for Parshat Bamidbar
i
God closes the book of Leviticus with the Law of how
you donate the value of a person to the Temple.
You say: I will donate the value of such-and-such-a person
or you say:
I will donate my own value
and you donate the value of that person
to the Temple,
to God’s Temple.
*
God opens the next book, Numbers,
with the command to count out each man
according to his place in the armies
by which the people will march through Desert,
into the Land.
ii
So we find a person’s worth through the world of the Temple,
the world of God.
He finds his place in the world through his place in the armies—
where he stands among the people.
*
So you are given worth from God, but that is not enough: you must take up your place among people.
And you have your place to fill among people, but that is not enough: your worth comes only from God.
___
Shabbat Shalom,
Abe