We walked through the wilderness with eyes wide shut. Instead of neglecting the lessons of Bemidbar, perhaps -- in an age of questionable leadership -- we need to read it more slowly and carefully and pay better attention to the landscape.
The 12 tribes are given designated places in which to set up camp in the desert. Each flies its own banner and has hand-picked neighbors. But they are all important parts of a community -- a lesson we ought not to forget.
One year, one month and one day after the Exodus. God speaks to Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the desert at Sinai, telling him: Take a census of the Children of Israel. Count their names. All the men, 20 years of age or older.