Parshas Pinchas - count down

God orders Moshe and Aaron to conduct a national census in the second year after the Exodus from Egypt and the resulting tabulation shows that, excluding the tribe of Levi, the total number of men twenty years old and upwards is:

603,550             (Numbers 1:46)

Thirty-eight years later, God orders Moshe and Elazar (Aaron’s son and successor) to conduct another census of the men aged twenty and older, also to exclude the tribe of Levi. The resulting tabulation:

601,730            (Numbers 26:51)

One might think that, after nearly 40 years, any given population would increase. Yet here the Jewish people’s numbers decrease slightly. What happened?

One simple explanation might be that the rigors of desert life and frequent travel dictated by God’s command acted as a deterrent to the growth of families and the Jews consequently had few children.

Another approach to solve the riddle of the largely static population is to note all the times in the intervening 38 years when groups of Jews publicly revolted against God’s will and were subsequently killed. Sadly, there are a number of such occasions - the people griped against God “and the fire of God burned against them and consumed the edge of the camp” – number of fatalities unknown (Numbers 11:1); the people craved meat, complained bitterly, received quail, and “The meat was still between their teeth, not yet chewed, when the wrath of God flared against the people and God struck a very mighty blow against the people.” – number of fatalities unknown (11:33); Korach, Dasan and Aviran, and 250 co-conspirators openly revote against Moshe and are killed in an instant (16:31-35); the people grumbled that Moshe had Korach and the others killed as a personal vendetta and a plague from God broke out, leaving 14,700 dead (17: 6-14); the people complained about the food and “The Lord sent consuming snakes against the people and many people of Israel died” – number of fatalities unknown (21:5-6); and the episode of public immorality with the daughters of Moav, when the Israelite judges were commanded to execute the public sinners – according to Rashi, this resulted in 176,000 fatalities (25:1-5); additionally 24,000 people were killed in a subsequent plague (25:9). 

We may contrast this troubling body count with the accounts of the battles the children of Israel conducted with the Canaanite king of Arad (21:1-3), King Sihon and the Amorites (21:21-25), and Og king of Bashan and his people (21: 33-35), where the text offers no indication that there was any significant fatalities of war among the Jews. The conclusion we reach, however clichéd it may be, is that we the Jewish people are often our own worst enemies. And when we are able to constrain our cantankerousness and follow our faith, we can accomplish incredible things. 


Note:
I've used the term "number of fatalities unknown" to indicate where there is no account of the number of people killed in the text of the Torah, in Rashi's comments, or in the commentaries that I have read. This does not preclude the possibility that one or some of the figures may be cited in areas of the Talmud with which I am unfamiliar. If a reader of this Dvar Torah is acquainted with such a citation, I ask that they please share it with me, by sending an email to:   donlegofzechut@yahoo.com       Thank you!