Let’s do a short math quiz. How many books are in the Torah? We feel like we have a hint in the fact that the phrase we use is “Chamishei Chumshei Torah” -- five fifths of the Torah. So this sounds like a trick question, like “Who’s buried in Grant’s Tomb?” And it is a trick question. Because there are in fact seven books of the Torah.
How? Because our present book, Bamidbar, has three books to it. The decisive pivot from one book to the next takes place in this week’s Parasha. The break is marked by the two-verse interlude we quote when we take the Torah out of the Aron and when we put it back.
When the Aron traveled, Moshe said, “Rise, Hashem, and make Your enemies disburse, and Your haters flee before You.” And when it came to rest, let him say, “settle Hashem [among] the myriads of Israel.”
Everything that occurs before this interlude is one book. We see that all of the preparations for marching directly into Eretz Kanaan have been done. The camp is arranged with each tribe in its proper place. The nation marks what ended up being the only Pesach celebrated in the desert, and the innovation of Pesach Sheni comes up there as well.
Then, abruptly, everything jumps the rails immediately after the interlude. The tales of failed leadership, failed followership, failed faith, and the succession of a new generation -- all of that is a different book.
One can see the transition distilled in one major change from before to after. Just before the interlude, Moshe Rabenu is trying to lure his father-in-law to join them. In the course of a short conversation, he uses a variation of the word “Tov” (good) no less than five times. That’s what going to the land of Kanaan will be. Immediately after the interlude, Moshe uses five variations on the word “Rah” (bad).
As for the interlude itself, that too is a book. In fact, the Gemora in Shabbos learns from here the minimum number of letters required to constitute a Sefer (book). The Gemora needs to know what qualifies as a book to merit saving on Shabbat if there is a fire. If most of the Sefer is worn out and there are still 85 letters in the scroll, that qualifies as a Sefer.
Let’s look at this two-verse Sefer. If it is indeed a Sefer, then it must have a thrust. We might not hold a two-verse book to the idea of a plot. But the Torah is a book of guidance, or sometimes called a book of Mitzvot. So there should still be a Mitzva.
The Gemora says in Yevamot that there is Mitzva significance in the last phrase, "Alfei Revavot Yisreal." There is a number there. Alfei is plural for “thousands,” so the minimum is 2000. And “Revavot” is plural 10,000s, or a minimum of 20,000. The Torah is signaling that the minimum number for the Shechina to dwells amidst the Jewish people is 22,000. That Gemora says that this number is significant in terms of telling us that we must keep these numbers up. The two verses are a reminder about being fruitful.
Which means that this small book of 85 letters is really telling us what the first Mitzva told us -- to be fruitful. Just as the storyline in Bamidbar is about to fall apart, we are reminded to go back to first principles. That first Mitzva, like the first in any sequence, is the great symbol of all that follows. It seems like an animal act, and it’s a command for the animals too, but it still conveys what the Torah is about.
It teaches us that all of the Mitzvot are about growth. Adam was put in a garden -- a place of growth. And even if we lost our spot there, that function was only modified. That first Mitzva also teaches that growth is supposed to surge with pleasure. If we had hung on to that idea, to the first principle of Mitzvot, we could have kept the original storyline going.
I want to add that the first Mitzva of the Torah remains the anchor for everyone. Support for that first Mitzva effort is crucial. As far as I know, there are four families expecting children over the next few months. One of the ways to support them is by participating in the meal train. It assists the family in assimilating a new addition into the household.
Educating children is also crucial. But having them is the first step. Whatever we can do to promote that is fundamental to what we do.
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