Parashat Bamidbar

Numbers 1:1-4:20

In the desert you are alone, as many people seem to live alone, because they turn their backs on others, on everything that surrounds them. As in the desert, the only thing that many of these people manage to see are the mirages, which are nothing more than images that are projected of what we most want and need when we are in the middle of the desert. The mirages on their screens prevent them from seeing those around them, those they travel with, those who may need help moving forward. And the mirages that we project prevent others from seeing us as we are, vulnerable, sad, happy, with our lights and shadows.

Bamidbar reminds us that even though we are in the desert, we are not alone. In the first chapter there is a recount of all those who are part of the journey through the desert. It is no coincidence, we are in the desert and it is easy to feel alone. One by one, the count creates a census of all those who are part of the expedition. Not everyone is named, of course, they are not named, but they are.

It is the task of each generation to feel as if you have been in Egypt, but it is also the task of each generation to recover all those, but above all, those, that remain in the blank space between the black letters: all the stories, teachings, traditions and people we forgot to put black on white, all of them and they continue to write to this day. In short, it is the task of each generation not to turn your back on others, whether they are those around you on the subway, on the bus, at work, in your family, or in your community.

Shabbat shalom!