Parashas Bamidbar

This week’s parashah with Hashem’s commanding Moshe to count the nation: וַיְדַבֵּר ד' אֶל מֹשֶׁה בְּמִדְבַּר סִינַי בְּאֹהֶל מוֹעֵד בְּאֶחָד לַחֹדֶשׁ הַשֵּׁנִי בַּשָּׁנָה הַשֵּׁנִית לְצֵאתָם מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֵאמֹר: שְׂאוּ אֶת רֹאשׁ כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָם לְבֵית אֲבֹתָם בְּמִסְפַּר שֵׁמוֹת כָּל זָכָר לְגֻלְגְּלֹתָם, And Hashem spoke with Moshe in the Wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year of their leaving Egypt saying: Count the heads of the Children of Israel according to their families, by their father’s houses, with a reckoning of their names, every male according to their heads.

Why did the Torah find it important to tell us that this took place “In the Wilderness of Sinai, in the Tent of Meeting”? Once we know when the census took place, we can figure out that it was during the period the Jews were in the Wilderness of Sinai? Additionally, although that seems to have usually been the case, we don’t find the Torah telling us each time that Hashem spoke to Moshe in the Tent of Meeting, why tell it to us here? Finally, what is the meaning of the phrase “בְּמִסְפַּר שֵׁמוֹת, with a reckoning of their names,” a phrase that does not appear when Hashem commands the next census, in Parashas Pinchos?

The term used to count the Jews isשְׂאוּ אֶת רֹאשׁ , literally: lift the heads. A common explanation for this is that one purpose of the census was for each Jew to realize that he was an important part of the nation.

We know (see, for example, Rashi to Bereishis 32:20), that a “name” indicates a person’s essence and mission.

Perhaps the Torah here is teaching us that wherever we find ourselves – be it in a wilderness, where there is nothing else physically or spiritually, or in the Tent of Meeting, the seat of holiness surrounded by others – we always have a unique “name,” a unique mission and purpose. Each individual is there for a reason, and our goal is to fulfill the role we were meant to fill.

May Hashem give each of us success in “being all the was can be.”

Gut Shabbos.