"And God spoke
Moshe in the Sinai desert, in the Tent of Meeting, on the first (day) of
the second month, in the second year of their exodus from the land of
Egypt, saying: Take a head count of the entire congregation of Bnei
Yisroel according to their families to the house of their fathers,
counting the names of all males individually."
BaMidbar 1:1-2
Rashi
comments on the first verse that because the Jewish people are precious
to Him, He counts them all the time. Rabbi Avrohom Davis notes that two
of the times God counted the Jewish people were only a month apart - on
the day the Mishkon (sanctuary) was set up, the first of Nissan, and
then again on the first of Iyar. He cites the Gur Aryeh who says that
after the Divine Presence had resided among the Jewish people for a
month, it was considered a permanent resident so God saw it fit to count
the people again.
This Rashi, with its elucidation, brings to
mind the moments I will reflect, at the conclusion of Succot, and search
myself to assess what impact the chaggim had on me. The high holiday
season is only about a month long but if I was focused and fortunate,
those four weeks had a distinct impact.
The challenge, I think,
is to identify other occasions throughout the year that prompt me to
pine for God's presence in my life. And when those occasions conclude, I
must take an internal accounting and see if I made good use of these
periods.
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