This week we begin the fourth Book of the Torah, the Book of Numbers. It opens with a census of the people commanded by God.
“Take a census of the whole Israelite community by their clans and families, listing every man by name, one by one. 3 You and Aaron are to count according to their divisions all the men in Israel who are twenty years old or more and able to serve in the army”.
The ancient Sages are puzzled as to why Aaron is required to assist Moses. In the past, Moses had been given tasks that he had performed all by himself. Why Aaron now? The answer they give is astonishing. Because the census was taken by means of the collection of a half shekel per adult male, money is collected. God is establishing the principle that when money for the community is collected, more than one person must participate so they can monitor one another and no person is tempted to steal public funds. This applies even to Moses! Further, this establishes a rule that those who collect monies for the public good must do so in pairs, and even wear garments without pockets so they cannot hide coins on their person!
We are living in a time of unprecedented public corruption. Those elected to the highest of offices are stealing, quite literally, funds and monies that are designated for the public good, or extorting money in return for favors. It is noteworthy that almost 2000 years ago the Sages recognized the temptations of high office, and put into place mechanisms to prohibit and discourage the theft of funds or the ability of a leader to enrich himself because of his office.
Why those who consider themselves “religious” do not raise their voices in protest and alarm will be one of the great puzzles when historians look back at this sad and tragic period of American history.
From Rabbi Doug Sagal aka “the Boxing Rabbi”