Page 584 - BAMIDBAR

bamidbar

After the epidemic which struck Bnei Yisrael, Hashem commanded that
they be counted. This is similar to a shepherd who counts his remaining
sheep after a wolf made off with some of the flock.
The Torah records each family, preceded by the letter andfollowedby
the letter . This is testimony that Bnei Yisrael’s lineage was pure and not
defiled by the Egyptians. The only exception was the case of Shelomit bat
Divri, who brought degradation upon herself through her lack of tzeniut.
Rashi asks why the Torah begins with the account of Creation rather than
the first mitzvah, which is sanctifying the new month. It is in order to
squelch the accusations of the nations, who claim that Am Yisrael seized
the Land illegally. Hashem created the entire world and can therefore
allocate it as He sees fit, granting Eretz Yisrael to His Chosen People.

How can we be so naïve as to believe that we can succeed in silencing 19
the claim of the nations for Eretz Yisrael merely with first sentence of
parashat Bereishit? Similarly, can the spelling of each family with the
additional letters of and still the allegations of the nations that
Egyptian blood was mixed into the Jewish nation?

We might answer based on the pasuk (Tehillim 121:5), “Hashem is your
protective Shade at your right hand.” Hashem grants a person life by
protecting him with His Shechinah. When this protective shade is
removed, the person perishes. Sin removes this shield, and therefore
resha’im are considered dead even as they live.

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