Making space for all

Numbers 1:1-4:20

The beginning of the book of Bamidbar (Numbers) is full of what we could call tactical data. The census with which the parashah begins tells us how many men of fighting age belong to each tribe. We learn how the tribes should be arranged around the mishkan when in the camp, and what the specific responsibilities of the different clans of the Levites are in terms of assembling and disassembling the various components and furnishings of the mishkan. This is all in preparation for the 40 years of traveling in the desert that will take the Israelites from Sinai to the banks of the Jordan River, from which they will enter the Promised Land. This is all about how to conduct our travels — but with no mention of why we are doing so.

Contrast this with the reiteration contained at the beginning of the book of Devarim (Deuteronomy). “The Eternal our God spoke to us at Choreiv: You have stayed long enough at this mountain … . I have placed the land before you; go, possess the land that the Eternal swore to our ancestors…” (Deuteronomy 1:6-8) This is strategic, describing the goal we are to accomplish and the motivation for doing so. Here we see the what and the why that are missing from this week’s parashah.

While the overarching objectives describe our collective aspirations as a people, the accounting in parashat Bamidbar is equally important. Each member of the people has a role to play in achieving the common goals.

Consider the current, pressing issues that consume so much of our attention — rising violent antisemitism here and in other nations and the threat presented by Hamas to Israel’s peace and security (and indeed to that of other countries around the world), just to name two. There are a number of strategic goals that are held up by different groups within the Jewish community (defeating Hamas, retrieving the remaining hostages from Gaza, living in peace with a future Palestinian state, etc.). Different groups and individuals prioritize these goals differently, and different groups and individuals have disparate views about what tactical means will best achieve their desired goals.

We can argue for the moral and ethical base for our own views, or for the moral laxity of those who disagree with us. Certainly, there are widely accepted Jewish principles that inform our thinking as individuals and as a community. However, we must be more than a little circumspect before declaring our own view to be the one correct approach to the exclusion of those who dissent. This is true both for individuals and for the institutions that do so much good in advancing the interests of the Jewish people.

We have a long history of (often bitter) disagreement, and an equally long and rich history of prioritizing our care for each other. The accounting of the Israelites that we read this week should remind us that it is more important to make space for all Jews in the community than it is to prove ourselves right. Shabbat shalom. PJC

Rabbi Howard Stein was the rabbi of Temple B’nai Israel in White Oak. He will be moving to Roanoke, Virginia, where he will assume the pulpit at Temple Emanuel This column is a service of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish Clergy Association