Sefer Bemidbar

The Demarcation of Communal Roles

Miriam-Simma Walfish, 5765

Skim the first chapter of Bemidbar. What do you notice about the language? Take note of words that keep repeating.

This week we start the book of Bemidbar. Some of you may be thinking, "Yay, no more sacrifices!" In fact, though, we do not move so quickly into intense narrative action. This parashah is full of lists. However, it is a good opportunity nonetheless to stop and think about the Israelites in the desert. How did their time in the desert prepare them for life in the Land of Israel? More specifically, how did it shape them as a people and a society?

It is easy to skip over the first two chapters of Bemidbar because you look at them and see one boring list of names and numbers after another. However, if there is one thing I have learned this year in Tanakh classes, it is that lists often contain clues to the main point of the chapter or unit. When reading a list it is important to notice the repetition so that you can see when it is broken. The location of the breaks often corresponds to where the focus of the narrative unit is going to be. This is true of the genealogies as well as the censuses.

A close examination of the first two chapters of Bemidbar is thus enlightening. God commands Moses to take a census of all the men older than twenty who are able to enlist into the army, and Moses carries out God's command. The census ends by reporting that the tribe of Levi was not counted (1:47). This in and of itself is striking-why would a whole tribe be left out, especially since there was no indication in God's original command that any tribe would have a different status? Why are the Levites separated from the rest of the nation? Are they outsiders?

We are not left wondering for long. At once we are told that God had actually commanded Moses not to count the Levites among the rest of the nation. What follows is a unit of six verses in which God gives a summary of why the Levites are not counted among the rest of the nation.

God's command reads as follows (1:49-51):

There are a few things to notice about this command. First, it highlights the tight connection between the tribe of Levi and the tabernacle. This is a very different commandment from the one given about the other tribes. Regarding the other tribes, God simply instructs Moses how to carry out the census, whereas regarding the Levites, not only does God say why they are not to be counted, God also goes into intricate detail about their specific tasks.

However, there is something that connects these two disparate commandments-the commandment to count the non-Levites and the command to appoint the Levites to Tabernacle work-that you miss when you look at the English. The word for "enroll" (תִפְקֹד)-used for the census-and the word for "appoint" (הַפְקֵד)-as in, "appoint the Levites"-actually use the same Hebrew root, פ.ק.ד.. This is most easily noticeable in comparing verses 49 and 50, indicated above in bold print. Moses is told not to enroll or take a census in the same language that he instructed to appoint the Levites and have them carry the Tabernacle. Coincidence? I think not. This connection of language shows that while the Levites are not counted among the rest of the nation they are still intimately connected with them-they are charged by Moses in much the same way that the tribes are. Furthermore, because the tasks of the Levites are so carefully delineated, the connection in language may help clarify for what purpose the rest of the tribes are being counted.

The final line of the command regarding the Levites explains the importance of the Levites' role. God states (1:53):

The Levites somehow protect the Israelites from coming too close to the divine and being burned as the sons of Aaron were burned earlier (VaYiqra 10:1-2).

These instructions regarding the Levites form a bridge between the lists of the census and the list of the order of Israel's encampment, which is the topic of chapter two. The list in chapter two also highlights the special role of the Levites and their connection to the Tabernacle. We read a description of each tribe-where it camps, how many it numbers, and the name of its chieftain. The details indicate rather clearly that this is a military description of the nation. The description follows the geography of the camp and when the east side has been described, the Torah records one single verse about the Levites (2:17):

The Levites camp in the center of the Israelite camp, which we are told moves in the same formation that it camps in. So it turns out that the Levites camp in the center, protected on all flanks by the Israelite warriors. But, as we saw before, the Levites are also the protectors. The Levites camp in the center, protecting the rest of the people from frighteningly close encounters with God.

What we see both from the linguistic connection between the tasks of the Levites and Israelites and from their literary separation is the necessity for groups to have demarcated, separate roles, while at the same time maintaining identification with those who have other roles. The Levites are set aside from the rest of the nation to show that while they will not perform any military operations, they provide a different form of protection for the people, protecting them from the wrath of God.

The Levites are portrayed as a special group with special roles, roles that are enforced even more in chapter three when they are finally counted. However, their placement in the center of the camp shows that not only are they the center of religious life, but that they rely on the protection of the other Israelites in times of war. Thus, this parashah is the perfect introduction to the book of Bemidbar, a book so totally focused on authority, challenges to authority, and the proper demarcation of roles within society. The challenges posed to various authorities by Korah (chapter 16), the daughters of Zelophad (27:1-11), and the non-Jewish prophet Balaam (chapters 22-24) are all fundamentally test cases for the principle laid out in this parashah-that a functioning society requires multiple roles for its members.

This is perhaps a good model to think about in the week or two approaching camp. Camp is a place where there is a community made up of various people who have different strengths and fulfill different roles. It is important to recognize these strengths, all the while remembering that our different roles and talents are serving the same community.