Bamidbar 1: Everyone Counts

It is clear from the first chapter where Bamidbar got the English name Numbers. The book starts off with a census of the Jewish people in the second year after they left Egypt. The Hebrew name- Bamidbar is more of a thematic name as the book details the stories of the time period of the Israelites in the midbar. In this instance, the English name really connects to the first few chapters and the Hebrew name is thematic. This is the opposite of the book of Shmot or Exodus. In that case, the Hebrew name refers to the very first chapter and the English name is thematic. There are other important connections between the names of the two books and the opening chapters. The book of Shmot opens with the names of the sons of Yaacov that went down to Egypt. They numbered seventy people, but the Torah only lists the twelve sons of Yaacov. Bamidbar opens with a census as well. This time, the tribes are listed again, but the names belong to the leaders of each tribe. Instead of seventy, there are now more than 600,000 men over twenty years old. Another difference is that the list of names in Shmot incudes Levi and Yosef, while Bamidbar includes Ephraim and Menashe and excludes Levi. At the time the brothers went to down to Egypt, Levi had not yet assumed its place as the stewards of the Mishkan, and Ephrayim and Menashe were just two sons of Yosef. By opening the two books in similar way, the Torah is providing a quick reference point as to the evolution of the Israelites from one family to an entire organized nation with encampments and tribal leaders and a massive amount of people. This comparison reminds me of the triumphant pictures of a Holocaust survivor sitting with their children, grandchildren and sometimes great grandchildren. To emphasize this, compare the verse right after the census in Exodus to the one in Bamidbar. “וַיָּקָם מֶלֶךְ־חָדָשׁ עַל־מִצְרָיִם אֲשֶׁר לֹא־יָדַע אֶת־יוֹסֵף. וַיֹּאמֶר אֶל־עַמּוֹ הֵן עַם בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל רַב וְעָצוּם מִמֶּנּוּ. הָבָה נִתְחַכְּמָה לוֹ פֶּן־יִרְבֶּה וְהָיָה כִּי תִקְרֶאנָה מִלְחָמָה וְנוֹסַף גַּם־הוּא עַל־שֹׂנְאֵינוּ וְנִלְחַם־בָּנוּ וְעָלָה מִן־הָאָרֶץ.” (שמות א׳:ח–י) “A new king arose over Egypt who did not know Joseph/And he said to his people, ‘Look, the Israelite people are much too numerous for us/Let us deal shrewdly with them, so that they may not increase; otherwise in the event of war they may join our enemies in fighting against us and rise from the ground’” (Exodus 1:8-10). “וַיַּעֲשׂוּ בְנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה לַי יָ אֶת־מֹשֶׁה כֵּן עָשׂוּ.” (במדבר א׳:נ״ד) “The Israelites did accordingly; just as God had commanded Moses, so they did” (Numbers 1:54). This nation is no longer under the control of a foreign power that wants to control them. They now are protected by and follow God. The start of Bamidbar is truly a photograph of triumph.