Parshat Bamidbar, 1st Portion (Numbers 1:1-1:19), May 18, 2014

This first reading in the Book of Numbers tells about census taking. Everyone is accounted for, and their pedigree is recorded. So not only is everyone important as individuals, but they are distinct by their pedigree.

This happened on the first day of the second month after the exodus from Egypt. It was a tally of who were left after the sin of the golden calf. This would be the crew to man the boat for the next 39 years through the Sinai Desert. a momentous occasion.