A contemporary of the Kedushas Levi—Chozeh of Lublin and Koznitzer Maggid—Rebbe Moshe Leib of Sassov was one of the most beloved of the talmidei haBaal Shem Tov. Renowned for his great love of Am Yisrael and his great self-sacrifice on behalf of Jews in need, the holy Sassover went to great lengths to assist and support, strengthen and uplift Yidden.
One year, during the Maariv prayer following a particularly uplifting Yom Tov, Reb Moshe Leib noticed a group of the chassidim looking crestfallen. The rebbe approached them and inquired about their wellbeing. “Rebbe, it has been such a strong Yom Tov season; from Pesach onward, counting up to Matan Torah, step by step preparing for revelation. Shavuos was so strong; we experienced such a high. Now we’re back to regular life … work, chores, the day-to-day struggle. It’s such a let down.”
Reb Moshe Leib klopped on the bima—and with a big smile and booming voice announced, “My dear chevra: rest assured! Know, that the very same God of the Yom Tov of Pesach is the same Ribbono shel Olam who delivered the Torah at Har Sinai with all its excitement and joy, and He is the very same God—the same Master of the World—of the weeks after Yom Tov and the rest of the year as well.”
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Bamidbar—literally “in the desert”—is an appropriate name for the sefer which covers 39 of the 40 years that we sojourned in the wilderness. It chronicles the transition of the Jewish people from a group of interconnected tribes to a conscious community prepared to enter and settle together in the land of Israel as a step toward its national destiny. Sefer Bamidbar begins and ends with a census, and is, therefore, known in English as “the book of Numbers.” Similarly, Chazal (Yoma, 70a) refer to this book as חומש הפקודים—“the book of Accountings.”
Sefer Bamidbar began with an accounting of the Jewish people, and Moshe and Aharon were instructed (once again) to collect half-shekels to record the census.
Notably, there are different words in Torah that mean counting: pekidah, sefirah and also the verb להשׂיא—“to lift up,” which, in an imperative form, is nasso—the name of our sedra. The use of the term “nasso” there shows that the goal of the righteous in counting Bnei Yisrael was to “seu es rosh—lift up the heads” of the entire community.
נָשׂא אֶת־רֹאשׁ בְּנֵי גֵרְשׁוֹן גַּם־הֵם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם׃
“Take a census of the sons of Gershon, of them too, following their fathers’ houses, according to their families,” (Bamidbar, 4:22).
The descendants of Gershon—the eldest of the sons of Levi—were charged with the care of the outer Mishkan including the tent and its covering, doors and hangings. Rashi explains the straightforward pshat of our pasuk’s instruction: following the counting of Bnei Kehas, the Torah asks that all of the Bnei Gershon who are able to perform the service of the Mishkan be counted.
The students of the Baal Shem Tov point out that the particular avodah assigned to Bnei Gershon on the outer elements of the Mishkan represents individuals who are metaphorically “on the outs.” Those among us who have travelled some distance away from their spiritual home-base and tradition, can feel מגורשים or “foreign” to our identity and roots. There are times in our own personal avodas Hashem when we may feel alienated or far. This resonates with the meaning of the name “Gershon” itself: “a sojourner there.”
Reb Simcha Bunim of Peshischa explains, however, that even those who see themselves as “Bnei Gershon” are also included in the census, and are lifted up by being counted “following their fathers’ houses, according to their families.” Even those who have strayed and drifted away to sojourn in “foreign” territory are לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם—“according to their fathers’ houses, according to their families”—they remain essentially connected to the Avos, to their whole ancestral line and to the collective family of Israel.
Our sages tell us that every man, woman and child was present at Har Sinai, and each one of us experienced that divine revelation. At Sinai, we became “lifted up” or spiritually elevated. Rav Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, notes that we begin reading sefer Bamidbar adjacent to the chag of Shavuos. It follows that we need to be “counted” again after we have received the Torah; Matan Torah has filled with a renewed awareness that every one of us counts. We have come to believe in our potential for growth and ascension. We are different; the power of Torah has “built us up.” We are new people.
Our sedra recounts the “uplifting” of a people recently freed from the soul-crushing bondage of Mitzrayim, and charts a new period in Jewish history. Hashem Yisborach empowers every single one of us to lift our heads with pride in our chosenness, and to live out our infinite, unique nature with joy and conviction—even as we traverse the ups and downs of our passage through the transformative deserts of life.
No matter where we have sojourned, may we take account of the fact that we still belong to a great lineage and a vast and diverse family; each of us are forever beloved—each of us counts and has measureless worth.
Rav Judah Mischel is executive director of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for Special Children. He is the founder of Tzama Nafshi and the author of the “Baderech” series. Rav Judah lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife Ora and their family.
