The children of Israel shall encamp, each man by his own camp and each man by his own flag, according to his division. (Bamidbar 1:52)

The Torah goes to lengths in this week’s parsha to describe the formation of the tribes in the desert. Why does the Torah need to tell us so much details about how they were set up?

Rabbi Yisroel Miller gives an amazing answer. We all know that for a person to successful in Judaism, he needs to be part of the community. If a person davens by himself, he cannot say numerous prayers because they require a minyan. When learning Torah, the person will be able to learn more in a group setting than if he learns by himself.

Rabbi Miller teaches us that there is another important detail which a person also needs to be successful. Being part of a group is not enough. A person also needs to be part of a group with different people. A perfect example of this is a baseball team. Imagine you have a baseball team and you have nine first basemen. Your team is not going to do very well because there are eight other positions for which you do not have the proper person to play them. The catcher needs to be able to catch over one hundred 90 mph pitches that are thrown at him each game. The left fielder needs to be able to cover a large area on the field to catch fly balls and make far throws. A shortstop needs to be able to quickly field line drives and ground balls and make a perfect throw to the first baseman.

The same is within our communities. We need many different people involved in different activities to make our communities successful. We needs Rabbis to guide us. We need teachers for our children. We need those who can sing beautifully to lead the davening. We need wealthy people to support our institutions. We need people to give their time for our charitable organizations. We need many, many people.

But what if a person does not feel he has any talent? What if he does not fit into any of the categories? Is there anything for him?

Yes… there are still many positions which every community requires. We need people to put away the siddurim and books after davening and learning sessions. We need people to straighten the chairs and fold the Tallisim. We need people to set up for functions like Shalosh Seudos every week. These are easy things that almost anyone can do. But what if a person does not have enough time to do these either?

Then, he can be one of the most important people in the community: he can be the person that smiles at others and greets them.

There is a position for everyone in the community. Our job is to find our position and work our hardest at that position. Then, we will be a part of the community and will certainly see success in our lives.

Good Shabbos!
-yes
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