BAMIDBAR – NUMBERS

“Bemidbar Sinai in the wilderness of Sinai… take a census of the community” (Num.1.1f)

In the Torah the title of the fourth of the Five books of Moshe is ‘Bamidbar’ – In the wilderness. In the English Bible, the title is ‘Numbers’. What is the relevance of numbering in the wilderness?

The wilderness has no bounds. There are no boundaries, no off-limits; people are free to roam about at will.
In the wilderness of Sinai, there is one beacon, a landmark, a point of focus.
The journey of life is like a passage through the wilderness fraught with unknown dangers and pitfalls. That we have freedom of choice on which way we take, complicates our problems. We need spiritual beacons to enable us to fix our bearings so that we do not falter and lose our way.

How do we accomplish this in a realistic and practical manner? By being numbered in a Community of Faith where we count and belong.

The Community is our spiritual anchor. No matter how difficult life is, the Community in which we are numbered is our spiritual compass, pointing us in the right direction and giving us the necessary directives that we may make the right decisions and follow the right paths.