Parshas Bamidbar - Ahavas Yisroel as Preparation for Mattan Torah

00:00 When we learn what the Torah tells us about the month in which the Jewish people prepared to receive the Torah, we find several things that served as preparation. One is what the verse says: “In the third month after the Jewish people left the land of Egypt, on this day they came to the Sinai Desert… and Israel encamped there opposite the mountain.” Rashi points out that “Israel encamped there” is in the singular: “as one person with one heart.” In other words, when the Jewish people arrived in the Sinai Desert and stood before Mount Sinai, they were as one person with one heart. Hakadosh Boruch Hu said, “Now they are worthy of receiving the Torah.” At all their other encampments there had been complaints and disputes, but here they were as one person with one heart. So Hakadosh Boruch Hu said that now, at the time of receiving the Torah, He would give it to them. This means that Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity—being as one person with one heart—were among the principal preparations for receiving the Torah. Why is that? What is the connection between Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity and preparing to receive the Torah? Seemingly, they are two separate matters. Certainly, Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity are tremendously important. “Love your fellow as yourself” is a great principle of the Torah. But why is this so important that it served as preparation for receiving the Torah? So much so that Hakadosh Boruch Hu said, “Now they are worthy”—that because they were as one person with one heart,

01:32 Hakadosh Boruch Hu said He would now give them the Torah. We’ll discuss what the Rebbe once said about this at a farbrengen on Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar, the eve of Rosh Chodesh Sivan, 5746. At that time, the Rebbe made a very strong call for Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity. We’ll discuss some of what was said at the farbrengen and what was happening at the time. But first, a story—a chassidic story, as usual. This story is from the time of the Rebbe Maharash. The Rebbe Maharash had chassidim who lived in Kremenchug. Kremenchug was a chassidic town where many chassidim lived—great Torah scholars, people with a deep understanding of Chassidus, and people deeply devoted to serving Hashem according to the ways of Chassidus. There was a large group there known as “the Berelach”; everyone called them “the Berelach of Kremenchug.” They were devoted to serving Hashem, knowledgeable in Chassidus and in Torah generally, and had a deep understanding of both. They were called “Berelach” because several of them were named Dov Ber. Apparently, these were chassidim born after the passing of the Mitteler Rebbe, whose name was Dov Ber. Quite a few chassidim bore that name. It is said that one of the great chassidim in this group, the Berelach of Kremenchug, was Reb Chaim Ber Vilensky. Remarkable things are told about Reb Chaim Ber’s knowledge

03:08 of Chassidus, his understanding and the depth of his thought, and how he could sit for hours contemplating concepts in Chassidus. He would explain Chassidus in a way that let an idea settle in the mind and become clear. He could speak for hours about profound concepts in Chassidus, using analogies and explanations so that everyone could understand and grasp them. The Rebbe Rashab once explained where Reb Chaim Ber’s knowledge, depth and understanding of Chassidus came from. He told it this way: The mashpia of that group was a chossid named Reb Zalman Zlatopolsky. Reb Zalman Zlatopolsky was among the chassidim who had already been with the Tzemach Tzedek, and later became one of the great chassidim of the Rebbe Maharash. Once, Reb Zalman Zlatopolsky traveled to Lubavitch and spent time with the Rebbe Maharash. There he heard a maamar of Chassidus in which the Rebbe spoke about acts of kindness and the great virtue of tzedakah and kindness. He discussed the teaching of our Sages: “Rabbi Elazar would give a coin to a poor person and then pray.” Before davening, he would give a coin to a poor person. What does that mean? What is so special about giving a coin to a poor person and then davening? It means that when a Jew gives tzedakah to a poor person, he sustains that person’s life. He literally gives life to someone who has nothing, a poor person who cannot [unclear] for himself. And you give him tzedakah; you do him a kindness. This is Hakadosh Boruch Hu [unclear].

05:03 When you give tzedakah to a Jew who needs it, you merit a feeling for and an appreciation of the revelation of G-dliness in davening. On other occasions, they spoke about the effect of this act: by sustaining the life of the poor person, Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives life to the wealthy. It brings meaning to the service of davening, and one senses G-dliness while davening. Reb Zalman Zlatopolsky was deeply moved by this idea. When he returned to Kremenchug, he held a farbrengen with his students, spoke about the maamarim and repeated them. When chassidim returned from the Rebbe, they would speak about the Torah teachings they had heard from him. So Reb Zalman spoke about the great virtue of giving tzedakah before davening, and how it helps one afterward in the service of davening. A young married chossid named Freindberg went home and told his wife the teaching he had heard at the farbrengen. Freindberg’s wife took it upon herself to prepare mezonos: she would bake cookies and other baked goods. Every morning, Freindberg would bring them to shul before davening, so the chassidim would have something to eat—a cup of tea and a piece of mezonos. The Rebbe Rashab later concluded this story by saying: Yes, they say Freindberg had a remarkable knowledge of the depths of Chassidus. That came from having a good mind and finding answers.

06:45 And through his Ahavas Yisroel—his practice of bringing mezonos so the chassidim would have something to eat before davening—he merited understanding and comprehension of Chassidus. We are discussing the preparation for receiving the Torah, and saying that this preparation was “Israel encamped there opposite the mountain.” In 5740, when I was privileged to be with the Rebbe, the Rebbe spoke about this. That year, Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar fell on the eve of Rosh Chodesh Sivan. A week earlier, on Parshas Bechukosai, the Rebbe had said that the world today is in a state that calls for encouragement, and that we need to strengthen people, particularly when it comes to peace and unity: to bring about Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity among all Jews. Ahavas Yisroel is connected to “Bless us, our Father, all of us as one,” as we say in davening. In other words, when there is “all of us as one,” when Jews stand together in unity, then “Bless us, our Father”—we receive special blessings from Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And so we find that before receiving the Torah, when there was the greatest blessing and the greatest drawing down of holiness—“Hashem descended upon Mount Sinai,” the revelation of the Torah—there was Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity. That was the vessel through which the revelation of the Torah was drawn down. The Rebbe therefore asked that on the coming Shabbos, Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar, the eve of Rosh Chodesh Sivan, Jews everywhere should gather—“in a multitude of people is the King’s glory”—hold large chassidic farbrengens, and come together specifically in a spirit

08:33 of Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity. They should make it a Shabbos of Jewish unity, as an introduction and preparation to receiving the Torah with joy and in an inward way. And indeed, a large crowd gathered that Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar, and the Rebbe held a farbrengen. It was a very pleasant and rich farbrengen, with this theme running through it from beginning to end. The Rebbe spoke about Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity and discussed the subject in all its details. I want to go over one point, which is also connected to the weekly parsha, and through it approach the subject of Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity. The Rebbe said as follows: When we learn Parshas Bamidbar, we begin a new book, the Book of Bamidbar. And how does Parshas Bamidbar itself begin? The Torah opens, “Hashem spoke to Moshe in the Sinai Desert,” and specifies when this happened: “on the first day of the second month.” Rashi comments on the words “in the Sinai Desert” and says: “Because they are dear to Him, He counts them again and again.” Because the Jewish people are dear to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, because He loves and cherishes them, “He counts them again and again.” That is why Hakadosh Boruch Hu counted the Jewish people on several occasions: at the Exodus from Egypt, after the sin of the Golden Calf, and here once more—the census of the Jewish people that Parshas Bamidbar discusses. Here the Rebbe pointed out something surprising. First, there is a question: Seemingly, this verse does not yet speak about a census of the Jewish people. The census appears

10:26 only in the next verse. Rashi should have commented on that verse, the one that says to count the Jewish people, and said there: “Because they are dear to Him, He counts them again and again.” Why does he say it on the very first verse? And what is the connection between the words “in the Sinai Desert” and “Because they are dear to Him, He counts them again and again”? How does that fit here, and what is the relationship between the two? The second question is: What does this idea—that “because they are dear to Him, He counts them again and again”—have to do with the name of the parsha, Parshas Bamidbar?

On this the Rebbe said—this was his practice every Shabbos: among the Rebbe’s sichos at the farbrengen, there was also a sicha on Rashi. The Rebbe would focus on Rashi’s words and raise a question to help understand them. This was the Rashi the Rebbe focused on that Shabbos. The Rebbe offered an interesting explanation: the question that arises for a “five-year-old beginning to study Scripture,” as he starts learning Chumash Bamidbar, Parshas Bamidbar, and reads the first verse—even before going on to the next verses—concerns the words “Hashem spoke to Moshe in the wilderness of Sinai.” The child asks: What is new about “in the wilderness of Sinai”? Why does the Torah tell us where the Jewish people were? Don’t we know they were in the wilderness of Sinai? Surely that is clear: the Jewish people

11:53 were in the wilderness of Sinai. That is what the Chumash says, and it is well known that the Giving of the Torah took place in the wilderness of Sinai. They could not have left the wilderness of Sinai yet. Everything from Parshas Yisro onward takes place in that same location: the Giving of the Torah, the erection of the Mishkan, and then [unclear], and the entire book of Vayikra. And it continues that way afterward. The Jewish people are still in the wilderness of Sinai. What does the Torah want to clarify? Why does it repeat where this took place—“in the wilderness of Sinai”?

Well, here the Torah wants to teach us something fundamental. That is why Rashi says, “Because they are dear to Him, He counts them at every opportunity.” The wilderness of Sinai is connected with the dearness of the Jewish people. When the Torah repeats that this took place “in the wilderness of Sinai,” those very words express how dear the Jewish people are. Why is that expressed by the wilderness of Sinai? Rashi did not need to explain it here, because he had already explained it earlier. There is no need to repeat an explanation Rashi has already given.

In Parshas Bo, Rashi said that the Jewish people’s departure into the wilderness and their following Moshe Rabbeinu along the way expressed how dear they are. As the verse says: “I remember for you the kindness of your youth, your following Me into the wilderness, into an unsown land.” The Jewish people followed Hakadosh Boruch Hu

13:26 into the wilderness. They did not ask: Where will we get food? Where will we sleep? What will happen? How can we go through a dangerous wilderness, with “fiery serpents and scorpions”? No. They went—“your following Me into the wilderness”—following Hakadosh Boruch Hu and Moshe Rabbeinu wholeheartedly, without asking questions, and trusted in Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This is “the kindness of your youth,” which Hakadosh Boruch Hu always remembers in the Jewish people’s favor.

Therefore, when we come to Parshas Bamidbar, the Torah again says “in the wilderness of Sinai,” because those words express the praise of the Jewish people: Jews follow Hakadosh Boruch Hu wherever He leads them. This is why they are dear to Him. And so, Rashi asks: Why does the Torah specifically here repeat that this took place in the wilderness of Sinai? Because here the Jewish people are about to be counted again. Their counting expresses how dear they are: “Because they are dear to Him, He counts them at every opportunity.” That is why the Torah repeats “in the wilderness of Sinai,” because the wilderness of Sinai itself calls to mind how dear the Jewish people are. Here we are told how Hakadosh Boruch Hu loves every Jew and “counts them at every opportunity.” How is their dearness expressed? In His “counting them at every opportunity,” for in this counting

14:48 of the Jewish people, their dearness is expressed. There is a well-known explanation from the holy Shelah: one reason the counting of the Jewish people expresses their dearness is a principle the Gemara states in the laws of nullification. When something forbidden falls into something permitted, there are laws of nullification by a majority, by sixty times its quantity, by a thousand times, or by ten thousand times—all the laws concerning the nullification of something forbidden in something permitted. But there is a rule that an item sold by count is not nullified. Something counted individually is never nullified. This has to do with its importance: an item sold by count might be fruit or something else that people do not sell in bundles, but count out one by one. This shows that these are important, valuable items. Therefore, they are not nullified, even in sixty, a thousand, or ten thousand times their quantity; the laws of nullification do not apply to them. By counting the Jewish people, Hakadosh Boruch Hu made them like items counted individually, says the holy Shelah, and such an item is not nullified. This brings out something remarkable. The Rebbe spoke several times about a remarkable aspect of how dear the Jewish people are. Because

16:11 because when we speak of counting by number, of this mitzvah of counting—to count means to count—each person is simply one. In other words, a person’s standing, virtues, greatness, or anything else is not relevant here. When Jews are counted for a minyan, a minyan needs a specific number: ten Jews. Those ten Jews may be wholly righteous, they may include very simple people, or they may include all sorts of people. As is well known, the explanation brought in the sefarim is that the Hebrew word for “community” is an acronym for the righteous, the intermediate, and the wicked. The righteous, the intermediate, and the wicked. Nevertheless, in a minyan it makes no difference who is who. Each person is one. The greatest tzaddik is no more than one, and the most wicked person is no less than one. It is always one plus one plus one. This relates to the very essence of the Jewish people. There are indeed differences in spiritual standing: there are greater and lesser tzaddikim, simple people, Torah scholars, those devoted to study, and businesspeople—all these are different levels among the Jewish people. But there is the essential fact that someone is a Jew, and in that everyone is equal. The greatest Jew is no more than one, and the least accomplished Jew is no less than one. This is the saying quoted among chassidim, a saying that

17:37 Rabbi Levi—the Rebbe’s father, Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson, the kabbalist Rabbi Levi Yitzchak Schneerson—would say: Moshe Rabbeinu is no more Jewish than the lowliest Jew, and the lowliest Jew is no less Jewish than Moshe Rabbeinu. This point is expressed in counting, when we count Jews one plus one. Every Jew is an essential being, someone of fundamental importance, like an item counted individually that can never be nullified. This is the theme of Parshas Bamidbar, which we are studying. In the time leading up to the Giving of the Torah, we prepare through Parshas Bamidbar, in which the Jewish people are counted and we discover how dear they are—how precious every Jew is to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. From this we take a lesson in preparing for the Giving of the Torah: when the day arrives, the time of Shavuos, the Giving of the Torah each and every year, we must [unclear]. And we learn this from Hakadosh Boruch Hu: He loves every Jew. Why does He love every Jew? Because every Jew is an essential being, an eternal being, a genuine being, like an item counted individually that cannot be nullified. This is what every Jew is as a Jew; it is their essence. From this we learn that our Ahavas Yisroel must be the same: to love Jews simply because they are Jews, without thinking about

19:03 their spiritual standing—whether higher or lower—but to love Jews simply because they are Jews. This brings us to Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity, to loving Jews simply because they are Jews. This is what is meant here by “as one person, with one heart.” “As one person” means that in actual fact they are like one person, and also “with one heart”—in their hearts. Since the very essence of the Jewish people, their heart, is “an actual part of G-d above,” they are consequently “as one person, with one heart.” All Jews are one, both in their actual existence and in their hearts—in their essence, in the core of their Jewishness, through which we are all one. When this is present among the Jewish people, they are ready, as we see, to stand and receive the Torah. For at the Giving of the Torah, the revelation of “I am Hashem your G-d” had to be in the singular. What does the singular mean? These words were addressed to every Jew personally; every Jew was told in the singular, “I am Hashem your G-d.” For every Jew has a connection to the entire Torah; it is their whole being. And in the essential nature of the Torah, all Jews are one. In this there are no differences in level: one person knows more Torah and another knows less. That concerns the study of Torah, knowledge of Torah, and love of Torah, and in these there are differences in level. But when it comes to the essential G-dliness in the Torah, the “I am Hashem your G-d,” “I Myself”

20:32 “I wrote and gave.” When a Jew studies a verse of Torah, a word of Torah, Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself is present within that Torah. “I wrote down and gave My very self”—Hakadosh Boruch Hu placed Himself in the Torah, and “you are taking Me.” In this, every Jew is truly equal: the greatest Jew and the simplest Jew—in the words of Torah they say and study, Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself is present, His very essence and being. So, as we stand in these weekdays leading up to receiving the Torah, we awaken Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity within ourselves, to love Jews as one person with one heart. And we inspire this among Jews, without making any calculations. This creates the greatest vessel for blessing: during these days, everyone gathers together, wherever and however Jews can meet, and strengthens Ahavas Yisroel and Jewish unity. Especially now, when this needs to be strengthened, when Jews need blessing and success—particularly in Eretz Yisroel, and throughout the world—and the world needs deliverance and salvation. We have a vessel for blessing here. As the Mishnah says at the end of the six orders of the Mishnah, at the end of Tractate Uktzin: “Hakadosh Boruch Hu found no vessel that holds blessing for Israel other than peace.” There must be peace and unity among Jews, and through this we will merit “I will grant peace in the land.” And we will receive the Torah

21:58 from the G-d of peace, for “the entire Torah was given only to bring peace to the world,” as it says: “Hashem will give strength to His people; Hashem will bless His people with peace.”