Why does the posuk mention the date with regard to this counting?
(1,1) And Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first of the second month, in the second year of their going out from he land of Egypt, saying.
The Midrash says that our posuk is explained by the posuk (Tehillim 36,7) “Your charity is like the mighty mountains; Your judgements are like the vast deep”. The charity which You bring upon the world is as well known as these mountains. The judgements (punishments) which you make in the world are like the vast deep - just like the vast deep is hidden, so too the judgements which You bring are hidden. How is this? When Yerushalayim was destroyed, it was destroyed on the ninth of Av. But when it was shown to the prophet Yechezkel, it was shown to him on the twentieth of the month. And why? So as not to publicise on which day it was destroyed. But when He comes to glorify Klal Yisrael, He publicises on which day, in which place, in which month, in which year, to which reference - “Of their going out of the land of Egypt”. “Saying” - what did He say to them? “Raise up the head (Take the sum) of all the congregation of the children of Yisrael”. What point does the Midrash want to make with all this?
It seems to me that the Midrash had one particular question. The halachah is that when writing the date on documents (for example, a bill of divorce), one must first write the year, and then the month. And so we find many times in the words of Yechezkel. Also, in parshas Naso it says, “in the second year of their going out of Egypt, in the first month”. So why here does it write the opposite - “on the first of the second month, in the second year”?
This is what the Midrash came to answer with its teaching from the posuk in Tehillim. Because behold, in parshas Pinchos, in the second counting of Klal Yisrael, it does not mention the date, so why does it do so here? But Rashi explains that the reason why there was a need for a second counting was in order to know how many remained after some had been killed by the plague. If so, the second counting was not to Yisrael’s credit but rather a disgrace, because if they had not sinned then there would not have been a need for a second counting. And since this counting was a disgrace, the date was not mentioned, as the Midrash taught. But in our parsha, it was the first time that they had been counted since they left Egypt, and the counting was relevant to their leaving Egypt, and was to Yisrael’s glory, as it says “Raise up the head of all the congregation of Yisrael”, and therefore the date was mentioned.
But the reason why it reversed the way it would normally have been written, and wrote first the month and then the year, was because if it had mentioned first the year, it would have had to write “in the second year of their going out of the land of Egypt, on the first of the second month, count…”, and would not have been able to place the command to count next to the event to which it was pertinent - the going out of Egypt. Therefore, the posuk wrote the opposite, mentioning first the month, in order that the reference to the year - the second year of their going out of Egypt - could connect to the next posuk, as if to say, that this is the reason why the date was mentioned by this counting, because this counting was still relevant to their leaving Egypt, and was to Yisrael’s honour and glory, like the redemption itself. But the second counting which was not glorious, was not given a date. This is what the Midrash is coming to explain.
What does the expression “and they were born” mean?
(1,18) And they assembled all the congregation on the first day of the second month, and ‘they were born’ (they declared their pedigrees) according to their families, according to their father’s houses…
The expression used in this posuk - they were born - is not readily understood. But behold, in parshas Ki Sisoh Hashem commanded that, “each person shall give an ransom of his soul to Hashem…so that there will be no plague among them when they are counted”, and concludes that this is “to atone for your souls”. Now, the reason why counting people causes a plague seems to me to be according to what Chazal said, that if a person thinks that Hashem should fulfil his request because he prayed to Him, then his sins are checked out, to see if he deserving. Here too, counting shows the importance of Klal Yisrael - the Midrash explains that by counting them they are compared to the stars, about which it says, “their hosts are brought out by number”, and also shows that they are Hashem’s soldiers As long as they are not counted, their account is not checked to see what they deserve, but if they start to count them, showing that they are very important, then their account is examined to see if they are really worthy to be considered important - to check whether there is an accusation against them, and if there is, a punishment is brought against them, which is the plague. But if they give a ransom for their souls, then they achieve atonement, and for this reason the posukim in Ki Sisoh conclude that this is “to atone for your souls”.
Now, people say about a person who is close to death but then recovers that he is like a new creation, since they thought that he would die and gave up hope that he would be around. They say that it’s like he’s been born anew. So too we find in the Midrash with regard to Rosh Hashannah, on the posuk (Bamidbar 29,2) “and you shall make a burnt offering”, that if you entered to be judged, and emerged favourably, I will accredit to you as if you became a new creation before me. And that is because before Rosh Hashannah, the Day of Judgement, it would seem very likely that we will emerge guilty, G-d forbid, and thus we are inclining towards death.
Similarly it says in the Yalkut, parshas Emor, on the posuk (Tehillim 102,18) “He has turned to the prayer of those who cried out, and he did not despise their prayer. Let this be inscribed for the latest generation,” - this refers to those generations which are inclining towards death, “and a created people will praise Y-h” - in the future Hashem will create them as a new creation. We explained in our writings that this refers to Rosh Hashannah - that before they are successful in their judgement, they are close to death, and so it follows that afterwards, when they emerge guiltless, they are considered like a new creation.
This is the meaning of the posuk here. If Yisrael does the will of Hashem, then they are fitting to be called the offspring of the forefathers, to be pedigreed according to their families and their fathers’ houses. But if they do not do the will of Hashem, and do not carry on the good deeds of the forefathers, then they are not fitting for this pedigree, since they are not similar to them in their deeds, as is explained in the Midrash in several places. Therefore here also, before Moshe counted them each one had many deficiencies and sins, and were not fitting to be considered related to their fathers’ families. They were also inclining towards death, since from the point of view of justice, counting them made them liable to have a plague brought against them. But when he counted them and each one gave a ransom for his soul to Hashem, their sins were atoned, and they were now successful in their judgement and saved from death, and so they were considered as if they were born anew - as new creatures who have never sinned - and thus fitting to be pedigreed after their families and fathers’ houses.
This is what the posuk is saying: with this counting “they were born according to their families” - they were considered as if they were born anew, as if they never had a blemish, having had their sins atoned for completely, and so could be pedigreed after their families and fathers’ houses.
How does the Torah hint that the tribes of Yissachar and Zevulun were equal?
(2,7) The tribe of Zevulun; and the prince of the tribe of Zevulun was Eliov the son of Cheilon.
It seems to me, that the reason why it does not say “AND the tribe of Zevulun”, like it does by the other tribes, is because Yissachar and Zevulun made a partnership, as is well known, and so they were equal. And the Midrash on parshas Naso explains that the one who causes someone to do a good deed is greater than the one who does it, and if not for Zevulun’s financial support, Yissachar could not have been involved in learning Torah.
Therefore it says by all of them “and the tribe”, to hint that they were secondary to head of the owner of the flag. (There were three tribes to each flag, according to their encampment, and the first tribe mentioned in the Torah was the owner of the flag). But the tribe of Zevulun, who had the power of Torah like Yissachar, but greater than them because they were the ones who caused the Torah learning, therefore it says “the tribe of Zevulun”, as if they were a tribe by themselves, and not secondary to the first ones.
Who are considered to be the descendants of Moshe and Aharon?
(3,1) And these are the descendants of Aharon and Moshe on the day that Hashem spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai.
To understand this posuk we need also to understand posuk 3 - “These are the names of the children of Aharon, the anointed Kohanim, whom he consecrated to serve as priests” - whose meaning is not readily understood, since it just stated in the previous posuk that these were the children of Aharon See what I will write later on about this, but right now it seems that these posukim are a continuation of the earlier section, as will be explained.
Rashi explained on the first posuk, that whoever teaches the son of his fellow man Torah, the Torah regards it as if he had given birth to him. According to this, since Moshe Rabbeinu taught Torah to all of Yisrael, all of Yisrael are considered his children.
But Aharon also is considered as if he caused the existence of all Yisrael: We have written in several places that the reason why Hashem did not find a vessel capable of holding a blessing for Yisrael except for peace, is because someone who is not commanded to keep the Torah can merit blessing even without peace. But Yisrael who received the Torah can only exist through there being peace, because it is impossible for each individual to keep the whole Torah. But if there is peace, then although this person observes this mitzvah, and this person another mitzvah, they complete each other, and it is considered as if each of them kept the entire Torah. This is the meaning if the posuk (Tehillim 29,11) “Hashem gave ‘oz’ to His people, Hashem will bless His people with peace”, and the word ‘oz’ means Torah. That is, when Hashem wanted to give the Torah to Yisrael, He needed to bless His people with peace, because without peace it is impossible to observe the Torah. See the introduction to my sefer Shiyurei Taharah, where you will find a wonderful talk on this.
Now, it is well known that Aharon excelled in loving peace and pursuing peace, and also bringing people close to the Torah. What is the connection between these two traits? But we now understand that if there was no peace amongst them, then they would be distant from the Torah, because each person would be missing many things from his observance of the Torah. But if there is amongst them peace and unity, then each one completes his fellow man. Therefore Chazal said that Aharon pursued peace, and through this he brought them close to the Torah.
According to this, all of Yisrael were the children of Moshe, because he learned with them the Torah, but also the children of Aharon, since without the peace that Aharon made the Torah that Moshe taught would be very deficient. Therefore, through both of them, Moshe and Aharon, was completed Yisrael’s purpose of receiving the Torah, and so are the children of both of them.
Therefore, this posuk refers to what was written earlier, the counting of Klal Yisrael, and after the counting was completed, the Torah wrote “And these” - all these who were just mentioned, became “the descendants of Aharon and Moshe on the day that Hashem spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai”. That is, from when Hashem gave the Torah to Yisrael, all Yisrael mentioned above became the descendants of Aharon and Moshe. Because since Yisrael received the Torah, they needed to learn it, and through Moshe’s learning with them, and Aharon making peace, that purpose of their receiving the Torah was complete, and thus became the children of both of them.
Afterwards (posuk 2), it writes “And these are names of the children of Aharon”, and after that (posuk 3), it repeats “These are the names of the children of Aharon, whom he consecrated to serve as Kohanim”, that is, his actual children, “Nadav the firstborn, and Avihu, and Elozor, and Itamar”. To teach you that you should not think that these children are Aharon’s alone, and not Moshe’s, but rather the children of both of them, as we have explained. But that which the Torah relates them to Aharon by himself, is only in regard to them being Kohanim, which comes from Aharon alone, “whom he consecrated to serve as Kohanim”.
