One of the main things the Torah tells us in פרשת במדבר is the counting of the בני ישראל. And this is a very important thing, as we see that just because of that, the whole חומש במדבר is called Chumash HaPekudim, the Chumash of counting, as the Gemara says in Yoma דף ס״ח עמוד ב׳, because פרשת במדבר talks about counting, and later on in פרשת פינחס, the Torah again talks about counting. But this just goes to show that the counting of בני ישראל is a very, very important thing. Now the question is, why is counting so important? So Rashi in the beginning of the parsha says that מתוך חיבתן לפניו מונה אותם כל שעה. Because they are beloved by Hashem, that's why Hashem counts them every while. כשיצאו ממצרים מנאם, when they went out of Mitzrayim He counted them. כשנפלו בעגל מנאם לידע מנין הנותרים, when they fell after they worshipped the עגל, then He wanted to find out how many were left over. כשבא להשרות שכינתו עליהם מנאם, when He came to bring His Shechinah down on them, He counted them again. And that's why here the Torah says that He counted the בני ישראל, because באחד בניסן הוקם המשכן, the first day of Nisan the Mishkan was put up, that's when Hashem brought His Shechinah down, so right away באחד באייר מנאם, so right away a month later, on the first day of Iyar, He wanted them to be counted. As the pasuk says here that at the first day of the month of Iyar, Hashem wanted the Yidden to be counted. So it comes out that the reason that they are counted is because they are beloved by Hashem. Which really is the same idea as it says in the Midrash in the beginning of the parsha, in Bamidbar Rabbah פרשה א׳ ד׳, that the Yidden are counted, it's נמשלו ישראל כערימה של חטין, that the Yidden are compared to a pile of wheat. מה החטים הללו נכנסות לאוצר במנין, just like the wheat, when you take them into the storage you count them, כך אמר הקדוש ברוך הוא, so did Hashem say, שיהיו ישראל נמנין בכל שעה, so the Jews should be counted every while. Just like wheat, since it's precious, and the person who owns the wheat wants to know exactly what he has, he counts it before he puts it into the storage, so Hashem also wanted the בני ישראל to be counted. But the question that comes up is that l'chorah, at first glance, the mashal doesn't fit to the nimshal, because the reason the person counts the wheat is because he wants to know exactly how much he has, being that it's precious to him, so he wants to know exactly how much he has, because if he wouldn't count it, he wouldn't know. But concerning Hashem and the Bnei Yisrael, Hashem knows how many there are. So even though they are very precious by Hashem, but why does He want them to be counted? Without them being counted, He would also know how much they are, because we're talking here about Hashem. So what is the idea of Hashem wanting them to be counted?

Now it says in Shlah, in חלק תורה שבכתב, שלש מחנות, so explains there that the reason Hashem wanted the Yidden to be counted is in order for the Yidden to become a דבר שבמנין, a counted object. And the halachah is, as the Gemara says in ביצה דף ג׳ עמוד ב׳ and brought down in Shulchan Aruch Yoreh De'ah in סימן ק״י סעיף א׳, that a דבר שבמנין לא בטל, that something that's counted doesn't become בטל. Like this, there is a din that when a forbidden thing, for instance, gets mixed into heter, so then it becomes בטל. Different things become בטל, nullified, at different proportions, but there is a din of bitul. But if it is a דבר שבמנין, if it is something that is counted, which means when you sell it, you sell it by number, so then the din is a דבר שבמנין לא בטל, that something that's counted doesn't become בטל. It always remains what it is and it doesn't become nullified and part and is בטל to the rest of the things that it fell into. So the Shlah says that this is the reason Hashem wanted the Bnei Yisrael to be counted. Since the Bnei Yisrael are like a כבשה בין שבעים זאבים, as it says in midrash in Esther Rabbah פרשה י׳ י״א and in Tanchuma Toldot ה׳, also we could see it in the Gemara Yoma דף ס״ט עמוד ב׳, that the Yidden are like one sheep amongst 70 wolves, so they could chas v'shalom become נתבטל amongst the אומות העולם, amongst the goyim, so therefore Hashem wanted them to be counted, so by them being counted they become a דבר שבמנין, something that is counted, and the klal is, as we said before, דבר שבמנין לא בטל, that something that's counted doesn't become nitbatel, batel, mimeila the Bnei Yisrael will not become batel amongst the goyim.

But still, this needs hasbara, this needs explanation, because we know that the reason why a דבר שבמנין לא בטל, why is it that something that's counted doesn't become batel, is because the fact that you count it shows that it's an important thing. And a דבר חשוב doesn't become batel, which means the foundation, the yesod of this din is not because it's counted, it is because it is a דבר חשוב. The rule is that anything that is important doesn't become batel, even if it gets mixed into many other things. Now, one of the things that shows chashivut, one of the things that shows that this is a precious and important thing, is if it is sold by number rather than by other ways. But not that the counting itself brings about the fact that it's not batel; the counting is just a proof that it's a דבר חשוב. If so, then what was the idea of counting the Bnei Yisrael? The Bnei Yisrael are a דבר חשוב, are important anyway. The counting didn't make them important; the counting is just a proof that they're important. But by the Bnei Yisrael, since they are important anyway, why did Hashem want them to be counted? If the pshat would be that anything that's counted, the counting itself makes the reason why it is not batel, then that's the reason why Hashem wanted the Bnei Yisrael to be counted, so after they are counted they are not batel. But since the din is that it's not batel because it's chashuv, the counting is just a re'ayah, so the Bnei Yisrael, who are chashuv anyway, so even if they wouldn't be counted they're not batel. So we're back to the question: why did Hashem want the Bnei Yisrael to be counted?

So the answer that's given to this in חסידישע ספרים is that the concept of counting, as we see, has in itself the quality that everyone is counted equally. The גדול שבגדולים, the biggest one, the most important person, is not counted more than one, and the lowest person is not counted as less than one. Which means that when they counted the Bnei Yisrael, each person was counted the same, one. Each one was equal. Now the question is, how can we say that everyone was equal? Likhe'orah, there could be some people who are more important than others. Some are greater talmidei chachamim, greater scholars, greater tzadikim, so they should have more chashivut, more importance, than a very simple person. So why is it that when you count them, so they're all counted equally, each one is just one, not more and not less? Obviously, that when you count, you don't count the detailed maalot that each person has, because if you would be counting and referring to the specific characteristics that this person has, then some people should be more than one, some people should be less than one. Obviously, when they counted the Yidden, they counted the fact that they are Yidden. Each Yid was counted because he is a yid. If he would be counted based on how much learning he knows, or how much mitzvot he does, or many other things that a person might have individually, then not everyone would be equal. Since they counted each one equally, that shows that they counted the yidden because they are a yid. So each one was counted one because he is a yid. Which means that the counting is connected not to what we would call the כוחות הגלויים of the בני ישראל, not because of the outward, superficial abilities of the people, but because of what we call the נקודת היהדות, the pintele yid, the point of יידישקייט that every person has equally. Because we know that every single yid has a neshama. The neshama is a chelek of Hashem, as the pasuk says in האזינו, כי חלק ה׳ עמו, that His nation is a chelek of Him. And as it says in other sefarim, based on the pasuk in Iyov, that a neshama is a חלק אלוקא ממעל ממש, that the neshama is a chelek of השם ממש. And that everyone has equally. Now, how much you bring about the use of the neshama, how much בגילוי, so to speak, the neshama is, how much the neshama is revealed, that a person should utilize the kochot of the neshama, that depends on every person differently. Some people use it more, therefore they do more mitzvot, they learn more Torah, some people do it less, etc., etc. But that's only concerning, we would call it, the גילוי, the revelation of the neshama into the person בגילוי. But the neshama itself, which is in every person, that is equal by every single yid. Which is the reason why there is a mitzvah of ואהבת לרעך כמוך, that you have to love your fellow Jew as yourself, and it doesn't say that there's a difference between a צדיק גמור and not a big צדיק, that a צדיק גמור you should love more than a different person, than a simple person. The din is that you have to love all yidden equally. And the question is, how is that possible? And the answer is very simple: if you would love the other yid because of how smart he is, or because of how he acts, then there would be a difference. A person who is smarter, is a bigger talmid chacham, is a bigger tzaddik, does more mitzvot, you have to love him more. A person who is not in that מדרגה, you love less. But the reason you have to love another yid is because he is a yid, which means because he has a neshamah within him, he has a chelek of Hashem within him, and that's why you have to love him. Really, when you love a yid you're loving Hashem. The reason you love him is because he's a yid, which means that he has a neshamah which is The chelek of Hashem. And that is equal by every single yid. And therefore, you have to love every single yid equally. And the same is with Hashem. Hashem loves every single yid equally. Certainly, a tzaddik he loves more, but that is a different level in the love. But the essential love that Hashem has to all the yidden, he loves every single yid equally. Then in addition to that, there is another type of love which depends on the action of the person. Just like we understand that a yid has to love a tzaddik because of his צדקות, has to love a talmid chacham because of his Torah. But that's an additional thing to the general mitzvah of ואהבת לרעך כמוך which refers to every single yid equally. And the same with Hashem. Certainly when a tzaddik does a lot of mitzvot, Hashem loves him more, talmid chacham Hashem loves more, etc. etc. But that's all in addition to the general love that Hashem says ואהבתי אתכם אמר השם, that he loves every single yid. That is the nekudah, the point of love, the essential love that he has, and that is equal to every one of the Bnei Yisrael. The only thing is, when we're talking about the love that's to the yid because he's a yid, which means because of his עצם הנשמה, we know that the עצם הנשמה, as we said before, could be בהעלם, could be hidden. What Hashem wants of every yid is to take the עצם הנשמה and reveal it, which means bring it out into the person's כחות הגלוים, revealed koachot. Which means bring it out into his intellect, into his emotions, into his machshavah, his thought, into his dibbur, his speech, into his maaseh, into his action, etc. etc. And that depends on every individual. Every person is obligated to reveal his נשמה בגילוי as much as he is able to. And that is through doing mitzvot, through learning Torah, through having אהבת השם, יראת השם, love of Hashem, fear of Hashem, and the rest of the things that a Yid is supposed to do. All that reveals the neshamah, the עצם הנשמה, which could be בהעלם by a person. Even though it depends on the person to reveal it, nevertheless, Hashem says, \"I will help you.\" As we know what the Gemara says, that if not for Hashem's help, then we wouldn't be able to overcome our yetzer hara. It says that בכל יום ויום יצרו של אדם מתגבר עליו, every day the yetzer hara wants to overpower the person, ואלמלא הקדוש ברוך הוא עוזרו, אינו יכול לו, if Hashem wouldn't help, we wouldn't be able to overcome our yetzer hara. So really Hashem gives the help to reveal the עצם הנשמה in giluy. And one of the ways Hashem expressed this help is through telling to count the Bnei Yisrael. As we said before, counting the Bnei Yisrael is an expression of love. It's not the love itself, it's an expression of love. Expression means the revelation of love. Love is a feeling that a person has in his heart, but when a person does something to express his love, that is the revelation of the love that's there בהעלם in his heart. It should come out bagiluy, it should be revealed. For instance, if you love somebody in your heart and you give the person a present, so that expression of love is the revelation, it brings out into a revealed manner your love. And the same is with Hashem. Hashem loves every Yid because he has the עצם הנשמה. But Hashem wants that this עצם הנשמה should come out bagiluy, and he expects the Yidden to do it, but he wants to help them, so he says that by counting them, which expresses my love to the Bnei Yisrael, expression is revelation, so this helps to reveal this עצם הנשמה that the Bnei Yisrael have. And this is the meaning behind the mitzvah that Hashem gave Moshe Rabbeinu then to count the Bnei Yisrael, that this would reveal bagiluy the עצם הנשמה that is within every single Yid. As we said before, since we count everyone equally, that proves that we're dealing here with the עצם הנשמה, not with the revealed כחות. On the other hand, counting is an expression of love, so this is an expression of what the counting stands for: it's an expression, a giluy, a revelation, of the neshama that every single Yid has. This is the koach that Hashem gives every single Yid, that they should be able to reveal the עצם הנשמה, it should come out into their כחות הגלויים, into their revealed abilities and attributes, that they should be able to think according to the עצם הנשמה, and feel according to the עצם הנשמה, and do according to the עצם הנשמה, etc. etc. And as we see, that Rashi in a different place, in the beginning of Parshat Shemot, where Rashi says the same idea that because Hashem loves the Bnei Yisrael he counts them, so there Rashi says the lashon: להודיע חיבתם, to notify, to reveal the love. And the same is with Rashi in the beginning of Ki Tisa, that Rashi says: להודיע שהיא חביבה עליו. להודיע means means to notify, not just to have the love. Counting is not just having love, because the counting only reveals what you have in the heart. And the same is with Hashem. Hashem, by counting the Bnei Yisrael, it was in order to reveal the עצם הנשמה which is connected to Hashem. That by doing this, Hashem gave them the koach that they should be able to reveal the עצם הנשמה, it should come out into the כחות הגלוים.

This will explain something else. Rashi says that because Hashem loves the בני ישראל, מונה אותם כל שעה, He counts them every while. But the question is it doesn't seem like it's so, because we know that takeh from Yetziat Mitzrayim till the second year, Rosh Chodesh Iyar, they were counted three times, which is pretty often. But nevertheless, from then on, it took 38 years till they counted the Yidden again. And from that year, it's very seldom that Hashem counted the Bnei Yisrael. As a matter of fact, it says in the Midrash, in Tanchuma, כי תשא ט\"ז, Bamidbar Rabbah פרשה ב' י\"א, and in the Pisikta de-Rav Kahana, in פרשת שקלים, that altogether there are 10 times that Hashem counts the Bnei Yisrael. Meaning, from when the Yidn went out of Mitzrayim till Mashiach's time, it's only 10 times. So how could Rashi say that מונה אותם כל שעה, that Hashem counts them every while? But the answer that could be given to this is that it doesn't mean that the counting takes place every while, but what the counting accomplishes is something that has an effect every while. Which means the counting is supposed to have an effect on the Bnei Yisrael, that it should reveal the neshama that they have, it should come out בגלוי, a revealed way that a Yid should act according to the neshama. This is something that כל שעה, it's constantly. Which means in simple words, if you're going to tell a Yid, \"Do an aveirah, especially if it comes to avodah zarah, chas v'shalom, bow down to an idol just for one moment, and now later on you'll go back and do whatever you want,\" a Yid will never agree to it. And a Yid will be mesirut nefesh, will give up his life for it, even though it's only for one second. The reason is because a Yid feels that he doesn't want to be torn away from Hashem, even for one second. And that's what Rashi means. It reveals the עצם הנשמה כל שעה, for every שעה, for every while, constantly, that even for one while, a Yid does not want to tear himself away from Hashem, because he has this neshama which comes out בגלוי, and therefore בגלוי he would not want to do it. And this is the meaning in Rashi that Hashem counts the אידן כל שעה. That means, by counting the Bnei Yisrael, He gives them a koach of כל שעה that that for always they have this koach, and not only for always, for every while. That even one while, a Yid doesn't want to be torn away from Hashem. And this is all because he has a neshama which is revealed in the person. And it depends on the person, takeh, but it also comes from the koach Hashem gave through counting the Bnei Yisrael, which is an expression, a revelation, of Hashem's love to the Bnei Yisrael.