Bamidbar
Who is in our camp?
Reflection by Or HaLev teacher Rabbi Genevieve Greinetz
"Bamidbar begins, `You and Aaron shall record them by their groups, from the age of twenty years up, all those in Israel who are able to bear arms. Associated with you shall be a person from each tribe, each one the head of their ancestral house.`(1:3) What follows is a list of every tribe-head’s name, and following that is a list of the number of every person in their house.
In practice, we call this, `name it to tame it.` The guided meditation where you notice 'planning mind', 'story mind', 'past mind', 'future mind' – and you name it; take a census of all the members of your `camp.`
After this, Gd offers detailed instructions for where each ancestral house will set up camp in relation to the Mishkan. Every house has a specific direction in which they will sit.
Once we name the aspects and ancestry of our mind, we order and place them around the holy gathering space of awareness. Then, we can visit the camps and get to know who is there and what their stories are. Every thought has its right place around the Mishkan, each with an ancestry of its own that will bring you more near to the source.
Bamidbar is an invitation to find out who is in your camp; to see the myriad ancestral houses - name them, count them, and arrange them around your inner holiness; to take a loving census – enjoy!"