Like in many other Parsha’s, it says here: “God spoke to Moshe.” Unfortunately, most Jews read through this without thinking. Many times, what is frequently repeated is usually nothing special to the readers. But in reality, it is repeated because it is so important! The most special aspect of God talking to Moshe is that He tells him what to do with the entire Israelite community. This is something unparalleled in any religion. There have been many gentiles that have walked with God, one of them being Bilam. There have been many such people who had God realization. However, these men were only told about private matters concerning individual. The prophets of Israel, however, were told to bring a message to the entire nation. And more – in the public ways…
Of all prophets though, as Rambam says, Moshe was like none other. Moshe took a level of prophecy never accomplished by anyone else. Like stated above, the prophets of Israel were told to relay a message to the entire community. Basically, a “messenger” of God. Such examples are Yonah, who was to bring a message to the city of Nineveh, and Jeremiah. Moshe on the other hand, was told specifically to fulfill something, which is very unique. God tells him to conduct a whole census, with all the details provided.
The census also brings up an interesting topic. Nowadays, rabbis Halachically established Jewishness is defined by a maternal lineage. However, it seems here from the Torah that the lineage goes only through the father! For the census, God wanted to know how many males there were, which implies how many Jewish families there were. The males had to be the age fit for service–at least 20 years. This is the age that most men already had their own families at the time. It seems here that the Jewish family is held by the male, not the female.
Here in Bamidbar, it states that the Jews are the “first born” of God; this status elevated us among other nations. However, because we are the chosen ones… we are to be hated. Most of the world hates Jews for who they are, and that is in it’s essence … because we are special to God! In reality, this hate is another side of the blessing. It separates us from the rest of the world and puts us on the podium of the world’s historical process.
