Understanding Each Other

 

Parshas Hashavua כי תשא      The מדרש תנחומא writes משה רבינו complained to Hashem, How is it possible to count the בני ישראל? They are like  the dust of the earth/sand of the sea. Hashem told Moshe, all he has to do is add the גמטריא of the first letter of the שבטים and multiply them by a thousand. ראובן            200,000 שמעון            300,000              יהודה              10,000  יששכר             10,000 יוסף                10,000 נפתלי              50,000 זבולון                 7,000 דן                      4,000        גד                     3,000 בנימין                 2,000 אשר                   1,000 Total  597,000   = 600,000 minus 3,000 who were killed at the עגל By knowing this מדרש we will understand next week's פרשת שקלים "פיוט "אמן בשמעו from the קליר which is based on this מדרש. By learning the פיוט you will have a better understanding in  the מדרש because, In the 6th stanza "יקר שלישי בתוכם לא הפקד" the קליר explains why the third son (לוי) is not included in the ראשי תיבות count.