Bamidbar / Shavuos

Sefer Bamidbar focuses on the years of the Jews’ sojourn in the wilderness. The parasha begins with Hashem commanding Moshe & Aaron to conduct a census of all the tribes. The one tribe that was left out was Shevet Levi, as the posuk says הקרב את מטה לוי, bring near the tribe of Levi, they were singled out to dedicate their lives to the service of Hashem & are counted separately. 

Shevet Levi were the ones that were destined to be the teachers of the Jewish people. The Midrash relates the words of our posuk to what is written in tehillim:  צדיק כתמר יפרח a righteous man like a date palm will flourish כארז בלבנון ישגה, like a cedar in Lebanon he will grow tall שתולים בבית ה , planted in the house of Hashem. 

The בעש"ט explains ‎that there are two types of tzaddikim. One serves Hashem with his full body & soul; however, he is locked up in his own space without influencing anyone. He just focuses on his own growth, so he is compared to the cedar tree that doesn't bear fruit. The other type of tzaddik doesn't only think of himself; he is out there teaching & influencing others to get closer to Hashem, so he is compared to the date tree that gives forth sweet fruit. 

Chazal tell us that Shevet Levi were compared to the date tree for they didn't stay home just focusing on themselves. Rather, they were out there teaching the masses & bring them closer to Hashem. Nowadays, this role is not necessarily representative of only the Levi'im, but has been taken on by the rabbis & teachers. 

Now that the yom tov of Shavuos is upon us, it is time to reconnect to Hashem & the Torah. It's time that all of us that can, go out & teach; go out & influence others to keep the Torah. The Zohar informs us that one who stays up the night of Shavuos & learns all night is guaranteed to live out the year. Nothing bad will befall him the whole year. 

Another way to ensure longevity can be gleaned from the following story told by Rav Zilberstein. A few years ago, an old man of over a hundred years of age who was very weak and frail came to me & asked: “according to the opinion that the counting of sefira is a totality of one mitzva & if one can't count all the days with a bracha, he can't count any, am I permitted to start counting because the doctors are only giving me a few days to live?”  

   

‎I advised him to do the opposite. What does a child whose mother told him he can't have a candy, do? He says the bracha of shehakol & then the mother is forced to give him the candy so as not to cause a bracha l’vatala, a blessing made in vain. 

So I advised him to do the same thing; start counting the sefira with a bracha & then Hashem will have no choice but to keep him alive until after sefira. He listened to me & lived until after Shavuos. This is true by all mitzvos. Once a person starts something, Hashem will have to let him stay here to finish it. So, perhaps a way to ensure that we have a good year, is to take on a project in Torah; something that will spread Torah; something that will help other people grow. If one makes sure he is needed here by Hashem to complete his task, he needn’t worry.  As long as he hasn’t finished his work, he can't go anywhere!

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