Summary of the case
Welcome to the desert book. The first parshah, parshat in the desert, is a rather long passage (chapter 1 – chapter 4 verse 20), and it deals with the preparations for the journey of the children of Israel’s camp to the promised land. At this point in the story, before the sin of the spies and the punishment of the forty years of wandering in the desert, Canaan is right at hand. At the center of the preparations are the population censuses. It is not for nothing that a book in the desert was also called the “Five Commandments”.
Who are you counting? “From the age of twenty years and upwards to every one who goes out to the army in Israel you shall charge them to their army” (chapter 1, verse 3) – they write and prepare for a campaign of military conquest. Their borrowers, who have a role in the sanctuary and not in the army, are written separately in chapters 3-4.
How did the people camp during the journey in the desert and how did they move from place to place? Regularly and in an orderly manner as described in chapters 2-3. In the center of the camp – a tent. Around him are the families of the borrowers, and on his sides are four camps. one in each of the four winds of heaven. In each camp there are three tribes. A total of 12 tribes of Israel. On the journey, the structure is preserved but opened to the column. In the center moves a tent.
How do you maintain a temporary tent during the journey and parking? cautiously. This is the role of the families of the borrowers, the families of Gershon Kehat and Marari, who replace the first-born of Israel who were designated for this role after the birth of first-born. What does the job include? Guarding the holy place, so that a stranger does not approach the tabernacle and its vessels – in parking and on the journey. Careful and careful disassembly, assembly and carrying of the traveling temple with all its tools.
From the website “929 – Bible together: a project for joint Israeli reading and many voices in the Bible”
Michael Eisenberg has finished writing about the five pentacles of the Torah, and starting this week he will write the section Rabbi Itiel Goldwicht, which will illuminate the administrative angle of the week’s parsha
Itiel Goldwicht is a rabbi, lecturer and founder of TLI Advance, a management program for success with meaning
Anyone who has ever conducted a management meeting or a multi-participant meeting knows the stage where everyone tries to organize another drop of budget for their department, take credit for another project, get another standard.
If each employee and each department sees only their tasks, it will be difficult to harness everyone to work together, and the company will not be able to really take off. How do you prevent such a situation?
Not long ago I hosted the Israeli high-tech entrepreneur and venture capital investor, former minister Yizhar Shai. He shared with me a story that influenced his entire management approach. In 1962, at the height of the space race, President Kennedy came to visit the NASA center. During the tour, he met a maintenance man with a broom in his hand. He approached him and said: “Hello, I’m John Kennedy. Tell me, what are you doing here?” The maintenance man replied: “Well Mr. President, I’m helping put the first man on the moon.” At that moment, Kennedy explained, I knew we were going to get to the moon.
The organization of the Israelites for the journey from Mount Sinai to the Land of Israel
The parshah we read this week, with which I begin the writing of this section, is a parshah in the desert. She meets us a year and two weeks after the children of Israel left Egypt. It describes the organization of the Israelites for the journey from Mount Sinai to the Land of Israel, as well as the masterful arrangement of the huge tent camp, which spread over thousands of square meters, in which 603,550 households, about 2.5 million people, camped. Each tribe camped in its place and under its flag, with the tribe of Levi mediating The person in charge of dismantling and carrying the tabernacle that is in the center: “And you put the Levites in charge of the tabernacle of the testimony and all its utensils, and over everything that belongs to it – they will carry the tabernacle and all its utensils, and they They will serve him; And around the tabernacle, they camped” (Bamadbar 1:9).
A census in which every individual is counted
The episode describes how this “super-organization”, named the People of Israel, was built in three circles. In the beginning, there is a sort of census in which each individual is counted: “Look, the head of every tribe of the children of Israel, by their family, by their father’s house by the number of names, every male by their Golgotha” (Bambar 1:2).
The individual counting shows that each individual has a different tone and voice. Everyone has their own tent, their own unique name, and their own personal desktop.
In the second circle, count the number of people in each tribe. Each tribe is present in a special area and under a different flag: “And the children of Israel encamped, a man over his camp and a man over his banner for their army.” (Bamadbar 1, NIV)
The colors or the drawing of the flag mark the vocation of the tribe. The different tribes are the different departments in society. We have never been a uniform people with a uniform complexion: we have always been twelve tribes, each with its own color and outlook.
The third circle is the collective. The totality that marches together. Not a uniform nation but a united one, the nation of Israel marching together to the promised land. What is interesting is that the description of the three circles comes only after long passages describing the work of building the tabernacle and its work. Why did the Israelites wait in the desert for a whole year to produce this order?
The tabernacle is the beating heart of the tribes
The order of the passages implies that only after the Mishkan was built, which was the center, the beating heart of the people, was it possible to create the order of the tribes that camped around it: “A man by his standard in the house of their fathers shall the children of Israel camp from around the tent of meeting.” (in the desert 2, 2)
Only after establishing a common vision, creating a value and moral society in the Promised Land, only then was it possible to turn to the organizational work of locating each tribe and dwelling on its unique characteristics. The exemplary arrangement of the parking, while belonging to the unique arm. And back to the world of work: it’s great to see the enthusiasm of each and every employee. But it is important to convey the company’s vision and the importance of its success to all employees – from the top of the pyramid to the smallest screw in the system. When everyone, from the junior to the senior, knows the goals and ambitions and is connected to them – only then the sky is not the limit.
