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Dvar Torah for Parshat Bamidbar

Based on Likutey Halakhot, Chukot HaAkum 2

Out of His love for them, God constantly counted the Jews (Rashi on Numbers 1:1).

We human beings have at our disposal *koach hamedameh*, a powerful capability. What is *koach hamedameh*? When used properly, it is imagination. When used improperly, it is fantasy.

Rebbe Nachman taught that our lives always hang in the balance. Not in the melodramatic sense of "do or die" or "now or never" (although these situations occur as well). Rather the condition, the quality, of our spiritual life and our connection to God is always so balanced that a decision as how to act, speak or think, determines whether we will feel closer or further away from the Creator. (By extension, because of our integral connection with the world at large, our decision also nudges humankind in the same direction.)

If we fantasize that some thing or person controls the quality of our life, we will choose poorly. If we realize, however, that God is bigger than the challenge facing us, bigger (as it were) than we imagined Him to be, we will choose more accurately. Reb Noson points out that there are some things we can do to strengthen our awareness of God's greatness. One is that we give *tzedakah* (charity).

Reb Noson explains that this works because when we give *tzedakah* we behave with God-like generosity. As we push ourselves to act more God-like, by thinking more God-like, we come to sense more clearly how holy we can be, how much our temptations are just so much glitter without any essential ability to satisfy our spiritual hunger. (Reb Noson also points out that
*tzedakah* is so powerful it can unconfuse even if you've already chosen
poorly.)

There is no promise that progress towards this goal is swift. One has to be stubbornly patient, exercising and practicing—creating, if need be— his generosity, and other God-like qualities (such as patience and judging others favorably). Strengthening these qualities is easier, Reb Noson writes, if we associate with like-minded people, particularly if they already have these traits.

agutn Shabbos!
Shabbat Shalom!

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