Bamidbar — In the desert (Numbers 1:1-4:20)
In the desert, I learned to count.
I saw the men counted and
put into groups.
Those who could protect and kill
went into one group. Those who
handled the words into another.
If you were under 19 or over 60
you didn’t count. If you participated
in the golden calf incident
you didn’t count. If you were a woman
you weren’t even mentioned.
In the desert, I learned you could
set up your spontaneous suburb
the same way wherever you went.
We had a system. We brought
the old neighborhood with us.
Urban planning had its forty-year
trial run in the desert.
In the desert, we named our
neighborhoods after the 12 sons
of Jacob. We continued to ignore
his daughter. In the desert, I wondered
if Jacob’s sons could have imagined
all these mouths to feed.
Would they have wondered why
we stayed in the narrow place so long.
Why it would take us forty years
to cross a distance they traveled
in just a few weeks. In the desert,
would they have wondered
what went so wrong?
Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 29 books including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.” Visit him at www.JewishPoetry.net
