Parashat Bamidbar 5768

This week, we begin reading a new book of Torah. Like most of us, the book hosts not one, but at least two identities. These identities are reflected in its names.

In Hebrew, the book is called Bamidbar, meaning “in the wilderness.” Bamidbar is a book about being in the wilderness. It outlines the effect that journeying has on the people. In Bamidbar, we hear a counter-narrative of wandering; the Israelites grumble, complain, and rebel. They grow mistrustful of God, of Moses, and of Aaron. Bamidbar shows us that wandering comes at a price, as does freedom from slavery.

Bamidbar reminds us that every seemingly ordered experience in life is counter-balanced by chaos and made more interesting by disruption.

In English, the book is called Numbers. Numbers is a book about numbers and certainty. This week’s parashah, for example, details a census, listing both the number of Israelite men who are of fighting age and the number of Levite males who will serve as the priests of the people. In Numbers, we learn of order and detail, including both the preparations to leave Mount Sinai and the groundwork for life in the Promised Land. Numbers is a book about marching forward from slavery to freedom and from the Narrow-Places of Egypt to the Promised Land.

Numbers reminds us that there is a rhythm to life, a current by which we flow, and a path for us to follow.

Rachel Havrelock writes in The Torah: A Women’s Commentary, “The contrast between these two titles reflects a tension between order and chaos, culture and nature, obedience and rebellion that characterizes the book and drives its plot.” This book of Torah deals in reality, reminding us that life is often more than what meets the eye.

As we enter into Shabbat this week, let us reflect on the significance of the names we possess. Many of us are known by different names, depending on the context in which we find ourselves: There are the names by which we are known at home, at work, and in the community. Strangers address us in one fashion, loved ones in another. Our names have power. They shape both the ways in which we see ourselves and the ways in which others see us. They can guide the way we act and the way react.

Like our book of Torah, Bamidbar – Numbers, our multiple names often represent multiple identities. These names give texture to our lives. On this Shabbat, let us delight in our full selves, reflecting on our many names and giving voice to disparate parts of ourselves.