"Torah Lights"
 
Video Insights on the Parsha
 
 by Rabbi Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel-- Although I've been publishing columns, articles and books all my adult years, my first publication goes back to my pre-adolescence in 1953 --or at least the first article with my name on it.  The credit really goes to my father, who submitted an anecdote to the Jewish Digest describing the concluding moments in one of the most important days in the life of a young Jewish boy in Brooklyn: the day when he goes out with his parents to buy his first suit in honor of his impending Bar Mitzvah...

We had traveled by bus and by train from Bedford-Stuyvesant to Chinatown, where Louis Levy, one of the famed low priced clothing establishments ran his business on Elizabeth Street.  They were having a special sale and we spent what seemed the entire afternoon, exhausting the inventory as well as the salespeople, until my mother was finally convinced that the perfect suit - for her son who was not quite a perfect fit - had indeed been found.  Heading home, we passed a well-known knish place, and my father suggested we stop for a bite.

 Now, since I was a yeshiva boy already studying Talmud, I saw it as my religious duty to make inquiries about the kashrut of the restaurant.  Without hesitating, the cashier directed me to a door in the rear where I could find the boss.  I immediately noted that the room had no mezuzah, and the tall man sitting behind an official looking desk sported a baldpate, bereft of any head-covering.     

After repeating my question about the existence of a Kashrut certification, he looked at me sharply.  "Young man, you see that picture hanging on the wall?" he said, pointing to a black and white photo of an elderly Jew, with a long white beard, a large black hat, and a long rabbinic coat.  "That man," he continued, "was my father.  He started this business, working very hard, making knishes right here on the lower east side.  Do you still dare to ask your insolent question?"

 I was feeling very sure of myself, very important with my brand new bar mitzvah suit.  Without hesitating I replied, "If you were hanging on the wall, and your father was sitting in front of me, I wouldn't ask any questions.  But since your father is hanging on the wall, and you are sitting in front of me as you are - unless you have kashrut certification, I am afraid I can't eat here."

 Perhaps I was a little glib, but the point being made is a crucial one: far more important than who or what our ancestors were is who and what we and our children shall become!  This is likewise one of the most important lessons of our Torah reading.

 Early in the Book of Numbers, the Torah records the first census in the history of the Jewish people: "Take you the sum of all the congregations of the children of Israel, by their families, by their parents' houses... [Num. 1:2]" Certainly a census is a momentous event - not only as a profile of a nation's most important natural resource, its people, but it also enhances each national with a sense of pride in his newly acquired significance as a member of an important nation. 

 At the end of the day, when all the counts of the various tribes were added up, the total number of those twenty years and above was 603,550 [Num. 1:46].  The census tells us -- in more ways than one -- that each person counts.  Again and again we encounter the phrase in connection with the census: "by their families (l'mishpechotam) and by their parents' houses (l'vet avotam)."

 This particular term is repeated with each of the tribes, and families - except for two instances wherein the phrase is inverted: in the case of the Levites, as well as the Gersonites (sons of Levi), instead of the usual “by their families” and “by their parents' house” we find "by their parents' house and by their families" [Num. 3:15].

In contrast, Levi's other sons, Kehat [4:2] and Merari [4:27] are presented in the Book of Numbers similar to the presentation of the rest of the tribes: first by their “families” and by their “fathers' houses.”  Why should there be such a reversal in phraseology in the case of Levi and the Gersonites?

 Perhaps the Targum Onkelos provides a direction for us to take.  If we look at his translation of the word `l'mishpechotam' - by their family, we find that he renders it `l'zarayaton,' which means `the children.'  Thus the usual formulation, found no less than seventeen times in our passage, is rendered to mean that each individual is counted by his children (l’mishpehotam), and then by their parents' house.  An individual is to be judged as to who he/she is first by the children whom he/she has produced; only afterwards and secondarily do we pay attention to his/her forbears, to the "yichus" which comes from one's ancestry.

 From the perspective of this definition, we can readily understand the reversal of phrase regarding the Tribe of Levi.  A Kohen-priest or Levite serves in the Temple and performs special ritual duties not by virtue of merit but only by virtue of ancestry: I am a Kohen only because my father was a Kohen.  Hence in accordance with this reality, the Bible insists that their census is "by their parents' house and by their children" - the parents coming first!

 And in addition to special ritual functions, the care and maintenance of the Sanctuary (during the years of wandering in the desert) was divided amongst the three scions of the House of Levi.  The duty of Gershon, as described in last week's portion, focused on the curtains, the hangings, the various coverings inside the Tabernacle.  According to the Midrash, this was the easiest job in the Sanctuary.  It is therefore assumed that the Gershonites were satisfied to rest on their laurels; they remained in essence Levites, dependent on their "parents house" for their status and function.

 In contrast, the children of Kehat were in charge of the much heavier items such as the menorah and the Ark.  In Bamidbar Rabbah [5:1], we read the following description: "When the Jews were traveling, two sparks of flame came out from the two poles of the Ark of the Tablets of Law".  The Kehatites volunteered to put their lives on the line and risk the fire in order to bear the Holy Ark.  And their brothers the Merarites learned from their example, volunteering to transport the heaviest wood and metals.  These children of Levi were anxious to be their own people, to establish their own "yichus," not to rely first on their parents. As a result, the Torah counts them in accord with "their children and their parents' house" - their children products of their homes and their education, coming first!

What we've gathered from this overview is that a seemingly slight difference in the word order may reveal a world of attitude and psychology.  When each of us is counted and assessed when the Almighty conducts His census, the most important criterion in our judgment will not be who our parents were, but who and what we and our children developed into.  All too often, the descendant has descended too far down!

Shabbat Shalom