By Julie-Rae King (edited by Sarah MacRitchie)

This weeks parsha is Bamidbar, the first parsha of the 4th book of the Torah. It's full of fascinating information, such as the results of the first census, the duties of the Levites, and the particular arrangement in which the Israelites camped in the desert.

Even though the subject matter of this week's parasha is slightly dry, I tried to find connections to our lives today that would bring Bamidbar into some relevant context for us as a movement.

Bamidbar is the beginning of a new book in the Torah. we have finished Vayikrah and are moving on, just as many of us have recently finished the school year and are moving on to exciting summers at machaneh, or other ventures. This week we also welcome back home Workshop '61, as they start as ma'apilim. Endings are sad, but they almost always signify a new beginning which brings new challenges and adventures.

Moving on to the meat of the parasha, a lot of time is spent describing how the census of the Israelites is conducted and then recounting the results. There is a clear emphasis on knowing how large the tribe is and a connection is drawn between the strength of the group and its numbers. In HDNA we have an interesting relationship with our internal count. How do we measure how large our movement is? The number of people at Veida? The number of people at machaneh? The number of people involved in the Ken? When do people start being a part of the movement? When do they stop? If we aren't gathered in one place like the Ancient Israelites were, then how do we show our unity and strength as a group?

One way that we have been gathering more and more over this past year is through social media. Whether through kvutzah facebook groups, the mercaz meetings, or this listserv, the internet has been a place that we join together and express ourselves collectively. Technology has allowed us to form together as a group of people without

being physically in the same location. However, what does this mean for the unified strength of the movement as a whole? Do we diminish our power to affect change by not clearly defining our numbers or does our ability to expand the circle beyond our physical circumstances only increase our influence.

The second part of the parsha gives a detailed description of the encampment in the desert. Each tribe is given its own place and in the centre stands the Tabernacle, containing the 10 Commandments given to Moses. In our lives, what do we give importance to and centre our lives around? Is it Judaism and its commandments like our ancestors, or do we take on a new Tabernacle revolving around Tikkun Olam and Social Action? How do we isolate what is meaningful in our lives if it's mot somthing physical and in what ways do we metaphorically place it at the centre of our existence?

As we head towards machaneh, we can begin to consider how we form together as a group while being dispersed around the continent. While we are gathered over the summer, we can also examine the reasons for joining together, and try to determine what we as a movement believe in and place at the centre of our social groups. We may not be able to define outselves as clearly as the ancient Israelites in the desert but we can take a little time this Shabbat to reflect on the definition of a movement and what we as Habonim Dror place at the centre of our modern day 'encampment'.