Numbers and perfections?

This is a tardy response to a comment posted in March. Here's the comment:

Why do we spend so much time on numbers? 10 this, 18 that, the 1st born and on and on. Then we had to build the tabernacle and everything had to be perfect. Even Noah, who wasn't even Jewish, (I don't think) had to have everything just right. I feel like as a Jew, sometimes we spend a lot of time counting even in todays world, you can't walk into shul without seeing people making sure all ten are accounted for. Shavua Tov. Susan

Lots of issues here! First starting with ten and the shul. Ten is the minimum, not the goal for a communal service. However, ten Jews is how we define community. Really, a small number, and kind of sad that it's often so hard to get ten Jewish people to be part of the community when it comes to prayer and Torah reading. However, Judaism is a communal religion, prayer and Torah are our foundation stone, so it makes sense that Torah would set a minimum number. Otherwise, would we ever have a "communal" presence for the functions that keep Judaism alive and from devolving into just a social group?

The number ten for a minyan comes from -- sadly -- one of the Torah's most negative events -- the story of the spies. While in the desert, Moses sent twelve community leaders to check out the Promised Land. They all agreed it was fertile and good. However, ten of them were terrified that the inhabitants would defeat them and nearly convinced the people to go back to Egypt! If that's the damage ten can do, imagine the good that comes when ten band together for a noble cause!

In a sense, that's still skirting the surface. We fine ten as an important number throught Torah, and generally in relation to creation, whether of a world or a people. God created the world through ten utterances. The ten commandments are Jewishly the aseret hadibrot, the ten statements. Through those ten statements, God forged us into a people grounded in Torah.

Even deeper, the mystics point to ten sefirot, aspects of God. The highest aspect is unknowable. These sefirot also teach us the deepest meanings of the Creation story. The first three levels of creation -- referred to through the three highest sefirot -- take place before the Written Torah even begins. They are unknowable to our mortal minds. The remaining seven sefirot are refllected in the "days" of creation.

We know that numbers are critical to building anything. One measurement out of whack, the edifice fails. I would surely not trust an architect who did not design and build according to exact specifications.

But the Torah takes this practical aspect much further. After all, it could have avoided constant repetition of the numbers. Yet, Torah is amazingly concise. Nothing is superfluous.

That's where the mystical signficance of numbers come in. Also, Hebrew numbers are letters! Words and numbers aren't separate. As repetitive and dry as the numbers may seem, it would take years of deep study to unlock their secrets.

Right now, as we count the omer, our days are literally numbered. Yes, there is kabalistic significance to these numbers. Hopefully, will write more on this soon.

Rabbi Shaina