This entry is this substack's original intent: Raf's Dvar/Riff Torah -- Recently redirected for the "Is Raf OK?" series (at the well advised impetus of sister Tanya).
Select Parsha Highlights
A census of military aged men, by tribe.
The Levites are not counted and are given tabernacle-transport-tasks
Members of the clan of Kehat, even if they are fit for military service, are exempted:
ג: מִבֶּ֨ן שְׁלשִׁ֤ים שָׁנָה֙ וָמַ֔עְלָה וְעַ֖ד בֶּן־חֲמִשִּׁ֣ים שָׁנָ֑ה כָּל־בָּא֙ לַצָּבָ֔א לַֽעֲשׂ֥וֹת מְלָאכָ֖ה בְּאֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד
Utensils and their covers are described.
And much more.
The sedra begins with an inventory of military age males. Listing each tribe and its numbers, I wonder what the multiple should be to calculate the tribe's population:
כא: פְּקֻֽדֵיהֶ֖ם לְמַטֵּ֣ה רְאוּבֵ֑ן שִׁשָּׁ֧ה וְאַרְבָּעִ֛ים אֶ֖לֶף וַֽחֲמֵ֥שׁ מֵאֽוֹת
21: the tally of the tribe of Reuben was 46,500.
But this count (and the others) include only:
כָּל־זָכָ֗ר מִבֶּ֨ן עֶשְׂרִ֤ים שָׁנָה֙ וָמַ֔עְלָה כֹּ֖ל יֹצֵ֥א צָבָֽא
Every male 20 years old and up who is able to serve in the army.
So to get the full population of the tribe of Reuben, what is the multiplier? To get both genders I would double the figure, but to include children and the elderly do I multiply by three or four? More?
Rashi is silent on these psukim. I speculate about family size, child mortality rates and expected lifespans. I feel like the multiplier could end up between three and seven depending on my assumptions.
But I am not whipping out Excel to take this further.
The tribe of Levi is handled differently:
מז: וְהַֽלְוִיִּ֖ם לְמַטֵּ֣ה אֲבֹתָ֑ם לֹ֥א הָתְפָּֽקְד֖וּ בְּתוֹכָֽם
But the Levites, according to their fathers’ tribe, were not numbered among them.
Rashi references the incident of the Golden Calf and observes that the Levites will survive the post-calf-purge. But the Torah itself gives a different reason:
נ: וְאַתָּ֡ה הַפְקֵ֣ד אֶת־הַֽלְוִיִּם֩ עַל־מִשְׁכַּ֨ן הָֽעֵדֻ֜ת וְעַ֣ל כָּל־כֵּלָיו֘ וְעַ֣ל כָּל־אֲשֶׁר־לוֹ֒ הֵ֜מָּה יִשְׂא֤וּ אֶת־הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ וְאֶת־כָּל־כֵּלָ֔יו וְהֵ֖ם יְשָֽׁרְתֻ֑הוּ וְסָבִ֥יב לַמִּשְׁכָּ֖ן יַֽחֲנֽוּ
You [Moses] must put the Levites in charge of the Tabernacle of the Testimony, over all its furnishings and over all that pertains to it. They must carry the Tabernacle and all its furnishings; they must serve in it, and they must encamp around the Tabernacle.
There are other details to this directive, but the essence is that the Levi'im are not counted and are given a detailed task that is central to the ritual and identity of the Tribe.
Does the concept "quantity vs quality" apply? In business it is said that you can only "manage what you measure" (therefore measure everything you may want to manage).
In the department of "thought vs action," I am chewing on eight minutes of Rachel Goldberg Polin (she starts six or seven minutes in). From a woman who carries only strong, moving messages, this is the strongest yet.
She says: Action isn't everything.
It's the only thing.
While there is clearly "what to do" for all the tribes (this is a military census, after all), the Levites (and the בְּנֵֽי־קְהָ֖ת - house of Kehat) are given concrete tasks. Tasks that will occupy them non stop (that's my read). Are these tasks more worthy than military service?
In many Israeli contexts there is a subtext: Combat soldiers are "better" than other soldiers (who have desk jobs or such). The challenges and risks of combat service are rewarded with societal prestige. (Not just free falafel.) Yet there is an appreciation that it is the pencil pushers who figure out where those combat troops should go and what they should do.
In the sedra, much of the "what to do" thinking is done by G-d.
In life, it is done by us.
Does a plan, even a perfect one, have value in the absence of execution?
What would Moses say?
(Thanks to A.K.)