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B"H

Thursday, Tammuz 22, 5776 / July 28, 2016 - Hakhel year

 

From the Egyptian Exodus until the end of the forty years which the Jewish people spent in the Sinai desert, we find the amount of the Jewish people recorded in the Torah four times.

 

The first time was when they left Egypt. The Torah tells us, “And the children of Israel journeyed from Ramesses to Sukot, about six hundred thousand men on foot, except for children.”

 

The second time we find the number of Jews was about a half a year later, after they sinned with the Golden Calf. G-d commands Moshe to take a count of the Jewish people. In that count there were 603,550 men over the age of twenty, besides women and children.

 

The next count was over a half year later, just one year after the Exodus. In this count there were exactly the same amount as in the last count; 603,550.

 

The fourth count was in this week’s Parsha, Pinchas. This count took place 38 years after the previous count. At this time they were getting ready to go into the Promised Land of Israel and G-d told Moshe to count the people.

 

The counting of this Parsha was a new generation. These were the children of the people who were counted previously. Not one who was in the previous counts was alive now. They all died in the desert during the forty years, because of their refusal to go into Israel 38 years earlier.

 

Q.What was the purpose of these countings?

 

A.The first count at the time of the Exodus was so that we know how many people came out of Egypt. This was to substantiate G-d’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that their children will multiply and be a great nation. Thus, from seventy people who came to Egypt with Jacob, two hundred years earlier, emerged so many descendents.

 

The second count was after their sin of the Golden Calf. G-d sent a plague which killed many of the people. Thus, that counting was to know how many were still around.

 

The third counting, which took place only a half year after the second one, was to show G-d’s love for the Jewish people, that even after their sin with the Golden Calf He cherished them and that each one of them was very important.

 

The fourth counting, in this week’s Parsha, Pinchas, was for two reasons. First, there was a plague in which many Jews died as a result of their immoral behavior and G-d wanted Moshe to know how many were spared. Also, because Moshe was about to die he had the responsibility to give over his flock (the children of Israel) to the next leader, Joshua. G-d gave them to Moshe with a count, and Moshe also handed them over to Joshua with a count. It was a message to both great leaders that true leadership is when every individual counts.

 

HAVE A VERY GOOD, HAPPY, HEALTHY AND SUCCESSFUL DAY