Rabbi's Message

This Shabbat we begin the book of BaMidbar, Numbers.  It opens with a pair of censuses, as b’nai Yisrael prepare to set out from Mount Sinai, where they are still encamped.  Each tribe is counted and given its position.  But the tribe of Levi, whose charge is to tend to the mishkan, tabernacle, is given additional tasks.  Joseph’s son Levi had three sons:  Gershon, Kohat, and Merari.  Each became the head of a clan of his own, and each clan had specific responsibilities in caring for the mishkan.  The Gershonites were tasked with packing up and carrying the tent, its covering, the screens and the altar.  The Kohatites took care of the ark, the table, the lampstand, the altars and the sacred utensils.  The Merarites were in charge of the planks, its bars, posts, sockets, pegs and cords. What each clan was in charge of is not as important as the fact that each had their own specific tasks in transporting the mishkan.

Remember how much care was put into its construction, with its blueprints coming from straight from God.  Any piece missing – anything out of place – and it was useless.  The members of the clans of Gershon, Kohat, and Merari had to work together, and trust each other, in order to move and maintain this holy structure.  Though we no longer have a portable sanctuary to transport, we do have a community that requires care, collaboration and cooperation to thrive.  For this to happen, we each need to do our best to be there for each other.  Like the clans of Levi, we each have a part to play in building and growing our kehilah kedosha, our sacred community.  Then together, we can turn to God ask that the holy work that we engage in will also be blessed.