In last week’s parsha, B’chukotai, God promised wondrous rewards for obeying His laws, and unspeakable punishment for violating them. So horrid are the punishments, called the tochecha, that the custom is for the ba’al koreh to read the verses quickly and in a low tone. The third book of the Torah, Va’yikra, thus ends in a most troubling manner, with the prospect of national disaster ringing in our ears.
For this reason, it comes as a relief that this week we begin a new book of the Torah, Bamidbar. Bamidbar is primarily concerned with the traveling Tabernacle, or Mishkan; how and by whom it is to be transported through the desert. This fourth book of the Torah also contains a number of important stories, including the story of the ten out of twelve scouts who brought back a very pessimistic view of the people’s ability to conquer the land.
This week’s parsha, also called Bamidbar, begins with a familiar topic: God counting His people. God instructs Moses and Aaron to count the people, as He had before. Just when we thought that we were done with the rules and regulations of the Vayikra, and ready for a compelling story or two, we get instead a long list of numbers: how many from this tribe, how many from that tribe, etc. etc. Before closing the Chumash in disappointment, however, let’s check in with the greatest of all Bible commentators, Rashi. Maybe he can save us from another dry parsha.
Rashi reminds us that God has counted the people before, in Shmot. He tells us that the repeated counting of the people is a sign of love. In Rashi’s words: “mitoch chibatan alav, moneh otam col sha’a,” meaning because of His love for them, He counts them constantly. Rashi thus takes a rather mundane subject, the census, and transforms it into an emotional, even passionate expression of God’s love for Israel.
Rashi’s insight turns the whole parsha around, and teaches us many things. First, of course, it takes a rather bland topic and shows us that something beautiful lies at its core. Especially following the harsh punishments set forth in last week’s parsha, it is comforting to think about God’s love for His people, as manifested by his continual counting of them.
Beyond the parsha, Rashi’s commentary can give us a new way of looking at many of the mundane or boring parts of our own lives. Suppose we are shopping for groceries, preparing tax forms or sweeping the floor; or suppose we are at work filling out seemingly useless paperwork or sitting on endless conference calls. It is these very mundane tasks which are the fabric of our lives. We could easily get discouraged, or even resentful, that so much of our time is taken up by the boring and the routine tasks of life. Rashi’s commentary here – God counts us because He loves us – reminds us that by adjusting our attitude, we can transform the mundane into the meaningful. Just as taking the census can be viewed as an act of love, so can our own daily tasks. And this, after all, is what Judaism is all about – transforming the profane to the sacred, the meaningless to the purposeful. If God’s census is an act of love, so too can our chopping vegetables or ironing shirts be an act of love, part of our ultimate quest to live a life infused with meaning and purpose.