the Head. From Him the whole body is fitted and held together by every supporting ligament. The proper working of each individual part produces the body’s growth, for building itself up in love.” Regardless of our ability, or the role we may play, we all have a responsibility to function in a godly way, making wise choices in all areas of life so that we may nurture our relationship with God and one another.

As our 50-day journey from Passover to Shavuot nears the end, I hope we have the vision of seeing ourselves as part of something larger than our own selves. You make a difference in what God is doing in this world!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Howard

*We are asking that we all might contribute to our security needs: To provide an officer at our services, we are asking for individual members to contribute $60.00 per year, and families to contribute $120.00 per year.